2010 BNP Paribas Masters: Wednesday Morning Session Review
Eight professionals took to the courts for the round of thirty-two matches on Wednesday morning and the results are in. As predicted by critics and fans alike, the seeds have it. They cruised past their unseeded opponents to stay
in the title run although minor discrepancies were seen on the scoreboard.
American Andy Roddick needs a promising run in Paris to ensure his qualification for the ATP World Tour Finals in London and it seems the Fates could not have been more generous. Seeded eighth in the tournament, Roddick practically
glided his way into the third round. Having received a bye into the second round, Roddick faced Finnish native Jarkko Nieminen to kick off the day’s play on Wednesday. Roddick humiliated Nieminen with a breadstick win in the first set. Having served five aces
and losing only three points on service, Roddick won the set in about twenty-five minutes. Nieminen tried to put up a fight in the second set, but to no avail. He committed three double faults which only added in Roddick’s favour. Roddick eventually won the
set 6-4. He goes on to face the Latvian professional Ernests Gulbis.
In-form Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky showed much resistance to Marin Cilic in their second round match on Wednesday. Unseeded Stakhovsky met thirteenth seed Cilic in court 1 to battle it out for a spot in the third round. As predicted,
Stakhovsky added to the professionals losing to the seeds and exiting the tournament. In a three-setter that lasted one hour and fifty one minutes, the Ukrainian gave it his all. The two players were neck to neck in the first set at 4-4, till Cilic caught
a lucky break winning the set 6-4. Stakhovsky, determined to not make it an easy win for Cilic, broke back in the second set, reversing the score and winning the set 6-4. As they entered the decider, Cilic was determined to show that he had a superior skill
set than Stakhovsky. Cilic quickly took the lead winning two games in a row, and although Stakhovsky managed to win a few games he did eventually lose the set to Cilic. The final match score was 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
Argentinean Juan Monaco was yet another casualty on the courts today. Pitted against the Serbian marvel Novak Djokovic, Monaco had little chance of success because when it came to talent, Djokovic beats Monaco by a mile. Second
seed Djokovic did justice to his seeded position as he dismissed Monaco with a straight-set win to move ahead into the tournament. Taking advantage of the three double-faults committed by Monaco and adding that to the eight aces he served, Djokovic practically
sailed past Monaco with a 6-4, 6-3 win. Djokovic goes on to face local Michael Llodra in the third round.
Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka was amongst those few blessed unseeded players to have been able to upset the norm in the event by ousting a seed to stay in the title run. This was previously done by Czech Radek Stepanek in the event
when he defeated fourteenth seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro. Wawrinka remains to be a contender for the title after he defeated sixteenth seed Ivan Ljubicic in their second round match. Wawrinka reaffirmed the idea that being unseeded doesn’t necessarily mean
an early exit. In a two setter that lasted for about an hour and twenty five minutes, Wawrinka dismissed Ljubicic with a twin set score of 6-4, 6-4. Wawrinka committed no double-faults, served eleven aces and lost only twelve points on service in the entire
match to ensure a spot for himself in the third round.
Although Wawrinka is among the few unseeded in the third round, majority of the spots have been filled by seeded players. The unseeded will desperately need huge strokes of good luck to stay in the title run; otherwise they will
be overrun by the seeded professionals.
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