|
Nadal Heads Bastad Field
Synsam Swedish Open
June 22nd, 2005
On Saturday afternoon the singles main draw of the 2005 edition of the Synsam Swedish Open was made, and there will be plenty of exciting first-round encounters.
Top-seed� Rafael Nadal faces Argentina's Juan Monaco in his opening round match in Bastad. It will be the first time the two meet at an ATP-level event. The 19-year-old reigning Roland Garros champion, who has captured as many as six titles this season, made his Bastad debut in 2004 where he lost to eventual runner-up Gaston Gaudio in straight sets. Monaco also found himself among the last eight at the Synsam Swedish Open one year ago, after having received a wild card into the tournament. The 21-year-old Buenos Aires resident's best effort in 2005 was a final appearance in Casablanca.
Second seed and local favorite Joachim Johansson, who is one of five Swedes in the main draw of the Synsam Swedish Open, meets Czech Jiri Vanek for the first time in his career. The 23-year-old Swede has claimed two titles this season; Adelaide and Marseille, and is 26th in the INDESIT ATP Champions Race. 27-year-old Vanek captured the Heilbronn Challenger in January.
Tommy Robredo, seeded No. 3 this week, takes on Michal Tabara of the Czech Republic in his first match. The 23-year-old Spaniard who is 18th in the Race, reached the final in Estoril in April, and his best results in Bastad are semifinal efforts in 2002 when he was defeated by Younes El Aynaoui and 2003 when he lost to Nicolas Lapentti.
Another frequent visitor to Bastad, Carlos Moya, seeded No. 4, meets fellow Spaniard Alex Calatrava for the first time. The 28-year-old Geneva-resident has won one title this season, Chennai, and reached the semifinals in Estoril. Moya lifted the Bastad trophy in 2002 after having scored a final win over Morocco's Younes El Aynaoui and found himself among the final four two years ago.
Sixth-seed Russian Mikhail Youzhny faces France's Jerome Haehnel for a spot in the second round. The two have met once before, in the opening round of the Australian Open in January, and the Russian won that encounter. The 23-year-old Moscow-resident reached the Bastad quarterfinals two years ago, while the Frenchman makes his debut at the Synsam Swedish Open.
Sweden's Robin Soderling, seeded No. 6 in this year's edition of the Swedish Open, meets Florian Mayer of Germany in his first round match. The 20-year-old Monte Carlo-resident advanced to the Bastad semifinals one year ago. He claimed his career-second ATP title by defeating Radek Stepanek in the Milan final in the beginning of the season.
Fifth-seed Juan-Carlos Ferrero, who competes in Bastad for the first time in his career, will face a qualifier in the opening round. The 25-year-old Spaniard has captured a total of 11 singles titles, most notably Roland Garros in 2003.
**Please do not reproduce without giving credit to the original source and VamosRafael.com.**
Return to VamosRafael.com.
Return to VamosRafael.com Articles.