Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel 2011: Preview Day 3 – Part Two
Centre Court at St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland showcases two singles matches in the afternoon session. The extremely skilled and talented professionals are currently competing at the 2011 Davidoff Swiss Indoors, an ATP 500
event, this week.
Kicking off play for the day on the main court is the inform Serb, Janko Tipsarevic. The Serb enjoying perhaps his best form and career high ranking lately is looking to move into his third straight final here at Basel. With only
one loss in his last ten matches, Tipsarevic enjoyed a successful final run at Moscow two weeks ago as he clinched the title at the 2011 Kremlin Cup defeating compatriot Viktor Troicki.
As he opens his title bid at Basel, Tipsarevic plays against German Florian Mayer in the first round. Although Tipsarevic trails 0-1 in the pair’s head-to-head series, the world number 13 is the favourite to win his match today.
In their last meeting at Rotterdam last year, Mayer required three sets to do away with the Serb.
Adding Tipsarevic’s recent form to the mix and Mayer’s chances of moving on ahead at the event become extremely slim. Although Mayer also holds only two losses in his last ten matches, five of those wins are on clay while no wins
on indoor hard courts. Tipsarevic, on the other hand, has played nine of his last ten matches on this surface. More attuned to it, the Serb is likely to move ahead with mere difficulty. The only factor playing against the Serb would be his first round exit
in his debut here last year.
Following Tipsa will be the wildcard entrant, top ranked Brit and current world number three, Andy Murray. Coming from a hat-trick title win in Asia with a sixteen match winning streak, Murray looks to extend his run at Basel as
he takes on Dutch Robin Haase.
Apart from being one of the top three players in the world Murray holds three title wins in recent weeks winning at Bangkok, Tokyo and Shanghai. Haase, on the other hand, sporting a 4-6 win loss mark in last ten matches with first
round exits in all the above events clearly has the odds stacked against him.
Although Haase holds a win against Murray winning in Rotterdam in 2008, he would in all fairness be unable to repeat the feat this time around. The only time the two met this year at Flushing Meadows, Murray defeated Haase though
he required five sets to do so.
Perhaps Haase might be able to push the set into three sets, Murray’s recent form suggests that the Brit will most likely sail into the second round.
After his singles match at the event, Murray will be pairing up with brother, Jamie Murray to kick off their doubles campaign here. The Murrays will be playing the second seeded team of Daniel Nestor and Max Mirnyi. Enjoying similar
runs with recent title wins the two teams are almost equally matched. With no prior meetings, the two teams stand equal chances of winning though the odds tip slightly in the favour of the second seeds due to their higher ranking.
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