Hamburg, Gstaad, Atlanta Tuesday Briefing

© Getty ImagesTop seed Nicolas Almagro opens his campaign against Germany's Tobias Kamke.

HAMBURG TUESDAY PREVIEW – TOP THREE GERMANS HIGHLIGHT CENTRE COURT SCHEDULE

• The remaining 11 first round matches at the bet-at-home Open German Tennis Championships 2012 will be played on Tuesday with the No. 1 seed and top three Germans leading the way on Centre Court.

• In the first match on, No. 7 seed Florian Mayer and Argentine qualifier Horacio Zeballos meet for the first time. Mayer, who is one spot behind No. 22 Kohlschreiber, reached the semi-finals in Hamburg two years ago. His best result of the season came at Wimbledon where he reached the quarter-finals (l. to Djokovic) for the second time (2004 debut). Zeballos comes in with a 3-5 match record (all on clay) and his best non-ATP World Tour result is a title effort at the Prague Challenger in May.

• In the second match, No. 3 seed Juan Monaco takes on young German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe for the first time. Monaco comes in after a runner-up showing in Stuttgart on Sunday (l. to Tipsarevic). The 28-year-old Argentine is playing in Hamburg for the seventh time and he’s never advanced past the third round (2008, ’09, ’11). The No. 2 Argentine is compiling the best season of his career with a pair of ATP World Tour clay titles and 19-6 match record on clay. Stebe was a quarter-finalist in Stuttgart last week and a year ago he came into Hamburg ranked No. 168, posting wins over former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero and former No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko before losing to Fernando Verdasco in the third round. Stebe is ranked No. 83 after reaching a career-high No. 71 on Feb. 13.

• In the third match on, wild card Tommy Haas and the No. 2 player from Slovakia, Martin Klizan, square off for the first time. Haas has played well on German soil this season, winning the title last month in Halle (d. Federer) and reaching the semi-finals in Munich in May (l. to Cilic). Haas, who is playing in Hamburg for the first time in six years, has a 12-9 career mark here. He made his debut in 1997, reaching the semi-finals, and two years later he advanced to the quarter-finals, his best results. The 23-year-old Klizan has worked his way up to a career-high No. 59 this week in the South African Airways ATP Rankings. He’s compiled a 23-5 match record on the Challenger circuit with three titles.

• In the fourth match, No. 6 seed and top German Philipp Kohlschreiber brings a 3-0 career mark against countryman Bjorn Phau. Two of their previous three meetings came on German soil three years ago in Munich and Halle with Kohlschreiber winning both in straight sets. Phau is coming off a season-best quarter-final showing last week in Stuttgart where he held four match points against eventual champion Janko Tipsarevic. Phau is 2-4 lifetime in Hamburg, reaching the second round in his debut 10 years ago and in ’06. Kohlschreiber, who captured his fourth career ATP World Tour title in Munich in May (d. Cilic), enters with a 31-15 match record (8-5 on clay) and No. 22 ranking. This is his first tournament since reaching his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Wimbledon (l. to Tsonga).

• In the final match on, top seed and last year’s runner-up Nicolas Almagro meets Tobias Kamke for the first time. The No. 10th-ranked Almagro is a two-time winner on the ATP World Tour this season and he was runner-up on Sunday in Bastad (l. to. Ferrer). Almagro has the most clay court match wins (31) on the ATP World Tour this season. The 26-year-old Kamke has struggled with a 3-12 match record this year (1-4 on clay). Kamke is 1-5 lifetime against Top 10 opponents with his lone win coming over No. 6 Tomas Berdych in the first round of Basel in November 2010.

TOP GERMANS ON ATP WORLD TOUR – Six of the seven Germans in the Top 100 South African Airways ATP Rankings are in action Tuesday (except No. 93 Philipp Petzschner):
22) Philipp Kohlschreiber
23) Florian Mayer
49) Tommy Haas
76) Bjorn Phau
83) Cedrik-Marcel Stebe
97) Tobias Kamke

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

Centre Court 

(7) Florian Mayer (GER) vs Horacio Zeballos (ARG)    First Meeting

Mayer FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
QF: Wimbledon (l Djokovic)
YTD W-L: 13-16 (5-10 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: October 5, 1983
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 23

Zeballos FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 3-5 (3-5 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: April 27, 1985
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 108

(3) Juan Monaco (ARG) vs Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (GER)   First Meeting

Monaco FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
W(2): Vina del Mar (d Berlocq); Houston (d Isner); F: Stuttgart (l Tipsarevic); SF: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Djokovic)
YTD W-L: 26-10 (19-6 on clay)
YTD Titles: 2/Career Titles: 5
Date of Birth: March 29, 1984
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 14

