Previews: ATP Zagreb, Joburg, Santiago; Fed Cup

PBZ Zagreb Indoors
Zagreb, Croatia
Surface: Hard
$450,000

Seeds: Marin Cilic, Ivan Ljubicic, Jurgen Melzer, Viktor Troicki, Janko Tipsarevic, Benjamin Becker, Ivo Karlovic, Evgeny Korolev
ADHEREL
Floaters: “Crazi” Dani Koellerer, Rainer Schuettler, Arnaud Clement

Notes: Croats Cilic, Ljubicic, Karlovic among seeds; Cilic could face Crazi Dani 2nd rd.; (4) Troicki opens against Schuettler, and (2) Ljubicic vs. Clement; Cilic beat Mario “Baby Goran” Ancic in last year’s all-Croat final; Ljubicic won in 2006.

SA Tennis Open
Johannesburg, South Africa
Surface: Hard
$442,500

Seeds: Gael “Force” Monfils, David Ferrer, Feliciano “F-Lo” Lopez, Marco Chiudinelli, Rajeev Ram, Xavier Malisse, Yen-Hsun Lu, Stephane Robert

Floaters: Dominik “The Dominator” Hrbaty, Harel Levy, Jarkko Nieminen, Karol Beck

Notes: Jamaica’s Dustin Brown gets directly in, and Stephane Robert is seeded? Yikes; Openers of mild interest include (1) Monfils vs. The Dominator, (7) Lu vs. Nieminen, and (2) Ferrer vs. Beck; Johannesburg returned as a tour event last year after a 13-year hiatus, with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga winning the title.

Movistar Open
Santiago, Chile
Surface: Red clay
$398,250

Seeds: Fernando “Gonzo” Gonzalez, Juan Monaco, Thomaz Bellucci, Pablo Cuevas, Horacio Zeballos, Jose Acasuso, Simon Greul, Potito Starace

Floaters: Nicolas Lapentti, Nicolas Massu

Notes: (2) Monaco opens against Massu, and Lapentti against (3) Bellucci; the event moved to Santiago this year; Gonzo going for third straight title, also winning in 2004 and 2002; Acasuso (2006) also a former champ, and lost in last year’s final.

Fed Cup World Group — 1st Round

Italy at Ukraine
Germany at Czech Republic
Russia at Serbia
USA at France

Fed Cup World Group II — 1st Round

Spain at Australia
Belgium at Poland
Argentina at Estonia
China at Slovak Republic

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