SAP Will Continue San Jose Sponsorship

The ATP World Tour 250 event held in San Jose, California announced today that SAP, a German business software company will continue its sponsorship of the tournament for the next three years.

The 2010 edition of the event featured Spaniard Fernando Verdasco defeating Andy Roddick 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 for the first time since 2006 at the Pavilion in San Jose.

The 2011 SAP Open will take place February 7-13.

Free Live Streaming for Memphis, Marseille, and Argentina

For those of you keen on watching the men’s tour this week, please find the following free links below to the three respective tournaments.

Live Streaming for Memphis, Marseille, and Argentina:

Livescorehunter.

Channelsurfing.

Verdasco Captures San Jose Title Over Roddick

No. 2 seed Fernando Verdasco captured his first indoor title on Sunday at the SAP Open in San Jose, California, defeating top seed Andy Roddick 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Using his improved backhand and speedy serve, Verdasco struck a 144 MPH ace to clinch the second set.

Capturing the first indoor title of his career, Verdasco improved to four and 10 in ATP World Tour finals.

Changing racket manufactures to Yonex at the beginning of the week, Verdasco spent 10 days in California prior to the event play-testing rackets.

Gaining his first win over Roddick since the 2005 Roma Masters, Verdasco captured 250 ATP World Tour points and $90,925 of his efforts. Verdasco will also re-enter the top 10 after his victory in San Jose. The 26-year-old Madrid native entered the SAP Open ranked No. 11 in the world.

Roddick, who was bidding for his four title in San Jose, failed to capture the 29th title of his career.

Both Verdasco and Roddick will travel to Memphis, Tenn. next week to participate in the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships.

Day 6 Review: Rotterdam, San Jose, Brazil

ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament—Rotterdam, The Netherlands

The top three seeds will highlight Saturday’s semifinal action in Rotterdam.

First up, No. 2 seed Nikolay Davydenko will battle hard-hitting Swede Robin Soderling. Trailing Soderling 6-4 in career head-to-head meetings, Davydenko currently stands at 12-1 on the season.

Soderling, who began the year 0-2, finally found his form this week in Europe by blitzing past his latest victim Julien Benneteau 6-0, 6-1 in the quarterfinals. Currently standing at the No. 8 rank in the world, Soderling remains two spots back of his semifinal opponent. Soderling will be attempting to reach his second final appearance in Rotterdam (2008), while Davydenko will aim to reach his seventh Tour level final since July (six titles).

The second match of the day will feature top seed and recent world No. 2 Novak Djokovic battling 2007 champion Mikhail Youzhny. Leading the Russian 3-2 in career head-to-head meetings, Djokovic will be adamant on upholding his recent No. 2 rank.

Youzhny, who is returning to action after being sidelined with a wrist injury, survived a near three hour encounter with Gael Monfils on Friday evening. Defeating the Frenchman 5-7, 6-2, 6-3, Youzhny improved to 5-1 on the year, and 3-0 against Monfils.

Djokovic’s run at this year’s event as been fortunate to say the least. Having to complete one match in making the semifinals, Djokovic received a retirement from his second round opponent, and a walkover from Florian Mayer in the quarterfinals. Djokovic will certainly be the fresher of the two men ahead of tonight’s night session.

SAP Open—San Jose, California

Top seed Andy Roddick and No. 2 seed Fernando Verdasco continued their dominance of the field in San Jose this year, dispatching their quarterfinal opponents in straight sets on Friday.

Roddick squeezed past physically competent but mentally fragile Thomas Berdych 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5), while Verdasco ended the historic run of Ricardas Berankis 6-3, 7-6 (5). Berankis was attempting to become the first player from Lithuania to reach the semifinal stage of an ATP World Tour event. His progression to the quarterfinals was a milestone as well.

Both Roddick and Verdasco will be forced to maintain their high of play on Saturday, when they face Sam Querrey and Denis Istomin.

