China Open men’s competition, Tuesday’s preview
An action-packed scheduled is set for today at the 2010 China Open Men’s competition in Beijing as a total of six seeds will contest their opening round clashes, led by the last year’s winner and World number two, Novak Djokovic from Serbia. The second seed,
Andy Murray, who is making his championship debut, World number five, Robin Soderling from Serbia, and Nikolay Davydenko of Russia.
Other seeds in Tuesday’s action include the World number seven, Mikhail Youzhny, from Russia, who is coming off his seventh career ATP World Tour crown in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, and the World number eight, David Ferrer from Spain.
All six contenders are fighting for one of the remaining six positions for the year ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, which are going to start next month in London.
In the opening clash on Lotus court, Andy Murray will take on Paul Henri Mathieu from France. The twenty-three year old Andy, who is currently ranked number four in the World by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), is making his championship debut.
This is the first competition of the top ranked Brit since falling in the round three at the United States Open in New York at the hands of Stanislas Wawrinka in a four set last month.
He enjoys a match record of 34-13 this year. Murray won his first ATP World Tour crown of the season in Toronto after getting the better of former third ranked tennis ace, David Nalbandian in straight sets. The Scott was also a semi finalist at the grass
court Grand Slam for two straight years, falling on both occasions to Rafael Nadal. Murray has won all their previous clashes and stands at 3-0 against Paul.
Second up on Tuesday is the World number two, Novak Djokovic, who is contesting in his first Championship since ending as finalist at the year’s final major, the United States Open in New York back in September. The Serbian will take on Mao Xin Gong, who
is a wild card entrant from Japan. He is playing here on the very first occasion in his career.
The twenty-three year old Djokovic enjoys a match record of 45-13 this season. He has reached the quarters or better on eleven occasions in fourteen championships this season. After ending as runner up at the Flushing Meadows, Novak also assisted his country
to win the semi final of the Davis Cup by triumphing in four sets over Tomas Berdych. His only trophy in 2010 came in Dubai earlier in May where he toppled Youzhny in the final in three sets. It was his seventh crown of his career.
The twenty-three year old Gong on the other hand is playing in his second career ATP World Tour championship. Back in 2009, he was defeated in the opening round at the Shanghai Rolex Masters at the hands of former top ranked Marat Safin. He achieved his
career high ranking of World number 341 back in August this year.
In the night clash, Nikolay Davydenko and Florian Mayer from Germany will meet on the third occasion. They are tied at 1-1. It will be their first encounter on a hard surface.
The twenty-nine year old Novak enjoys a match record of 23-13 this season. He has advanced into the quarters or better in five championships this season. His best result came in the opening week in Doha where he got the better of Roger Federer in the final
four battle and Rafael Nadal in the title battle, to win his 20th career ATP World Tour crown. Back in September, Novak defeated Schwank in a four setter clash in the Davis Cup tie.
The twenty-seven year old Mayer on the other hand, is contesting in Tokyo with a match record of 17-13 on the season. He is the number two player from Germany behind Philipp, who overpowered the sixth seeded Fernando Verdasco on Monday. Mayer has a career
record of 4-20 versus the top ten players and his previous victory came against the number three Novak in Halle back in 2007.
Tags: