2011 Open 13: Tobias Kamke vs. Thomas Schoorel – Preview
Dutch qualifier, Thomas Schoorel, begins his campaign in the main draw of the 2011 Open 13 in Marseille, France against German, Tobias Kamke.
Ranked 168th in the world, Schoorel, is playing in his first Marseille event here. Unseeded in the qualifying draw, Schoorel started against Slovak Andrej Martin. Registering a twin set score victory of 6-4, 6-4, Schoorel moved on ahead in the
draw where he was to face the qualifying eighth seed, Vincent Millot.
Upsetting the eighth seeded Frenchman with a loss of only five games, Schoorel, recorded a breadstick win in the opener before sealing off his straight sets victory with a 6-4 win in the second set.
Facing Millot’s compatriot, Romain Jouan, in the qualifying final, Schoorel, edged past in a hard fought straight sets victory, recording a 7-5, 7-6(1) win.
Playing in only his third tour level event for the season, the Dutch has failed to move past the first round. A qualifier in the season opening, 2011 Qatar ExxonMobil Open, Schoorel gained acceptance in the main draw after defeating Marek Semjans in the
qualifying final.
However, a short-lived stay in the main draw Schoorel was forced out of the event in the opening clash by eventual champion, Roger Federer.
A wildcard entrant at the 2011 ABN AMRO World Tour Tournament in Rotterdam last week, Schoorel drew against Serb hero, Viktor Troicki. Losing 2-6 in the first set, Schoorel pushed the second set into a tiebreaker though he lost it 1-7.
Schoorel failed to make it into the opening Grand Slam, the Australian Open as he fell to Grigor Dimitrov in the third round of the qualifying draw.
Standing at a level 0-0 head to head score, Schoorel has no idea what to expect of the German. Also the huge disparity in their rankings stack considerable odds against the Dutch and his chances of winning against the German are minimal, if any.
Also a debutant here, Kamke only has the ranking advantage playing in his favour since he too has suffered a disappointing run in the season so far.
Starting at the 2011 Brisbane International, Kamke exited in the first round owing to his loss against eventual semi-finalist, Radek Stepanek. A week later, Kamke, competed at the 2011 Heineken Open but fell in the second round to eventual champion David
Ferrer.
As luck would have it, Kamke’s run in the Australian Open was stopped short in the opening round by his higher ranked compatriot, Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Switching to the Challenger Tour after the Grand Slam, Kamke competed at the Challenger event at home in Heilbronn. However, despite the home court advantage, Kamke was forced out of the event in the second round by Serb, Ilija Bozoljac.
Prediction: Although neither of the players have had many lucky breaks this season, the odds tip in the German’s favour only because of his higher standing in the rankings. Kamke will probably move past the Dutchman in straight sets.
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