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10/6/09 1:38 AM | Cheryl Murray
Russia’s Marat Safin will set about wrapping up his last season on the ATP tour with a showing in Beijing in the first round against Jose Acasuso. James Blake will also be on court in a busy day at the China Open.
Marat Safin vs. Jose Acasuso
Marat Safin is struggling in this twilight of his tennis career. The Russian was owns 2 Grand Slam titles and was once ranked No. 1 in the world, but he has suffered flagging form for the past year, which he has stated will be his last as a professional tennis player. His ranking sits at 59 in the world, 9 spots below opponent Jose Acasuso from Argentina. Acasuso is known as mostly a clay courter, but he made the semifinals on the hard courts of New Haven in August. The two men have split the wins of their 4 matches at 2 each. Despite being knocked out of Kuala Lumpur in the first round by Rohan Bopanna of India, Acasuso is enjoying more consistent form than the mercurial Safin. The Argentine in 3.
James Blake vs. Florian Mayer
James Blake’s career has derailed. The American was once ranked as high as No. 4 in the world. He is now positioned at No. 24 and he struggled on his favored hard courts this summer. The downward spiral started with a first round exit at Wimbledon and continued with another first round ouster in Cincinnati. He wrapped up the North American hard court swing with a third round loss at the US Open. He will probably beat Florian Mayer, but that is due mostly to Mayer’s inconsistent play. The German is ranked 85 in the world; he mostly plays on the Challenger circuit. Blake will hit too many forehand errors, but get the victory anyway.
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Wow, Marat won (and comfortably too!) I was expecting to read about another first round exit on teletext, but we Safin fans'll take what we can get :) I feel a bit disloyal for expecting him to lose, but it was a very pleasant surprise!
tennisfan76 , 10/6/09 4:43 PM