Querrey eased past Michael Russell 6-4, 6-3, while Istomin reached his first career semifinal with a 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 win over No. 6 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Roddick will take a 3-1 career head-to-head lead over Querrey into Saturday night’s encounter. Losing in two tiebreak sets to his younger countryman in Cincinnati last summer, Roddick will have to remain in control of his service games. Holding a relatively weak return game, Roddick will be up against the well placed serve of his 6′6″ opponent.

The day session will feature a first-time meeting between Verdasco and Istomin. Verdasco, who changed his racket to Yonex this week, appears to have finally found his grove with his new frame. Losing a set in his first-round contest, Verdasco has since breezed through the draw.

Istomin has enjoyed a breakthrough week. Defeating Tommy Haas and Kohlschreiber en route (both seeded players), Istomin, 23, will face his toughest test against Verdasco.

Ranked 85 places under Verdasco in the computer rankings, Istomin will simply have to play the match of his life if he’s to prevail. A distinct advantage goes to Verdasco to reach the finals.

Brasil Open—Costa do Saupie

Top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero remains on course to capture his second Tour level title in the past six seasons. Defeating Carlos Berlocq 6-3, 6-2 on Friday, Ferrero improved to 3-2 on the season after beginning the year 0-2. The former world No. 1 will attempt to reach the 30th final of his career on Saturday, while remaining in contention of capturing his 13th Tour level tile.

Ferrero will face Brazilian wildcard Ricardo Mello in the semifinals. Mello stunned countryman and tournament No. 3 seed Thomaz Bellucci, 6-3, 7-6 (3) in the quarterfinals. Ferrero and Mello have never met on the ATP World Tour.

The day’s first semifinal will pit No. 4 seed Igor Andreev against Tour upstart Lukasz Kubot. Andreev was merciless against his quarterfinal opponent No. 6 seed Pablo Cuevas on Friday, defeating the Uruguayan 6-1, 6-1. Reaching his first Tour semifinal of the season, Andreev recorded his first win of the season in Brazil this week after beginning the year 0-2.

Perhaps in the effort of the year thus far, Kubot was electrifying in defeating both No. 2 seed Albert Montanes, 6-2, 6-2 in the second-round, and Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals, (both on Friday). Because of the heavy rain on Thursday, Kubot was forced to play and win two matches on Friday. Coupled with his singles success, Kubot also won his doubles match.

Defeating Andreev on two previous occasions, Kubot appears to be the favorite heading into the semifinal match. Holding his poise and confidence throughout the week, Kubot could be the breakthrough player of 2010.

As always, for up-to-minute live-scoring from all the day’s matches, click the TennisConnected live-score section. The Tourney Tracker on the front page will also provide you with similar information. Talk soon.

Day 5 Review: Rotterdam, San Jose, and Brazil

ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament—Rotterdam, The Netherlands

No. 2 seed Nikolay Davydenko breezed into the final four in Rotterdam on Friday, dismissing Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-2.

Davydenko improved to 12-1 on the season, suffering his lone loss at the Australian Open to Roger Federer in the quarterfinals.

Using his potent blend of baseline accuracy, the Russian broke Melzer’s serve on four occasions while winning 82 percent of his first serve points.

Improving to 6-1 lifetime against Melzer, Davydenko will next face Robin Soderling on Saturday. Soderling trounced Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-1, 6-0 earlier in the day.

Needing only one hour and four minutes to defeat Benneteau, Soderling improved to 3-2 on the year. The Tibro native began the season 0-2.

The 2008 finalist provided no letup throughout the 64 minute win, keeping a helpless Benneteau at bay throughout the encounter. Benneteau won only one point on his second serve (1-11), while losing serve on five occasions.

By contrast, Soderling won 88 percent of his first serve points, while striking six aces.

Soderling and Davydenko have met on 10 occasions, with the Swede leading 6-4. The pair met five times last year with Soderling winning three times.

Elsewhere, a well rested Novak Djokovic will await the day’s last match between Gael Monfils and Mikhail Youzhny.

Djokovic received a walkover from his quarterfinal opponent Florian Mayer, who sustained a leg injury during his second round upset of No. 5 seed Tommy Robredo.

Djokovic, who recently captured the No. 2 rank on the ATP World Tour, remains in search of his first title since November, when he captured the Paris Masters 1000.

