Thomaz Bellucci takes on Martin Klizan in the third match of the day at the ATP Challenger Tour Finals today.
Bellucci suffered a shock three set defeat on Thursday to Andreas Beck, falling 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to the German to put his chances of qualifying for the last four in the balance.
"It was a tough match," the Brazilian said. "He served really well and I couldn't get to read his serve and that was frustrating. When I managed to get more balls in the court he made some mistakes, but in the third set I couldn't reach him. Klizan plays similar to Beck, but if I play good tennis I'll have the chance to win."
Bellucci will be strong favourite against Klizan who has lost both his matches so far, a 6-3, 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Beck and then a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 loss to Bobby Reynolds.
The Slovak is far better on higher bouncing surfaces and he's spent most of the week complaining about the event.
"There is a big hall, which is used for many things, not only sport. Surface is really bad, very soft and there are some parts, where ball do not bounce at all," Klizan complained.
"Everyone is complaining about that, but we cannot do anything. On the organisation side, there are no normal rest places for players, no gym. My expectations were pretty high, cause it is supposed to be the best challenger tournament with biggest prize money. It is also not fair that Bellucci plays this tournament against players, that have been playing challenger tour for almost whole year, while Thomaz is ranked about 35 and plays only on the ATP World Tour. Then it is not kind of Challenger Masters."
Prediction: Bellucci in two.
