Quarterfinal Preview: Andy Murray vs. Juan Ignacio Chela – French Open 2011
Race to the semi-finals continues at Roland Garros, as the world number four, Andy Murray of Great Britain takes on the 34th ranked Argentine, Juan Ignacio Chela on Wednesday afternoon. The contest will take place on
the Court Suzanne Lenglen, with the winner getting a spot among the final four in the Grand Slam event in Paris, France.
Fourth seed Murray has been in ballistic form in the French Open so far, winning all of his matches with authority and ravaging every competitor he faced en route to the quarter-final. The Briton registered straight sets victories
in three of his opening round matches but had a very rough time against the fourth round opponent, Viktor Troicki of Serbia.
The 15th seed Troicki reeled off the opening two sets of the contest and was heading for a surprised straight sets victory over the world number four but Murray made an extraordinary comeback in the game to deny defeat.
The Briton clinched three consecutive sets to turn the tables on Troicki at 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5, booking a berth in the quarter-final of the mega event.
The other quarter-final competitor, Chela, has been lingering around in the tournament, toiling extremely hard to survive against strong opponents and has eventually made it to the final eight. The Argentine registered just one
straight sets victory at Roland Garros, in the opening round and then had tough times against 32nd seed Kevin Anderson and Lukas Rosol before making it to the fourth round. Chela outplayed the Colombian qualifier Alejandro Falla in an enthralling
five-setter, 4-6, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-2, to book a date with Murray in the quarter-final draws of the French Open.
24-year-old Murray currently leads the all-time head-to-head series against Chela by 6-1, with six straight victories over the Argentine opponent. The two men have already faced each other at Roland Garros on two prior occasions,
with Murray being victorious each time. The Briton defeated Chela comprehensively in the round of 64 in the French Open last year, 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2, and will certainly eye to repeat the similar result this time round to make it to the semi-finals.
Although Murray has not won any ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) championship title so far this year, he has won 13 out of 20 matches he played. The Briton headlined the news all over the world when he made it to the final
of the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, the Australian Open, in January. Unfortunately he lost in the final against the reigning world number two, Novak Djokovic of Serbia and took a layoff from professional tennis out of dejection.
Murray has got his vintage form back in the French Open campaign and his three straight sets victories clearly depict that the Briton has got his typical flare back in his game. Chela’s performances in the tournament were certainly
not promising enough to compete against a top ranked player and it appears that the Argentine will prove an easy task for Murray in the quarter-final. Although the Briton is hot favourite for the Wednesday’s matchup, Chela might come up with a surprise.
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