Stebe FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
QF: Stuttgart (l Bellucci)
YTD W-L: 7-12 (5-4 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: October 9, 1990
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 83

(WC) Tommy Haas (GER) vs Martin Klizan (SVK)   First Meeting

Haas FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
W: Halle (d Federer); SF: Munich (l Cilic)
YTD W-L: 15-8 (6-3 on clay)
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 13
Date of Birth: April 3, 1978
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 49

Klizan FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 4-6 (2-3 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: July 11, 1989
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 59 (Career-high)

Bjorn Phau (GER) vs (6) Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)             Kohlschreiber Leads 3-0
09 Munich (Germany) Clay R32 Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2 2-1 ret
09 Halle (Germany) Grass R32 Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4 6-2
09 Metz (France) Hard R16 Philipp Kohlschreiber 4-6 6-3 6-2

Phau FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
QF: Stuttgart (l Tipsarevic)
YTD W-L: 6-9 (4-4 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: October 4, 1979
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 76

Kohlschreiber FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
W: Munich (d Cilic); SF(3): Auckland (l Rochus); Montpellier (l Berdych); Halle (l Haas); QF(3): Delray Beach (l Sela); Eastbourne (l Seppi); Wimbledon (l Tsonga)
YTD W-L: 31-15 (8-5 on clay)
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 4
Date of Birth: October 16, 1983
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 22

(1) Nicolas Almagro (ESP) vs Tobias Kamke (GER)  First Meeting

Almagro FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
W(2): Sao Paulo (d Volandri); Nice (d Baker); F(2): Buenos Aires (l Ferrer); Bastad (l Ferrer); SF: Chennai (l Raonic); QF(4): Auckland (l Kohlschreiber); Acapulco (l Verdasco); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Djokovic); Roland Garros (l Nadal)
YTD W-L: 43-14 (31-8 on clay)
YTD Titles: 2
Career Titles: 12
Date of Birth: August 21, 1985
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 10

Kamke FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 3-12 (1-4 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: May 21, 1986
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 97

M 1 Court

Jeremy Chardy (FRA) vs Albert Montanes (ESP)  Tied 1-1
10 Barcelona (Spain) Clay R64 Jeremy Chardy 6-3 7-6(1)
10 Bucharest (Romania) Clay QF Albert Montanes 6-3 1-6 6-3

(8) Viktor Troicki (SRB) vs Lukas Rosol (CZE)   Tied 1-1
12 Doha (Qatar) Hard R32 Viktor Troicki 6-4 7-6(4)
12 CZE vs. SRB WG QF (Czech Rep) Clay RR Lukas Rosol 7-6(5) 7-5

(WC) Julian Reister (GER) vs (5) Fernando Verdasco (ESP)  First Meeting

M 3 Court

Pablo Andujar (ESP) vs Albert Ramos (ESP)   Andujar Leads 3-0
11 Kitzbuehel (Austria) Clay R16 Pablo Andujar 6-2 6-1
12 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells Hard R32 Pablo Andujar 7-6(5) 6-4
12 Casablanca (Morocco) Clay F Pablo Andujar 6-1 7-6(5)
Other meetings:
05 Spain F31 (Vilafranca) Clay R16 Pablo Andujar 6-2 3-6 6-0
06 Spain F14 (Lleida) Clay R16 Pablo Andujar 6-4 6-4
08 Valencia Q (Spain) Clay -- Pablo Andujar 6-0 6-2
09 Seville CH (Spain) Clay R32 Albert Ramos 6-4 7-6(3)
10 Geneva CH (Switzerland) Clay QF Pablo Andujar 6-2 3-6 7-6(8)

Flavio Cipolla (ITA) vs (4) Marin Cilic (CRO)   Cilic Leads 2-0
09 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo Clay R64 Marin Cilic 6-3 6-2
09 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome Clay R64 Marin Cilic 6-2 6-2
Other meeting:
08 Prostejov CH (Czech Republic) Clay R16 Flavio Cipolla 6-4 7-6(6)

(Q) Marsel Ilhan (TUR) vs Fabio Fognini (ITA)       First Meeting

GSTAAD TUESDAY PREVIEW – NO. 5 LOPEZ, NO. 6 BENNETEAU, FORMER CHAMP BELLUCCI IN ACTION

• There are seven first round matches on Tuesday’s schedule at the Credit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad, with the No. 5 and 6 seeds, and 2009 champion on Centre Court.
 
• In the opening match, Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic meets Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin for the first time. Hajek is coming off a career-best ATP World Tour semi-final result in Bastad where he lost to No. 10-ranked Nicolas Almagro. Roger-Vasselin has advanced to a pair of ATP World Tour quarter-finals this year and climbed to a career-high ranking of No. 67 on June 11. He is No. 92 this week and he looks to even his match record (12-13) on the season.

