WTA KREMLIN CUP Eurosport, 8am TOMAS BERDYCH is still battling to secure himself a berth at the lucrative end-of-season ATP World Tour Finals and he can edge a little closer to his goal by defeating Finnish journeyman Jarkko Nieminen in today's second-round clash at the Swedish Open, writes Dan Childs.
The heavy-hitting Czech looks fairly secure - he climbed to sixth on the latest ATP list after his run to the last 16 of the Shanghai Masters.
But he will still f el that he has plenty of room for improvement after failing to advance beyond the quarter-finals in his last seven tournaments.
Berdych has struggled to repeat the impressive form he showed during his run to theWimbledon final but the Stockholm draw has been reasonably kind - 27thranked Brazilian Thomas Bellucci is the strongest player standing between him and a place in the semi-finals.
Nieminen is an effective player on indoor courts but his baseline game i s solid rather than spectacular.
The Finn has never had the necessary power to mix it with the bigger hitters and unless Berdych is seriously out of form he appears unlikely to spring a surprise.
Berdych is available at 4-9 to make his superior shot-making count and that looks well worth taking.
Croatian qualifier Ivan Dodig stunned eighth seed Tommy Robredo in the first round yesterday, winning 6-2 6-2 against the Spaniard, who had been 22-1 to win the tournament.
And there were shocks in the opening round of the women's Kremlin Cup too, with ante-post 6-1 third-favourite Na Li suffering a defeat to Anna Chakvetadze, while pre-tournament 8-1 shot Flavia Pennetta fell at the hands of local favourite Elena Vesnina.
Recommendation T Berdych 2pts 4-9 Coral, Hills
