BNP Paribas Masters; Novak Djokovic, Jurgen Melzer and Andy Roddick advance in Paris
World number three Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who got the better of Juan Monaco on his way to the BNP Paribas Masters crown back in 2009, overpowered the Argentine on the fourth occasion in a row on Wednesday. Djokovic prevented
seven of eight break point chances to record a two-setter victory in Paris. The final score line was 6-4, 6-3. The battle concluded in a time of eighty-four minutes.
"It is one of those surfaces where you have to serve well and then hope that you will get some opportunities in the return games, and then try to use them when possible. Monaco had a match before we played today. He was taking
the balls early. He was being aggressive and was a better player in the start of the match. I was lucky in that 4-3 game to get the break. Then when I did that, I regained my confidence and control of the match,” declared Djokovic after the victory on Wednesday.
The professional tennis ace from Serbia blasted eight aces and won sixty-six percent of service points to improve his win-loss record to 57-15 on the year. He is coming off his fourth ATP World Tour final of the season at the Swiss
Indoors Basel last week where Djokovic was outlasted by world number two Roger Federer in three sets.
As a result of this loss, Juan, who owns a 9-28 career mark versus the top ten players, has dropped down to a 30-20 year record. The Argentinean finished as a finalist at the Movistar Open in Santiago back in February and assisted
his country in winning the ARAG ATP World Team tournament title at Dusseldorf, beating the United States of America back in May.
Meanwhile, Jurgen Melzer also posted his first victory of the week at the Palais Omnisports surpassing Santiago Giraldo, a qualifier from Colombia, in two sets on Wednesday. The final score line was 6-3, 7-6(6). The match stretched
over a period of one hour and thirty-seven minutes.
Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland also brushed aside his fifteenth seed foe, Ivan Ljubicic from Croatia in straight sets. He clinched a 6-4, 6-4 victory in eighty-six minutes on Wednesday. The Swiss, who blasted eleven aces to
get past his opponent, recorded his third straight win over Ivan on the ATP tour.
World number eight, Andy Roddick from the United States of America missed nine points on serve to knock down Jarkko Nieminen, a qualifier from Finland on Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Masters Men’s singles competition and thus,
improved his chances of making his way into the elite eight-man field in London.
With three singles berths up for grabs at the year-ending finale, the American added a total of ninety points to his season-to-date ATP Rankings for 3,575 points overall. The right-hander is looking to qualify on the eighth occasion
in a row.
"Every match I win is significant at this point. It puts more pressure on the guys behind me. I have a pretty good shot no matter how I do here this week. But I think the last thing you want to do is be in that position where you
are at home cheering against somebody hoping that something bad happens to them,” reflected Roddick on Wednesday.
Roddick, as a result of this victory, has improved his win-loss mark to 47-14 on the year and will next meet Ernests Gulbis of Latvia.
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