Wozniacki, Clijsters, Kuzy at Eastbourne; ATP and WTA Previews
Unicef Open
s’Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Surface: grass
MEN
Seeds: Ivan Ljubicic, Marcos Baghdatis, Tommy Robredo, Viktor Troicki, Philipp Petzschner, Thiemo De Bakker, Janko Tipsarevic, Benjamin Becker
ADHEREL
Floaters: Xavier “X-Man” Malisse, Jarkko Nieminen, Jeremy Chardy, Arnaud Clement
Notes: Openers of interest include (5) Petzschner vs. Malisse, (8) Becker vs. Nieminen, and (7) Tipsarevic vs. Chardy; Jamaica’s Dustin Brown gets into another ATP main draw through qualifying; the 31-year-old Ljubicic sits atop the seeding while Becker returns to defend his title; Becker (2009) and Ljubicic (2007) are the only former champs in the draw of the event formerly won by grasscourt greats Lleyton Hewitt, Patrick Rafter, Richard Krajicek and Michael Stich; Rafter and the doubles team of Martin Damm/Cyril Suk are the only players to win three consecutive titles at the Dutch event.
WOMEN
Seeds: Justine Henin, Dinara Safina, Maria Kirilenko, Yaroslava Shvedova, Alexandra Dulgheru, Sara Errani, Andrea Petkovic, Anabel Medina Garrigues
Floaters: (Q) Julie Coin, Maggie Rybarikova, Ana Ivanovic
Notes: Tough openers are (5) Dulgheru vs. (Q) Coin, and (2) Safina vs. last year’s Birmingham winner Rybarikova.
AEGON International
Eastbourne, Great Britain
Surface: grass
MEN
Seeds: Nicolas Almagro, Feliciano “F-Lo” Lopez, Gilles Simon, Julien Benneteau, Guillermo “G-Lo” Garcia-Lopez, Horacio Zeballos, Alexandr Dolgolpolov, Michael Llodra
Floaters: James Blake, Kevin Anderson, Evgeny Korolev, Rainer Schuettler
Notes: Openers of interest include (4) Benneteau vs. Blake, (3) Simon vs. Korolev, and (2) F-Lo vs. (WC) James Ward for people who like seeing British wildcards get spanked; Japan comeback player Kei Nishikori makes it through the qualifying; Giovanni “The Little” Lapentti also qualifies; last year the event moved from Nottingham to become a combined men’s and women’s event; the top-seeded Almagro is 0-1 career at the event, while only three of the eight seeds have winning records at the event; F-Lo beat the former Wimbledon champ Nadal on grass last week; Blake makes his first tour appearance since March after a knee injury; No former champs are in the field of the event won by Pete Sampras and Patrick Rafter in the 1990s.
WOMEN
Seeds: Caroline Wozniacki, Francesca Schiavone, Sam Stosur, Aggie Radwanska, Kim Clijsters, Flavia Pennetta, Na Li, Marion Bartoli
Floaters: Svetlana Kuznetsova, Aravane Rezai, Victoria Azarenka, Lucie Safarova, Yanina Wickmayer
Notes: Wow, Kuznetsova unseeded after her ranking falls to No. 19; openers of interest include (1) Wozniacki vs. Rezai (winner to play Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez vs. Vera Zvonareva victor), (4) Radwanska vs. Azarenka, (5) Clijsters vs. Wickmayer in an all-Belgian; (2) Schiavone looking at a meeting with Kuzy second round; how badly will (3) Stosur thump Melanie Oudin in the first round? The over-under is four games; Wozniacki is the defending champ, and Clijsters returns from the injury that forced her to miss the French Open; Radwanska (2008), Clijsters (2005) and Kuznetsova (2004) are returning champs.
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