2010 Valencia Cup 500: Wednesday Singles Preview
Twenty four year old French, Gael Monfils kicks off his Valencia title run on Wednesday. Seeded eighth in the tournament, Monfils takes on Argentinean Eduardo Schwank on the Agora (centre court) at the day’s start.
Coming from a title win at Montpellier this Sunday, Monfils hopes to continue his form into Valencia as well. Ranked fourteen in the ATP rankings, Monfils has three career titles to his name including the win at Montpellier. Monfils
made it to three finals this year and with a 39-14 win-loss mark for the season. Having made it to quarterfinals and semi-finals in seven different tournaments this year including the United States Open, Monfils has strong chances of lifting another title
before the season ends. Pitted against world ranked sixty four, Schwank, it might be safe to predict Monfils as the winner (predicting solely on numbers and records – Schwank is yet to win an ATP title). This will be the pair’s first meeting at any ATP event
on the court.
Fifth seeded Russian, Mikhail Youzhny follows Monfils on the Agora as he faces Pablo Cuevas from Uruguay. Last year’s finalist, Youzhny lost his chance at the title after losing to Brit Andy Murray. Looking to qualify for the London
finals this year Youzhny hopes for another final run that will bump him up in the race to London. Youzhny comes fresh from a final run at St. Petersburg, having been upset by Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin in the final.
The World number ten has seven titles to his name which include two from this season, one at Kuala Lumpur and the other at Munich. With a year-to-date win-loss score of 43-18 to Cuevas’s 20-21, Youzhny is clearly a far superior
player based solely on talents. With no titles to Cuevas’s name, it might very well be a one sided match with the Russian as a probable winner. However, as we have seen five maiden title winners and a lot of upsets this season, the Fates might favour Cuevas
to keep him in the title run. This will be the pair’s second meeting in an ATP event with the head to head score 1-0 in the Russian’s favour.
As Youzhny battles Cuevas later today, qualifying round finalist French Benoit Paire meets lucky loser Marcel Granollers from Spain in the side court. Granollers gained entry into the main draw after seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
pulled out of the event due to an injury. With six of eleven Spaniards already out of the tournament, it remains to be seen whether Granollers makes it past the first round to join the ranks of countrymen, Fernando Verdasco and David Ferrer.
Brit Andy Murray continues his title defence run as he starts off the round of sixteen matches on Wednesday. Winner of both Masters 1000 events at Toronto and Shanghai, Murray has had a superb tennis season with a 41-14 win-loss
score. Looking to defend his title this year, Murray moved ahead in the tournament after defeating local Feliciano Lopez in the first round.
Murray faces Argentinean Juan Monaco, who moved ahead after a straight win over local Roberto Bautista-Agut. Monaco, who has no title wins to his name for the season, will have to rely much on luck if he looks to beat Murray.
Looking at talent on the court, Murray surpasses Monaco by many classes.
The last singles match of the day is between local favourite Fernando Verdasco and French Gilles Simon. Verdasco, who looks to regain the title, started off strong into the tournament as he embarrassed American Michael Russell
with a 6-4, 6-1 win. Enjoying the home court advantage, Verdasco has better odds of winning the match. This is the pair’s fourth meeting on the courts of an ATP event with the head to head score at 2-1 in Verdasco’s favour.
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