DC: Nalbandian Sends Argentina into Quarterfinals

Sweden vs. Argentina: Winner Argentina 3-2

Initially flying in to support his Argentine squad this weekend, Davis Cup stalwart David Nalbandian inevitibly rescued his team from the jaws of elimination by defeating Andreas Vinciguerra 7-5, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Helping to secure the doubles point on Saturday with teammate Horacio Zeballos, Nalbandian subbed in for Eduardo Schwank before the start of the fifth rubber.

Nalbandian, who told reporter before the tie that “if I have to play in a wheelchair I will” put forth a riveting performance which lasted two hours and 35 minutes. The 28-year-old had recently suffered an abdominal tear while competing in his home event in Buenos Aires.

Earlier in the day, Robin Soderling survived 25 aces from Leonardo Mayer to win 7-5, 7-6 (5), 7-5 and force the deciding match.

Using his court craft and trusting two-handed backhand, Nalbandian adapted well to the fast Stockholm surface, which was made to aid the Swedish team.

Winning 75 percent of his first serve points while breaking serve on four of five occasions, Nalbandian improved to 18-4 in Davis Cup singles competition.

Argentina, who have never won the Davis Cup title, appeared in harms way of being defeated in the opening round when Juan Martin del Potro, Juan Monaco and Nalbandian became injured.

Losing to two-time defending champions Spain at home during the 2008 final, Argentina will remain hopeful of their Davis Cup dream against Russia in the quarterfinals.

The final eight tie between Argentina and Russia will be played July 9-11.

DC: Argentina Pulls Ahead of Sweden 2-1

The dynamic Argentine team of David Nalbandian and Horacio Zeballos upset the home court of Sweden on Saturday during the doubles competition in Davis Cup.

Defeating the Swedish team of Robin Soderling and Robert Lindstedt 6-2, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), the Argentine team stands at one win away from advancing to the quarterfinals.

Nalbandian, who was not scheduled to particpate in the tie, made the late trip to Stockholm after being sidelined with an abdominal injury.

Day three action in Sweden will feature reverse singles action.

DC: Sweden and Argentina Tied at 1-1 After Day One Action

Sweden vs. Argentina: In Sweden

Seven-time Davis Cup winners Sweden will head into Saturday’s Davis Cup tie even at 1-1 against a resilient Argentine squad.

The first match of the day saw Robin Soderling power through a determined effort from clay-court comfortable Eduardo Schwank. Using 17 aces and 78 percent of his first serve points won, Soderling defeated Schwank 6-1, 7-6 (0), 7-5 in two hours and 30 minutes.

Surprised by the level of play from his Argentine opponent, Soderling confessed that he needed to be on top form in order to prevail.

“I started the match really well, played an excellent first set and then in the second I maybe didn’t move as well and let him dictate the points a little bit more,” Soderling said. “He played well – he surprised me in the second and third sets because he was serving well and mixing his game up well with some serve and volley. He played a good match.”

Soderling’s win would prove to vital, considering Joachim Johansson’s loss against Leonardo Mayer in the day’s second rubber, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

Using a brilliant array of serving tactics, Mayer struck 28 aces and won 82 percent of his first serve points during the three hour and one minute contest.

Johansson, who continues to suffer from a right elbow injury, lost his serve on three occasions, while serving seven double faults.

Saturday’s doubles contest will reportedly feature David Nalbandian and Horacio Zeballos vs. Robert Lindstedt and Soderling.

Nalbandian, who sustained an abdominal tear in Buenos Aires last month, was a late arrival in Sweden after having originally opted out of the tie.

Quotes courtesy of atpworldtour.com.

Nalbandian Decides to Play Davis Cup

Davis Cup stalwart David Nalbandian has decided to travel to Sweden this weekend for his countries’ first-round tie in Stockholm.

Suffering a tear in his abdominal while reaching the quarterfinals in Buenos Aires last month, Nalbandian will play doubles with teammate Horacio Zeballos on Saturday, and if required reverse singles on Sunday.

