Rakuten Japan Open men’s competition, Thursday’s preview
The final four quarter final spots are up for grabs on today’s schedule of the play at the Rakuten Japan Open Men’s Competition, with four of the top five seeds in action in Tokyo.
The top seeded Rafael Nadal of Spain will take on Milos Raonic from Canada in the concluding clash on centre court. In Rafa’s Tokyo debut, he defeated Santiago Giraldo in straight sets on Tuesday.
The twenty-four year old Spaniard enjoys a match record of 62-8 for the year and he is attempting to make his way into the quarters or better for the fifteen occasion, in as many championships, in 2010.
Nadal has captured a total of six trophies this season. The left hander is coming off a semi final loss at the Thailand Open at the hands of Guillermo Garcia Lopez, who got the better of him in three sets.
In spite of the fact that Milos is young, on the rise, Rafael is not usually prone to major surprises. In the past seven years he has lost just on a single occasion to a contender ranked number 200 or lower and that came at the hands of Joachim Johansson
in Stockholm back in 2006.
The nineteen year old Milos is attempting to reach his second straight ATP World Tour quarter final here in Bangkok. Last week at the Malaysian Open, he progressed to his first quarter with victories over Sergiy Stakhovsky and Igor Kunitsyn before falling
to Igor Andreev in a three setter clash in Kuala Lumpur. He improved his ranking from number 237 to number 200 as a result of his Kuala Lumpur performance.
In the opening clash of the day, the second seed, Andy Roddick, from the United States of America will meet Jeremy Chardy. Roddick is contesting in his first ATP World Tour competition since a round two defeat at Flushing Meadows in New York last month.
The twenty-eight year old American made a successful start on Tuesday as he ousted Tatsuma Ito, a wild card entrant from Japan in a comfortable two setter clash. The final match score was 6-4, 6-3. He is competing here for the very first time since making
his way into the semi finals back in 2008. He currently enjoys a match record of 41-11 this year.
Roddick is attempting to reach his ninth quarter or better in fourteen championships this season. He also triumphed in the pair’s only past battle, at Wimbledon back in 2009.
Chardy on the other hand, is hoping to reach his fifth ATP World Tour quarter-final of the year. The twenty-three year old Chardy currently enjoys a match record of 24-25 on the season. He is contesting in Tokyo for the very first time and outlasted Edouard
Roger Vasselin in two sets on Tuesday.
Second up, is the fourth seeded Jurgen Melzer, who will face Viktor Troicki of Serbia. Jurgen is currently ranked number thirteen in the World by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The twenty-nine year old player is making his third appearance
at the Japan Open. In his opening round match in Tokyo, the fourth seed dismissed Juan Monaco in three sets on the very first occasion in their fifth encounter. He enjoys a match record of 43-22 match this season. Moreover, he also won in all the previous
three meetings with Viktor.
The twenty-four year old Viktor on the other hand enjoys a match record of 27-27 this year. His best result so far was a semi final appearance in the first week of Doha back in 2009. In the opening round match in Tokyo, Viktor got the better of Kei Nishikori
in two sets. The final match score was 6-4, 6-2.
In the third battle, the fifth seed Gael Monfils will play Andreas Seppi of Italy. In spite of the fact that he has not captured a single crown in 2010, Monfils has had consistent results throughout this year, advancing into the quarters on eight occasions
in 2010. He is also undefeated against Andreas so far in his career. Seppi shares a match record of 21-23 this year and is attempting to reach his fourth ATP World Tour quarter or better in 2010.
Tags: