BNP Paribas Masters quarter-final previews
The field at the BNP Paribas Masters has been whittled down to the final eight after Roger Federer eased through his third-round match against Radek Stepanek and Andy Murray won past Marin Cilic in three sets last night. Here, we preview the four quarter-final matches.
Andy Roddick vs Robin Soderling
Roddick yesterday qualified for the World Tour Finals for the eighth consecutive year, and today has the chance to show another player who will finish his season in London that he may have been last in the draw but is certainly not the least.
That leaves the American with plenty to play for here in what should be an intriguing match between two power players.
While the pair are tied at two wins and two losses from past encounters, Roddick has won both matches they’ve played this year, both at Masters events. Add to that the fact that the world No. 5 has recently made a habit of bowing out of tournaments at about this stage, and Roddick has every chance of winning this one.
Nikolay Davydenko vs Michael Llodra
This time last year, Davydenko was on the verge of what would be the biggest win of his career, claiming the title at the World Tour Finals in London. This year, he’s not even among the contenders for the season-ending championships.
Since breaking his wrist early in 2010, Davydenko has struggled to recapture his 2009 form but his come-from-behind third round win over Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych in Paris shows the Russian has every intention of ending this season on a high as well.
Today, the master of creating angles comes up against an opponent in Llodra whose serve and volley style is perfectly suited to the speedy courts here, and one who also defeated defending champion Novak Djokovic in his last match.
The world No. 34 has, in contrast to Davydenko, had a year to remember, winning two titles already and with the Davis Cup final still to look forward to there’s no shortage of motivation for the left-handed Llodra here.
The question is whether he can turn around a 1-4 losing record against the world No. 11 and book a place in the final four.
Roger Federer vs Jurgen Melzer
Federer doesn’t have a past great record at the Paris Masters, and in this match is seeking to progress beyond the quarter-finals here for the first time in his career, but the world No. 2 is very much in form this autumn, having reached the final in his last three tournaments and won the title at the last two of them.
And while by his standards the 16-time Grand Slam champion has had an underwhelming year at the majors – after winning the Australian Open he racked up quarter-final losses at the French Open and Wimbledon and suffered a semi-final defeat at the US Open – his matches against Melzer at the All England Club and Flushing Meadows at least provided some joy.
As a result, Federer takes a 2-0 winning record over the Austrian into this match. Melzer might have made some big improvements in his mental game this season, but they haven’t been enough to mount a serious challenge to Federer so far, and it’s hard to see anything changing here.
Andy Murray vs Gael Monfils
Both Murray and Monfils came through tough third-round matches to reach this stage of the competition, with the latter saving two match points before defeating Fernando Verdasco and in the process ending the Spaniard’s hopes of qualifying for the World Tour Finals.
Defeating the Scot will require another step up though, with Murray already showing an ability to adjust to the fast courts here – digging himself out of a hole against David Nalbandian in his opening match as he changed tactics from his usual counterpunching baseline game, mixing up some serve and volley play as he turned the tide and took the victory.
The world No. 4 holds the 3-1 winning advantage over Monfils, with the Frenchman’s only win over Murray coming in the opening round of the French Open in 2006.
What might be telling about that result, however, was that it was in front of Monfils’ home crowd. Ever the showman, the world No. 14 relished his win over Verdasco in front of the local fans, and would surely love to repeat the dose today.
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