Tommy Robredo v Julien Benneteau
Tennis: United Arab Emirates, ATP Dubai, Singles
Tuesday, 23rd February 2010 - Start 13:00

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Preview

Tommy Robredo is the World Number 23, but that may be falling over the next couple of weeks after the Spaniard made a disappointing start to the new season. Usually he would be taking part in the South American clay court swing, but this season decided to stay in Europe but that has seen him fall in 2 early tournament exits.

He started the season very promisingly with wins over Andy Murray and Lleyton Hewitt in the Hopman Cup as a warm up event to the Australian Open but has since suffered, failing to go beyond the 2nd round in any of the 4 tournaments he has played. Add to the mix a 1st round defeat at the Australian Open and it is clear that Robredo has been a little disappointing.

Clay has been the favoured surface, as expected, for the Spaniard over the last few seasons. He has had strong results on hard courts previously in his career but is only 25-24 on the surface since 2008. This time last season, Robredo would have been entering his 3rd clay court tournament in a row after winning the previous 2, but comes into this tournament with 1 win and 2 losses from the last 2 tournaments in Marseille and Rotterdam.

Robredo has played in Dubai on 5 previous occasions. While he lost in the 1st round the last time he was here, in 2007, he has reached the Semi Final on 2 occasions.

Julien Benneteau had one of the best performances of last season when ousting Roger Federer at the Paris Masters and he has brought some of that form with him into the new season.

Benneteau has played in 4 tournaments this season and reached a Final, Semi Final and a Quarter Final berth. The Frenchman reached the Final in Marseille last week before falling to compatriot Michael Llodra.

The hard courts have not previously been that kind to Benneteau and his record is 23-23 since 2008 on the surface. While he has followed the same path of tournaments as last season, his success has increased greatly this year and Benny has now moved up to World Number 36, only 3 places below his own career high.

Last season saw Benneteau lose out in the 2nd round here in Dubai in his first appearance at the event.

Head to Head

These two players have met 3 times and it is Benneteau who leads the way 2-1 after losing their first ever meeting.

The matches have actually spread out over the last 7 seasons with Robredo winning their first on clay for the loss of just 4 games.

However, Benneteau has won their last 4 sets contested, losing only 5 games in those sets. 1 of those meetings was on clay, the other on the faster carpet surface.

Prediction

Tommy Robredo has not been playing well recently and lost to players that he would not have expected to. This is another potentially tough match up for him and I am not quite sure that the Spaniard is fully focused on his tennis.

Julien Benneteau has made a strong start to the season and a couple more decent results here may push him above his previous career high and also make him an automatic entry into the bigger tournaments coming up in North America. He seems to have gained real belief after beating Federer and my only concern for him here is the travelling after playing in Sunday's final.

I am going to favour the underdog here as the price seems to have factored in his travelling on Sunday. Benneteau is a tough prospect for Robredo and clearly in better form and I can see him taking this, possibly in 3 sets.

The Pick :

Julien Benneteau win 6-3, 4-6, 6-3

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Julien Benneteau WIN