Preview: If Stockholm Open

City: Stockholm, Sweden
Surface: Indoor Hard
Championship Points: 250
2008 Singles Champion: David Nalbandian
2008 Doubles Champions: Jonas Bjorkman and Kevin Ullyett

Defending champion, David Nalbandian is still off the tour and recovering from surgery, so he will not defend his title this year. Robin Soderling, Tommy Haas, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Juan Monaco, Andreas Beck, Benjamin Becker, Albert Montanes and Feliciano Lopez are the top seeds at this tournament.

The top-seed Robin Soderling will try for his first title in Stockholm. The hometown favorite is enjoying his most successful year and is probably the favorite for the title. None of the top tier players are competing, so all of his threats will not be around to keep the title away from him.

The title is not a foregone conclusion for the Swede. Tommy Haas could easily stand in his way. The German, who had a good summer this year, returns from the tour after battling injury at the end of the summer. If he is good form, it could spell trouble for Soderling.

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Thomaz Bellucci, Ernest Gulbis and Grigor Dimitrov round out the draw in what should be a good week.

Tournament Draw
Singles / Doubles

Monday’s Order of Play

(Image: If Stockholm Open)