Nalbandian was quoted on his official website as saying,”we will do everything to qualify for the next round.”

Quote courtesy of tennis.com.

Nalbandian Injured Again

Former Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian will once again be sidelined from the ATP World Tour following another injury in his hometown of Argentina.

Defeating Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain on Wednesday night, Nalbandian suffered a three-millimetre tear in his adductor. Nalbandian will be sidelined for the next three weeks, which will result in his withdrawal from next week’s Acapulco event, and Argentina’s first-round Davis Cup tie the following week.

Nalbandian was previously sidelined from the Tour because of a persistent hip injury. The 28-year-old was also forced to miss the Australian Open with an abdominal tear.

Day 4 Review: Memphis, Marseille, and Buenos Aires

Regions Morgan Keegan Championships—Memphis, USA

Top seed Andy Roddick avoided an upset bid from countryman James Blake on Wednesday evening in front of a full house at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis.

Defeating Blake 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (3), Roddick improved to 14-2 on the season, while snapping a three match losing streak to Blake.

Serving for the match at 5-4, Roddick lost serve before closing out at comfortable third set tiebreak.

Using 22 aces, while winning 76 percent of his first serve points, Roddick needed one hour and 57 minutes to advance.

Remaining the only top four seed left in the field, Roddick will next face Yen-Hsun Lu in second-round action o Thursday n evening.

The event has thus far lost No. 2 seed Fernando Verdasco (first-round), No. 3 Radek Stepanek (second-round), and No. 4 seed Tommy Haas (second-round).

Roddick had this to say after escaping a near defeat to Blake.

“He played well tonight. It was a battle,” said Roddick, who arrived in Memphis after reaching the final in San Jose last week and then went home to Austin, Texas to have a nagging shoulder problem examined.

“I expected him to play well. He normally plays pretty well in an atmosphere like that. There was certainly a buzz, about as much as in any match I can remember playing here.”

Blake, who fell to 3-4 on the year, was optimistic after his defeat.

“That definitely could have been a semi or a final. It felt like one,” said Blake.

Other matches that are set to take place on Thursday will include:

Michael Russell vs.  No. 5 seed Thomas Berdych; Leonardo Mayer vs. No. 8 seed Sam Querrey; Ivo Karlovic vs. Xavier Malisse, and Lukas Lacko vs. Jeremy Chardy.

Chardy defeated No. 2 seed Verdasco in first-round action, while Malisse clipped No. 4 seed Tommy Haas in a second-round match. Haas had won the event on three occasions.

Open 13—Marseille, France

Recent Rotterdam champion Robin Soderling will begin his Open 13 campaign today against Sergiy Stakhovsky.

Under the new rules of the ATP World Tour, a selected amount of 250 point Tour events will require the top four seeds to win only four matches in order to raise the title. Typically, a Thursday start to an event is rare, but a welcome change for the worlds’ best players.

Soderling, who began the year 0-2, quickly picked up his form last week in The Netherlands by defeating a quality field. Currently ranked No. 8 in the world, Soderling could leapfrog Andy Roddick in the ranking depending on how they each player performs this week.

No. 3 seed Gael Monfils, who announced earlier this week that he will not defend his final points in Acapulco next week in order better prepare for France’s first-round Davis Cup against Germany, will battle Italian Andreas Seppi in front of a supportive crowd later on Thursday.

Holding a 10-4 record on the season, Monfils has battled both knee and shoulder injuries to start the year.

French youngster Guillame Rufin advanced to his first career quarterfinal on Thursday by defeating Yannick Mertens 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.

Winning 82 percent of his first serve points, Rufin struck six aces and broke the serve of Mertens on three occasions throughout the one hour and 31 minute encounter.

Rufin will face Mischa Zverev in Friday’s quarterfinal round. Zverev defeated No. 4 seed Tommy Robredo in three sets on Wednesday.

The day’s final match will feature Oliver Rochus vs. lucky loser Illya Marchenko. Marchenko took the place of Mikhail Youzhny, after the Russian was forced to pull out of the event with an injured right hamstring. Youzhny suffered the injury while competing in the finals of Rotterdam last weekend.