SAP Open—San Jose, California

Top seed Andy Roddick and No. 2 seed Fernando Verdasco will continue their collision course to the finals in San Jose on Friday.

After comprehensively defeating Leonardo Mayer 6-3, 6-1 on Thursday evening, Roddick will face a much sterner challenge in the quarterfinals with Tomas Berdych on deck. Holding a 4-2 career head-to-head lead over the Czech, Roddick will need to increase his level of play if he is to defeat Berdych.

Holding much better groundstrokes than the American, Berdych’s career Achilles has been his mental focus. Possessing the attributes of a top five player, Berdych has readily succumb to the pressure of winning high level matches.

No. 2 seed Fernando Verdasco will play his first afternoon match of the week when he faces Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis. Coming through the qualifying rounds, Berankis defeated Robby Ginepri and Bjorn Phau in reaching the quarterfinals.

Becoming the first player from Lithuania to make the quarterfinals of an ATP World Tour event, the 19-year-old, ranked No. 255 in the world will have his toughest test to date against Verdasco.

Verdasco has had his shares of ups and downs this week in San Jose. Changing racket manufactures to begin the event, the Spaniard’s confidence and forehand will need some fine tuning. Nevertheless, Verdasco comes into the contest the heavy favorite.

Elsewhere, a pair of Americans will follow Roddick on center court this evening. Tour journeyman Michael Russell will battle good friend and No. 7 seed Sam Querrey. Playing once in Memphis in 2008, Querrey’s lone victory will mean very little this evening.

Both players are at a different stage in their careers; Querrey has improved tremendously, while Russell has aged and continues to persevere. However, Querrey did begin the year on weak note by losing his first three matches. By contrast, Russell won a Challenger level title in Hawaii, and added a first-round win in Chennai to begin the season.

The final singles match of the day will feature No. 6 seed Phillipp Kohlschreiber facing Denis Istomin. Istomin defeated Tommy Haas along his road the quarterfinals, while Kohschreiber dismantled Dudi Sela in the previous round.

Kohschreiber and Istomin have never met on the ATP World Tour.

Brasil Open—Costa do Saupie

Thursday’s rain out in Costa do Saupie will leave four second round singles winners the daunting task of competing in two matches on the day.

Friday’s full day of action will feature:

Lukasz Kubot  vs. No. 2 seed Albert Montanes, No. 3 seed Thomaz Bellucci vs. Daniel Gimeno-Traver, Ricardo Mello vs. No. 5 seed Victor Hanescu, and Marcel Granollers vs. Fabio Fognini.

The winner of the Bellucci/Gimeno-Traver contest will later take on the winner of the Mello/Hanescu match, while the victor of Granollers/Fognini encounter will take on the winner of the Kubot/Montanes affair.

Players that will see action later in the day, and who will have to contest only one match on Friday will include:

Top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero vs. Carlos Berlocq, and No. 6 seed Pablo Cuevas vs. No. 4 seed Igor Andreev.

No one ever said winning tennis tournaments was easy.

As always, for up to the second results from all the day’s matches, you can visit the TennisConnected livescores section. The Tourney Tracker on the front page can also provide you with similar information. Talk soon.

Day 4 Review: Rotterdam, San Jose, and Brazil

ABM AMRO World Tennis Tournament—Rotterdam, The Netherlands

World No. 2 Novak Djokovic breezed into the quarterfinals in Rotterdam on Thursday, defeating unseeded Swiss Marco Chiudinelli 6-4, 6-2.

Winning 86 percent of his first serve points and striking two aces, Djokovic converted on three of 14 break-point chances against his opponent. Defeating the Swiss during the Australian Open in four sets, Djokovic was cautious to not allow Chiudinelli any openings during the 91 minute contest. Holding his serve in routine fashion, Djokovic never allowed a break point chance against his delivery. Improving to 6-1 on the season, Djokovic improved to 2-0 against Chiudinelli.

The Serb received an added bonus for his efforts on Thursday, reaching Saturday’s semifinal via a walkover by his next opponent Florian Mayer. Mayer suffered a left leg injury after upsetting No. 5 seed Tommy Robredo 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 on Wednesday evening.

