2010 Davis Cup Final; Gael Monfils and Janko Tipsarevic to begin action on Friday
In spite of the fact that the ATP’s regular season is over, Serbian and French players still continue to practice in order to take part in the Davis Cup Final, which starts on Friday.
The French side includes Michael Llodra, Arnaud Clement, Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon. France made its way into the finals after posting an ideal 5-0 win versus Russia in the final four round. Serbia, on the other hand, reached the title battle after a
hard fought 3-2 victory over the Czech Republic. World number three, Novak Djokovic headlines the Serbian side along with Nenad Zimonjic, Viktor Troicki and Janko Tipsarevic.
In the first match of the day on Friday, Gael Monfils will take on Janko Tipsarevic in the pair’s fifth encounter on the tour. Gaels is the highest contender from the French side, who is currently ranked number twelve in the South African Airways ATP list.
His top ranking has made him the best choice to begin the Davis Cup tie on Friday. Tipsarevic, though, on the other hand is not high in the ranking list; the Serbian is still a highly dangerous contender without any question.
Both of them will face each other on the second occasion in 2010. They most recently met in the third round of the United States Open back in September, where Monfils turned out to be the winner in the end in four sets. The final match score was 7-6(4),
6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4. Monfils also lead the pair’s overall head to head series on hard courts at 2-1.
Monfils since his quarterfinal exit at the year’s final Grand Slam, the United States Open has been in an outstanding form on the tour. The Frenchman finished as finalist to the world number one Rafael Nadal in Tokyo, captured the Montpellier crown, and
advanced into the title battle of the Paris Masters before losing at the hands of world number five Robin Soderling in straight sets. He comes in with a win loss mark of 45-19 on the season.
Although, the twelfth ranked Monfils couldn’t qualify for the season finale Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London, the 24-year-old still finished the year on a high note and is now looking forward to play well in the Davis Cup finals.
While commenting on his first match opponent Tipsarevic, Monfils reflected. “He played like two great matches in semi-finals. So I knew we had like 99% of chance of play against him again. Janko is a tough opponent. I know he can beat like every player on
this planet. He is playing great and for sure he is at home so it will be different for him. So I expect a really tough match tomorrow.”
Tipsarevic, who is ranked number forty nine in the South African Airways ATP list, has been typically inconsistent throughout the year. He did show some flashes of class, like his second round United States Open match where he upset the top American Andy
Roddick. However, he couldn’t continue his form as the Serbian was later bundled out by Gael Monfils in straight sets. He enters with a match record of 25-22 on the year.
Both the players, however, have already come up big in Davis Cup action in 2010. Gaels stands at 3-0 in the live rubbers with wins over Philipp Kohlschreiber, David Ferrer and former world number three David Nalbandian of Argentine. Tipsarevic, on the other
hand, was a real hero for his country versus the Czech Republic. He got the better of Tomas Berdych on the first day before taking the final rubber against Radek Stepanek.
Although the match could go either way, but considering his current form and their most recent clash, Monfil enjoys a slight edge over Tipsarevic. However, Janko with the support of the home crowd won’t be an easy opponent to topple at the Belgrade Arena
without any measure of speculations.
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