Copa Telmax—Buenos Aires, Argentina

Argentine fans will have a chance to calm their nerves on Thursday, after a gripping second-round win by David Nalbandian on Wednesday.

The unseeded former champion, who is taking part in his first tournament in nearly a year, defeated tough Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (7) in two hours and 47 minutes.

Needing four match points to defeat Gimeno-Traver, Nalbandian advanced to his fifth quarterfinal in Buenoes Aires, while improving to 13-6 at the event.

Visibly struggling with his ailing hip throughout the contest, Nalbandian will next face No. 5 seed Albert Montanes, who defeated Pablo Andujar 6-3, 6-2.

Nalbandian leads Montanes 4-0 in career head-to-head meetings, losing only one set to the Spaniard lifetime.

Thursday day four action will highlight three hometown players vying for a final eight position.

First up, last year’s finalist and 2007 champion No. 4 seed Juan Monaco will battle countryman Juan Ignacio Chela.

Possessing a great clay-court game, Monaco has been touted a as potential darkhorse at the French Open Championships. The Tandil native (the same town Juan Martin del Potro is from), holds an 8-3 record on the season.

Top seed David Ferrer will continue his efforts towards capturing his first Tour title since ’s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands in 2008.

Ferrer will battle tough Portugese player Frederico Gil for a place in the final eight.

The final two matches of the day will feature:

Marcel Granollers vs. No. 6 seed Igor Andreev, and No. 8 seed Horacio Zeballos vs. three-time champion Carlos Moya.

Quotes courtesy of Associated Press.

Day 3 Review: Memphis, Marseille, and Buenos Aires

Regions Morgan Keegan Championships—Memphis, USA

After Tuesday’s nights shocking exit of recent San Jose champion Fernando Verdasco, a wide open bottom half of the Memphis draw will take to the court on Wednesday.

Losing 7-6 (4), 6-3 to Jeremy Chardy during the night session, Verdasco appeared tired and not used to the change in venue. Having only one day to adjust the the different conditions in Memphis, Verdasco was far from his best during his one hour and 15 minute defeat. Verdasco will now reportedly take three weeks off to rest a sciatic nerve injury he sustained after the Australian Open. The 26-year-old Madrid native could also miss Spain’s first-round Davis Cup tie against Switzerland.

“With just one day in between matches and in different conditions, and not being able to practice on the stadium court before the match, it was difficult,” said Verdasco. “And it was difficult for me to get the timing. But he played a great match. He served really good.”

Whether he wants to admit it or not, Verdasco’s woes on Tuesday night were also attributed to his new Yonex racket. Changing to the new frame at the beginning of last week, Verdasco seemed hesitant when lining up his usually rock-solid forehand.

Chardy will next face Lukas Lacko, who defeated Bobby Reynolds 2-6, 7-6 (8), 6-3 earlier on Tuesday. Chardy also picked up his first win of the season after losing his first four matches of the year.

Wednesday’s order of play will be highlighted by the event’s best first-round matchup between No. 1 seed Andy Roddick taking on good friend James Blake.

Trailing Roddick 6-3 in career head-to-head meetings, Blake has won the pair’s last three matches. Dropping to No. 55 in the world, Blake has recorded a mediocre 3-3 record to begin the season. Changing rackets to begin the year, Blake’s best result of ‘10 came during the Brisbane, Australia event when he reached the quarterfinals (l. Gael Monfils).

Roddick, who is the defending champion this week, would lose 500 ATP World Tour points if he was ousted by Blake. The loss would also drop Roddick to No. 8 in the world in next week’s rankings. The American is currently ranked No. 7.

Elsewhere, defending finalist and No. 3 seed Radek Stepanek will battle the shaky but talented Ernests Gulbis; No. 6 seed John Isner will search for a quarterfinal spot against crafty Finn Jarrko Nieminen, and Evgeny Korolev will take on Philipp Petzschner, who defeated Taylor Dent in first-round action.

