2010 If Stockholm Open Men’s Singles Competition; Roger Federer versus Ivan Ljubicic – Match Preview
The twenty nine year old Roger Federer who has so far won a total of sixteen Grand titles in his career will attempt to take one step closer to an amazing 64th career crown on Saturday as he will take on the fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic
in the second semi final match of the 2010 If Stockholm Open Men’s Singles Competition in Sweden.
The top seed Federer made his way into the final four battle after recording his 50th match win of the year in the quarter final round on Friday. As a result of this victory, the Swiss tennis Maestro has registered his
name as the first contender on the ATP tour since Pete Sampras to triumph in fifty or more clashes in a single season on the ninth occasion in a row. The former world number one Pete Sampras did it from 1990 to 1998.
World number two Roger Federer is playing in his tenth semi final round in 2010 and stands at 6-3 in the final four clashes and 2-4 in the title battles this year. The Swiss enjoys a match record of 50-12 in 2010. The Basel born
is appearing in Stockholm on the very first occasion in ten years; when he was defeated at the hands of Andreas Vinciguerra in the second round. Federer is coming off his finalist performance at the Shanghai Rolex Masters last week in China where he was knocked
out in the title battle by the number one Brit, Andy Murray. It was Roger’s fourth straight ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final.
The Fed Express was also a runner up in Madrid back in May 2010. This is his second championship since ending as a semi finalist at the year’s final major, the United States Open in New York where he was bundled out of the event
by Novak Djokovic of Serbia in a five setter epic. The right hander came into the U.S Open after winning the Cincinnati Masters on the second occasion in a row. He is attempting to make his way into his 92nd career ATP World Tour level title battle and currently
stands at 63-28.
Earlier this season in August, Federer also successfully made his way into the final of the Rogers Cup in Toronto where he was given a beating by Andy Murray in two sets. The final match score was 7-5, 7-5. It was his first championship
of the United States summer since advancing into the quarters at the All England Club in London.
World number seventeen Ivan on the other hand, is the second top ranked Croatian on the ATP tour behind the fourteen ranked Marin Cilic and is playing in Stockholm on the very first occasion in his career. He is appearing in his
third final four battle in 2010. The right hander earlier won a title in Indian Wells back in March and was also a semi finalist at the China Open in Beijing about two weeks ago. The thirty one year old Ivan enters with a match record of 23-16 on the year
and 5-3 against the top ten players in 2010. The Croatian is hoping to advance into his 23rd ATP World Tour final of his career.
This will be the sixteen career clash between the twenty nine year old Federer and the thirty one year old Ivan, with Roger leading the pair’s head to head encounter at 12-3. The Swiss has triumphed in their past nine matches,
including the previous four in straight sets. Both Ivan and Roger rallied back from a set down to beat their compatriot opponents in the final eight battle on Friday. Roger bounced back to surpass the fifth seed Stanislas Wawrinka in three sets while Ljubicic
defeated Ivan Dodig, a qualifier from Croatia.
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