Internazionali BNL d’Italia: Tomas Berdych vs. Richard Gasquet – Quarterfinal Preview
After striking a major upset in the third round, 16th ranked Richard Gasquet of France will take on world number seven, Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic in the quarterfinal of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Friday
afternoon.
The highly anticipated contest will be held at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, as the two in-form players battle it out for a place in the semi-finals of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 1000 event.
The Frenchman gave a shocker to the tennis world on Thursday, when he defeated former world number one, the Swiss Maestro, Roger Federer in a three-set thriller 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(4) in the third round of the tournament. Gasquet’s
amazing performance outplayed the reigning world number three and put him in the quarter-finals of Internazionali BNL d’Italia against the seventh seed Berdych. The Czech competitor reached the quarter-finals by defeating the lucky loser form Finland, Jarkko
Nieminen in a three-setter, 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-2, in the third round of the tournament.
Gasquet got into the spot light after defeating Federer in a memorable matchup and has suddenly enrolled himself among the strongest contenders for winning the title at Rome. The French won his opening round matches in straight
sets, depicting his brilliant form in the running season. He has faced Berdych on four prior occasions and the head-to-head series among these two men is levelled at 2-2. The two men encountered each other most recently at the Australian Open, where Berdych
took down the French in straight sets 6-2, 7-6(3), 6-2, in the round of 32. The seventh seed has won the last two matches against Gasquet and will certainly like to extend his winning streak against him.
The only clash these two men had on a clay surface was at Monte-Carlo Masters last year, where Berdych stood victorious. This victory of Berdych on the red surface will surely bring huge confidence in him while competing against
Gasquet in the quarter-final of the clay-court tournament.
The Czech received a bye into the second round of the tournament and accomplished two victories en route to the quarter-finals. On the other hand, Gasquet won three matches in the tournament before meeting Berdych in the round
of eight and hence getting more match practice in the mega event. Both men won their third round matches in three sets. However, Gasquet’s victory over Federer must have boosted his confidence to the optimum level, as defeating Federer is thought to be a dream
of every tennis player.
The contest between Berdych and Gasquet is anticipated to be evenly posed and a stiff one. Being the number seven player in world ratings, Berdych can be reckoned to the favourite for the quarter-final matchup. However, Gasquet
might not be under any sort of pressure of competing against the seventh seed competitor, as he has already defeated the world number three in his last competition.
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