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  • Umag - Round two preview

    7/16/08 4:28 AM | Cheryl Murray
    - Spaniards Carlos Moya and Fernando Verdasco take the court in Umag for the first time on Wednesday.

    Fernando Verdasco vs. Mathieu Montcourt

    The number one seed, Fernando Verdasco comes into The Croatia Open off a surprising and impressive grass season. He made the final in Nottingham and advanced all the way to the round of 16 at Wimbledon. Clay is his bread and butter, however. The Spaniard plays his best tennis on the red dirt and his number one ranking in Umag should prove justified. His opponent is Frenchman Mathieu Montcourt. He is ranked 185 in the world and he only just won his first match of the year in the first round in Umag. Verdasco has too much game for Montcourt in every possible way. He should be able to get through easily.

    Filippo Volandri vs. Fabio Fognini

    Filippo Volandri will take on his second Italian countryman in a row in Fabio Fognini. Volandri won his first match in seven tries when he took out Flavio Cipolla in the first round. Fognini has had the better form in 2008. He won the Challanger event in Turin and made the semifinals in Warsaw at the beginning of June. Volandri’s form simply has not been good enough this year. If Fognini plays the kind of solid clay court tennis of which he is capable, he will win the match in straight sets.

    Carlos Moya vs. Viktor Troicki

    Serbia’s Viktor Troicki will have a good opportunity to advance to the quarterfinals in this tournament. Carlos Moya has had a dreadful spring and summer season. Though he is ranked number three, he cannot be considered the hands-down favorite in the match. His best result on clay this year was a quarterfinal appearance in Hamburg where he was thrashed by Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-3. Since then he has lost in consecutive first rounds on the dirt first at Roland Garros and then in Bastad. He did not play Wimbledon. Troicki is ranked much lower but he is quite capable of beating Moya in his present form. Troicki in 3.

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