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4/9/09 1:38 AM | Ricky Dimon
Three of the five remaining seeds are in action on Thursday at the Grand Prix Hassan II. Igor Andreev is among those looking for a spot in the quarterfinals.
(1) Igor Andreev vs. Nicolas Devilder
Andreev is the top seed in Casablanca and ranked 22nd in the world. While those numbers should point to a routine victory for the Russian when he meets Devilder on Thursday, Andreev has already endured some inexplicable losses this season. In Zagreb he suffered a first-round loss to Croatian wildcard Ivan Dodig. Andreev has also bowed out early in tournaments to a slumping Mikhail Youzhny, an injured Nikolay Davydenko, and an out-of-form James Blake. He barely scraped past Moroccan wildcard Rabie Chaki on Tuesday. An upset at the hands of Devilder would be almost as shocking as the one to Dodig. The Frenchman is back at his career-high ranking of 60th in the world, but he is not exactly setting the tennis world on fire. Devilder went into Casablanca with a dismal 2-8 record this season, and he is now 3-8 after a first-round win over Daniel Koellerer. There is no reason why Andreev should not win this in straights, but you never know after his first-round performance.
(5) Florent Serra vs. Olivier Rochus
It will be the first career head-to-head encounter at the ATP level between Serra and Rochus when they square off in the Casablanca second round on Thursday. Serra will be looking for his third quarterfinal appearance of this young season, having reached that stage on the hard courts of both Brisbane and Delray Beach. Prior to the Grand Prix Hassan II, however, the Frenchman had lost in the first round of his last three events (one on the Challenger Circuit, two at the ATP level). Rochus is in the midst of a far more significant struggle. Once as high as No. 25 in the world back in 2005, the 5'6'' Belgian is now 125th in the rankings. As such, he is relegated to playing Challenger events and ATP qualifiers. His three-set win over Moroccan wildcard Mehdi Ziadi on Tuesday was his first victory in the main draw of an ATP event this season. Barring a drastic turnaround in Rochus' form, Serra should advance in straight sets.
Mischa Zverev vs. (6) Marc Gicquel
Zverev and Gicquel will be doing battle for the first time in their careers on Thursday in Casablanca. Gicquel is ranked 25 spots ahead of his opponent (50th to 75th), but Zverev has a slight edge in current form. Following a strong indoor hard-court season at the end of 2008, the German owns a solid 6-6 record at the ATP level so far this year. Zverev enjoyed quarterfinal performances in Marseille and Zagreb and he got off to a strong start in Casablanca with a three-set victory over Flavio Cipolla. Gicquel has a 5-8 match record so far in 2009 after his first-round win over Kristof Vliegen. The veteran Frenchman is coming off a disconcerting blowout loss to Juan Monaco in the opening round of the Masters Series Miami. Both Zverev and Gicquel are good--but not spectacular--clay-court players, so the surface should not be too much of a factor. Zverev in three sets is the pick.
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Olivier Rochus 
Grand Prix Hassan II