Events / Ben Caudell / 12 October 2009 /

Ben Caudell fancies this favourite to make it straightforward on the second day of the Shanghai Masters

Viktor Troicki (SRB) v Juan Monaco (ARG)
Argentine Monaco has the ability and tenacity to give any top ten player a run for their money. The clay court specialist has wins this year over Andy Murray, Fernando Verdasco, and David Ferrer to name just a few. His hard-court game lacks the same consistency he has gained on the red stuff but he is by no means out of his depth, winning 48% of his last 50 matches on hard.
But having played only three matches on outdoor hard (includes two retirements) within the last three months the Argentine will find it tough against a rejuvenated Troicki. Monaco pulled out of his match against Ernests Gulbis in round 16 of the Tokyo Open sighting a right hip problem last week, so it is surprising to see him fully fit for Tuesdays match.
Troicki has had injury problems of late - he retired from Washington, Montreal and Cincinnati in August of this year with foot problems - but has come back with some good form recently in Asia. Reaching the final of Bangkok on his way defeating Jo Wilfried Tsonga and John Isner the Serbian will be confident in the knowledge that he has a 1-0 head-to-head lead over the Argentine, a 3-6 6-4 6-2 win in Auckland.
Selection: Back Viktor Troicki @ [1.64] to win match.


Tomas Berdych (CZE) v Marin Cilic (CRO)
I am going to oppose everyone else's belief that Marin Cilic will walk away with this match-up!! Although Cilic is the most in-form player at the moment having reached the Beijing final last week, defeating both Rafael Nadal and Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets, I have a feeling that fatigue will start to settle in. The fresher of the two, Tomas Berdych, will give the Croat a run for his money. It happens so often, a player does so well by reaching the final or wins a tournament and then plays a couple of days later in another event not having enough time to rest and recuperate.
This happened to Juan Martin Del Potro last week at the Tokyo Open, after winning the biggest title in his career, the U.S Open he then went on to lose in the first rd against Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-4 6-4.
Both these players have similar game styles, they both hit big flat ground strokes, have big serves in which they build their play around and favour the hard court surface. Their stats on hard are almost identical over the last 12 months, Berdych has won 65% of his matches compared with 69% for Cilic. The Czech leads their head-to-head series 1-0, a recent five set Davis Cup thriller that will surely give Berdych the edge when they play a re-match again on Tuesday.
Selection: Back Thomas Berdych @ [2.68] to win match

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