ATP Open de Moselle & BCR Open Romania: Thursday’s Preview
The Open de Moselle tennis tournament kicks off from Thursday, the 23rd of September, 2010 with the main highlight coming in the shape of top seeded Marin Cilic going head-to-head with 2005 Champion Ivan Ljubicic. Moreover, eight seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon will try to make his way into his first quarterfinal round in Metz.
In the first clash, Ivan has a 2-1 lead in head-to-head encounters against Belgium's Xavier Malisse which will be their first match in the last 6 years. Ljubicic captured the biggest trophy of his professional life in March at the ATP World Tour Masters Indian Wells after brushing aside Andy Roddick in the finals. Malisse on the other hand is attempting to advance into his sixth ATP World Tour quarter or better in this season.
In the next match, the Belgian tennis player Kristof Vliegen will take on Jarkko Niemen who triumphed in their previous clash during the opening round of Halle, back in 2007. The Belgian stands at 3-1 career wins against Jarkko.
In the third clash of Thursday, Dutch qualifier Igor Sijsling will meet Simon on the very first occasion. Simon has a career record of 1-4 in France and he is trying to reach his third ATP World Tour quarters for the season.
In the final clash for the day, top seeded tennis player Marin Cilic will play the number one Slovakian Lukas Lacko for the first time at the ATP World Tour. The Croat triumphed in both of their previous clashes in clay finals in the Challenger Circuit back in 2007 as well as in Futures competition back in 2005.
Cilic jumped into the top ten for the first time during the month of February after advancing in his maiden major semi-final at the Australian Open in Melbourne. He remained at the top ten for a total of eleven weeks in a row until dropping out in April. He stands at 2-1 in ATP World Tour finals this season and is attempting to make his way into his seventh quarter or better in Metz. Lacko, on the other hand, will also try his level best to progress into his sixth ATP World Tour quarter this season.
In the evening clashes, German qualifier Mischa Zverev will meet Nicolas Mahut, who was given a main draw entry due to Monfils retirement as a result of his abdominal injury. Monfils won last year’s Open de Moselle tennis tournament in Metz. Nicolas on the other hand triumphed in his last meeting at Roland Garros in straight sets during the month of May. While Mischa’s best result came in Marseille earlier in February when he made his way into the semi-final rounds.
Nicolas, who is appearing in Metz for the seventh time in eight years, made his way into the semis back in 2007 where he was defeated by Robredo. He also captured the doubles trophy back in 2003 as well as 2004.
Nicolas is contesting in his first ATP World Tour championship in more than two months when he was defeated in the second round in Newport. Before that, he was thrashed out in the lengthiest tennis match at the hands of John Isner in the opening round of Wimbledon.
On Wednesday, fourth seeded Richard Gasquet and seventh seeded Tommy Robredo advanced to set up a quarter-final clash on Friday. Gasquet leads 2-1 in face-to-face encounters with Robredo.
In other action on Thursday, two of the top three seeds will play for their final four spot at the BCR Open Romania.
In the opening match, second seeded Florian Mayer from Germany will meet Spanish qualifier Pablo Andujar. The second match will see Filippo Volandri versus Marcel Granoller for the very first time. Both the contenders are ranked inside the top hundred and therefore a close clash is expected.
The final clash on centre court will feature third seeded Potito Starace from Italy and Victor Crivoi, who is the only Romanian in the section. It will be hard for him to surpass Starace, who also triumphed in their previous clash comfortably on the Challenger circuit back in 2007 with a 6-3, 6-1 win.
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