Djokovic, Tsonga and Soderling in play on day 2

Article

Djokovic, Tsonga and Soderling in play on day 2

1/18/10 3:46 PM | Vincent Glenn
World No. 3 Novak Djokovic will begin his quest for a second Australian Open crown on Tuesday when he faces Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the first round. Robin Soderling and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are also in action.

(3) Novak Djokovic vs. Daniel Gimeno-Traver

Djokovic has faced Gimeno-Traver on one previous occasion, back in 2006 on the clay courts of Barcelona. The Spaniard beat the then 18 year-old Serb in three sets. Djokovic was in scintillating form in the final weeks of last season. In October he saw off Marin Cilic to claim the Beijing title, and he recorded his third win of the campaign over Roger Federer in the Basel final a few weeks later. He then clinched his first Masters 1000 triumph in over 18 months, defeating home favorite Gael Monfils in a fabulous Paris title match. Djokovic is yet to play a competitive match in 2010, but he did appear at the Kooyong Classic exhibition event. He was defeated twice in three outings, but he stated that he was not be unduly concerned by the losses

Gimeno-Traver is currently just two places below his highest ATP ranking of 72nd. He’s the archetypal clay-court specialist and won two Challenger titles on the dirt in the closing months of 2009. He has, though, never won an ATP Tour level match on a hard court. He’s unlikely to pose many problems for Djokovic and the 2008 Australian Open champion should wrap up a victory in straight sets.

(8) Robin Soderling vs. Marcel Granollers

Soderling, like Djokovic, will begin his Grand Slam season with a Spaniard. He’s up against Granollers, a player he faced three times in the space of five months last year. Soderling easily won their first clash, claiming a 6-3, 6-0 triumph in Rome, and he came from a set behind to clinch victory in the second round of Wimbledon. The third match, in the US Open second round, ended prematurely when Granollers retired after only two games.

Soderling started this year by recording a first - albeit unofficial - win over Federer in the semifinals of the Abu Dhabi exhibition event. He lost in the final to Rafael Nadal and was then defeated in the opening round of the Chennai Open by Robby Ginepri. Last week, he retired after losing the first set to Ivan Ljubicic in Kooyong due to an elbow injury, but he has made a speedy recovery. Granollers was a career-high No. 44 in the world less than a year ago but he is currently ranked outside the Top 100 following a disappointing 2009. After beginning last season with a semifinal appearance in Chennai, he failed to win back-to-back tour-level matches. The big-hitting Soderling is likely to overpower him and should secure a three-set victory.

(10) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Sergiy Stakhovsky

Tsonga will face Stakhovsky for the first time in what could be an eye-pleasing encounter. The Frenchman, who has been blighted by injury problems throughout his career, was forced to pull out of the Abu Dhabi exhibition event and the Qatar Open in Doha due to back and wrist problems. He did, though, play Kooyong last week, where he registered wins against Soderling and Tommy Haas. Tsonga enjoyed a successful 2009, winning titles in Johannesburg, Marseille and Tokyo, and he just missed out on a place at the World Tour Finals.

Stakhovsky was ranked as low as No. 147 in September but he is currently 62nd. In November, he claimed his second ATP tour title in St Petersburg, saving a match point in the final against Horacio Zeballos. The Ukrainian is a competent volleyer and he may steal a set off Tsonga, but the 2008 finalist has too many weapons and will book his place in the next round.

Check out Novak Djokovic and Daniel Gimeno-Traver head-to-head statistics

Check out Marcel Granollers and Robin Söderling head-to-head statistics

Check out Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Sergiy Stakhovsky head-to-head statistics

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Comments

Vincent, welcome to TT.

rfzr , 1/18/10 6:32 PM

ye welcome vincent :D

vamosrafa , 1/19/10 12:56 AM

Thanks very much for the welcomes rfzr and vamosrafa.

VincentGlenn , 1/19/10 1:31 AM

ooh, new writer! welcome! :D

Sib69 , 1/19/10 2:16 AM

Vincent,

Thank you for all the information on these matches. Welcome to tennistalk!

Nativenewyorker , 1/19/10 4:36 AM

Hiya Vincent! Welcome to TT. And that's a pretty good match analysis.

imjimmy , 1/19/10 5:44 AM

Soderling's match has gone to the 5th set.

atul1985 , 1/19/10 7:21 AM

Soderling lost in Round 1

anand , 1/19/10 8:03 AM

well thats an upset, 8th seed out of the tournament. I didnt see the match but guess his injury was taking a toll on him.

atul1985 , 1/19/10 8:40 AM

Welcome onboard Vincent.

carrie , 1/19/10 8:47 AM

So Vincent you must be the new writer TT were searching for at the end of last year. Congratulations on your first blog. I guess a lot of people were taken by surprise by Granollers win - but none more than Soderling himself!!!!!

I had been wondering about the outcome of the open competition to find a new contributor and whether any of the hopeful contributors amongst the members had been successful.

ed251137 , 1/19/10 9:15 AM

Soderling upset a Spaniard,,,,, its just right that a Spaniard upset him in return! VAMOS ESPANA!

McQ , 1/19/10 12:36 PM

Soderling upset a Spaniard,,, so its just right that a Spaniard upset him in return! VAMOS ESPANA!!!!

McQ , 1/19/10 12:38 PM

Excerpt from The Times:

An angry Robin Soderling blew a two-set advantage over Spain's Marcel Granollers to crashed out in the first round.

The world No 8 had been suffering from elbow tendinitis before the tournament but refused to blame the injury for his 5-7, 2-6 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 loss to the 23-year-old Spaniard.

"I didn't feel good at all," Soderling said. "I don't know what happened I just didn't play well. I started terrible and finished terrible," he said, adding that the elbow injury had not affected his performance.

Soderling, who ended Rafa Nadal's four-year grip on the French Open last year, said he would return home immediately and did not have any plans to play again soon. "I don't know," he said when asked when his next tournament would be. "Maybe not at all. But we will see. I played a terrible match today and am pretty disappointed."

carrie , 1/19/10 1:55 PM

"Maybe not at all."..????

too good to be true i'm sure :)

homos , 1/19/10 4:17 PM

thanks, Carrie.

Gee. That's a bit of an overreaction on Soderling's part, huh?

cherylmurray , 1/19/10 4:41 PM

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