Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel 2011: Preview Day 2 – Part Three
The night session on Day 2 of the 2011 Davidoff Swiss Indoors at St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland includes two singles and one doubles match.
Playing the last singles match on the Centre Court is the former world number six, Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic as he plays the rising Japanese star, Kei Nishikori.
Coming into the match, Berdych trails 0-1 in the pair’s head-to-head score. The two met only once before in 2009 in the second round of the Brisbane event where the Japanese did away with the Czech in straight sets.
However, given the pair’s recent form, the head-to-head score loses all meaning. Although Nishikori sports four losses in his last ten matches he did manage to clinch semi-final berths at Kuala Lumpur and Shanghai, losing to eventual
champions Janko Tipsarevic and Andy Murray respectively. Having recorded a win over higher ranked Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga gives Nishikori the confidence he requires to take on the hard hitting Czech giant. Berdych, on the other hand, comes into the match
with only two losses in his last ten matches having lost in the third round at Flushing Meadows and at Shanghai. He did however, enjoy a successful final run at Beijing where he moved past Fernando Verdasco, Tsonga and ultimately conquered Marin Cilic for
a title win.
Standing on even footing, the match could go either way. Berdych’s slight edge in his higher ranking is nullified by Nishikori’s one match win over the Czech.
As Berdych and Nishikori battle it out for a spot in the round of sixteen; Frenchman Michael Llodra takes on Croat Ivan Ljubicic in their first round match on Court 2.
Meeting each other for the fourth time, Ljubicic leads the head-to-head 2-1 against the Frenchman with a two match winning streak. The pair last met at the Monte Carlo Masters where the Croat enjoyed a straight sets victory.
Another evenly poised matchup, it would be unwise to predict a clear cut winner. Although the Frenchman has been suffering early losses on tour, he did manage a title win on the Challenger Tour winning the home event at Orleans.
Ljubicic though holds no title wins, made it to the final of the Metz event falling to Tsonga. He also made it to the semi-finals of the China Open in Beijing.
Ranked only two places apart, the matchup suggests an enthralling and exciting clash between the two.
Wrapping up the doubles action for the day is the first time pairing of Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci and Colombian Santiago Giraldo as they take on another debut team of Viktor Troicki and Ivan Dodig. The two teams are equally inexperienced
in the doubles arena and the match can go either way since all four professionals are extremely skilled and talented.
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