2013 @AustralianOpen Men’s Qualifying Preview
Steen Kirby, TennisEastCoast.com
Continuing a trend from my men’s qualifying preview for the 2012 US Open, here is a men’s qualies preview of the Aussie Open, as action kicks off tonight in Melbourne. The qualifying tournament and will run through the weekend and 16 players will qualify for the main draw.
Top 16 qualifying seeds (32 total)
1: Andreas Haider Maurer
2: Ricardas Berankis
3: Dudi Sela
4: Ruben Bemelmans
5: Martin Alund
6: Kenny De Schepper
7: Daniel Brands
8: Florent Serra
9: James Blake
10: Matthias Bachinger
11: Tim Smyczek
12: Alex Bogomolov
13: Thiemo De Bakker
14: Yuichi Sugita
15: Rajeev Ram
16: Antonio Veic
The rankings cutoff for main draw entry was just a few spots beyond the top 100 so as you see there are a lot of talented players and a few big names still seeking to make the main draw by qualifying.
First round matchups to watch:
Paul Capdeville vs. (26) Jack Sock
American youngster Jack Sock skipped the USTA AO WC event, preferring to take his shot at making the main draw of the Aussie Open through regular qualifying and he will open with Chilean veteran Capdeville, who seems to struggle off of his preferred clay. Capdeville was 3-7 at the ATP level last year and failed to qualify for any of the Grand Slam events. Many people are expecting a breakout year from Sock and it could start here.
Thanasi Kokkinakis vs. Steve Johnson
Kokkinakis is the 16 year old Aussie youngster who stepped in at the Hopman Cup and performed admirably but now is when it counts. He will face a tough test against Johnson, another highly touted American of whom great things are expected this year. Both guys are lanky and hit the ball well from the baseline, as well as preferring hard courts, but Johnson will certainly be the more experienced player in this matchup.
Alex Kuznetsov vs. (21) Ryan Sweeting
Kuznetsov and Sweeting are a couple of now comparatively veteran American players who seem to have hit rough patches in their careers. Sweeting was once ranked in the top 70 and has now dropped out of the top 140 and failed to win any events last year at any level. Kuznetsov, who like Sweeting is 25, is ranked outside the top 200 and though he did manage to qualify for the Aussie Open last year,he played just 2 matches at the ATP level this past year. Both men could use a career jolt, and there’s no better place to have a good start than Melbourne.
(7) Daniel Brands vs. Frank Dancevic
Doha semifinalist Brands has now moved into the top 130 and will take on Canadian veteran Dancevic, ranked just inside the top 170 and just 2-6 at the ATP level last year due in some part to injuries. Brands has a lot of power but struggles to keep his error count down quite often, and this could be another close match.
(10) Matthias Bachinger vs. Stephane Robert
The 25 year old Bachinger is ranked inside the top 130. He’ll take on French journeyman veteran Robert, who was once ranked in the top 70 but has faded outside the top 250. Bachinger is relatively experienced at the ATP level, posting a 9-16 record last year, while Robert played just 3 matches at that level in the previous year.
(15) Rajeev Ram vs. Nicolas Devilder
Yet another American who has not quite met expectations gets an intriguing matchup. Ram could use a good year in 2013 as he is ranked right around 130 in the world and will open with Frenchman Devilder, another former top 70 player who with age has slipped in the rankings and now sits just outside the top 200. He played just 3 matches at the ATP level in the past year, and all 3 were at the French Open, but he did post 2 wins and can get on a hot streak.
First quarter draw preview and predictions
Top seed Haider Maurer of Austria, who in addition to seemingly preferring clay, is in questionable form after finishing his 2012 with just 1 win in his last 7 matches will open with Evgeny Korolev. Korolev is a former top 50 player trying to make his way back to the top and should have a surface advantage. The winner of that match will face Christopher Rungkat or more likely Canadian Peter Polansky.
French veteran Adrian Mannarino, another former top 50 player, plays with a refreshing, unique style and just last week won a the challenger in New Caledonia in strong fashion. He opens against Ukrainian Ivan Sergeyev and the winner of that will play either Aussie Brydan Klein or Riccardo Ghedin of Italy.
Qualifies: Mannarino
Ricardas Berankis, trying to make his way back into the top 100 will open will open with middling challenger player Peter Gojowczyk , then could play 17-year-old Aussie youngster Nick Krygios who nearly won Australia’s wild card playoffs, or American Bradley Klahn.
The winner of Sock/Capdeville will take on Gianluca Naso or more likely Jan Hernych, who qualified in Doha. This is a competitive section in that Berankis, Sock, Krygios, Klahn or Hernych could all reasonably qualify depending on form.
Qualifies: Berankis
Consistent Israeli veteran Sela, who was once ranked in the top 30 and was 12-19 at the ATP level year will do battle with intriguing Spaniard Sergio Guiterrez-Ferrol. Like most Spaniards, he prefers clay, but isn’t a slouch on hard courts, either. He then likely faces another former top 40 veteran in Igor Kunitsyn, who has slipped in the rankings after a rough 2012 and will face a test in the form of Ivo Minar.
This is a section full of veterans, and another veteran, Michael Berrer, a German serve and volleyer, will open with Michael Przysiezny. After that Berrer gets fellow German veteran Dominik Meffert or rising Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
Qualifies: Sela
Ruben Bemelmans, a Belgian with great potential, he qualified in Chennai and was 4-6 at the ATP level last year. He opens with Andrey Golubev and then could meet rocket serving Aussie Sam Groth or young Frenchman Lucas Pouille of France.