Three time champion Tommy Haas will make his first appearance of the week against fellow veteran Xavier Malisse. Haas has been busy in the public relations department as of late, announcing his engagement to Sara Foster, acquiring US citizenship, and legally changing his name in the past week.

The 31-year-old German will take a 9-3 winning record against Malisse into Wednesday’s contest.

No. 8 seed Sam Querrey will look to jump start his season against fellow American Rajeev Ram, while Mardy Fish will test his ailing knee against hard-hitting Argentine Leonardo Mayer.

Open 13—Marseille, France

Choosing to work on his hard-court game instead of defending his clay-court dominance of last season may end up costing Spaniard Tommy Robredo.

Opting to miss his title defense in Brazil last week, Robredo was defeated in the second-round of Rotterdam by Florian Mayer. Adding to his recent bad form on Tour, Robredo was ousted in the second-round of Marseille on Wednesday by Mischa Zverev 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

Coming into the event as the No. 4 seed, Robredo will now lose the 250 points he gained from winning Argentina last year. Losing his serve on four occasions, Robredo showed some momentum in the second set against Zverev before faltering in the third set. Falling to 2-4 on the year, Robredo may lose his top 20 spot when the rankings are released on Monday.

For Zverev, the win over Robredo couldn’t have come at a better time. Losing his first four matches of the year, the German has now won two consecutive matches on Tour.

Zverev will now have a day off on Thursday, while preparing for his quarterfinal opponent on Friday.

Elsewhere, Julien Benneteau stormed into the final eight for the third time this season by defeating countryman Florent Serra 6-4, 6-4. Using his baseline and serve and volley blend of tennis to capture his eighth victory of the year, Benneteau won 70 percent of his first serve points while striking 11 aces. Benneteau will now await the winner of the Gael Monfils vs. Andreas Seppi match.

Other matches that are set to take place on Wednesday will feature:

Defending champion and No. 2 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. lucky loser Joessiln Ouanna; Michael Llodra vs. No. 7 seed Marcos Baghdatis; Guillaume Rufin vs. Mikhail Youzhny, and Jan Hajek vs. Yannick Mertens.

The Tsonga-Ouanna match has the potential to be a great encounter. Ouanna is an up-and-coming Frenchman loaded with athleticism and poise, while Tsonga’s power-driven game continues to climb up the rankings.

Copa Telmax—Buenos Aires, Argentina

After 13 singles matches overloaded the schedule on day two action, Wednesday’s four singles matches in Buenos Aires should allow spectators the comfort of not having to decide which favorite player to watch.

Aiming to win his seventh straight match on Tour, No. 2 seed Juan Carlos Ferrero will take on his second Brazilian player of the week, Marcos Daniel. Disposing of Ricardo Mello in straight sets on Tuesday, Ferrero will take a 1-0 head-to-head deficit against Daniel into their second-round clash. Ferrero was forced to withdraw from the pair’s previous encounter during the first-round of the 2008 French Open.

Capturing his 13th career title over the weekend in Brazil, Ferrero will be the player to beat this week in Argentina.

Winning his first Tour-level match in nearly a year, unseeded hometown favorite David Nalbandian will attempt to reach the quarterfinal of the Copa Telmax event against Daniel Gimeno-Traver.

Defeating Italian Potito Starace 6-2, 7-6 (2) in a rain-delayed first-round contest, Nalbandian appeared fleet of foot, while showing off his leaner physic.

Nalbandian told reporters that he was happy with his performance.

“I’m happy to be able to play tennis again, to compete,” Nalbandian said. “Being away from the circuit so long, it helped to play at home in Argentina. It helped to motivate me.”

Nalbandian holds a 1-0 career head-to-head lead over Gimeno-Traver, defeating the Spaniard in the identical round of the event last year.

No. 7 seed Victor Hanescu will face veteran Spaniard Santiago Ventura for a place in the final eight, while Pablo Andujar will take on No. 5 seed Albert Montanes.

