Analysis for Benneteau-Levy (ATP Moscow)

Head-to-head record 1:0

Frenchman Julien Benneteau will face Harel Levy, an experienced qualifier from Israel. Benneteau was a successful junior but has never reached singles top 30 in the senior ranking. In the 1996 Orange Bowl Bennetau won the Boys 16s singles title. On professional circuit, his career best result comes from French Open. At the 2006 French Open, Benneteau reached the quarterfinals by defeating 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis, Radek Stepanek and Alberto Martin. There he was defeated in straight sets by fourth-seeded player Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia. He prefers clay and has always been weaker on faster surfaces. And the story repeats this year again. He has a relatively successful clay court season but since the 2008 French Open, he has won just 1 match out of 10 matches he played by now. His losing streak includes the losses to huge underdogs such as Stoppini or Stadler. His opponent will be experienced Levy. His best results include beating Pete Sampras and Michael Chang, reaching the singles finals in Toronto Masters Series and Nottingham, and winning a doubles title in Newport. Levy's best singles ranking was No 30 in the world in 2001. Well, this was obviously a long time ago and we know that he is not the same player anymore. Levy suffered from an injury and hip surgery during his peak years, and has so far not recovered enough to play at his top level. However, he played well in qualifiers here and we think that the odds above 2.7 against out-of-form Benneteau are worth trying here.