Mikhail Youzhny vs Adrian Mannarino – Quarterfinal Preview: St. Petersburg Open 2011
As the St. Petersburg Open 2011 moves into its later stages, only eight from a field of thirty two remain to take up the gauntlet in the quarterfinal round. Wrapping up the quarterfinal action on Friday, 28th October
in St. Petersburg, Russia is local hero Mikhail Youzhny as he takes on the lower ranked Frenchman, Adrian Mannarino.
A veteran here not to mention backed by the local crowd, Youzhny is the hot favourite to win today. Debuting here in 2001, the Russian is playing in his tenth year here. Although the Russian got off to a slow start with a second
round exit in 2001, he returned the next year and put up an enthralling performance that took him all the way to the final of the event where he unfortunately fell to then world number seven, Frenchman Sebastian Grosjean. Following a quarterfinal showing in
’03, the Russian hit the jackpot in 2004.
Enjoying yet another final run, Youzhny went a step further as he clinched a title win for himself after doing away with Slovak Karol Beck in the title match. However, following the pinnacle here the Russian suffered a series of
disappointing results as he saw early round exits in the next six years. It was only in 2010 when the Russian bounced back and made yet another final run falling one short of the title to first time winner, Mikhail Kukushkin. Competing in his tenth year here,
Youzhny made it into the final eight with a straight sets victory over Sergiy Stakhovsky in the first round followed by a three set battle against Julien Benneteau.
Amassing a pool of experience mixed with the fine tuning to the indoor courts here, the Russian is expected to blast past the Frenchman. However, many pundits are off the opinion that Mannarino might just pull off an upset given
the pair’s recent form.
Sporting a barely level 24-21 for the season, Youzhny doesn’t have much to show for his run in 2011. With only two quarterfinal showings at Rotterdam and Beijing and one semi-final appearance at Marseille, the Russian has slipped
down the rankings ladder. Starting the year ranked inside the top ten, the slip to the 33rd place says much about the Russian.
However, his downward spiral aside, the Russian still outclasses the Frenchman on paper. With an abysmal 14-21 win loss for the season, Mannarino has suffered early round exits all year round save two quarterfinals and one semi-final
showing early in the season.
Add to that the fact that the Frenchman has never played here before. Debuting here this year, Mannarino sets a career best here with every win. Bouncing back from a set down in the opening round, Mannarino upset top seeded Gilles
Simon before battling past Lukas Rosol in the second to secure a berth in the final eight.
Though this is the Frenchman’s first tour level meeting with the Russian, the pair has faced each other once before. Playing in the qualifying draw of the Cincinnati Masters in 2009, Mannarino ended up with the short end of the
stick as the Russian secured an easy breezy 6-2, 6-1 win over the Frenchman.
Prediction: Armed with the experience, the local support and the psychological c*m statistical advantage, Youzhny is expected to blast past the Frenchman into the final four.
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