St. Petersburg Open preview

St. Petersburg Open
Location: St. Petersburg, Russia
Dates: October 20-26, 2008
Draw Size: 32
Surface: Indoor Hard
Prize Money: $1,049,000; men’s singles champion: $171,000
2007 Singles Final: Andy Murray, GBR, def. Fernando Verdasco, ESP, 6-2, 6-3
Official Web site: http://www.spbopen.ru/

Top story lines:
1. Can the defending champion and in-form Andy Murray win again in St. Petersburg?
2. Can Russian Nikolay Davydenko win this tournament for the first time in his career?
3. Do past champions Mario Ancic (2006), Mikhail Youzhny (2004) and Marat Safin (2000, 2001) have any shot at going deep again in St. Petersburg?

Justin’s notable first round match-ups:
1. No. 1 Andy Murray vs. Viktor Troicki
2. No. 2 Nikolay Davydenko vs. Chris Guccione
3. No. 6 Dmitry Tursunov vs. Dominik Hrbaty

Potential notable late round match:
No. 1 Andy Murray vs. No. 7 Mario Ancic, Quarterfinals
No. 4 Mikhail Youzhny vs. No. 8 Marat Safin, Quarterfinals

Watch out for…
1. No. 3 Fernando Verdasco
2. No. 5 Marin Cilic

Champion prediction:
Justin: No. 5 Marin Cilic
Jordan: No. 2 Nikolay Davydenko