Day One Preview
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By Barry Newcombe
Max Mirnyi v Fernando Verdasco
Played--Verdasco leads 2-0
Fernando Verdasco from Spain is just three places better in the
rankings than the 6ft 5ins Max Mirnyi from Belarus so his two previous
wins against Mirnyi may not count for too much as they go into their
first match on grass in the first round of the Artois Championships.
Verdasco has the seeded spot at No 16 which means he is meant to
run into the top seed Rafael Nadal in the third round. The
form guide on Verdasco on grass is that he had his best run on the
surface here last year, making the third round, and then went on
to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon after beating the third seed
David Nalbandian. Mirnyi, who turns 30 next month, can point to
no fewer than three appearances in the fourth round at Wimbledon
and is more than familiar with the demands of the Artois Championships.
He was beaten by eventual champion Lleyton Hewitt in the third round
here last year. In last week's French Open, where he was seeded
second in doubles with Jonas Bjorkman, they were beaten in the quarterfinals.
Verdict: Verdasco to hold the edge
Thomas Johannson v Juan Martin del Potro
Played--never previously met
Juan Martin del Potro makes his debut in the Artois Championships at the age of 18 and with any amount of learning to do about playing tennis on grass. This marks his competitive debut on the surface and he brings a world ranking of 59th into the draw. Last year he was the youngest player in the top 100 and back home in Argentina they will be expecting him to rise up the rankings again this year. Whether Johannson will have difficulties against del Potro remains to be seen but at 32 he has been on the road for many years and counts a Wimbledon semi-final appearance in 2005 among his achievements. Johannson had a good summer in Europe that year because he was a semi-finalist in the Artois, losing to Ivo Karlovic, and it required the skills of Andy Roddick to end his interest at Wimbledon. Johannson and del Potro were both first round losers in the French Open--del Potro to Rafael Nadal--but Johannson is a Grand Slam winner having taken the Australian Open title in 2002.
Verdict: Johannson to move on
Alex Bogdanovic v Hyung-Taik Lee
Played--never previously met
Alex Bogdanovic, the 23-year-old British Davis Cup player,comes into the Artois Championships as a wild card entry having had some recent grass court competition in the Surbiton Trophy tournament last week. His opponent, Hyung-Taik Lee from Korea, ended last year with his best world ranking of 49th and was at 42nd spot when the draw was made for this tournament. Bogdanovic was born in Belgrade--which has been much in the tennis news recently following the progress of Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic among others in the French Open--but has been living in this country since he was eight. He had his first win at this tournament in 2003 and by the end of last year had reached a career best ranking of 123rd. Left-handed Bogdanovic is the British No 3 behind Andy Murray and Tim Henman. Lee has played at Wimbledon five times and won three matches. He lost in the first round of the French Open and will be hoping to find some form this week.
Verdict: Lee to take command
Jamie Murray and Eric Butorac v Ernests Gulbis
and Ivan Ljubicic
Played--never previously met
Jamie Murray ranks 41st in the world in doubles, which makes him the highest ranked British player in doubles, and with his American partner Eric Buterac has already won two tour titles in San Jose and Memphis since they first teamed up in July last year. They have also won a title at Challenger level in Dallas this year and have a website, bootyandstretch.com. Butorac, 26, lives in Minnesota and ranks 44th in doubles. Murray and Butorac were on the Centre Court briefly yesterday when the workings of the Hawkeye device were tested. Today their doubles will be under full scrutiny from the ten cameras working Hawkeye from high above. Ernests Gulbis, is 18 and was the third youngest player to finish in the top 200 last year and has already played Davis Cup singles and doubles for Latvia. Ivan Ljubicic from Croatia ended last year with a singles ranking of fifth in the world. He was seeded seventh in the French Open and was defeated in the second round. He served 929 aces on the tour last year, the highest of any of the players. Gulbis and Ljubicic are a new team.
Verdict: Murray and Butorac can expect to be challenged
strongly by Ljubicic whose contribution may be decisive
Robby Ginepri v Richard Bloomfield
Played-never previously met
Richard Bloomfield, who was born in Norwich, began playing tennis when he was nine and his highest world ranking was 176th in March this year. Nicknamed Bloomers, the Cheltenham based Bloomfield who is coached by Pete Russell, won a futures title in Bath in March. He is a wild card into the Artois Championships and plays the American Robby Ginepri for the first time. Ginepri, who lives in the state of Georgia, played in the French Open last month and was beaten in five sets in the first round. His best year in Grand Slam terms was 2004 when he was in the fourth round at both Wimbledon and the US Open. He has been ranked as high as 17th in the world in 2005 when he was a semi-finalist at the US Open.
Verdict--Ginepri in the mood to start confidently
Jonas Bjorkman v Justin Gimelstob
Played-Gimelstob leads 2-1
This match unquestionably brings together two of the longest serving players on the tour. In Grand Slam terms Bjorkman began at the US Open in 1993 and Gimelstob in 1995, also at the US Open. They have acquired a massive amount of history on the way and Bjorkman, who has been the more successful of the two players, was in the Wimbledon semi-final last year for the first time and at his 13th attempt. He has won doubles titles in three of the four Grand Slams and is second seed in doubles here at Queen's Club, 11th ranked in singles. Gimelstob was back inside the top 100 for the second time in his career at the end of 2006 and, mostly, can be relied upon to win a round or two in Grand Slam play. He, too, is a Grand Slam doubles champion, winning the Australian and French titles in the same year, 1998, both with Venus Williams.
Verdict-two old adversaries will be trying to find the
gaps in each other's play with Bjorkman the more likely winner