Thailand Open preview

Thailand Open

Location: Bangkok, Thailand

Dates: September 23-28, 2008

Draw Size: 28

Surface: Hard

Prize Money: $576,000; men’s singles champion: $94,000

2007 Singles Final: Dmitry Tursunov, RUS, def. Benjamin Becker, GER, 6-2, 6-1
Official Web site: http://www.thailandopen.org/

Top story lines:

1. Will an Australian Open final repeat itself in Bangkok between Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga?

2. Will Marat Safin rebound after struggling majority of the summer?

3. Is there any chance 2007 finalist Benjamin Becker gets back to the final after dropping out of the Top 100?

Justin’s notable first round match-ups:

1. Jurgen Melzer vs. Donald Young (Melzer leads 1-0; winning 7-5 6-2 on clay in Poertschach, Austria in 2008; Melzer reached the quarterfinals at the Beijing Olympics; Young reached the quarterfinals in Memphis)

Potential notable late round match:

No. 3 Tomas Berdych vs. No. 5 Jarkko Nieminen, Quarterfinals

· Berdych leads 3-0, with 1-0 edge on hard courts

· Both players have reached one final this season; Berdych in Bastad (Sweden) and Nieminen in Adelaide (Australia)

No. 4 Gael Monfils vs. No. 7 Marat Safin, Quarterfinals

· Monfils leads 2-0, with both wins occurring on hard courts

· Monfils won both matches in straight sets

Watch out for…

1. No. 2 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Finalist at Australian Open, losing to Thailand Open No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic; has defeated ATP stars Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Lleyton Hewitt, Richard Gasquet and Carlos Moya this season despite missing most of the summer with an injury; currently ranked No. 20)

2. No. 6 Robin Soderling (Finalist in Memphis and Rotterdam; has defeated Andy Roddick and James Blake this season; currently ranked No. 34)

Champion prediction:

Justin: No. 1 Novak Djokovic