Analysis for Melzer-Korolev (ATP Zagreb)

Head-to-head record 1:0

Jevgenyi Korolev of Russia will face Jurgen Melzer in the first round at Zagreb. Korolev is 20-years old Russian talent who likes fast indoors conditions. As an offensive baseliner he tries to win the point by hitting winners from the back of the court, attacking with fast balls that the opponent cannot reach or return properly. He has a solid serve and can hit huge groundstrokes off both wings. However, when going for winners, he often produces many unforced errors. But he is still young and has definitely big potential. At Las Vegas 2007, he made it to his first career ATP semifinal, taking out James Blake in the round robin stage, as well as fast-rising American Sam Querrey in the quarterfinals, before losing to Austrian Jurgen Melzer in 3 sets. This was the only match these to guys have played in past and Melzer won 7-6 in the third set. In 2009, Korolev showed some solid performances in Melbourne coming through the qualifiers and taking out Moya in the first round. His hit or miss playing style is well suited to indoor courts and he should be very competitive here in Zagreb. His opponent will be Jurgen Melzer of Austria. His YTD results are just average and we are simply not convinced of his current form. As a defensive baseliner, he may have some problems with ultra fast surface in Zagreb that was prepared according to Croatian bombers´ needs. We don’t think Korolev should be such a big underdog today and his odds above 2.5 can be taken here.