Analysis for Andreev-Dancevic (ATP Sydney)

Head-to-head record 0:0

Another Sydney qualifier Frank Dancevic of Canada will face Russian Igor Andreev. Igor Andreev is a clay court specialist. Many consider him to have one of the best forehands in the business. His best Grand Slam performance is reaching the quarterfinals of the 2007 Roland Garros. Last year, he made it to the third round of Australian Open losing to Richard Gasquet in four sets. His other notable performances include reaching the quarterfinals of Buenos Aires, Dubai, and Miami. After Miami, he reached the quarterfinal of another Masters Series event in Monte Carlo. Seeded 27th and Roland Garros, Andreev lost in the second round to Robby Ginepri and at Wimbledon, he once again lost in the second round, this time to David Ferrer. He made the fourth round at the US Open but Andreev´s year still wasn’t as good as many expected. In 2009, he stared the year with the first round loss to fellow countryman Mikhail Youzhny which indicates he is not playing his best tennis. Dancevic is a typical hard court player with great serving and solid volleys. Last year, he was out of action from January with a facet joint strain of the thoracic spine. After returning to play in May he struggled a while but it was mainly on the dirt. He began his 2008 grass court tennis season in style, winning the Surbiton challenger in late May. At Wimbledon, Dancevic was given a wild card entry. In the first round, he pulled off an impressive upset in defeating the number 7 seed and former finalist, David Nalbandian in straight sets which was probably his career best match. After the match, Dancevic called it "one of the best matches of my career, if not the best". Unfortunately, he was unable to sustain this level of play and fell to 102nd ranked Bobby Reynolds in second round. He then had a solid win over World No. 24 Mario Ancic, before falling to World No. 3 Novak Djokovic at the 2008 Rogers Cup in Toronto. On the American challenger circuit last autumn, injury once again flared up as Dancevic was forced to retire in his quarter-final match at the Tulsa. However, his record for the autumn circuit has finished at 14 wins, 8 loses. All together, Dancevic is a player who should definitely be in top 100 in not in top 50 for keeps. He has already defeated many top players and has 3 good qualifying matched under the belt here (def. Zemlja, Korolev, A.Martin). He definitely has the chance against the Russian claycourter and we will stay with underdog at the odds above 3.