Juan Carlos Ferrero vs Marcel Granollers – Second Round Preview: China Open 2011
As the race to the quarter-final round begins at the China Open, the former world number one, Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain will take on his fellow compatriot, Marcel Granollers in the second round clash on Thursday afternoon.
The all-Spanish affair will be staged on the outdoor hard courts of the Olympic Green Tennis Center, in Beijing, China, with the winner of the match getting a berth in to the quarter-final draw of the ATP (Association of Tennis
Professionals) World Tour 500 event.
World number 32, Granollers has been in a mixed form this season so far and is working hard to improve his game play. The Spaniard is having a 22-21 winning record this season so far and is looking in good form in his China Open
campaign.
Granollers made a huge upset in the opening round in Beijing, when he outplayed the world number 12, Gilles Simon of France, to force his way to the second round of the tournament. The Spaniard absolutely manhandled the fifth seeded
Simon in the contest and wrapped up his surprise victory in straight sets 6-3, 6-1, booking a clash with Ferrero to qualify for the quarter-final stage.
The unseeded Spaniard has already won one World Tour-level title in the running year but his inconsistency has have dropped him two places in the world rankings last month. Granollers had a tremendous run at the Credit Agricole
Suisse Open Gstaad, in Switzerland, where he outplayed a number of top ranked competitors, including Stanislas Wawrinka, Mikhail Youzhny and Fernando Verdasco to claim the championship title.
Currently holding the number 84 spot in the world rankings, Ferrero has been straining hard to get back his vintage form in the game. The Spanish competitor has played just 21 matches in the current ATP season, winning 14 encounters
and suffering defeats on seven occurrences.
Unseeded Ferrero had a brilliant beginning to the China Open, defeating the world number 36, Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil in the first round match on Tuesday. He registered a straight sets victory, 6-1, 7-6(4), to dump Bellucci from
the competition and sets a battle with Granollers in the second round.
Ferrero has been sidelined from the running ATP season due to wrist and knee surgery but he made a tremendous comeback in the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany. He defeated his fellow countryman, Pablo Andujar in the final of
the tournament to bag his 16th ATP singles title after coming right out of bed.
Granollers has faced Ferrero on four occasions and has suffered crushing defeats from the Spaniard on all occasions. Both men have played twice in the running year and Ferrero has been declared victorious on both times. The last
time Granollers went one-on-one against Ferrero was in the round of 32 at the US Open but he had to pull out of the second set due to injury.
With a 4-0 record against Granollers, Ferrero will step on the court as the hot favourite and it is anticipated that he will register another straight sets victory over his compatriot opponent on Thursday.
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