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  • Indianapolis Second Round Preview

    7/16/08 7:56 PM | Ricky Dimon
    - The second round really gets going on Wednesday night with Haas, Isner, and Dmitry Tursunov taking the court. Americans James Blake, Vince Spadea, and Sam Querrey will pick up the action on Thursday.

    (3) Dmitry Tursunov vs. Wayne Odesnik

    Tursunov is the defending champion and his repeat bid got off to a nice start with a straight-set win over fellow Russian and doubles partner Igor Kunitsyn. Tursunov struggled on clay this season, but a return to hard courts and his old stomping grounds of Indianapolis should get him back on track. Odesnik, on the other hand, is one of the few Americans who actually prefers clay over hard courts. Tursunov, ranked 32nd in the world, should be able to overpower the unseeded Odesnik on a fast surface and move through in straight sets.

    (1) James Blake vs. Woong-Sun Jun

    Blake has been struggling recently, but he had little trouble with Dudi Sela in round one and it should be even easier on Thursday against Jun. The No. 8 player in the world lost in the second round of both Wimbledon and the French Open, but he is back in the United States where he thrived earlier this year. Blake was runner-up in Delray Beach and he reached the quarterfinals in San Jose, at the Masters Series Indian Wells, and at the Masters Series Miami. The bottom line is that Jun, who is ranked 293rd and has won only one match at the ATP level in 2008, just isn't at that same level.

    Vince Spadea vs. (4) Sam Querrey

    Spadea crushed Donald Young 6-2, 6-4 in round one and now he is going up against another up-and-coming American, albeit one who is two years older (Querrey is 20) and far more accomplished. Querrey, like Blake, is perhaps most comfortable on U.S. hard courts and he won a title in Las Vegas earlier this season. The big man (6'6'') also took care of Spadea 6-2, 6-4 in Delray Beach one month before his triumph in Vegas. Spadea has not done much since his previous loss to Querrey to inspire much confidence in reversing fortunes against his younger compatriot (he has a mediocre 11-14 record in 2008). The veteran has two chances to pull off an upset here: hope Querrey is having an off-day on serve and then coax him into backhand-to-backhand exchanges from the baseline. If Querrey puts in a lot of first serves, however, this will be over after two sets.

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