2010 Open Sud de France: Preview of Thursday's
evening session
The twenty eight year old David Nalbandian will take on the centre court for the third singles clash of 2010 Open Sud de France against Gilles Simon of France on Thursday. The Argentinean will look for his second victory in as many encounters versus the
former top ten Gilles.
World number thirty one Nalbandian captured the Washington title earlier this season after dispatching off Marcos Baghdatis in the final round in straight sets. The right hander also reached the quarter final rounds in Buenos Aires, ATP World Tour Masters
1000 Monte Carlo as well as ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Canada.
The former world number three, who turned professional back in 2000, enters with a match record of 25-7 on the season. Nalbandian had surpassed Simon in the quarter final round at Washington back in August on his way to the title victory.
The twenty five year old Simon, who stands at a win loss mark of 18-14 on the year, is currently ranked number forty eight in the South African Airways 2010 ATP list. The Frenchman has so far captured only a single title in Metz this season after dismissing
Zverev in straight sets. He also made his way into the quarter final rounds at Eastbourne, Washington and Beijing.
In the evening session on Thursday, Steve Darcis, a qualifier from Belgium, will face Gael Monfils on the first occasion in his career.
The right handed Monfils, who is currently ranked number fifteen in the world, enters with a win loss mark of 35-17 on the year. He has so far made his way into the finals at Stuttgart, Tokyo and semi finals in Brisbane, Johannesburg while quarter final
rounds in Rotterdam, Marseille, ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid, Nice and the year’s final major, the 2010 U.S. Open in New York.
Monfils, as a result of reaching the quarter final round at U.S Open, also registered his name as the first French player to do so since Arnaud Clement back in 2000.
Darcis, a professional tennis player from Belgium, has so far won a total of two singles titles on the tour. The twenty six year old, who made his debut on the ATP tour back in 2003, enters with a match record of 6-5 on the season. He posted his season's
best result at Doha where the right hander had reached the quarter final round before losing to the world number one, Rafael Nadal. He is currently ranked number 112 in the world. Darcis is attempting to advance into his second ATP World Tour quarter of the
year.
World number forty four, Jarkko Nieminen and Richard Gasquet will play the concluding match of the day on Thursday. The professional tennis player from Finland has reached the final in Bangkok, semi final in Delray Beach, Stockholm and quarter finals in
Metz and Tokyo so far in 2010.
He stands with a win loss mark of 27-24 on the year. He has been recording his best results since an opening round defeat at the U.S. Open as the left hander has triumphed in twelve of his previous fifteen clashes.
The French tennis player, Richard Gasquet, who made his debut on the ATP World tour back in 2002, is currently ranked number twenty eight. Richard won the title at Nice earlier in 2010 and has also successfully made his way into the finals at Sydney, Gstaad,
semi final in Metz and quarter finals in Brisbane, Casablanca and Belgrade.
The twenty four year old stands at a match record of 35-19 on the season. He is attempting to reach the quarter or better on the eighth occasion in 2010 and enjoys a season mark of 1-2 in the title battles.
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