Only 5 matches done so far. Let’s look at each in turn.
Roddick d. Kunitsyn. The key, it seems, to many matches, is winning the first set. Kunitsyn beat Pole Prysiezny, who only seems to get in Slam draw due to his relative low rank. He kept even with Roddick, but once Roddick won the tiebreak, he cruised to a win. Roddick has overcome mono, and is looking to make a relatively deep run. He’s in better shape than he has been in a while.
Berdych d. Kohlschreiber. Berdych dropped the first set, and it seemed maybe he was back to his inconsistent ways. Kohlschreiber is a tough player, but he hasn’t exactly moved up the ranks. Berdych took the next three sets easily. Apparently, a cheering crowd was there to support Berdych. Is Berdych sneaking through the draw?
Robredo d. Fish. Robredo leads the head-to-head 4-3 including the last two wins. However, it may be Fish’s five set win against Hanescu that lead to his downfall. Although he gets a day of rest, the recovery time may not have been enough even for the relatively fit Fish. Robredo didn’t have a great 2010, so this is a good start for him and a disappointing loss by Fish.
Nishikori d. Mayer. Florian Mayer upset Davydenko in the first round, and has been playing relatively good tennis the last two weeks. However, Nishikori seems destined to return back to the top 30, if not better. He’s taken on Gilbert as a part-time coach (in addition to his full-time coach). Nishikori dropped a love third set, but won in 4 sets.
Stakhovsky d. Kubot. Kubot upset Sam Querrey in five sets. But he didn’t have enough to defeat the versatile Russian, Stakhovsky. I probably would have favored Stakhovsky even had Kubot won more easily. Stakhovsky with a straight set win.
Tipsarevic is close to beating Verdasco, serving for the match. Apparently, Verdasco was a bit passive. He played aggressive to win the third set, but then threw in a flurry of errors in the fourth set.
Gasquet is up two sets to love over Mannarino, who beat Ryan Harrison in the first round. Ljubicic is up two sets to one over Paire of France. Robin Haase (the other Robin) is up 2 sets to love over Juan Monaco.
EDIT: Tipsarevic served twice to close the fourth set, but was broken twice. Then, he lost the fourth set tiebreak, 7-0. Verdasco won the fifth set at love. Haase up a double-break in the fourth set, after losing the fourth set. If he holds, he will face Andy Roddick in the third round.