- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Australia’s Matthew Ebden plays Spaniard Marcel Granollers in a competitive first round match-up at the Australian Open. Join The Roar for live scores from 12:30pm (AEDT).
Ebden and Granollers possess similar styles of play, with neither known for their ability to blow opposition off the court with their shot making.
Instead, Ebden and Granollers rely on playing percentage tennis. They won’t take too many risks, and rely on a low unforced error count to wear down their opposition.
Granollers does however possess the superior play at the net – a result of his success as a doubles player.
It comes as no surprise that in the two matches they have played against one another, the ledger is split at one win apiece.
Granollers beat Ebden at their most recent meeting, in Sydney back in 2013, when the Spaniard prevailed in three sets. Ebden defeated Granollers in the same tournament a year earlier, in three sets.
While winning the first set would be very advantageous for Ebden, he can ill afford to drop his intensity against a player who usually sticks around against most opponents.
Like most Spanish players, Granollers competes well and has earned some notable tournament victories at ATP tour level, earning titles at Valencia, Gstaad, Kitzbuhel and Houston.
With little separating both players, vocal home support could prove a key factor in allowing Ebden to scrape past Granollers in a tight contest. Either way, it’s a toss of a coin.
Ebden in five sets.