Walking in Memphis
Nick and Michelle Larcher de Brito
No, I’m not talking about the 1991 Marc Cohn hit, I’m talking about the large group of players that train at the Academy that are playing in Memphis this week. On the men’s side, Kei Nishikori, Tommy Haas, Radek Stepanek, and Taylor Dent will all take the court and on the ladies’ side Michelle Larcher de Brito, Sabine Lisicki, and Michaella Krajicek are all playing.
Nishikori has a tough draw, as he will open with Marcos Baghdatis and then if he wins that he will face either Tommy Haas or Sam Querrey. If he gets out of that round, he will have to face Andy Roddick. Not. Easy. Last week’s titleist, Radek Stepanek will open with American qualifier Kevin Kim and if he gets through that he will face either Stefan Koubek or Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Finally, Taylor Dent opens up with the very young and talented Ernests Gulbis. This will be a good match for Taylor and we will get to see how he is feeling physically after playing last week in San Jose.
On the women’s side, Michelle received a wild card and will take on Sofia Arvidsson in the opening round while Sabine will face Ekaterina Bychkova. Lastly, Krajicek will play Russian Alla Kudryavtseva. This will be Michelle’s first WTA main draw of the year after she reached the second round of qualifying for the Aussie Open.
Good luck to everyone playing in Memphis this week!
