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10/6/08 5:19 AM | Ricky Dimon
Joachim Johansson is coming out of retirement for the IF Stockholm Open this week. David Nalbandian, his potential second-round opponent, is the No. 1 seed.
The IF Stockholm Open field may not boast the strongest field of the three tournaments this week, but the proceedings in Sweden are not without intrigue. David Nalbandian is at the very top of the draw as the No. 1 seed and it will be interesting to see where his indoor game is at as he prepares to defend all kinds of points. The Argentine caught fire late last year to win the final two Masters Series tournaments in Madrid and Paris. Injury-plagued Joachim Johansson, meanwhile, is coming out of retirement to play in his home country. Does he still have the talent to compete at the ATP level? That question will be answered when he takes on Nicolas Mahut in round one.
The more well-known Johansson (although less talented), Thomas, is also in the top half of the draw and is one of few threats to Nalbandian. Other than JoJo, ToJo, Mahut, and perhaps No. 3 seed Jarkko Nieminen—who has not been producing inspirational tennis of late—this section is riddled with clay-court specialists. That’s not exactly a recipe for success on indoor hard courts and therefore a good opportunity for Nalbandian to take momentum into the year-end tournaments.
Bidding for the other final spot out of a slightly more dangerous bottom half of the draw will be second-seeded Mario Ancic, No. 4 seed Robin Söderling, and unseeded Kei Nishikori. Söderling has always played by far his best tennis indoors (including two runner-up finishes earlier this season) and he will have the Swedish crowd behind him. Ancic appears to have an easy draw until the quarterfinals and his serve makes him dangerous on fast hard courts, but the injury and illness bugs have bit him once again recently. Nishikori also has a favorable draw and should be able to set up a quarterfinal clash with Ancic. The winner of that potential showdown should face Söderling for the other spot in Sunday’s title match.
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