2010 BNP Paribas Masters: Review of Thursday Morning Session
As the morning session at Bercy Paris ended, centre court saw two exciting matches with important results on the scoreboards.
American Andy Roddick started the day’s play with his third round match against Latvian Ernests Gulbis. Gulbis, who had moved ahead in the event so far completely on luck, was set straight by A-Rod as the former world number one enjoyed a straight set win over the Latvian professional. Gulbis had found his way into the third set after both his opponents in preceding rounds had retired due to injuries.
Adding the four double faults committed by Gulbis to the twelve aces that Roddick served, it was evident that the American would emerge as the victor. Roddick managed a clear-cut win in the first set winning it 6-3. Losing the first set must have struck a nerve with Gulbis who put up a noteworthy fight in the second set, taking it to the tiebreaker. Both professionals were neck to neck in the race to seven, desperate for a break; however, neither managed a break for sixteen points. Roddick finally broke the monotony at 8-8, winning two consecutive points and in effect the set. The final match score was 6-3, 7-6(8).
Roddick had this to say after the match, "I thought I played a really good tiebreaker. He came up with some great shots in the breaker and almost kind of snuck it out. I was able to control the rallies with my chip and keep my ball down out of the strike zone for the majority of the day. It was just solid. I was making him play, every ball and picking the right shots to attack. I was happy with it overall."
Following Roddick and Gulbis on the centre court were Spaniard Fernando Verdasco and local favourite Gael Monfils. In a three-setter that lasted for almost three hours, tennis fans at Bercy witnessed one of the most dramatic matches ever.
Going at it tooth and nail, the professionals took the first two sets into tiebreakers. Monfils led both the tiebreakers with 4-2; however, he lost five consecutive points in the first set and then won three consecutive in the second set to make the set score 1-1 between the two. Entering the third set, Monfils saved match point twice at 4-5 to take the lead at 6-5. He then made one last “swing” at it to win the decider 7-5. With the pressure of a London qualification looming over his head, Verdasco committed nine double faults in the match, which only added to Monfils advantage. Monfils served ten aces in the entire match, adding that to the home court advantage and Verdasco’s pressure Monfils had quite a few elements playing in his favour.
Monfils is reported to have said, "Every day I start off my matches slowly, I'm not very aggressive, and my game is not that efficient. Today I played badly. I was fighting back all the time, struggling. I wasn't playing well, I'm tired. I need to rest before finding a new stamina to be able to step into the court and be more aggressive. I have pain here and there, but I'm being very careful not to get injured,"
Verdasco’s defeat puts him out of the running for the London finals confirming the qualification of Roddick, David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych.
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