Juan Ignacio Chela has an intriguing opening round clash with Tommy Haas in Vienna on Tuesday afternoon.
Haas' comeback has not gone as successfully as hoped and the German continues to rely on wildcards even to get into the qualifying for ATP events. Currently ranked 290, his form has taken an upturn over the past couple of months and he reached the US Open third round back in September.
Last week he competed in Stockholm seeing off Somdev Devvarrman in the opening round before losing a close three setter to Kevin Anderson, always a tough opponent to get on a fast indoor surface. Haas has had to go through qualifying this week but he did so with aplomb, not dropping a set through all three rounds and seeing off world number 86 Matthias Bachinger 6-4, 6-4.
This is a great draw for him as Chela is not comfortable indoors and lost his opening match in Stockholm last week to Grigor Dimitrov. The Argentine may be seeded fifth but he'll be looking forward to 2011 ending and the clay-court swing starting up again next year.
These two have not competed on the tour since the early part of the last decade. Chela leads 2-1 but both his wins came back in 2004.
Prediction: Haas in two.
