2010 BNP Paribas Masters: Friday Preview – Top seeds and local favourites set to battle it out
Top seeds prepare to battle it out in the four quarterfinals on Friday as the 36th
edition of the BNP Paribas Masters enters its final stages.
Kicking off the action are American Andy Roddick (aka A-Rod) and Swede Robin Soderling. Both having qualified for the finals in London will give us a preview of the action-packed matches awaiting fans at the O2 Arena, London. Roddick
cruised into the quarterfinals after a straight, yet not so simple, set win of 6-3, 7-6(8) over Latvian Ernests Gulbis. Soderling moved into the quarterfinals after a close tight win over the Swiss number two, Stanislas Wawrinka.
Roddick currently enjoys a win loss mark of 46-14 for the season with two titles under his belt. Although Soderling has only one title to show for the season, his year-to-date win loss mark of 51-20 is a shade more impressive than
that of A-Rod’s. This would be the pair’s third meeting for the season; having met twice before in Masters 1000 events also - first in Indian Wells and then in Cincinnati - the pair’s YTD head-to-head rests at 2-0 in the American’s favour. However, their career
head-to-head is levelled since the Swede has defeated the American twice in 2008.
Following these two on the courts will be the rising local Michael Llodra and tenth seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko. Llodra moves into the quarterfinal after upsetting second seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic from Serbia.
Whether it’s the home advantage or just a brilliant stroke of luck this season, Llodra seems to be having a good run in the event. Betting on either, Llodra might just move past Davydenko to find himself in the semis at a home event.
Looking at numbers, the pair rests at an almost equal footing with Davydenko’s YTD mark of 28-18 against Llodra’s score of 25-20. Their head-to-head score rests at 4-1 in the Russian’s favour. Their last meeting was in 2008, where
Llodra broke through the winning streak of the Russian. Having never faced each other since, one cannot predict whether that was just a one-hit-wonder or had Llodra finally overturned the Davydenko’s winning days over him. Given the home court advantage and
the season Llodra has had, one could predict a French win.
2010 Vienna titlist Austrian Jurgen Melzer meets 2010 Basel champion Swiss Roger Federer for their quarterfinal match. This will be the pair’s third meeting in their career as well as for the season. Having met once in Wimbledon
and then in United States Open, their head-to-head score rests at 2-0 in Federer’s favour.
This match is a crucial one for the Swiss Maestro since he has never made it past the quarterfinals in Paris before. Getting the top seed after Spaniard Rafael Nadal’s retirement from the event, Federer hopes for a better run in
Paris this year. With the pressure of a London qualification off of both professionals’ heads, calmer nerves will prevail in the match, though Melzer might just be rattled up due to the hype of facing the Swiss player. Although Federer is one of the favourites
to win the event this year, Melzer has been in-form this season and the match could go in either’s favour.
The last quarterfinal of the day will be between top Brit Andy Murray and local favourite Gael Monfils. This will be the pair’s fifth meeting on the courts with their head-to-head score resting at 3-1 in the Brit’s favour. Though
coincidentally the only time Monfils won against Murray was in France at the Roland Garros in 2006. Will the home court advantage once more be fruitful for Monfils or will the Brit move past the French to make their score 4-1?
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