Analysis for O. Rochus-Marchenko (ATP Marseille)

Head-to-head record 0:0

Oli Rochus of Belgium will play talented Ukraine prospect Illya Marchenko in the second round at Marseille tournament. Rochus is much more experienced and also played well indoor in past but hasn´t had any success over the last months and it seems his best years are far behind him. In June 2006, Rochus had a very good chance to beat World No. 1 Roger Federer and end his 39-match winning streak on grass. In the quarter-final of the tournament in Halle, Rochus held four match points in the second set at 5–6 and in the tie-break. He couldn't close out the match and eventually lost 7–6, 6–7, 6–7. Perhaps his biggest win was at Wimbledon in 2002, where he overcame top ten star Marat Safin in four sets. The victory was particularly impressive considering Safin is almost a foot taller than the Belgian star. But this year he remains far behind expectations – he is 3-5 this year, he won over Abdula Hajji in Doha, over Kunitsyn in Zagreb and he defeated Gilles Simon here in the first round. Illya Marchenko is a player of solid potential. He has been successful on challenger level last year, he is 10-4 this year and we will side with him with the odds above 2.0.