Elsewhere, 2007 champion and tournament No. 6 seed Mikhail Youzhny defeated Marsel Ilhan of Turkey 6-4, 6-4. Using his topspin groundstrokes and crafty net game, Youzhny struck six aces while never losing his serve during the 91 minute contest. Youzhny will next face No. 4 seed Gael Monfils, who was 6-3, 6-2 winner over Thiemo de Bakker.

Youzhny told reporters after his victory that Monfils would not be an easy opponent in the quarterfinals.

“The next match will be very tough against Monfils,” said Youzhny, who takes a 2-0 career lead into the clash. “I am still recovering after my injury, trying to get better with every match, so we will see.”

Injuring his right wrist at the Australian Open, Youzhny has seen limited court action since the year’s first Major.

The final match of the day session saw Julien Benneteau defeat recent Zagreb finaist Michael Berrer 6-4, 6-4. Benneteau will next face No. 3 seed Robin Soderling on Friday.

Thursday’s night session will be highlighted by No. 2 seed Nikolay Davydenko vs. Marcos Baghdatis, and Jurgen Melzer vs. Andreas Seppi.

SAP Open—San Jose, California

Encountering a second set scare against Ryler Deheart on Wednesday evening, top seed Andy Roddick won his first match since the Australian by disposing of his countryman 6-1, 7-6 (1).

Trailing 5-2 in the second set, Roddick displayed his experience over his Challenger level opponent. Breaking serve at 5-3 in the second set, Roddick breezed through the remainder of the set to capture his 10th win of the season.

Roddick will next face hard-hitting Argentine Leonardo Mayer during Thursday’s evening session.

No. 2 seed Fernando Verdasco, sporting a new Yonex frame, was given a scare by Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei before dispatching his unseeded opponent 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3.

Winning the first set comfortably, Verdasco became complacent during the second set. Lu, who had defeated the likes of Andy Murray and David Nalbandian as his career highlights, displayed his great court coverage in capturing the second set. However, Verdasco’s overall Tour experience proved to be too much for Lu in the deciding set, using his first serve to strike four aces.

Verdasco will next face Benjamin Becker in second round action.

Elsewhere, defending champ Radek Stepanek was defeated on Wednesday, losing in straight sets to Xavier Malisse 6-3, 6-4. German Tommy Haas, who recently revealed that he will marry actress Sara Foster later this summer, was also defeated 7-6 (3), 6-2 by Denis Istomin.

Thursday’s action in San Jose will feature the remaining respective players:

Taylor Dent vs. No. 7 seed Sam Querrey, and Malisse vs. Michael Russell, and Bjorn Phau vs. Ricardas Berankis.

Brazil Open—Costa do Saupie

Clay-court wizard and tournament No. 2 seed Albert Montanes will attempt to make the quarterfinals in Brazil on Thursday when he battles tough Polish opponent Lukasz Kubot.

With both players holding a 6-3 record on the season, the Brazilian fans will be treated to a dynamic blend of clay-court tennis. Montanes is currently ranked No. 30 in the world, while Kubot continues his steady climb up the men’s ladder at No. 56.

Elsewhere, No. 3 seed Thomaz Bellucci will attempt to keep his six match winning streak alive when he faces Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain. Winning his second career title in Chile last week, Bellucci is the talk of event this week in Costa do Saupie. Living in the shadow Brazilian great Gustavo Kuerten, Bellucci holds the best chance of any player from the South American country to capture a Major title.

Brazilian hopes will continue to be  high on Thursday when Ricardo Mello faces No. 5 seed Viktor Hanescu. Mello will be the underdog going in, and will confide in the hometown fans for continued support.

The final match of the day will feature unorthodox Spaniard Marcel Granollers against formidable clay-court specialist Fabio Fognini. Granollers is coming off a quarterfinal finish in Chile last week, while Fognini will be in search of his second win of the season, after losing his first three matches.

Granollers and Fognini have met on one occasion with the Spaniard winning in straight sets.

Wednesday’s winners in Brazil saw:

Juan Carlos Ferrero, Igor Andreev, Pablo Cuevas, and Carlos Berlocq all victorious.

