2010 BNP Paribas Masters: Michael Llorda upsets Novak Djokovic in Paris
The professional tennis ace from France, Michael Llorda put forward a strong case under the gaze of Davis Cup skipper of France, Guy Forget on Thursday for his induction as a singles contender in next month’s final of Davis Cup versus Serbia.
Llorda truly delighted the local support at 2010 BNP Paribas Masters Men’s singles competition in France by posting his eighth top ten victory of his career. Currently ranked number thirty four in the South African Airways ATP list, the fourth highest ranked
French player battled past the last year’s winner and second seed Novak Djokovic from Serbia in two sets. The final match score was 7-6(6), 6-2.
The Frenchman, as a result of this victory, will next take on the tenth seed and 2006 winner Nikolay Davydenko on Friday. While commenting on his inclusion in the next month’s Davis Cup final after recording a stunning win against the defending champion,
Llorda reflected, "In view of the Davis Cup, I do not know. However I showed I was able to beat Djokovic. I showed I was reliable. Now, in Serbia, the match will be completely different with a different surface, but I was able to show our captain that he could
count on me.”
The right hander added that Davis Cup is an entirely different event and he does not want to think too much about it at the moment as his entire focus is to play well in Paris and go deep in the tournament.
Michael, who has so far won a total of two ATP World Tour crowns in 2010 at the Open 13 in Marseille after beating Benneteau and AEGON International in Eastbourne, mastered the conditions on quick surface by winning seventy one percent of his service points
and preventing all three break points he faced. He blasted a total of six aces to get past his opponent from Serbia. As a result of this victory, Michael has improved his win loss mark to 28-20 on the season.
World number three Novak Djokovic arrived on Court Central at the Palais Omnisports sporting a bowtie, mask and fake glasses, declaring after the match, “It is just a little tradition I have here in Bercy for last four or five years. I have been doing it
because around this time there is Halloween.”
The 23-year-old tennis ace from Serbia, who was ranked number two after finishing as runners up at the year’s final Grand Slam the United States Open in New York back in September, congratulated Llorda for playing so well and winning the match in the end.
Djokovic, while commenting on Llorda’s game, said that he played a perfect match. The Serb didn’t play bad however Llorda exhibited some flawless tennis and as a result, overpowered him and rightly deserved victory in the end.
He will next take part in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, which are set to start from 21st November in London. World number three currently owns a match record of 57-16 on the year.
Meanwhile, Nikolay Davydenko outlasted his fifth seed foe Tomas Berdych from Czech Republic in three sets on Thursday. The final match score was 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-0. The clash concluded in a time period of two hours and sixteen minutes. Tomas, however, still
managed to qualify for the year finale on the first occasion in his career.
In the doubles action, Mertinak and Cermak made their way into the semi final round in Paris after getting the better of fourth seed Oliver Marach and Lukasz Kubot in three sets. The final match score was 7-5, 4-6, 11-9.
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