2011 Sony Ericsson Open: Roger Federer vs. Juan Monaco – Preview
World number 3, Swiss Maestro Roger Federer will face world number 35 Juan Monaco of Argentina in the third round at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami on Monday.
In the second round, Federer cruised past Czech Radek Stepanek, ranked 68th in the world, in straight sets 6-3, 6-3. While, Monaco battled past world number 36 Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine in three thrilling sets 6-4,
6-7(2), 6-4 to reach the third round.
With his second round win, Federer tied with former world number 1 Pete Sampras of USA at no. 7 spot in the list of most ATP match wins in open era. Talking to the journalists after achieving this feat, Federer said, “It’s a funny
stat but it shows how long I have been around already, how much I've won all around the world and all the different surfaces.”
This will be the second meeting between Federer and Monaco. The Swiss leads Monaco 1-0 in the head-to-head record. In their only previous meeting, Federer defeated the Argentine in three sets 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in the round of 32 at
the German Open Tennis Championships in 2007.
Federer has won 19 out of 22 matches this season. The Swiss started the year at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, where he beat Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 6-3, 6-4 in the title match. Federer was stopped from winning his 17th grand
slam title as he was beaten by Novak Djokovic of Serbia in straight sets 6-7(3), 5-7, 4-6 in the semi-finals at the Australian Open.
The Federer Express was again halted by Djokovic as the Serbian defeated the Swiss Maestro 6-3, 6-3 in the final at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. The former world number 1 suffered his third straight loss of the season
at the hands of Djokovic in the semi-final of the BNP Paribas Open, losing the match 3-6, 6-3, 2-6.
On the other hand, Monaco did not have a good start to the season. He has a 7-7 win/loss record so far this year. The Argentine started the season at the Heineken Open, where he lost to Adrian Mannarino of France 4-6, 3-6 in the
opening round. Monaco was defeated by Robin Haase of Netherlands 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 2-6 in the second round at the Australian Open. The right handed was upset by qualifier Ryan Sweeting of USA 1-6, 6-0, 1-6 in the second round at the BNP Paribas Open.
Federer is chasing his third title at the Sony Ericsson Open. The Swiss won the title here in 2005 and 2006 as he defeated Rafael Nadal and Ivan Ljubicic in the final respectively.
The winner of the match between Federer and Monaco will meet either world number 89 Olivier Rochus of Belgium or Russian Mikhail Youzhny, ranked 14th in the world, in the fourth round.
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