As always, for all the day’s latest scores, check out the TennisConnected livescores section or the Tourney Tracker found on the home page. Talk soon.

Quotes courtesy of atpworldtour.com.

Day 3 Review: Rotterdam, San Jose, and Brazil

ABM AMRO World Tennis Tournament—Rotterdam, The Netherlands

After a disappointing end to his Australian Open campaign, in-form Russian Nikolay Davydenko picked up a fine win on Wednesday in Rotterdam, defeating recent Johannesburg champion Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-2 in first-round action.

Lopez, who ended a five-year title drought over the weekend, showed visible signs of fatigue and jetlag in his first-round defeat. Winning a mere 45 percent of his second serve points, Lopez was broken on three occasions during the one hour and 15 minute match. Falling to 7-3 on the season, Lopez lost his second match to Davydenko in six meetings. The Spaniard will next see action at the Dubai Open Championships.

By contrast, a well rested Davydenko displayed pinpoint accuracy throughout his victory. Improving to 10-1 on the season, Davydenko will next face James Blake or Marcos Baghdatis in second-round action.

Elsewhere, No. 4 seed Gael Monfils shook off injures concerns and illness to overcome Oliver Rochus 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. Monfils, who aggravated a knee injury against Lopez in South Africa last week, appeared back to his acrobatic self during his one hour and 43 minute victory. Pounding 19 aces and winning 74 percent of his first-serve points, Monfils improved to 9-3 on the year.

The Paris native will next face Thiemo De Bakker in second-round action.

Jurgen Melzer benefited from a right arm injury from Viktor Troicki to advance to the second-round. Trailing 6-3, 3-0, Troikci was forced to abandon the one hour and six minute affair. Melzer will next face Andreas Seppi on Thursday.

Michael Berrer continued his stellar form as of late by defeating Arnaud Clement 7-6 (16), 4-6, 6-4. Winning the longest tiebreaker of the season thus far, Berrer used his imposing serve and risking net game to dispatch his formidable French opponent. Reaching the finals in Zagreb last week (l. Marin Cilic), Berrer improved to 8-3 on the year. The stalky German will next face Julien Benneteau in second round action.

In second round action on Monday, No. 3 seed Robin Soderling continued to climb out of his recent slump by defeating Igor Sijsling 7-6 (6), 6-2. Starting the year with an 0-3 record, Soderling struck 11 aces and won 80 percent of his first-serve points during the one hour and 18 minute match.

Advancing to his first quarterfinal of the season, the Tibro native will next face Berrer or Benneteau on Friday.

The final match of the day will feature No. 5 seed Tommy Robredo vs. Florian Mayer.

SAP Open—San Jose, California

Wednesday’s action in San Jose will feature the top six seeds in action.

Battling a few nagging injuries to begin the season, top seed Andy Roddick will see his fist on-court action since losing in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open (l. Cilic).

Facing unheralded countryman Ryler Deheart, Roddick will begin his hopeful campaign at capturing his fourth title at the 120-year-old tournament. Holding a 9-1 record on the season, Roddick will be the clear favorite against his No. 226 ranked opponent.

No. 2 seed Fernando Verdasco will make his debut in San Jose on Wednesday evening when he faces Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei. Falling out of the world’s top 10 after failing to defend his semifinal points in Australia, Verdasco decided that an aggressive attack on the North American indoor swing was required in order to regain his ranking.

Playing Lu for the first time, Verdasco will follow Roddick on center court.

Elsewhere, tricky Czech Radek Stepanek will begin the defense of his title against past-his-prime Belgium Xavier Malisse. Falling to Roddick in a close final to begin the season in Brisbane, Australia, Stepanek was ousted in the first-round of the Australian Open by Ivo Karlovic. Attempting to reach his third straight final in San Jose, Stepanek holds a 9-1 record at the event.

Second-round action will also commence on Wednesday, featuring the following matches:

No. 4 seed Tommy Haas vs. Denis Istomin, No. 5 seed Tomas Berdych vs. Jarkko Nieminen, and No. 6 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. Dudi Sela.

