Florent Serra will face Michael Russell in the second round of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships

Florent Serra and Michael Russell will meet in the second round of the ATP Memphis Open this week. Russell had to qualify for this event, and continued his qualifying form with a superb 6-1, 7-6(1) victory against Ivo Karlovic in round one. Whilst Karlovic is renowned for his serve, Russell demonstrated some service skills of his own, winning an astonishing 94 percent of the points played on his first serve. He didn’t even have to face a single break point.

Serra managed to progress to round two with a retirement victory over Xavier Malisse. Serra had been 6-2, 1-0 up against the Belgian, before Malisse decided to call it quits. Serra should be fairly fresh for this match, and appears to be the favourite. He outranks Russell and should have a decent chance of making the final eight.

Serra has a 1-0 head to head record against Russell. The pairing’s only previous meeting occurred in last season’s French Open, where Serra cruised to a 6-4, 6-0, 6-1 win. This might not equate to success on the hard indoor courts in Memphis, though Serra might feel that he has the edge here.