Help
10/25/09 3:15 AM | Ricky Dimon
Both mired in dismal slumps, Ernests Gulbis and Victor Hanescu will be featured on Day 1 of the St. Petersburg Open. They will battle for places in the second round against Florian Mayer and Teimuraz Gabashvili, respectively.
Ernests Gulbis vs. Florian Mayer
Gulbis and Mayer will be meeting for the first time at the ATP level when they square off in the first round of the St. Petersburg Open on Sunday. However, they faced each other one time in the final of a 2006 Challenger event in Finland, where Mayer prevailed 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3. Given Gulbis' atrocious 2009 campaign, Mayer should have a great chance of finding the winner's circle once again. Gulbis, once in the top 40, now registers at No. 93 in the world thanks to an 18-25 match record for the season. He has won back-to-back matches in ATP tournaments just once this entire year.
Mayer's 2009 has also been nothing to write home about, but that is because of injuries rather than poor play. Now healthy, the 67th-ranked German seems to have found his game. He successfully qualified for main draws in Bangkok, Beijing, and Shanghai, winning one main-draw match at the Shanghai Masters before falling to Tommy Robredo in three sets. While Gulbis is the more powerful of the two players, Mayer should be much too consistent for the erratic Latvian. Mayer in straight sets is the pick.
Teimuraz Gabashvili vs. (2) Victor Hanescu
It will be the first career encounter between Gabashvili and Hanescu when they do battle on Sunday in St. Petersburg. A high-quality match cannot be expected, as neither man is in anything close to good form at the moment. Despite his recent doldrums, Hanescu is still ranked 31st in the world and seeded second this week. But the 6'6'' Romanian is just 25-30 on the year and has lost five consecutive matches heading into this tournament. Hanescu has not won a match at an ATP event since before the U.S. Open.
Gabashvili has been struggling to an even greater extent. The Russian has not won an ATP-level match since a July clay-court event in Gstaad, thus he has slipped outside of the Top 100 at No. 105 in the world. He at least managed to reach one quarterfinal and one semifinal at Challenger events last month, so his confidence should at least be somewhat intact. Furthermore, both of these competitors are better on clay than they are on indoor hard courts. As such, this one could come down to which man can keep the ball in play longer than the other. Gabashvili is better in the consistency department, so look for him to score a three-set upset.
Tell a friend »
Scan QR code to access Unibet mobile.
Bet on Sports wherever you are and whenever you like, with Unibet's quick and simple mobile client you can place bets, check results and see live odds.
For more info about QR codes & scanners click here.
Contact us
/ About us
/ Cookies
/ Recommended links
/ Advertise
/ Sitemap
Tennistalk v1.5.0
Disclaimer © 2001-2012, Moneytainment Media Ltd - All rights reserved
