Analysis for Llodra-Istomin (ATP Moscow)

Head-to-head record 0:0

Michael Llodra of France will face Russian qualifier Denis Istomin in Moscow opening round. Llodra is an experienced player who was primarily known as an excellent doubles player. This year, he is having one of the best singles seasons so far. He won two tournaments in the course of two months, the first being in Adelaide, where he defeated Jarkko Nieminen in the final, and the other in Rotterdam, where he edged out Robin Soderling in a third-set tiebreak. He played well also on clay - entered the French Open, where he upset Tomas Berdych in the second round and went on to reach the fourth round, losing to Latvian Ernests Gulbis in straight sets. He is an aggressive player and has everything he should have to success on fast surfaces. On the other hand, he has never been a world beater and he is noted for being very inconsistent player. His opponent Denis Istomin entered the 2008 Australian Open as the Asian Wild Card. He lost in the second round to local favorite Lleyton Hewitt in four sets. Besides Aussie Open, he has played on challenger circuit only. He has won two events at this level but also underwent some uneasy losses. He was said to be a player of big potential but has never prove it among the pros. On the other hand, he was impressive in qualifiers and we think that inconsistent Frenchman is a suitable opponent for him. Of course, Llodra is a favourite here, but we don’t think that Istomin should be above 3.5.