Monday’s notable winners included Haas and Sam Querrey. Haas defeated long-time friend David Britton, while Querrey overcame Teimuraz Gabashvili 6-3, 6-2.

Brazil Open—Costa do Saupie

Increasing heat and humidity in Costa do Saupie has made the task of winning this week on Tour slightly more complicated that once expected. The 32-man field in Brazil has quickly adjusted from the cooler conditions in Chile last week.

After a heavy day of action on Tuesday—which featured 13 singles matches—Wednesday in Brazil will be highlighted by four singles matches.

Top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, who defeated Eduardo Schwank in straight sets on Tuesday, will battle former Olympic gold medal winner Nicolas Massu. Holding a 6-2 head-to-head career record against Massu, Ferrero also leads the Chilean 2-0 when matches have been played on clay.

No. 4 seed Igor Andreev will attempt to salvage his poor start to year by advancing to his first quarterfinal of the season. The Russian will battle little known, but formidable clay-court player Rui Machado.

No. 6 seed Pablo Cuevas will battle Frederico Gil, and Juan Ignacio Chela will take on Carlos Berlocq from Argentina.

As always, for up to the second scoring of all the day’s matches, click the TennisConnected.com livescores section, or the Tourney Tracker for all the latest scores. Talk soon.

Day 2 Review: Rotterdam, San Jose, and Brazil

ABM AMRO World Tennis Tournament—Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Recent world No. 2 Novak Djokovic will see his first on-court action since losing in five-sets to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Australian Open last month.

Facing Sergiy Stakhovsky later on Tuesday, Djokovic will begin his push to dethrone current world No. 1 Roger Federer atop the men’s rankings. Holding nothing short of a great indoor game, the suitable conditions should bode well for Djokovic’s chances this week.

Elsewhere, Marco Chiudinelli fought past Michael Llodra in a two hour and 36 minute affair to reach the second-round, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6). Chiudinelli withstood 16 aces from Llodra and saved four of six break points to improve to 3-4 on the season. Competing in front of a sparse Ahoy Stadium, Chiudinelli will next face Djokovic or Stakhovsky in second round action.

Julien Benneteau caused the first upset of the tournament by ousting No. 7 seed Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-3. The loss for Ljubicic was his third consecutive at the event, who was ousted in the first-round the last two years. Reaching the finals on two occasions (2005, 2007), Ljubicic fell to 3-3 on the year.

Benneteau’s all-court game, coupled with three breaks of serve, allowed for his straight set win to take place. The veteran Frenchman will next face Arnaud Clement or recent Zagreb finalist Michael Berrer in second round action.

Thiemo De Bakker delighted his hometown crowd by defeating Jan Hajek 7-6 (5), 6-3, and Marsel Ilhan dispatched Guillermo-Garcia-Lopez 6-1, 6-4.

The day’s final match will feature No. 6 seed Mikhail Youzhny vs. Andrey Golubev.

SAP Open—San Jose, California

Tuesday’s action in San Jose will be highlighted by a “then vs. now” match between No. 4 seed Tommy Haas and unseeded American David Britton.

Britton, who met Haas as a ball-boy during his junior days, grew up idolizing the former world No. 2. Haas, who plays Davis Cup for Germany, recently gained American citizenship last week. The tour-veteran has been living in Bradenton, Florida for over a decade.

Haas and Britton have never met on the ATP World Tour.

The Americans will continue to make their presence felt on day two action California when No. 7 seed Sam Querrey, Robby Ginepri, Tim Smyczek, Michael Russell and Mardy Fish all compete in first-round matches.

Querrey will battle Teimuraz Gabashvili; Ginepri will take on Ricardas Berankis; Russell will face his good friend Fish, and relative unknown Smyczek will take on Benjamin Becker.

Talented Frenchman Jeremy Chardy will look capture his first win of the season (0-3), while No. 6 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber will face serve-and-volley expert Rajeev Ram.

Monday’s notable winners saw: No. 5 seed Tomas Berdych defeat Wayne Odesnik 6-1, 6-7 (5), 7-5, and Taylor Dent dismiss Alex Bogmolov Jr. 6-4, 7-6 (2).

