Rafael Nadal favourite, men’s preview for Tokyo competition
With the Asian Tour kicking off last week in the city of Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, this week's ATP World Tour competition in Tokyo, Japan will continue to take the top tennis contenders toward a likely appearance at the World Tour finale in Barclays.
While the world number one, Rafael Nadal, registered his worst performance of the year versus Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in Bangkok, the American tennis player Andy Roddick, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Juan Martin del Potro will try to end their respective years
on a powerful note.
The strong field in Japan will also highlight Gael Monfils, Ernests Gulbis as well as Jurgen Melzer, who will all be in the mix for the top spot prize money of $261, 500 and 500 ATP World Tour points.
Bettor.com takes a look at the top and bottom half of the main draw in the Tokyo event.
Rafael Nadal will remain the top favourite in this section of the draw. However, one has to keep a watchful eye on the potentially exhausted Rafa. The Spaniard triumphed in his opening two rounds in comfortable manner in Bangkok. But fell to pieces versus
Garcia-Lopez in the final four.
Converting an unusual two of twenty-six break points during his loss, Rafael will need to be sharp during his initial clashes in Tokyo. Locking horns with Santiago Giraldo in the opening round, the twenty-four year old Nadal could meet Thiemo de Bakker,
Gulbis or Richard Gasquet in the round of sixteen.
Gulbis and Gasquet look to be struggling with their confidence over the last few months, whereas de Bakker remains on the cusp of a break out knock. Touted as the next young contender into the world’s top ten rankings, de Bakker will have a difficult time
defeating Gasquet and potentially Gulbis. However, if he manages to successfully make his way into the final eight spots versus Rafael, then a competitive knock could be brought forth.
How about former United States Open winner Del Potro?
The danger man made a comeback on the tour last week at the Thailand Open, and looked in decent form despite missing almost ten months of action. Juan Martin Del Potro will meet the sixth seed, Feliciano Lopez in his opening clash, with a likely round two
encounter versus the inform Garcia-Lopez.
Based on aptitude alone, Martin should be able to provide a deep showing in Japan. However, taking into account his recent lack of match fitness, the Argentinean could be derailed prior to the quarters in Tokyo.
Home side hopeful Kei Nishikori will be backed up through his every single shot, however, the experts still remain on Rafael’s bandwagon until he shows otherwise. But there is no doubt about the fact that the world number one, Rafael Nadal will have to battle
really hard in order to make it into the finals in Tokyo, however his confidence along with the experience from Flushing Meadows should allow him to win his seventh trophy of the year.
In the bottom half, the American tennis player Andy Roddick, who lost in the second round of the United States Open should prevail versus his local wildcard foe in the first round, before facing the dangerous player from France, Jeremy Chardy in the following
round.
The eighth seeded, Michael Llodra on the other hand could be the player of the moment in Japan, pouring in a handful of descent results throughout the season. Michael can smash every single shot in the book, and although he can at times exhibit suspect shot
selection from the ground, his gifted serve and volley game remains one of his strongest weapons on a hard surface.
Therefore, Llorda is definitely one of the strongest contenders in the bottom half of the main draw as he has already shown throughout the year that his unorthodox style of game can succeed in smaller week-long competitions.
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