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By Barry Newcombe


Marat Safin (RUS) v James Ward (GBR)
Played—never previously met

James Ward made himself a welcome arrival in the first round of the Artois Championships by winning three rounds in the qualifying tournament. It is only the second time he has played on the ATP tour and he is bubbling over with excitement that the Russian Marat Safin, twice a Grand Slam champion, is his first opponent. For 21-year-old Ward, who stands 6ft 3ins and weighs 70kgs, today's match means making the most of his chances especially as he has a world ranking of 488.

He spent four and half years in Spain at the Juan-Carlos Ferrero academy and works out now at the Hazelwood Club and the National Tennis Centre. He wielded his new Wilson racket at Surbiton last week and says of his match with Safin: "It will be a good day, I think I have a chance. I will give it my best shot and see what it does for me." Safin, 28, has been on the tour for ten years and in 2000 was ranked World No. 1 having won the US Open that year. He has made the greater impact at the Australian Open where he was champion in 2005 and twice runner up before that. At Wimbledon his best was a quarter-final in 2001. His sister Dinara was runner up in the French Open two days ago.

Verdict—Ward to state his case

Nicolas Lapentti (ECU) v Mario Ancic (CRO)
Played—Ancic leads 1-0

Mario Ancic missed playing for six months last year and this is his first summer on English grass since 2006 when he was quarter-finalist at Wimbledon. Having been a semi-finalist two years before that, when he was beaten by Andy Roddick, he certainly knows his way around on grass. He comes into the Artois field having reached the third round of the French Open where he was beaten by Roger Federer in straight sets.

But it was against Federer of course on the Centre Court at Wimbledon in 2002 that Ancic made his reputation when he defeated the world No 1. Ancic started playing tennis at the age of seven and had an outstanding junior career with a Wimbledon final appearance when he was 16. Lapentti, who is ranked 69th in the world against Ancic's 46th place, lost his only match against the Croat on a carpet court in St. Petersburg last year. He began playing beach tennis at the age of six and has had a fulsome career which includes regular duty for the Ecuador Davis Cup team and a world ranking as high as sixth.

Verdict-Ancic to enjoy his return to grass

Joshua Goodall (GBR) v Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)
Played—never previously met

Joshua Goodall is a wild card into the Artois field and currently holds a world ranking of 274th having once been ranked 205th in January last year. He comes from Basingstoke and has been in the first round at Wimbledon for the past three years but was beaten each time. Hewitt, at the age of 27, has had a long and rewarding career which began in 1997 and has won both Wimbledon and the US Open among a haul of 26 titles.

Goodall will readily appreciate that at this time of the year the British players have a chance to showcase their skills at the Artois and hope that they can pick up some momentum both in this week and again at Wimbledon if they have the chance to play there. Hewitt has played at Wimbledon continuously since 1999 and has the best record there of any of the current Australian players having been champion in 2002, a semi-finalist once, and a quarter-finalist twice. But it is also here at the Artois that the work and skill of Hewitt has to be admired over the long term because he has been champion on these courts four times. Last year, just to show that records can be upset, Hewitt was beaten in the first round here by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France.

Verdict—Hewitt to open in style


Sebastien Grosjean (FRA) v Rik De Voest (RSA)
Played-never previously met

The French Open, which ended yesterday, was a platform of encouragement for so many French players and over recent years it would be more than fair to say that Sebastien Grosjean, now 30, has set targets which a whole generation of his countrymen would be happy to emulate. As Grosjean likes London and enjoys playing on grass it is no surprise that he has made two appearances in the Artois final, in 2003 and 2004.

Grosjean has been playing at Grand Slam level since 1997 with two semi-final appearances at Wimbledon and one each at the French and Australian Opens. So we are talking about a very rounded player. De Voest is 28 and holds a world ranking of 130th. He was born in Milan and makes his home in Pretoria. The last time de Voest played here at Queens Club was in 2003 when he was beaten by Andy Roddick. De Voest has won three doubles titles this year at Challenger level.

Verdict—Grosjean to demonstrate his liking for this tournament

Alex Bogdanovic (GBR) v Joseph Sirianni (AUS)
Played-Bogdanovic leads 2-0

Although British Davis Cup player Alex Bogdanovic ranks 242nd in the world, he goes into this match against Joseph Sirianni with the advantage of two victories over him—one was in a challenger event in Cherbourg where he reached the semi-final round and the other in Glasgow. Here in the Artois championships Bogdanovic took his left handed game into the third round a year ago and on that basis alone should be looking forward to this week's activities.

He was ranked as high as 107th at this time last year having turned professional in 2002. Coached by Larry Dempster, Sirianni currently ranks 143rd in the world and his best performance in singles this year was to reach the semi-final round of a tournament in Adelaide. He turned professional in 1996.

Verdict: Sirianni to give Bogdanovic a strong challenge

Andy Murray (GBR) and Daniel Vallverdu (VEN) v Richard Gasquet (FRA) and Nicolas Mahut (FRA).

Andy Murray, the British No 1, makes his first appearance in this country this year having missed out on the Artois Championships last summer after injuring his wrist in Hamburg. He has been on the European clay court circuit and reached the third round of the French Open in Paris where he was beaten by the Spaniard Nicolas Almagro in four sets in the third round. Since then his search for grass court practice led to him being forced indoors and on to a hard court because of the weather. But he has now had four days on grass and comes back to this tournament with happy memories because this is where he made his tour debut two years ago. Playing doubles for the first time with Vallverdu will be an interesting experience. Their opponents have the benefit of speaking the same language and Richard Gasquet, who was a semi-finalist at Wimbledon last year, returns to tournament play after missing the French. Mahut was runner up in the singles event here last year.

Verdict: Some useful grass court match play for both pairs, with understanding favouring the French.