• In the second match, No. 5 seed and 2006 runner-up Feliciano Lopez of Spain squares off with Romanian  Adrian Ungur for the first time. Lopez has compiled his best results on clay (6-7 mark) with a pair of semi-finals in Houston and  Munich along with a quarter-final in Barcelona. He reached a career-high No. 15 earlier this year but has slipped to No. 30 with a 12-16 match record. The 27-year-old Ungur is looking for his second ATP World Tour match win of the season (1-9).

• In the next match, 2009 champion Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil takes on top Slovenian Blaz Kavcic for the first time. Bellucci was a qualifier when he captured his first ATP World Tour title three years ago. Last week he reached his second semi-final of the season in Stuttgart (l. to eventual champ Tipsarevic). Bellucci is 15-14 on the year (11-9 on clay). Kavic has struggled on the ATP World Tour with a 5-11 mark but he’s worked his way up to a career-high No .71 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings last month (No. 77 this week) with success on Challenger circuit (21-5 record with two titles).

• In the final match, No. 6 seed Julien Benneteau of France and  on-the-rise Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria meet for the first time. Benneteau , who reached the quarter-finals here last year, is playing in his first tournament since reaching the third round at Wimbledon. He led Roger Federer 2-0 sets and was two points away from winning before the Swiss maestro rallied to win 6-1 in the fifth set. Benneteau is ranked No. 32 this week with a 17-13 match record. Last month Dimitrov advanced to his first career ATP World Tour semi-final at the Queens’ Club in London and last week he reached the semis in Bastad where he lost to eventual champion David Ferrer. He comes in with a 15-11 match record (5-4 on clay) and ranked No. 61. He went 7-8 through May but is 8-3 since June.

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

Centre Court

Jan Hajek (CZE) vs Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)   First Meeting

Hajek FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
SF: Bastad (l Almagro)
YTD W-L: 3-1 (3-1 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: August 7, 1983
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 90

Roger-Vasselin FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
QF(2): Marseille (l Tsonga); s-Hertogenbosch (l Petzschner)
YTD W-L: 12-13 (3-5 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: November 28, 1983
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 92

(5) Feliciano Lopez (ESP) vs Adrian Ungur (ROU)    First Meeting

Lopez FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
SF(2): Houston (l Isner); Munich (l Kohlschreiber); QF: Barcelona (l Ferrer)
YTD W-L: 12-16 (6-7 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 2
Date of Birth: September 20, 1981
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 30

Ungur FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 1-9 (1-7 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: January 25, 1985
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 102

Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) vs Blaz Kavcic (SLO)    First Meeting

Bellucci FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
SF(2): Sao Paulo (l Volandri); Stuttgart (l Tipsarevic); QF: Nice (l Simon)
YTD W-L: 15-14 (11-9 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 2
Date of Birth: December 30, 1987
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 60

Kavcic FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 5-11 (2-6 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: March 5, 1987
South African Airways  ATP Ranking: 77

(6) Julien Benneteau (FRA) vs Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)   First Meeting

Benneteau FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
F: Sydney (l Nieminen); SF: San Jose (l Istomin)
YTD W-L: 17-13 (4-2 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: December 20, 1981
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 32

Dimitrov FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
SF(2): London / Queen's Club (l Nalbandian); Bastad (l Ferrer)
YTD W-L: 15-11 (5-4 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: May 16, 1991
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 61

Court 1

Lukasz Kubot (POL) vs Ivan Dodig (CRO)   Kubot Leads 1-0
12 Sydney (Australia) Hard R32 Lukasz Kubot 7-6(4)  7-5
Other meetings:
07 Sarajevo CH (Bosnia & Herzegovina) Hard R32 Lukasz Kubot 7-6(8)  4-6 7-6(5)

(Q) Dustin Brown (GER) vs Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)   First Meeting

Filippo Volandri (ITA) vs Ernests Gulbis (LAT)   Gulbis Leads 2-0
08 Vienna (Austria) Hard R32 Ernests Gulbis 6-2 6-3
10 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome Clay R16 Ernests Gulbis 6-2 3-6 7-6(4)

ATLANTA TUESDAY PREVIEW – FIVE AMERICANS IN ACTION, LED BY HARRISON, BLAKE ON STADIUM
• There are six first round matches at the BB&T Atlanta Open on Tuesday, with five Americans leading the way, three on Stadium.

