ATP SHANGHAI MASTERS Sky Sports 1, 7am RICHARD GASQUET, who has been handed a tough draw in the Shanghai Masters, is probably aware there will be no let-up if he is to make a name for himself in China this week but the Frenchman is good enough to see off Ernests Gulbis, writes Adrian Humphries.
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Gasquet has done well this season to return to something like the form he was producing before his cocaine ban last season, which was subsequently overturned.
It may pay not to go overboard about what the Frenchman is capable of achieving in the second half of his career, given that he failed to make any significant ground on the big four before his problems arose.
But the hype that surrounded Gasquet in his early days - who remembers him upsetting Franco Squillari in the 2002 Monte Carlo Masters? - was nothing compared to the way Gulbis has been overrated.
That's not to say the Lithuanian isn't any good. Far from it. But Gulbis has still got a long way to go before he can be mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Nadal, Federer, Djokovic and Murray and for now has can be taken on against a player with the innate natural talent of Gasquet.
Victor Chandler quote Gasquet at 10-11 and that looks takeable.
Janko Tipsarevic produced some blistering performances for Serbia in their Davis Cup semi-final victory over Czech Republic last month and is worth an interest in his clash with Andrey Golubev.
Kazakh No. 1 Golubev has had a season to remember with victory in the German Open in July, but this match affords Tipsarevic a chance to showcase the ability he displayed during triumphs over Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek in Belgrade recently.
There were plenty of surprises in Shanghai yesterday with triumphs for qualifiers Jeremy Chardy and Mischa Zverev, while Thiemo de Bakker showed he is continuing to go the right way when ousting Fernando Verdasco 7-6 7-5. But Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who returned last week from a lay-off, posted a tidy 7-6 6-3 win against Feliciano Lopez.
The top half of the WTA Linz draw yesterday bore little resemblance to the one which was due to feature Serena Williams, who pulled out on Sunday.
Third seed Alona Bondarenko has moved to Williams' original position at the head of the draw, Petra Kvitova took Bondarenko's initial berth and Ana Ivanovic has been drafted in as a wildcard and took Kvitova's original place. Olga Govortsova also withdrew from the tournament.
Recommendations R Gasquet 2pts 10-11 Victor Chandler J Tipsarevic 2pts 8-11 Blue Square, 888sport