Other notable winners on Tuesday included:

Former world No. 1 and French Open champion Carlos Moya won his first match in the last twelve months over Fillipo Volandri 6-2, 7-5, while fellow former French Open champion Gaston Gaudio was defeated in three sets by countryman No. 8 seed Horacio Zeballos 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Moya and Zeballos will face off for a place in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Top seed David Ferrer also cruised into the second-round by defeating Simon Greul 6-2, 7-6(3). Ferrer will face Frederico Gil in second-round action.

Quotes courtesy of Associated Press.

Day 2 Review: Memphis, Marseille and Buenos Aires

Regions Morgan Keegan Championships—Memphis, USA

Following his maiden ATP World Tour indoor title in San Jose, California last week, No. 2 seed Fernando Verdasco will begin his campaign at capturing a second consecutive title  in Memphis on Tuesday against Jeremy Chardy of France.

Surprisingly, Chardy’s year-to-date results have been dismal at best. Beginning the year 0-4, the Frenchman could desperately use a Tour-level victory. Having never played Verdasco on the ATP World Tour, Chardy may have a shot a a potential upset. Verdasco will be coming into Memphis tired from last week’s efforts, and his change to Yonex rackets will undoubtedly remain an issue with his shot selection. Chardy does posses a great indoor game, but his low confidence may hurt him in the end.

Other matches that will take place on Tuesday in Memphis will include:

Ryan Sweeting vs. No. 5 seed Thomas Berdych; No. 7 seed Phillip Kohlschreiber vs. Evegeny Korolev;  Bobby Reynolds vs. Lukas Lacko; Ernests Gulbis vs. Robert Kendrick; Benjamin Becker vs. Ivo Karlovic; Wayne Odesnik vs. Michael Russell; Jarrko Nieminen vs. Dudi Sela, and Robby Ginepri vs. Yen-Hsun Lu.

Monday’s notable winners in Memphis included: Radek Stepanek defeating Kevin Anderson 7-5, 4-6, 6-4; John Isner ousting Ryan Harrison 6-1, 7-5, and Philipp Petzchner upsetting Taylor Dent 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Stepanek, who lost to Andy Roddick in last year’s championship match, will face the winner of the Gulbis/Kendrick match on Wednesday.

Open 13—Marseille, France

The French contingent will be out in full force on Tuesday in Marseille, when six local players will contest first-round matches.

No. 8 seed Julien Benneteau recorded his seventh match victory of the season over Stephane Bohli 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) earlier on Tuesday, needing two hours to advance. Withstanding 14 aces from his opponent, Benneteau pounded nine aces of his own while winning 77 percent of his first serve points. The 28-year-old Frenchman, who is ranked No. 39 in the world, will next face countryman Florent Serra in second-round action.

Elsewhere, defending finalist Michael Llodra defeated good friend Eduardo Roger-Vasselin 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4. Striking 17 aces while winning 89 percent of his first serve points, Llodra picked up his second win of the season and improved to 6-4 at the event. Llodra will next face Marcos Baghdatis in the second-round.

Ukrainian player Sergiy Stakhovsky setup a second-round clash with top seed Robin Soderling after fighting past Simon Bolelli 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Sodelring, who won his first title on the year in Rotterdam last week, holds a 1-0 career head-to-head lead over Stakhovsky.

Other matches which have been completed on day two action in France include:

Illya Marchenko defeating Ruben Bemelmans 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, and Josselin Ouanna dismissing last week’s San Jose semifinalist Denis Istomin 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

Ouanna entered the 28-man draw after Christophe Rochus was forced to withdraw due to a lower back injury.

Matches that are still to come on Tuesday will include:

No. 5 seed Gilles Simon vs. Oliver Rochus, and Arnaud Clement vs. Andreas Seppi. Simon is taking part in his first Tour-level action of the season after being sidelined with a right knee injury.

Copa Telmax—Buenos Aires, Argentina

A full slate of clay-court tennis will shine during day two action at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club in Argentina.

