Day Two on Day Three of 2007 Heineken Open
Day three of the Heineken Open would usually be occupied with second round play, but because of the bad weather which saw no tennis at all yesterday there are still eight first round matches to complete.
Former two-time champion Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia has had his first round match switched from centre court to court 4, while the American derby between Mardy Fish and qualifier Robert Kendrick is now the first centre court match of the evening session. Both changes were brought about by the whopping fifteen games scheduled today, including seven doubles matches (one featuring Hrbaty).
Meanwhile, Croatia’s Mario Ancic will be looking to go one better than 2006 when he was beaten in the final. He begins his tilt in 2007 against little-known Czech Lukas Rosol who blazed his way through qualifying with three successive straight-set victories. The only reliable intelligence on Rosol tells us that he was ranked 288 going into this tournament, but he is three matches to the good on the idiosyncratic Auckland hardcourt surface and has already beaten men ranked more than 200 places above him. Whether or not he is playing well and he had better be prepared to ignore the loud Croatian army supporting his opponent too, but stranger things have happened and the Heineken Open is traditionally a minefield for the complacent.
In other highlights sixth-seeded Spaniard and 2003 Roland Garros champion Juan Carlos Ferrero takes on brilliant Chilean Nicolas Massu, rising star Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina takes on his experienced compatriot Agustin Calleri, Kiwi wildcard Dan King-Turner has a royal chance against Argentine qualifier Juan Monaco, and eighth seed Stanislas Wawrinka takes on Spain’s Nicolas Almagro.
SOME STRANGE STATISTICS
Eighteen countries are represented in the Heineken Open main singles draw. There are six Spaniards, five Argentines, four Frenchmen, two Belgians, two Americans, and one each from Croatia, Chile, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Italy, Korea, New Zealand, Peru, Serbia, Switzerland and Slovakia.
The oldest is Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador at 30 years and four months, and the youngest is Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina at 18 years and three months.
Fourteen of the thirty-two players speak Spanish as their first language... making it the unofficial second language of the Heineken Open.
Anyone inclined to really spot trains will also delight in the fact that the tournament has four players named Nicolas and four named Juan.
