First Round action from the Shenzhen Open continued on Tuesday, with a few high-profile players returning to action. The first seed fell at the end of the days play and that was fifth seed Gilles Simon. The Frenchman put up little resistance to 120th ranked Lithuanian Richard Berankis, going down 6-4 6-2. Berankis goes on to play Luckas Lacko in the next round, with the winner likely to face Andy Murray in the Quarter-Finals.
Big serving American Sam Groth got a good win over Australian youngster James Duckworth
There was more routine progress for the other seeds in Shezhen with Canadian danger man Varek Pospisil, seeded seventh, taking care of Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-3 6-4 without dropping serve. Pospisil faces Juan Monaco in the next round, the Argentinian struggling to find the form that put him in and around the top 10 a few years ago.
There were also wins for Andres Seppi and Santiago Giraldo as the remainder of the seeds survived the opening round. Big serving American Sam Groth got a good win over Australian youngster James Duckworth in three sets. Groth served 16 aces and only faced one break point on the way to victory.
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Looking ahead to Wednesday, the order of play opens with an all Italian clash between Simone Bolleli and Andreas Seppi. It’s a clash of styles, with Seppi providing almost metronomic consistency from the baselines compared to Bolleli’s power game. Bolleli was my surprise tip to watch out for at the start of the tournament and I think he might have enough the upset the eighth seed Seppi.
Elsewhere, Sam Groth is rewarded with a game against journeyman Tommy Robredo, where another upset could be on the cards if Groth can continue to serve big. Richard Gasquet kicks off his Asian swing after a bye in the First Round, facing big serving Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.
Let me know what you make of the Shenzhen Open so far and who you think will lift the trophy at the end of the week.
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