Continuing his winning ways, No 2 seed Juan Carlos Ferrero captured his six consecutive match victory over Ricardo Mello of Brazil 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday. Defeating Mello in the semifinals of the Brasil Open last week, Ferrero captured his 13th career singles title. Surrendering just three games on Tuesday, Ferrero needed 48-minutes to capture his second consecutive win over Mello, while losing only five points on serve. Ferrero was also stellar on his return-of-serve, converting on five of seven break point opportunities.

Ferrero will next face another Brazilian, Marcos Daniel, who eased past Paolo Lorenzi 6-1, 6-3.

Spanish journeyman Pablo Andujar posted his first match victory of the season against countryman Oscar Hernandez, defeating his older compatriot 6-4, 6-1.

Matches that are still to come on day two action will include:

The resumption of the David Nalbandian vs. Potito Starace match. Competing in his first Tour-level match since last May, Nalbandian captured the first set against his Italian opponent before heavy rain ended the day’s action.

Another match that will be carried over from Monday will pit No. 8 seed Horacio Zeballos vs. former French Open champion Gaston Gaudio. Gaudio is taking part in his first Tour-level action of the season.

Top seed David Ferrer will battle Simon Greul in first-round action; Lukasz Kubot takes on No. 4 seed Juan Monaco; Pablo Cuevas faces No. 5 seed Albert Montanes; Fabio Fognini will challenge No. 6 seed Igor Andreev; three-time champion Carlos Moya will look to capture his first Tour-level victory in the past year when he takes on the often injured Filippo Volandri; Richard Gasquet will look to hone his clay-court skills against Juan Ignacio Chela; Daniel Koellerer faces Santiago Ventura, and Marcel Granollers takes on Diego Junqueira.

As always, the day’s results can be followed on the TennisConnected lives-scores link, or through the Tourney Tracker on the home page. Talk soon.

Tournament Previews, and Day 1 Review: Memphis, Marseille, and Argentina

Week three of the North American and European hard-court swing continues to dominate the ATP World Tour, while Buenos Aries, Argentina will host the third consecutive tournament in South America.

February is usually a month of rest for the world’s best players, who recharge their bodies and mental focus for the upcoming Masters 1000 month in March. This week on Tour will feature three top 10 players participating throughout three respective events—two in Marseille and one in Memphis.

The Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis will feature top seed and defending champion Andy Roddick bidding for his third title at the 500 point ATP World Tour indoor event. Roddick will be joined by recent San Jose champion, No. 2 seed Fernando Verdasco, and defending finalist No. 3 seed Radek Stepanek. Losing to Verdasco in a three set final last week in California, Roddick will be keen on a potential finals rematch with the Spaniard.

No. 4 seed Tommy Haas will attempt to win his fourth title in Memphis this week (W-’07, 06, 99), while capturing his first title since Halle, Germany last year. Haas will battle good friend Xavier Malisse in first-round action. The German, who recently acquired American citizenship, holds a 28-8 record at the event.

Other notable players to watch out for in Memphis will include: No 6 seed John Isner, No. 8 seed Sam Querrey, and unseeded Croatian Ivo Karlovic.

The highlighted first-round match of the event will feature Roddick vs. Davis Cup teammate James Blake.

Off to Europe and the Open 13 in France. Recent Rotterdam champion Robin Soderling will head the 28-man field, which will feature 250 ATP World Tour points. Soderling not only recorded his first title of the year last week in The Netherlands, he also captured his first Tour win of the season by defeating Florent Serra in first-round action.

Seemingly through his January slump, Soderling will be joined in Marseille by No. 2 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, No. 3 seed Gael Monfils and No. 4 seed Tommy Robredo. Defending champion Tsonga, along with the other top four seeds will receive a first-round bye.

No. 5 seed Gilles Simon will make his first appearance of the year on Tour after sustaining a right knee injury from the US Open. The 2007 winner will battle tough Belgium player Oliver Rochus in first-round action.

A potential darkhorse in the event could see No. 7 seed Marcos Baghdatis continue his fine form on Tour. Baghdatis has won two title since November, while recording a 9-3 record on the season. Baghdatis was a losing finalist to Simon in 2007.

