BARCELONA OPEN BANCSABADELL

Barcelona Tuesday Preview

Barcelona, Spain

In the second match, No. 12 seed Lleyton Hewitt returns to Barcelona for the first time since 2002 as he takes on Turkish qualifier Marsel Ilhan for the first time.

In the third match, No. 9 seed and 2004 champion Tommy Robredo looks for his second win in as many meetings against Italian qualifier Simone Bolelli . With five-time champion Rafael Nadal pulling out, Robredo has the most match wins (21) in the 56-player field.

In the fourth match, No. 16 seed and Madrid native Feliciano Lopez brings a 10-10 career tournament record into his opening clash against Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. of Ukraine.

In the final match, No. 2 seed and last year’s Roland Garros finalist Robin Soderling takes a 4-1 lifetime mark against 30-year-old Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela, who captured his fifth career ATP World Tour title in Houston on Apr. 11. The No. 8-ranked Soderling is making his season debut on clay. 

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KNOWLES ONE WIN AWAY FROM 700 CLUB – Bahamas native Mark Knowles is one match win away from joining the exclusive 700 Match Wins Club in the Open Era. If he and Lleyton Hewitt win their second round match on Tuesday, Knowles would become only the second active player on the ATP World Tour to accomplish the feat, joining former partner Daniel Nestor. Here are the players with at least 700 match wins in doubles:
                                   No.
1) Todd Woodbridge     782
2) Daniel Nestor           745
3) Sherwood Stewart    723
4) Jonas Bjorkman        709
5) Mark Knowles            699

HEWITT RETURNS – Two-time ATP World Tour Champion (2001-02) Lleyton Hewitt makes his first singles appearance in Barcelona in eight years on Tuesday against Turkish qualifier Marsel Ilhan. The 29-year-old Aussie, who underwent right hip surgery on Jan. 29, is playing in his second tournament back. On Apr. 9 he reached the quarter-finals (after a bye) in Houston, losing to eventual champion Juan Ignacio Chela. The previous time Hewitt played in Barcelona in 2002 he was No. 1 on the ATP World Tour and he lost in the semi-finals to Gaston Gaudio.

SPANISH UPDATE – Spaniards went 4-2 in first round play on Monday with No. 15 Nicolas Almagro the highest seeded winner. Others advancing to the second round were Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, wild card Marcel Granollers and Oscar Hernandez.

OLDEST IN FIELD – Ecuadorian Nicolas Lapentti gained entry into the main draw as a lucky loser with David Nalbandian’s withdrawal due to a left hamstring injury. Lapentti, at 33 years, 8 months, is the oldest player in the singles draw. Lapentti takes on No. 11 seed Jurgen Melzer of Austria in the first round on Tuesday. Lapentti is making his ninth main draw appearance in Barcelona (8-8 record) with his best result the quarter-finals in 2000.
  

TUESDAY HEAD-TO-HEADS – In Order of Play by Court

Pista Central –

(Q) Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP) vs (10) Juan Monaco (ARG) Monaco Leads 1-0
09 Barcelona (Spain) Clay R32 Juan Monaco 7-5 6-4

Gimeno-Traver FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 3-9 (2-4 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: August 7, 1985
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 92

Monaco FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
F: Santiago (l Bellucci); SF: Buenos Aires (l Ferrero); Acapulco (l Ferrero); QF: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Ljubicic)
YTD W-L: 18-8 (11-4 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 3
Date of Birth: March 29, 1984
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 24

(Q) Marsel Ilhan (TUR) vs (12) Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)  First Meeting

Ilhan FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 4-4 (0-0 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: June 11, 1987
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 123

Hewitt FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
QF: Sydney (l Baghdatis); Houston (l Chela)
YTD W-L: 5-3 (1-1 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 27
Date of Birth: February 24, 1981
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 32

(9) Tommy Robredo (ESP) vs (Q) Simone Bolelli (ITA) Robredo Leads 1-0
07 Rotterdam (The Netherlands) Hard R32 Tommy Robredo 6-2 6-2

Robredo FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
QF: Auckland (l Isner); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Roddick)
YTD W-L: 9-8 (2-1 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 9
Date of Birth: May 1, 1982
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 20

Bolelli FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 1-6 (1-1 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: October 8, 1985
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 143

(16) Feliciano Lopez (ESP) vs Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. (UKR)  First Meeting

Lopez FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
W: Johannesburg (d Robert)
YTD W-L: 9-7 (0-1 on clay)
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 2
Date of Birth: September 20, 1981
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 35

Dolgopolov Jr. FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 1-4 (0-2 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: November 7, 1988
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 66

Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG) vs (2) Robin Soderling (SWE) Soderling Leads 4-1
03 Stockholm (Sweden) Hard R16 Robin Soderling 6-4 6-3
04 Bastad (Sweden) Clay QF Robin Soderling 6-3 6-7(5)  6-2
05 ATP Masters Series Hamburg  Clay R32 Juan Ignacio Chela 6-1 6-4
05 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R128 Robin Soderling 6-7(3) 7-6(4)  6-3   6-4
07 ATP World Team Chp. (Germany) Clay RR Robin Soderling 6-1 6-4

Chela FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
W: Houston (d Querrey)
YTD W-L: 11-9 (10-4 on clay)
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 5
Date of Birth: August 30, 1979
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 53

Soderling FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
W: Rotterdam (d Youzhny); SF: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Roddick); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Berdych); QF: Marseille (l Llodra)
YTD W-L: 16-5 (0-0 on clay)
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 5
Date of Birth: August 14, 1984
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 8

Pista 1 –  

(LL) Ivan Navarro (ESP) vs (Q) Pablo Cuevas (URU)  First Meeting

Jeremy Chardy (FRA) vs (14) Albert Montanes (ESP)   First Meeting

(11) Jurgen Melzer (AUT) vs (LL) Nicolas Lapentti (ECU) Lapentti Leads 2-1
02 St. Poelten (Austria) Clay QF Nicolas Lapentti 6-2 4-6 6-3
04 Barcelona (Spain) Clay R64 Nicolas Lapentti 7-5 6-1
05 AUT vs. ECU WG PO (Austria) Hard RR Jurgen Melzer 7-5 6-4 7-5

(15) Nicolas Almagro (ESP) vs Simon Greul (GER)  Almagro Leads 1-0
10 ATP 1000 Monte Carlo (Monaco) Clay R64 Nicolas Almagro 3-6 7-5 6-2

(WC) Alberto Martin (ESP) vs Andreas Seppi (ITA)  Seppi Leads 1-0
05 Stuttgart (Germany) Clay R32 Andreas Seppi 6-4 6-4
Other Meeting:
06 Sunrise CH (U.S.A.) Hard SF Alberto Martin 6-4 7-6(5)

Pista 3 –  

Stephane Robert (FRA) vs Denis Istomin (UZB)   First Meeting

Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) vs Mischa Zverev (GER)  First ATP Meeting
Other Meeting:
07 Dnepropetrovsk CH (Ukraine) Hard R16 Mischa Zverev 6-2 6-4

Peter Luczak (AUS) vs Ernests Gulbis (LAT)   Gulbis Leads 1-0
08 Las Vegas (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Ernests Gulbis 6-2 6-1

Victor Hanescu (ROU) vs Andreas Beck (GER)     First Meeting