Viktor Troicki is in action against Marcel Granollers in the second round of the 2011 Serbia Open.
Troicki has risen to sixteen in the world after an impressive start to 2011. The Serb reached a final in Sydney at the start of the year and has maintained that form ever since. It took Novak Djokovic to knock him out of the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami and he battled his way to the Monte Carlo quarters a couple of weeks ago before falling to David Ferrer.
However Troicki has never enjoyed a particularly good run in his home town event in Belgrade, losing in the quarter-finals for the past couple of years. The 2011 event is slightly weaker than usual and Troicki's good form means he finds himself seeded second with local crowds desperate for an all-Serbian final.
Strangely for a Spaniard, Granollers actually enjoys his best results on hard courts. He had a good run at the Miami Masters, reaching the fourth round with a win over Stan Wawrinka but he's had a tough initiation to the clay-court swing, losing to Nicolas Almagro and Jurgen Melzer in his two events so far.
Troicki has won all three of his previous matches against Granollers including a 6-3, 6-4 win at this very stage of the Serbian Open two years ago. Expect a similar scoreline.
