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ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament - day 3 preview
On Centre Court there is good reason to stay in the seat throughout the entire day. The first match of the day is between the young German qualifier Matthias Bachinger and former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis, who is always a pleasure to watch. Bachinger has gone from being a solid Challenger player to a solid ATP World Tour player, ranked 95. Bachinger reached the 2nd round in Doha this year and had an impressive 20-16 record indoors in 2011.
Next up is a Czech battle, as Lukas Rosol faces 2nd seed Tomas Berdych. Rosol is ranked 77 and had a particularly impressing record on clay in 2011, winning 29 matches and losing only 14. Tomas Berdych is looking strong. He has had a great start in 2012 winning the Hopman Cup alongside Petra Kvitova and the ATP 250 in Montpellier. Furthermore he reached the quarterfinals in Australian Open.
Berdych is followed by Juan Martin Del Potro, who is fighting hard to get back on top level. The big Argentinian is facing the former winner of the tournament, Michael Llodra, who is always a dangerous opponent indoors. His excellent serve-volley style works well and he has extremely good hands, making it difficult to pass him. He can be a very tricky 1st round hurdle for Del Potro.
Jarkko Nieminen, partnering Viktor Troicki, is finishing off the afternoon session in a doubles encounter with Dutch duo Igor Sijsling and Thomas Schoorel.
The evening session offers what most people has looked forward to – Roger Federer. The Swiss topseed plays his first match of the tournament at 19.30 against Nicolas Mahut. Mahut has his forces at the net, and he has to put in an extraordinary performance if he wants to trouble Federer.
The Centre Court schedule is rounded up by Paul-Henri Mathieu and Nikolay Davydenko. Mathieu is experiencing a great comeback, after receiving a wildcard to the qualification, where he beat Michael Berrer and Thomas Schoorel. In the 1st round he took down 4th seed Feliciano Lopez. Nikolay Davydenko is struggling to reach his former level, but is always a dangerous player. He beat Robin Hasse in convincing style, and looks like the favorite in the late evening clash.
But the action doesn´t stop here. There are matches on both court 1 and 2 during the afternoon. On court 1 matches start at 11.00 am. There is a very interesting doubles match on offer, as Wimbledon finalists Robert Lindstedt and Horica Tecau faces Austrian Davis Cup duo Oliver Marach and Alex Peya.
They are followed by Jarkko Nieminen who faces Lukasz Kubot. Nieminen seems to have recovered from his wrist injury, but has to be 100% fit to beat Kubot. The Polish number 1 took out Alexander Dolgopolov on Monday and is a tricky player with a great serve and an even better return.
Two doubles matches end the schedule on court 1. Ivan Ljubicic partners Richard Gasquet, when they face Dutch/Pakistan duo Jean-Julien Rojer and Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi. Rojer just made his Dutch Davis Cup debut, while Qureshi featured at the World Tour Finals in London in November, partnering Rohan Bopanna.
Last doubles match is between the Polish duo Marcin Matkowski/Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Dutch duo Thiemo De Bakker/Robin Haase. The Polish duo is extremely experienced and reached the US Open final last year.
Court 2 offers three matches. Alex Bogomolov kicks off the schedule at 13.00 when he faces Sergiy Stakhovsky. Bogomolov, now a Russian citizen, had a fantastic 2011 season and has started well in 2012. He could be a very interesting name in Rotterdam this week.
Karol Beck is up next, when he faces German doubles specialist Philipp Petzschner. Petzschner won the doubles title last year in Rotterdam and also won the US Open doubles alongside Jurgen Melzer. Karol Beck is an experienced player, especially on hardcourt, and he indeed has the abilities to upset Petzschner.
Daniel Nestor, who has won almost every tournament within Grand Slams and ATP 1000´s in doubles, partners Max Mirnyi, when they face Spanish duo Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez, in what looks like the best doubles match of the day.
