Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel 2011: Preview Day 2 – Part Two
The evening session of Day 2 at the 2011 Davidoff Swiss Indoors kicks off the I.I.II Ceremony. An ATP 500 event, the tournament is currently underway at St, Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland showcasing most of the top ten players.
While the ceremony takes place on the Centre Court, Brazilian number one Thomaz Bellucci continues the singles action of the day on Court 2 as he takes on the Finn veteran, Jarkko Nieminen.
Standing at a level 1-1 in the head-to-head score, the match can be any player’s ball game. The pair first clashed at the Stockholm event in 2008 with Nieminen emerging as the victor. However, Bellucci succeeded in turning the
tables around in their second meeting at Barcelona in 2010.
A natural clay player, Bellucci has failed to make any major impact in his recent run on the tour. With several first or second round exits, the Brazilian has trouble winning on the hard circuit sporting a 3-7 win loss mark in
his last ten matches. Nieminen, on the other hand, is a more able player than the Brazilian on the hard surface. Although the Finn is not without his losses, he did make it to the final of the Stockholm event two weeks ago falling only to Frenchman Gael Monfils.
Despite ranked higher than the Finn, the Brazilian is expected to suffer yet another early exit. However, given the Finn’s age, maybe Bellucci’s physical fitness may prove to play to his advantage.
Resuming the singles action on the Centre Court will be the Serbian juggernaut and reigning world number one, Novak Djokovic. An unstoppable force in 2011, Djokovic has only three losses with a resounding sixty seven wins amassing
ten titles along the way including three Grand Slam wins.
Sidelined from the Asian swing with a back injury, Djokovic returns to the tour after almost two months with a last match loss to Del Potro on the Davis Cup. Opening his eleventh title bid here, Djokovic takes on Belgian Xavier
Malisse.
The pair meets for the second time in their career with Malisse enjoying a rare 1-0 lead in the head-to-head against the Serb. Ranked 47th in the world armed with an almost negligible statistical advantage, Malisse stands
an outside chance of securing a win over the Serbian phenomenon. However, should the Serb’s back still be ailing, he might face his first first round exit in a long time.
Also taking to the courts in the evening is the Italian Andreas Seppi as he takes on lower ranked Luxembourger Gilles Muller. Enjoying a 2-1 lead in the head-to-head with a two match winning streak over Muller thrown in the mix,
the Italian is expected to sail past his opponent into the round of sixteen.
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