Tennis Malaysian Open and PTT Thailand Open: Thursday’s preview
Three of the top five seeds will play in today’s schedule of the Malaysian Open competition in Kuala Lumpur, as the final four quarter-final spots are up for grab.
In the opening match of Thursday, the eighth seed Andrey Golubev from Kazakhstan will play Kevin Anderson of South Africa on the centre court. Both the contenders have achieved their career high ranking this year, Andrey at number thirty six back in August,
and Kevin at number sixty four earlier this week. In July, Andrey won his first career ATP World Tour trophy in Hamburg, whereas Kevin made his way into the semi-final round in Atlanta.
Second up on the centre court is the third seed Tomas Berdych from Czech Republic and Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan. Both of them have previously faced each other just on a single occasion during the third round of the Wimbledon. Tomas survived in five sets
on his way into his first final of the Grand Slam event, where he was eventually defeated by the world number one Rafael Nadal. Denis is 0-5 in his career versus the top ten contenders, grabbing just a single set on grass court earlier this season against
Rafa.
In the evening matches, the top seed Robin Soderling from Sweden will take on Edouard Roger Vasselin in their first-time encounter. Robin is contesting in his first ATP World Tour clash since the United States Open in New York. It will be a big challenge
for the world number 106 Roger, considering Robin has not lost to a player outside the top hundred since the Aussie.
The final match of Thursday will highlight David Ferrer playing against Yuki Bhambri, who is a wild card entrant from India. David has had a superb season, recently knocking on the door of top ten at number eleven. Yuki, on the other hand, is one of the
rising stars of the ATP World Tour, a former top-ranked junior player and 2009 Australian Open boy’s winner. He will definitely be confident after recording his first ATP World Tour clash victory in the opening round.
In another action, the world number one Rafael Nadal will play his opening match of the PTT Thailand Open on Thursday night.
In the first singles clash, the seventh seed and previous season’s finalist Viktor Troicki from Serbia will be attempting for his second victory against Jarkko Nieminen. Last month, prior to the United States Open, Viktor triumphed in the second round match
in straight sets on his way into the semis. He is hoping to make his way into his fifth ATP World Tour, quarter or better this season. Nieminen, on the other hand, was a quarterfinalist last week at the Open de Moselle, and his best appearance in 2010 was
a semi-final run in Delray Beach earlier this year during the month of February.
Next up, Verdasco will take on Benjamin Becker from Germany. Verdasco, who is attempting to qualify for the year-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the second straight season, is currently ranked number eight in the world by ATP. The 26-year-old Madrid
native stands at 2-2 in ATP World Tour finals this year, and he is hoping to advance into his eleventh quarter or better. On the contrary, Benjamin is career 4-16 versus the top ten foes and his previous victory came over the world number five Nikolay Davydenko
in Halle during the month of June.
In the evening match, Rafael will meet Ruben Bemelmans, a qualifier from Belgium. The 23-year-old Rafa locked up ATP World Tour Champion honours for the second time in three seasons after grabbing his first United States Open trophy on September, 13th.
In the final meeting of the day, Mikhail Kukushkin from Kazakhstan will play Olivier Rochus of Belgian who earlier upset the fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro on Tuesday.
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