Andy Murray vs Simone Bolelli Preview – French Open 2011
Top Brit Andy Murray could not have asked for an easier draw at the 2011 Roland Garros. Seeded fourth at the event, the Brit is all set to take on world number 128, Simone Bolelli from Italy in his second round matchup at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France today.
Recovering from a recent slump in his performance, Murray hit rock bottom early in the season after he failed to win the title match at the season opening Grand Slam, the Australian Open, losing to the unstoppable juggernaut, the Serb Novak Djokovic.
The disappointment of letting down millions of fans and not being able to clinch his first ever Grand Slam title, put Murray on the down low as he extended his losing streak to four matches suffering early round exits at Rotterdam, Indian Wells and Miami.
A turn of events in mid April put Murray back on the map when he made a semi-final run at Monte Carlo before losing to eventual champion, Rafael Nadal. The Brit enjoyed another similar run a week later at Rome. Perhaps the Brit has found his lost form and may just pose danger to top players at the Grand Slam this week – something which none expected of him two months ago.
Contesting in only his fifth Roland Garros, Murray has failed to make it past the quarterfinals here. His season best at the event came in 2009 when he was finally bested by Fernando Gonzalez.
However, as disappointing as his record this year, at this event or on this surface may be, Murray still remains the favourite in today’s match. Losing only eight matches, the Brit defeated local qualifier Eric Prodon 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 in the first round match to meet lucky loser Bolelli today while the latter had struggled past Canadian qualifier Frank Dancevic in four sets.
Although a star on the Challenger tour, Bolelli has failed to make an impact on the ATP World Tour this season. Suffering early exits in almost all of the events he participated in, the Italian currently stands on a four match losing streak and is yet to win a single match on tour this season.
As he trails 0-2 in the career head-to-head against Murray, Bolelli might just have to wait a bit longer for his first win of the season. Having met the Brit both times in Madrid (2008 and 2009), Bolelli suffered straight sets defeat on both occasions.
A psychological c*m statistical disadvantage already puts Bolelli on a down low against Murray. Add to that the Brit’s confident boasting tweet, “Round 2, 2nd on centre court vs bolelli come on, let's get it done!”...and Bolelli might as well raise the white flag already.
Prediction: Murray is expected to sail past the Italian in straight sets, suffering minimal game loss.
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