2010 St. Petersburg Singles: Thursday’s Preview
Twelve professionals will battle it out today for the six singles matches scheduled for the day. As the event enters its fourth day, the remaining second round matches will wrap up to show important results on the scoreboard.
The first matchup of the day in the centre court will be an unseeded battle between the Ukrainian Illya Marchenko and the local Konstantin Kravchuk. Kravchuk was a qualifying finalist into the tournament and having defeated Czech
Frantisek Cermak with an easy straight set win, he advanced into the second round. Marchenko obtained an entry into the second round after his opponent Denis Istomin had to retire in their first round matchup earlier in the tournament.
German Benjamin Becker, who moved into the second round after upsetting defending champion and second seed Sergiy Stakhovsky, will start the side court matches by playing the French professional Paul-Henri Mathieu. With an interesting
start to the event, Becker will be motivated to stay in the title run and can be expected to bring his A game to the match. Mathieu sailed into the second round after securing a win over the Argentinean Maximo Gonzales.
The second pair to battle it out on the centre court will be the Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov and German Rainer Schuttler. Schuttler is another surprising entry into the second round after he forced an early exit of 2010 Kremlin
Cup winner and fifth seed, Viktor Troicki. With his event off to a “blessed” start, Schuttler might give the fans some excellent tennis in the upcoming matches in order to stay in the title run.
As the Ukrainian German duo battle it out in the centre court, American Rajeev Ram will be facing eighth seeded Romanian Victor Hanescu in the side court. Rajeev was a qualifying round finalist into the tournament and only moved
into the second round after having defeated Spanish Pablo Andujar. It remains to be seen, whether or not Hanescu sail into the quarterfinals or will the Fates favour Rajeev as they favoured the Germans against the top seeds on Wednesday?
Fourth seed Taiwanese Lu Yen-Hsun will also take to the courts on Thursday as he plays the local Dmitry Tursunov in the centre courts. The Taiwanese sailed into the second round with a straight set win over Italian Potito Starace
and if he continues this level of play he might just find a spot for himself in the quarterfinals. The unseeded Tursunov was a wild card entry into the tournament.
The last matchup of the day is between the Russian legend Mikhail Youzhny and his compatriot Evgeny Donskoy. Mikhail, who hopes to win the title for a spot in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, got off to an excellent start as
he humiliated German Daniel Brands with a 6-4, 6-1 win. Seeded first in the tournament, Youzhny is one of the favourites to win the title this year. Though both players enjoy the home court advantage, Youzhny might have an edge over his countryman when it
comes down to talent on the court and, seeing past records, the ability to woo Lady Luck.
With the remaining second round matches wrapping up on Thursday, at the end of day, six players will secure a spot for themselves in the quarterfinals along with Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin and Serb Janko Tipsarevic.
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