Rakuten Japan Open Men’s Competition: Friday’s Preview
Three of the top five seeds including top ranked Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick and world number fifteen Gael Monfils will be in action on Friday at the Rakuten Japan Open Men’s Competition in Tokyo.
First up on Centre Court is an all-unseeded match between Jarkko Nieminen and Radek Stepanek. They are tied at 2-2 in their head-to-head encounters with Jarkko, winning two matches back in 2003 and Radek winning back in 2006 and 2008. They previously faced
each other at a Challenger event this season with Radek triumphing in straight sets. The 31-year-old Radek is contesting in his eleventh ATP World Tour main draw of the season. His best result this year is the final run in Brisbane where he was eventually
defeated at the hands of Andy Roddick. Radek is making his fifth appearance at the Japan Open and enjoys a match record of 5-4 in Tokyo.
Jarkko, 29, is coming off his first ATP World Tour final appearance of the year and tenth overall at the Thailand Open last week. He currently enjoys a match record of 23-23 on the year. Nieminen is contesting at the Japan Open on the sixth occasion in seven
seasons and his best result was a semi-final showdown back in 2005.
In the second match of the day, American tennis ace Andy Roddick will take on Gael Monfils. The French player leads the overall head-to-head encounters at 4-3. The number two Frenchman has advanced into the quarters or better on eight occasions this year.
The 24-year-old Monfils currently enjoys a match record of 32-15 for the year. Monfils started the season at number thirteen and is now ranked number fifteen in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals.
The American, on the other hand, made a winning start on Tuesday over Tatsuma Ito, a qualifier from Japan and got the better of him in two sets, followed by his victory over Jeremy Chardy in straight sets in Tokyo. He is contesting here on the very first
occasion since advancing into the semi-finals back in 2008. Moreover, this is also Andy’s first championship since a second round defeat at the hands of Janko Tipsarevic in New York last month. Roddick stands at 42-11 match record for the 2010 season.
The third match on Friday will feature Rafael Nadal and Dmitry Tursunov, who is currently ranked number 432 in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals. Dmitry however has played quite impressively throughout this week, defeating the seventh
seed Ernests Gulbis and former top 10 contender Richard Gasquet in his previous two clashes in Tokyo. The 27-year-old Tursunov is competing in his sixth ATP World Tour main draw in 2010. He will definitely try to overcome the lead of 0-2 head-to-head versus
the Spaniard, who is competing in his fifteen quarter or better in 2010. Rafa currently enjoys a match record of 63-8 in 2010. He is playing in the quarter or better on the fifteenth occasion in as many championships this year. He has so far captured a total
of six trophies in seven finals this season.
The final match of the day is another unseeded clash which will highlight Viktor Troicki and Guillermo Garcia Lopez. Both of them have defeated seeded players in their previous matches in Tokyo. Viktor toppled Jurgen Melzer while Garcia-Lopez overpowered
Feliciano Lopez. If Garcia-Lopez surpasses Viktor on the first occasion, he will have another shot at Rafael in the final four at the 2010 Japan Open in Tokyo. The 24-year-old Viktor enters with a match record of 28-27 on the year.
Tags: