Viktor Troicki and Andreas Seppi will kick off their Zagreb campaigns on Tuesday. They are set for respective meetings with Illya Marchenko and Robin Haase.
(Q) Illya Marchenko vs. (7) Viktor Troicki
Troicki’s return from a year-long suspension has been nothing short of remarkable. He was ranked as low as No. 847 in the world as recently as July 27 of last season and he currently registers at 46th. Following borderline domination at the Challenger level in 2014, highlights this season include a title in Sydney and a third-round performance at the Australian Open (lost to Tomas Berdych).
Up first for the Serb in at the PBZ Zagreb Indoors is a Tuesday date with Marchenko. The two players have faced each other only once before, with Marchenko prevailing 6-4, 6-2 at last year’s Bratislava Challenger. Enjoying some resurgence of his own at the moment, the Ukrainian is 134th in the world after dropping out of the top 400 in 2012. With a clean bill of health, Marchenko qualified for the Aussie Open main draw and he also qualified this week. Unfortunately for the underdog, this a more confident Troicki with many more matches under his belt than the one whom Marchenko faced in November.
Pick: Troicki in 2
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(5) Andreas Seppi vs. Robin Haase
Seppi and Haase will be squaring off for the sixth time in their careers on Tuesday. The head-to-head series stands at 3-2 in Seppi’s favor, including 3-1 at the ATP level. On hard courts, the Italian has won three of four encounters at Haase’s expense after most recently prevailing 6-4, 6-4 at the 2012 Cincinnati Masters.
January could not have gone more differently for these two competitors. Although he fell in the Sydney first round, Seppi reached the semifinals in Doha and the fourth round of the Australian Open, where he stunned Roger Federer before succumbing to Nick Kyrgios 8-6 in the fifth set. Haase has not won a single match in 2015, with straight-set losses to Borna Coric (Chennai) and Gilles Simon (Australian Open) plus a qualifying retirement in Auckland. Everything points to what should be a routine victory for Seppi.
Pick: Seppi in 2
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