2010 Valencia Open; Preview of Friday’s evening session
The only all seeded quarter final match of the day will feature Robin Soderling from Sweden versus Gael Monfils at the 2010 Valencia Open 500 Men’s singles competition. Both the players advanced into the quarter final round at the year’s final Grand Slam,
the United States Open in New York back in September.
The 24-year-old Monfils is the second highest ranked French player on the ATP World tour behind Tsonga. He is making his 11th ATP World Tour quarter-final or better showing in 2010 after getting the better of Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in two sets
on Thursday. The final match score was 6-2, 6-4.
The professional tennis player from France is coming off his first singles crown of the season and third overall in Montpellier last week where he dispatched off Ivan Ljubicic in the title battle. Monfils was also a finalist in Stuttgart as well as Tokyo
earlier this year. The right hander enters with a win loss mark of 41-17 on the season and has triumphed in at least forty clashes on the second occasion in a row.
He is playing in Valencia for the third straight year and enjoys a career lifetime mark of 4-2. World number 14 achieved his career highest ranking of number nine back in 2009.
Soderling, the top Swedish tennis player on the ATP tour started off his Valencia campaign on Tuesday with a two-setter victory over Albert Montanes of Spain. The final match score was 6-1, 6-4. He made his way into the quarter final round with a 6-2, 6-3
win over Daniel Gimeno Traver of Spain.
The right hander, who is playing in the quarter or better on the 13th occasion in 2010, stands at a win loss mark of 50-19 on the season. The Swede has already successfully qualified for the year ending Barclays in London.
In the concluding match of the day, David Ferrer of Spain will meet Potito Starace; an unseeded Italian who is hoping for his first victory versus the Spaniard. Ferrer leads the pair’s head-to-head encounter at 5-0.
The 29-year-old Starace is the second highest ranked Italian behind the world number 50 Seppi on the ATP World Tour. He is making his seventh appearance in the final eight or better in 2010 and enters with a win loss mark of 26-23 on the season.
The professional tennis ace from Italy posted his best result of the year by finishing as a runner up in Umag. He was also a semi-finalist in Casablanca and Nice before falling to Stanislas Wawrinka and Richard Gasquet.
Starace holds a 10-4 life time record in Valencia and previously made his way into the final here back in 2007 where the Italian was toppled by Nicolas Almagro in straight sets. The right hander also played well in Challengers this season, advancing into
the final in Lugano, Turin as well as Genova.
The Spaniard tennis ace, Ferrer is through to his eleventh quarter final or better in 2010. The 28-year-old has reached a total of four ATP World Tour finals this season and was also a finalist at the China Open in Beijing last month. Ferrer captured his
eighth singles crown in Acapulco back in February, whereas, he finished as finalist in Buenos Aires and Rome earlier in 2010.
He comes in with a win loss mark of 56-20 on the year and is still hoping to qualify for the elite eight man field in London. Ferrer won the title in Valencia back in 2008 and also reached the final five years ago before losing to Andreev in straight sets.
The Spaniard who achieved his career highest ranking of world number four back in 2008 stands at 14-4 mark in Valencia.
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