Eastbourne, 's-Hertogenbosch Tuesday Briefing

© AFP/Getty ImagesAndy Roddick opens his Eastbourne campaign in an all-American clash with Sam Querrey.

EASTBOURNE TUESDAY PREVIEW – SEEDS GASQUET, BENNETEAU, RODDICK, KOHLSCHREIBER IN ACTION
• There are five first round matches along with one second round contest at the AEGON International on Tuesday at the International Tennis Center.

• In the first men’s match on Centre Court, Sam Querrey and No. 6 seed Andy Roddick, a wild card entry, meet for the eighth time, the first on grass courts. Roddick has a 5-2 head-to-head advantage, winning their last meeting in the first round of Basel in November 2010. Querrey is coming off a season-best semi-final showing at the Queen’s Club where he lost to eventual champion Marin Cilic in three sets. Querrey is ranked No. 63 with an 11-12 match record on the year. Roddick, who is playing a tournament the week before Wimbledon for the first time in 10 years, is trying to break a six-match losing streak. The former World No. 1 last posted a win over No. 3 Roger Federer in the third round of Miami on March 26. Last week he suffered an opening round loss at Queen’s to Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin. Roddick is ranked No. 33 this week with a 7-11 match record on the season. The only time he entered Wimbledon ranked outside the Top 20 was in his debut in 2001 (at No. 33).

• In the next match on, top seed and 2005-06 champion Richard Gasquet of France takes on Aussie qualifier Marinko Matosevic for the first time. This is the fifth career ATP World Tour tournament  Gasquet is the top seed. He is playing in Eastbourne for the time time and his 12-1 career mark came in Nottingham. Both players have reached an ATP World Tour final this season, Gasquet in Estoril last month (l. to del Potro) and Matosevic in Delray Beach in March (l. to Anderson). Gasquet has a 22-12 match record on the season and Matosevic 9-6 with a career-high No. 83 this week.

• On Court 1, the first match features 2010 champion Frenchman Michael Llodra, who looks for his first win (0-1) against Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan. Both players were finalists in February, Llodra in Marseille (l. to del Potro) and Istomin in San Jose (l. to Raonic).

TUESDAY FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play by Court

Centre Court

Sam Querrey (USA) vs (6-WC) Andy Roddick (USA) Roddick Leads 5-2
07 San Jose (U.S.A.) Hard (I) R16 Andy Roddick 6-4 7-6(3)
09 Memphis (U.S.A.) Hard (I) QF Andy Roddick 6-4 3-6 6-3
09 Washington (USA) Hard R16 Andy Roddick 7-6(4) 6-4
09 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati (USA) Hard R32 Sam Querrey 7-6(11) 7-6(3)
10 San Jose (U.S.A.) Hard (I)  SF Andy Roddick 2-6 7-6(5) 7-6(4)
10 Memphis (U.S.A.) Hard (I) QF Sam Querrey 7-5 3-6 6-1
10 Basel (Switzerland) Hard (I) R32 Andy Roddick 7-5 7-6(6)

Querrey FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
SF: London / Queen's Club (l Cilic); QF: Memphis (l Stepanek)
YTD W-L: 11-12
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 6
Date of Birth: October 7, 1987
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 63

Roddick FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
QF: San Jose (l Istomin); Delray Beach (l Anderson)
YTD W-L: 7-11
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 30
Date of Birth: August 30, 1982
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 33

(1) Richard Gasquet (FRA) vs (Q) Marinko Matosevic (AUS)  First Meeting

Gasquet FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
F: Estoril (l del Potro); QF: Sydney (l Istomin); Montpellier (l Kohlschreiber); Rotterdam (l Davydenko); Marseille (l Del Potro); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (l Ferrer)
YTD W-L: 22-12
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 6
Date of Birth: June 18, 1986
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 19

Matosevic FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
F: Delray Beach (l Anderson); QF: Munich (l Kohlschreiber)
YTD W-L: 9-6
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: August 8, 1985
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 82 (Career-high)

Court 1

Michael Llodra (FRA) vs Denis Istomin (UZB)  Istomin Leads 1-0
08 Moscow (Russia) Hard R32 Denis Istomin 7-6(2) 6-3
Other meetings:
09 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati Q (USA)Hard -- Denis Istomin 6-3 7-6(5)
10 Bordeaux CH (France) Clay SF Michael Llodra 7-6(3) 6-3
 
Llodra FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
F: Marseille (l del Potro)
YTD W-L: 8-10
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 5
Date of Birth: May 18, 1980
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 52

Istomin FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
F: San Jose (l Raonic); SF: Sydney (l Nieminen); QF: Brisbane (l Tomic)
YTD W-L: 18-18
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: September 7, 1986
South African Airways  ATP Ranking: 41

Court 3

(5) Julien Benneteau (FRA) vs Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)   First Meeting

(7) Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) vs Go Soeda (JPN)   First Meeting

Court 4

Steve Darcis (BEL) vs (Q) Matthew Ebden (AUS)   First Meeting

‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH TUESDAY PREVIEW – TOP SEED FERRER, NO. 2 TROICKI  HIGHLIGHT THIRD DAY SCHEDULE
• First round action continues on Tuesday at the Unicef Open with the top two seeds leading the way on Centre Court. Overall, there are four seeds in action.