• In the first match on Stadium, No. 8 seed Go Soeda of Japan makes his Atlanta debut against Belgian Xavier Malisse who turns 32 on Thursday. Soeda, who is the No. 2 Japanese player behind No. 19 Kei Nishikori, enters a career-high No. 54 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings. Soeda opened the season by reaching his first ATP World Tour semi-final in Chennai (l. to Tipsarevic). He’s also compiled consistent results on the Challenger circuit with a 22-5 match record and three titles. He will be playing in the upcoming London Olympics. Malisse comes in with a 16-16 record on the season and he advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon for the second straight year (l. to eventual champ Federer). His best result was a semi-final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch last month (l. to Petzschner).

• In the next match, No. 6 seed and U.S. Olympian Ryan Harrison takes on former World No. 4 James Blake, who won the previous meeting in Houston four years ago. Harrison reached his first ATP World Tour semi-final here last year (l. to Fish) and he’s coming off his third semi-final of the season in Newport (l. to eventual champ Isner). Harrison is ranked a career-high No. 43 this week and last year he came into Atlanta No. 120. The 32-year-old Blake has been slowed by on and off knee problems this year and he’s looking for his first ATP World Tour match win (0-6). The 10-time winner on the ATP World Tour is ranked No. 110 this week.

• In the final match on, last year’s quarter-finalist Rajeev Ram takes on Belgian qualifier Ruben Bemelmans for the first time on the ATP World Tour. Last summer they met in the Binghamton (NY) Challenger and Bemelmans won in straight sets. Ram is coming off a semi-final showing in Newport (l. to Hewitt), his best singles result in three years. Afterwards , he jumped from No. 116 to a season-best No. 104, putting him close to a direct entry spot in the US Open. The 24-year-old Bemelmans is ranked a career-high No. 125 this week and he qualified into the main draw without dropping a set in three matches. He also qualified at Wimbledon, defeating No. 37 Carlos Berlocq for his first Grand Slam match win (l. to Gasquet).

• On Grandstand, 34-year-old Michael Russell, the oldest player in the main draw, plays a familiar foe, countryman Alex Kuznetsov, who qualified. Russell won the lone previous ATP World Tour meeting in San Jose last year and he’s won all seven Challenger meetings and an ATP World Tour qualifying match.

TUESDAY FIRST ROUND FED-EX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play by Court
Stadium

(8) Go Soeda (JPN) vs Xavier Malisse (BEL) First Meeting

Soeda FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
SF: Chennai (l Tipsarevic)
YTD W-L: 7-11 (4-3 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: September 5, 1984
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 54 (Career-high, first set on June 11)

Malisse FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
SF: s-Hertogenbosch (l Petzschner); QF(2): Bucharest (l Balazs); London / Queen's Club (l Nalbandian)
YTD W-L: 16-16 (4-8 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 3
Date of Birth: July 19, 1980
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 71

(6) Ryan Harrison (USA) vs James Blake (USA) Blake Leads 1-0
08 Houston (U.S.A.) Clay R16 James Blake 6-3 6-2

Harrison FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
SF(3): San Jose (l Raonic); Eastbourne (l Seppi); Newport (l Isner); QF: Houston (l Russell)
YTD W-L: 21-17 (9-7 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: May 7, 1992
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 43 (Career-high)

Blake FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 0-6 (0-2 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 10
Date of Birth: December 28, 1979
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 110

Rajeev Ram (USA) vs (Q) Ruben Bemelmans (BEL) First ATP Meeting
Other meeting:
11 Binghamton CH (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Ruben Bemelmans 7-6(3)  6-2

Ram FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
SF: Newport (l Hewitt)
YTD W-L: 3-2 (0-1 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: March 18, 1984
South African Airways 2012 ATP Ranking: 104

Bemelmans FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 3-4 (1-1 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: January 14, 1988
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 125

Grandstand

Michael Russell (USA) vs (Q) Alex Kuznetsov (USA) Russell leads 1-0
11 San Jose (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Michael Russell 6-4 6-2
Russell leads 8-0 in other meetings:
07 Joplin CH (U.S.A.) Hard QF Michael Russell 6-4 6-4
07 Louisville CH (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Michael Russell 6-4 7-5
09 Savannah CH (USA) Clay F Michael Russell 6-4 7-6(6)
09 Calabasas CH (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Michael Russell 6-2 4-6 6-0
10 Winnetka CH (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Michael Russell 6-4 6-2
11 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells Q Hard -- Michael Russell 6-3 7-5
11 Savannah CH (USA) Clay R32 Michael Russell 6-0 6-2
12 Sarasota CH (USA) Clay R16 Michael Russell 7-6(1) 6-4

(Q) Ricardas Berankis (LTU) vs Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) First Meeting

Court 3

(Q) Sergei Bubka (UKR) vs Matthew Ebden (AUS)  First Meeting