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By Barry Newcombe
Andy Roddick v Mardy Fish
Played-Roddick leads 8-1
Andy Roddick's run of victories over fellow American Mardy Fish started in 2002 and has been played out in the United States, Australia and Italy. Fish won their first match but Roddick has been taking his wins ever since. This match in the Artois Championships is the first time that they have met on grass.
Few current players can match Roddick's record on grass—he has won here in four of the past five years—and he will be looking to extend that run against Fish whose chief efforts at Wimbledon, for example, have been with two appearances in the third round. Fish beat Roger Federer in Indian Wells this year, his best win against a top ten player, but fell to Novak Djokovic in the final. Fish had a lot of problems with a variety of injuries last year but will look forward this time to giving Roddick plenty to think about.
Verdict—Roddick to confirm a quarter-final place
Ernests Gulbis v Andy Murray
Played—never previously met
If the best way to make an impact in tennis is to come careering through the field in a Grand Slam then Ernests Gulbis, the 19-year-old from Riga, Latvia, is one to watch. In the French Open he took his unseeded challenge all the way to the last eight where he was beaten by Novak Djokovic—but he made his mark, starting with his second round win over the seventh seeded American James Blake. Gulbis did some damage domestically last year in defeating Tim Henman in the first round of the French and now moves on to tackle the current British No 1 Andy Murray. Just two games was all Murray was required to play to reach the third round but he has been keeping his hand in on the doubles court as well.
Verdict—Murray to reach the quarter-finals for the first time
Rafael Nadal v Kei Nishikori
Played—never previously met
On the basis that Rafael Nadal is known throughout the tennis world let us consider for a moment his opponent in the third round of the Artois championships, Kei Nishikori of Japan, an 18-year-old whose current ambition is to finish this year inside the top 50. He has a way to go because his current ranking is 113th, sufficient for him to be accepted into Wimbledon for the first time, and every day on grass is a new one.
"It's tough to move on grass but I'm getting used to it, "says Nishikori who is based in Florida as a scholarship student at the Nick Bollettieri academy. Earlier this year he qualified for the Delray Beach tournament in the same state and won the title against James Blake. Nadal, with one win under his belt here, is on the march after capturing the French Open for the fourth time and the more the sun shines the happier he will be.
Verdict-Nadal to move forward
Novak Djokovic v Janko Tipsarevic
Played—never previously met
There might be more than an element of domestic rivalry between second seed Novak Djokovic and his Serbian Davis Cup team mate Janko Tipsarevic when they meet to decide a quarter-final place in the Artois Chanmpionships. They have no track record at all in competition but know a great deal about how the other plays.
If Tipsaveric is in the shadow of Djokovic as he heads to the rarefied atmosphere occupied by Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, he has put in plenty of productive hours on grass and last year was his best on the surface—he reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, losing to Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain. This year it took Federer to beat Tipsarevic in the third round of Australian Open. Whatever has happened so far, Djokovic knows what is required.
Verdict-Djokovic to move on
Richard Gasquet v Mario Ancic
Played—1-1
These two players shared victories in 2005 with Richard Gasquet of France beating Mario Ancic of Croatia in the Artois Championships. But Ancic is no stranger to success here because he played in the semi-finals in 2004 and the quarter-finals two years later. Ancic, now ranked 44th in the world, missed much of last year because of illness and was absent from three Grand Slams.
He was the last player to beat Roger Federer on the Centre Court at Wimbledon in 2002. Gasquet, fifth seed in the Artois field, was in the top ten at the end of last year for the first time and having missed the French Open last month could now be building to repeat last year's feat at Wimbledon where he reached the semi-finals.
Verdict-Gasquet to come through
Paul-Henri Mathieu v Lleyton Hewitt
Played—Hewitt 2-0
This is their first meeting on grass with Hewitt holding a considerable edge in experience on the surface with a string of impressive results here in the Artois Championships which he has won four times already—and a record fifth is waiting around the corner if he sustains his present challenge. Like many of his fellow competitors Hewitt has moved on to grass from clay courts and says: "There is no bigger difference in going from a clay court to a grass court.
But I'm fortunate that I feel as soon as I get here on grass I'm always hitting the ball pretty well. My movement is pretty good as well, which is lucky." Hewitt puts all that belief into play against the 26-year-old Mathieu from France who was impressive on grass last summer and topped an ever improving display by reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon, losing to Andy Roddick.
Verdict-Hewitt out to prove his points
Nicolas Mahut v David Nalbandian
Played-Nalbandian leads 1-0
Nicolas Mahut may not have quite same track record as David Nalbandian but if you take last year's Artois Championships as a guide he might just be poised to stage a spectacular finish. In the run-in at the 2007 championships he beat Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals, saw off fellow Frenchman Arnaud Clement in the semi-finals, and held a match point against Andy Roddick in the final.
The fact that he had to play in the Wimbledon qualifying tournament the next
day did not worry him. He came through that as well. Nalbandian's pedigree suggests
this 26-year-old Argentine is a threat on any surface and his run to the Wimbledon
final in his first appearance in 2002 showed how
decisive he can be.
Verdict—fourth seeded Nalbandian remains a strong challenger