• In the first men’s match on Centre Court, top seed and World No. 6 David Ferrrer of Spain makes his season grass court debut against Canadian qualifier Pierre-Ludovic Duclos.  Ferrer, who won the title here four years ago, is making his third tournament appearance. He owns a 7-1 career mark. The Spaniard is playing his first tournament since a career-best semi-final showing at Roland Garros where he lost to eventual champion Rafael Nadal. This season, the 30-year-old Ferrer has won three ATP World Tour titles and reached another final en route to a 38-8 match record. His three titles are only behind Nadal and Roger Federer’s four titles. Duclos qualified into the main draw with three wins and the 26-year-old Canadian is looking to win his second career ATP World Tour match. Last August in Winston-Salem he defeated American Ryan Harrison, who was No. 67, in the first round.  He comes in ranked No. 244 after reaching a career-high No. 229 in February.

• In the next match, veteran Belgian Xavier Malisse meets No. 2 seed Viktor Troicki for the first time. Malisse is coming off his second ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season at the Queen’s Club in London where he lost to David Nalbandian. Malisse is ranked No. 95 with a 10-14 match record on the year. Troicki, who is playing here for the third time (2-2 mark), reached the quarter-finals four years ago, his best result. The 26-year-old Serb is 17-15 on the season and he’s turned in a pair of quarter-finals in Doha and Rotterdam. He is ranked No. 34.

• On Court 1, No. 7 seed Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Russia squares off with Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin for the first time. Bogomolov, who reached the quarter-finals here last year in his debut, is 9-17 on the season and ranked No. 46. Last week at Queen’s, Roger-Vasselin posted his biggest win of the season over No. 32-ranked Andy Roddick in the second round before falling in three sets in the next round to Nalbandian. He is 10-10 on the year and ranked No. 69.

TUESDAY FIRST ROUND FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play by Court

Centre Court

(1) David Ferrer (ESP) vs (Q) Pierre-Ludovic Duclos (CAN)  First Meeting

Ferrer FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
W(3): Auckland (d Rochus); Buenos Aires (d Almagro); Acapulco (d Verdasco); F: Barcelona (l Nadal); SF(2): ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (l Nadal); Roland Garros (l Nadal); QF(3): Australian Open (l Djokovic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Djokovic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (l Federer)
YTD W-L: 38-8
YTD Titles: 3
Career Titles: 14
Date of Birth: April 2, 1982
South African Airways  ATP Ranking: 6

Duclos FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 0-0
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: January 8, 1986
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 244

Xavier Malisse (BEL) vs (2) Viktor Troicki (SRB)  First Meeting

Malisse FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
QF: Bucharest (l Balazs); London / Queen's Club (l Nalbandian)
YTD W-L: 10-14
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 3
Date of Birth: July 19, 1980
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 95

Troicki FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
QF: Doha (l Monfils); Rotterdam (l Del Potro)
YTD W-L: 17-15
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: February 10, 1986
South African Airways  ATP Ranking: 34

Court 1

(7) Alex Bogomolov Jr. (RUS) vs Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)   First Meeting

Bogomolov Jr. FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
QF: Sydney (l Benneteau)
YTD W-L: 9-17
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: April 23, 1983
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 46

Roger-Vasselin FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
QF: Marseille (l Tsonga)
YTD W-L: 10-10
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: November 28, 1983
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 69

Court 3

Flavio Cipolla (ITA) vs Potito Starace (ITA)   First ATP Meeting
Other meetings:
05 Genova CH (Italy) Clay F Potito Starace 6-3 7-6(3)
06 Napoli CH (Italy) Clay R16 Potito Starace 7-6(7) 7-5
06 Szczecin CH (Poland) Clay R32 Potito Starace 6-2 6-4
08 San Marino CH (San Marino) Clay SF Potito Starace 6-4 6-2
09 ATPMasters 1000 Monte Carlo Q Clay -- Flavio Cipolla 6-4 6-1

Court 4

Dudi Sela (ISR) vs (7) Lukasz Kubot (POL)    First Meeting