Brazil Open—Costa do Saupie

Clay-court action is up and running in Brazil this week, and Tuesday’s action in Costa do Saupie will bring forth 13 singles matches. After a relatively calm day of action on Monday—a day in which only three matches were played—Tuesday’s schedule will feature top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero and recent Santiago champion Thomaz Bellucci.

Ferrero will begin his campaign at capturing his 13th career title against tough Argentine Eduardo Schwank. Having yet to record a win on the season, Ferrero will be aided by the red clay under his feet. Reaching the finals in 2007, Ferrero currently holds a 6-3 record in Brazil.

On to the man of the moment, and youngster Bellucci. Capturing his second Tour-level title over weekend in Chile, Bellucci defeated both Fernando Gonzalez and Juan Monaco en route to the title. Possessing penetrating strokes off both wings, the Sao Paulo resident will be adamant on continuing his fine form. The lone concern I have for Bellucci will be his fatigue factor coming in, coupled with the expectation of playing in front of his home crowd. Let’s not forget that Gustavo Kuerten will also be attending the event.

Nevertheless, Bellucci will have a stadium full of rowdy Brazilian fans waiting to view his match with countryman Thiago Alves.

Tuesday’s other 11 matches will feature;

Potito Starace vs. No. 4 seed Igor Andreev, Joao Souza vs. No. 5 seed Victor Hanescu, No. 6 seed Pablo Cuevas vs. Filippo Volandri, No. 7 seed Horacio Zeballos vs. Marcel Granollers, Lukasz Kubot vs. Oscar Hernandez, Juan Ignacio Chela vs. Peter Luczak, Fabio Fognini vs. Martin Vassallo Arguello, Riu Machado vs. Marcos Daniel, Rogerio Dutra Da Silva vs. Nicolas Massu, Pablo Andujar vs. Fredirico Gil, and Ricardo Hocevar vs. Carlos Berlocq.

As always, please check the TennisConnected livescores section for up to the minute results from the day’s matches. Talk soon.

Tournament Previews and Day 1 Review: Rotterdam, San Jose, Brazil

Tournament Previews:

Week two of the ATP World Tour’s indoor North American and European swing will continue this week, alongside the second week of four weeks of South American tennis.

First up this week, the highest point value tournament will be held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Boasting three top 10 players, ABM AMRO World Tennis Tournament will be without its defending champion and finalist from last year, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal. Murray has decided to minalize his schedule this year in order to gain greater output at the Major tournaments, while Nadal remains sidelined with a right knee injury.

In light of the notable absentees, the 32-man field in Rotterdam will feature top seed Novak Djokovic, No. 2 seed Nikolay Davydenko, and No. 3 seed Robin Soderling.

Other possible unseeded contenders for the title will include: Marcos Baghadatis, James Blake and Michael Llodra. The winner of the event will pocket € 277,000 in prize money and 500 ATP World Tour points.

The week’s second profile event will be held in San Jose, California. Top seed Andy Roddick, fresh off his quarterfinal finish in Melbourne, will attempt to capture his fourth career title at the SAP Open. Roddick will be joined by No. 2 seed Fernando Verdasco, defending champ and No. 3 seed Radek Stepanek, and recently turned American, No. 4 seed Tommy Haas.

Other notables in the field will include: No. 7 seed Sam Querrey, No. 8 seed Jeremy Chardy and No. 5 seed Thomas Berdych. The winner of the week-long event will take home 250 ATP World Tour points and $90,925 in prize money.

The final and warmest event of the week will take place in Costa do Saupie, Brazil. The second leg of the month-long South American outdoor series will provide the Tour’s clay-court players the chance to fine-tune their skills on their favorite surface. Defending champ Tommy Robredo opted to miss the event and try his luck at the bigger point total in Rotterdam. The absence of Robredo leaves former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrer as the tournament top seed. Ferrero has yet to win a title this year, snapping a six-year title drought be claiming the title in Casablanca, Morocco last spring.