Former top 100 player Marsel Ilhan of Turkey will play Nikola Mektic and Frenchman Vincent Millot will play Thai veteran Danai Udomchoke, who was also formerly top 100.
Qualifies: Bemelmans
Second quarter
Argentine clay courters Diego Schwartzman, top 170, and Martin Alund, top 120, will meet at the top of the second quarter, while Bollettieri academy product and former junior number 1 Yuki Bhambri of India will play Thomas Fabbiano.
Wayne Odesnik will take on the 2nd highest ranked Israeli player Amir Weintraub, while Rik De Voest, 0-3 at the ATP level in 2012, will take on Moldovian Radu Albot. This is quite an open quarter.
Qualifies: Weintraub
Tall top 120 player Kenny De Schepper of France will take on Fabiano De Paula of Brazil, then face the winner of Kokkinakis/Johnson in another brutal 2nd round matchup.
Aussie Jordan Thompson will take on Nicolas Renevand, and the winner of that will face the winner of Kuznetsov/Sweeting. I wouldn’t put it out of the realm of contention that Kokkinakis could qualify, as could De Schepper but Johnson has the edge.
Qualifies: Johnson
The Brands/Dancevic winner will play a Frenchman in Gregoire Burquier or veteran David Guez, while Canadian Steve Diez will take on Pavol Cervenak and Spaniard Javier Marti will take on Jimmy Wang. Wang is a former top 100 player who was 3-4 at the ATP level last year and qualified for the US Open. Wang will have a shot, but the Brands/Dancevic winner should get through.
Qualifies: Brands
Former top 40 Florent Serra, another consistent but not dynamic challenger level player, opens with New Caledonia challenger finalist Andrej Martin, while young Aussie Alex Bolt will take on Dutchman Boy Westerhof.
Dustin Brown, one of the more intriguing players in qualifying (took a set off David Ferrer in Doha!) will play Hiroki Moriya, while Aussie Jacob Grills will take on Belgian Maxime Authom. Brown should be able to get out of this section.
Qualifies: Brown
Third quarter
The most recognizable name in qualifying and probably the most experienced, James Blake will have a tough test against Marius Copil of Romania and then could meet Donald Young in the 2nd round, if Young can get past Aldin Setkic. Setkic has done very well at the futures level. Young endured a miserable, abysmal 2012 and precipitous drop in the rankings to now just inside the top 200, but might get his game back together in early 2013.
Dutchman Matwe Middlekoop, who nearly qualified in Auckland most recently, will take on Matteo Viola and Jamie Baker will play Julio Campozano.
Qualifies: Young
The Bachinger/Robert winner will play either Adrian Menendez-Maceiras of Spain or Canadian Erik Chvojka, while New Caledonia challenger semifinalist and French veteran Marc Gicquel will play Denis Zivkovic. Denys Molchanov will play Farrukh Dustov.
Qualifies: Bachinger
AO WC finalist Tim Smyczek will take on Marcelo Demoliner of Brazil and then the winner of Kamil Capkovic vs. Aussie youngster Matt Barton.
Another AO WC participant, Daniel Kosakowski will play Aussie Adam Feeney, while rising young German lefty Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, who is still maturing and qualified in Chennai along with being ranked in the top 170, opens with Uladzimir Ignatik of Belarus. Stebe, Barton or Smyczek will all have good chances to qualify.
Qualifies: Stebe
Another veteran who had a rough 2012, Alex Bogomolov will play Niels Desein of Belgium and then former top 30 pro Potito “Potato Starch” Starace of Italy. Starch plays AO WC participant Tennys Sandgren.
American Michael Yani will play Mirza Basic while Ti Chen will play veteran grinder Simon Greul of Germany, a former top 60 player. In a section of now inconsistent veterans, look for the youngster Sandgren to get by in a surprise.
Qualifies: Sandgren
Fourth quarter
In a section full of Dutch and Germans, disappointing Dutchman Thiemo De Bakker, a former top 50 player trying to break back into the top 100, will play Oleksandr Nedovyesov. Dutchman Jesse Huta Galung, who did well at the futures level last year, will see German Jan-Lennard Struff.
Tsung Hua Yang will play German Bastian Knittel while Arnau Brugues-Davi will meet Ze Zhang of China in an open section of the draw.
Qualifies: Struff
Veteran German lefty Mischa Zverev, another struggling former top 50 player, will take on Yuichi Sugita of Japan. Briton James Ward will play Boris Pashanski.
Aussie Matt Reid will face Ricardo Hocevar of Brazil. German Julan Reister will take on AO WC participant Denis Kudla, who should have an edge in this section of the draw.
Qualifies: Kudla
The Ram/Devilder winner will play Jonathan Eysseric or Hans Podlipnik Castillo while the veteran former top 60 player Marco Chiudinelli will play Allesandro Giannessi of Italy and Damir Dzumhur will play Izak Van Der Merwe of South Africa. This section is full of clay courters and wide open, with an edge to Chiudinelli or Ram.
Qualifies: Chiudinelli
Antonio Veic of Croatia will meet the hard serving Jan Mertl while Serb Dusan Lajovic will face Guilherme Clezar of Brazil. Former USC star Robert Farah of Colombia will play Spaniard Daniel Munoz De La Nava while Frenchman Maxime Teixeira will take on countryman Jonathan Dasnieres De Veigy, who is at a career high ranking of 148 and was a semi finalist in New Caledonia.
Qualifies: De Veigy
There you have it, a comprehensive preview of Aussie Open men’s qualifying. We are less than a week away from the main event in steamy Melbourne.
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