Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Tournament; Saturday’s Preview
World number one Rafael Nadal along with three other players will take the court on Saturday to contest the semi final round of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Tournament in Tokyo.
The first semi final round on the Centre Court will highlight Radek Stepanek and Gael Monfil who will fight for a spot in the finals at the Japan Open. The thirty one year old Radek is competing in his eleventh ATP World Tour main
draw of the season. He remained away from the tennis scene as a result of mononucleosis for more than two months and came back on the tour back in May and played the Prostejov Challenger as his first comeback tournament of the season.
He is making his fifth appearance at the Japan Open and his previous best record was a quarter final run back in 2005. Radek is currently ranked number thirty seven in the world by the Association of tennis professionals. He won
his first round of the tournament in Tokyo after getting the better of Alejandro Falla in straight sets. Radek also won his previous meeting with Monfils in a comprehensive manner in Brisbane. The final match score was 6-2, 6-1.
Gael Monfils, the twenty four year old Frenchman on the other hand, is contesting in his fourth semi final round of the season. It is his second appearance here in Tokyo. Monfils shares an eight match losing streak versus the top
ten opponents. He made his way into the semi final round of the Japan Open after hammering down Andy Roddick from the United States of America in three sets.
The final match score was 7-6, (5) 4-6, 7-6(6). He currently enjoys a match record of 33-15 on the season. Gael was also sidelined for a period of two months earlier this year as a result of his hand injury. He started the season
at number thirteen and is now ranked number fifteen in the world by the Association of tennis professionals.
In the second semi final match in Tokyo, the top seed Rafael Nadal will take on Viktor Troicki from Serbia. The twenty four year old Nadal stands at 64-8 in 2010. He is contesting in the semi finals or better on the twelfth occasion
in fifteen championships this season.
Last month Nadal registered his name as the seventh contender in the ATP World Tour history to successfully complete a career Grand Slam by capturing the United States Open title in New York after getting the better of Novak Djokovic
in the final. This is his second championship since the Flushing Meadows as he last week played in Bangkok and reached the semi final round of the Thailand Open.
Rafael has never lost a set to Viktor in their past three clashes and has been highly consistent versus the lower ranked foes this season. His worst defeat in 2010 came against a played ranked below top fifty last week in Bangkok
where he was toppled at the hands of Guillermo Garcia Lopez in the final four encounter.
Troicki, on the other hand, currently stands at 29-27 on the year and is taking part in his third semi final round in 2010. He previously reached the final four back in Doha and New Heaven. World number fifty four, Troicki is making
his third appearance at the Japan Open. He made his way into the semi final round after thrashing out Garcia-Lopez in the quarters. Viktor is also the part of the Davis Cup side of Serbia that will contest on the finals towards the end of this year against
France.
Radek has eleven career finals, Gael has ten while Viktor has two so far in his career.
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