Ferrero will be joined by countryman Albert Montanes as the event’s No. 2 seed, and recent Santiago, Chile winner No. 3 seed Thomaz Bellucci. Bellucci defeated both No. 1 and No. 2 seeds Fernando Gonzalez and Juan Monaco last week in Chile.

Potential darkhorses in the event will include: No. 8 seed Richard Gasquet, No. 7 seed Horacio Zeballos, and unseeded Spaniard Marcel Granollers. The winner in Brazil will take home $75,700 in prize money, and 250 valuable ATP World Tour points.

Let’s now take a look at Monday’s first-round results.

ABM AMRO World Tennis Tournament—Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Struggling Swede Robin Soderling got off to a slow start in Rotterdam on Monday, overcoming a first-set scare to defeat Florent Serra 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Failing to convert on two break-point chances in the opening set, Soderling quickly found himself in danger of losing his fourth consecutive match. Winning a mere 46 percent of his second serve points in the first set became a cause for concern going forward. However, the powerful Swede amped up his efforts in the second set, converting on the lone break of serve by either player to square the contest at a set apiece.

Gaining full momentum in the third set, Soderling breezed to his first main-Tour win of the season in one hour and 46 minutes. Striking 26 aces in total, Soderling will next face Mischa Zverev or Igor Sijsling in the second-round.

Other results on day one action in The Netherlands saw Florian Mayer defeat Janko Tisparevic 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (8), and Andres Seppi dismiss Stephane Bohli 6-1, 7-5.

Mayer needed just short of three hours to defeat Tipsarevic in an epic encounter. With both men winning over 80 percent of their first serve points, Mayer’s slightly more powerful delivery prevailed deep in the third-set tiebreak. Pounding 12 aces in total, Mayer improved to 3-2 on the season. The loss dropped Tipsarevic to 4-4 on the year. Mayer will next face the winner of the day’s final match between local hero Robin Hasse and No. 5 seed Tommy Robredo.

Seppi converted on six of 17 break point chances to dismiss his No. 142 ranked opponent. Using his court-craft and cunning net-play, Seppi ousted Bohli in one hour and 27 minutes, while improving to 3-3 on the season.

Seppi will next face the winner of No. 8 seed Viktor Troicki vs. Jurgen Melzer in round two.

SAP Open—San Jose, California

West coast action from California will feature four Americans on Monday’s docket. With 13 Americans in the main draw this week, the fans in San Jose will have plenty of favorites to cheer for.

Monday’s order of play will feature:

Wayne Odesnik vs. No. 5 seed Thomas Berdych, Ryan Harrison vs. Denis Istomin, and Alex Bogmolov Jr. vs. Taylor Dent.

Odenisk will have his hands full with Berdych’s firepower, while Harrison holds a great shot against Istomin. Bogmolov Jr. and Dent should provide an entertaining affair, with Dent possessing a much bigger serve.

Other matches on day one action in San Jose will feature:

Dudi Sela vs. Santiago Giraldo, Leonardo Mayer vs. Ernests Gulbis, and Jarrko Nieminen vs. Lars Poerschke.

Top seed Andy Roddick and No. 2 seed Fernando Verdasco will see first-round action on Wednesday evening. Verdasco will take on former world No. 1 and tournament champion Pete Sampras in an exhibition event on Monday evening.

Brazil Open—Costa do Saupie

A light day of action in Brazil will feature three men’s singles matches on Monday. The hot and humid conditions in Costa do Saupie will test each of the 32-main draw participants vying for the title this week.

No. 2 seed Albert Montanes will begin his campaign for his third career title on Monday when he faces Simon Greul of Germany. Montanes has poured in stellar results in the past year, capturing two titles in 2009.

Montanes’ countryman and recently married Santiago Ventura will battle good friend Daniel Gimeno-Traver later in the day. Ventura, who is currently ranked No. 108 in the world, will be attempting to regain his ranking of No. 65 which he held in March of 2008.

The day’s final match will feature Paola Lorenzi vs. local favorite Ricardo Mello. The pair have never met on the ATP World Tour, while holding one Tour-level win between them this season.

It has also been reported that former French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten will be attending the event this week.

As always, please check the TennisConnected livescores section located at the top menu for all the day’s results. Talk soon.