(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Bottom half
It’s truly amazing if you think about it. Fabrice Santoro comes into an ATP World Tour event at age 37 and is the defending champ. His court-craft is truly timeless, with one last hopeful act in Newport this week. Never a treat to win a slam, Fabrice just might surprise a lot of tennis fans a pundits once during the event.
Let’s take a look.
Santoro will begin defense of his title in round one against Flavo Cipolla, who by any definition of the word is not a grass-court player. If Fabrice plays solid he should be able to brush Flavo aside in routine fashion.
Round two could bring forth a more daunting challenge for Santoro, in the from of gun-slinger Taylor Dent. The American is still a work in progress, but he did have a fantastic showing earlier his year in Miami, where he took out Robredo and Almagro.
Dent could pose all sorts of problems for Santoro, with his high-flying serve and volley game, coming at all costs. Giving Santoro the bennifit of the doubt, let’s assume that he moves through.
The quarterfinals could bring forth the challenge of either fifth seed Arnaud Clement (who is way past his prime); American Amir Delic (who has a big game, but usually comes up short); and finally Nicolas Mahut (one mean grass-court dude). The Delic/Mahut first rounder could potentially be a great one, with Mahut being the slight mental favorite.
Santoro has more than enough guile to tame either Delic or Mahut; with either player bringing a Taylor Dent type style to each affair.
The semifinals could contain another big server for Fabrice to deal with, in the form of Sam Querrey. The California native has been a bust thus far in 2009; one has to think that a break-out party is coming up soon. It could very well happen here.
Other potential semifinal foes coming Santoro’s way could be either seventh seed Kevin Kim, or Parkash Amritraj from India. Kim is a nice flat hitter, with Amritraj being the defending finalist. The Indian possesses a monster serve, and could definitely make some inroads throughout the week.
All in all, what would a final trip to Newport without a final curtain call for the two-handed slice? With that being said, let’s give Santoro the nod for of a three-peat, and wish him well on the senior tour.
Pick: Santoro (dark-horse: Querrey)
Please check back daily, I will have updates, interviews and insight from all the on-goings from Newport, RI—Champbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships. Enjoy.
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