Poertschach Preview: Davydenko Plays as Big Three Rest
There's no Federer, no Nadal, and no
Djokovic this week as most of the top players rest up for Roland Garros.
Nikolay Davydenko, however, headlines a Poertschach draw that is surprisingly
strong considering the French Open is just seven days away.
Sure it's a bit of a slow week as most of the world's best, including Roger
Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic, get ready for the French Open, but
the Hypo Group Tennis International in Poertschach,
Austria is
definitely worth watching. Not only does the field include fourth-ranked
Nikolay Davydenko, defending champion Juan Monaco, and No. 7 seed Mario Ancic,
but it is also a great opportunity for tennis fans to identify some darkhorse
contenders for Roland Garros next week.
One of those sleepers could be sixth-seeded Andreas Seppi, a solid clay-courter
who had been flying under the radar until his surprising run to the Hamburg semifinal last
week. He has a tough first-round match in Poertschach on his hands, however,
with dangerous 19-year-old Ernests Gulbis. Seppi could be a little tired and he
is going up against a youngster with all the talent in the world in Gulbis, but
the slow surface should see him through.
In addition to Gulbis, some other youngsters looking to fine-tune tune their
games in time for the rapidly-approaching Grand Slam include Americans John
Isner and Donald Young, and Israeli Dudi Sela. Not one of the three is a
clay-court specialist, but all are capable on dirt, although Isner surely does
not like that it slows down his serve.
Seppi is on a short list of threats to capture the Poertschach title, joined by Davydenko, Monaco, and Ancic. You could also argue that big men Ivan Ljubicic and Sam Querrey also have chances to go all the way. Ljubicic, however, has been out of form recently and neither player is particularly adept on the slow stuff, even though Querrey surprised everyone with a quarterfinal appearance in Monte-Carlo.
Poertschach is no Masters Series event, the likes of which we have been bombarded with over the past few months. Still, considering the French Open is next week, you can't complain about the quality of this tournament. It will be a fun one to watch.
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