The final stop on Tour this week will take the ATP boys to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The 32-man field at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club will boast four former champions, highlighted by the return of hometown hero David Nalbandian. Competing as an unseeded player this week, Nalbandian will see his first Tour level action since May of last year. Nalbandian will face Potito Starace in first-round action.

Other former champions in the draw will include: Carlos Moya (W-’06, 03, 95), Gaston Gaudio (W-’95), and Juan Monaco (W-’07).

Spaniard David Ferrer will lead the field this week as the tournament top seed, followed by No. 2 seed and recent Brazil champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, No. 3 seed Nicolas Almagro, and No. 4 seed Monaco.

Other notables players in the draw will include: Richard Gasquet, recent Brazil finalist Lukasz Kubot, and No. 8 seed Horacio Zeballos.

Kubot and Monaco could provide the best first-round match of the event.

Defending champ Robredo opted to miss the clay-court swing this year in order to work on his hard-court skills. As mentioned, the Spaniard will be taking part in the Marseille event.

Let’s now take a look at Monday’s day one review.

Regions Morgan Keegan Championships—Memphis, USA

Monday’s light day of action in Memphis will feature three singles matches on the schedule.

Last year’s finalist Radek Stepanek will begin his march to another finals spot when he takes on under-the-radar Kevin Anderson of South Africa. The 6′7″ Anderson has had mediocre results on Tour thus far, after posting a successful college career. Anderson’s big serve could cause Stepanek some adversity, considering the Czech is not in top form. Stepanek was ousted from the first-round of San Jose last week after claiming the title a year ago.

Elsewhere, the American component will continue to reign supreme on day one action when No. 6 seed John Isner battles Ryan Harrison, and Taylor Dent faces Philipp Petzchner.

Isner began the year in scintillating form by winning the Auckland event and reaching the fourth-round at the Australian Open. Harrison, who continues to search for a breakthrough, remains a promising star for the United States.

Dent, who recently became a father, will attempt to fine-tune his groundstrokes against his German opponent. Holding a 2-4 record on the season, Dent is currently ranked No. 78 in the world.

Open 13—Marseille, France

Entertaining Cypriot and No. 7 seed Marcos Baghdatis will begin his Open 13 journey on Monday against Daniel Brands of Germany. Considering France his home away from home, Baghdatis has historically posted fine results in the  European country.

Brands’ towering serve may give Baghdatis trouble to begin the match, but the German’s suspect groundstrokes are not at the level of the No. 7 seed. Look for Baghdatis to gain momentum heading into next month’s Masters 1000 events.

French fans will have two players to root for on day one action when David Guez battles Mischa Zverev, and Igor Kunitsyn takes on Florent Serra.

Guez’s diminutive game may not have enough power to bother Zverev, while Serra appears the favorite ahead of his match with Kunitsyn. Serra was the only player last week to take a set off of Robin Soderling along his road to the title.

By contrast, Kunitysn has seen his ranking drop from No. 43 this time last year, to its current position of No. 90.

Copa Telmex—Buenos Aires, Argentina

Monday’s action in Argentina will feature the return of David Nalbandian. Sidelined for nearly a year with hip injuries, the former Wimbledon finalist will entertain fans against Italian Potito Starace. Nalbandian appears to be fitter than years past, and his willingness to compete at the highest level remains in tact.

The day’s remaining quality matches will feature:

No. 3 seed Nicolas Almagro vs. Daniel Gimeno-Traver, No. 8 seed Horacio Zeballos vs. Gaston Gaudio, No. 7 seed Victor Hanescu vs. Eduardo Schwank, and Peter Luczak vs. Frederico Gil.

Their will undoubtedly be a lot of hype around Nalbandian’s return.

For live-scoring of all the day’s matches, please check the TennisConnected livescores section, or Tourney Tracker on the home page. Talk soon.

Nalbandian To Return At Buenos Aires Event

Injury-prone Argentine David Nalbandian will return to competition in two week’s time at the Buenos Aires event. Nalbandian pulled out of the Australian Open event with an abdominal strain.

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