2010 St. Petersburg: Friday’s Previews
With the event in its finishing stages, Friday sees four singles and one doubles match scheduled for the day. The four singles to be played during the day are all quarterfinals, so the fans can expect a brilliant display of tennis
since all the professionals will bring their A games to stay in the title run.
The first quarterfinal of the day is between the Ukrainian Illya Marchenko and German Benjamin Becker. Becker has had a good run into the tournament having upset defending champion, Sergiy Stakhovsky in their first round matchup.
He advanced into the quarterfinals after defeating French Paul-Henri Mathieu in straight sets. Even though Marchenko has managed to sail into the quarterfinals also, Becker must have some edge having defeated the defending champion. The pair has a head to
head score of 0-0 since they have never met in any ATP event. However, the duo did meet in Dnepropetrovsk for an exhibition match with Becker emerging victorious.
Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin and third seed, Serb Janko Tipsarevic take to the court next as they fight it out for a spot in the semi final. Set against a seeded player the Kazakh has his work cut out for him and will have to play
excellently to ensure a spot for himself in the semi final. Though having upset a seeded player in his first round match, Kukushkin might have what it takes to oust the Serb. Having never met on the courts, the pair’s head to head score rests at 0-0.
The singles action on the court takes a break as the Russian team of Michail Elgin and Teymuraz Gabashvili go head to head with the Italians, Daniele Bracciali and Potito Starace. The two teams fight it out for a spot in the final
in the first doubles semi final of the event. A wild card entry into the tournament, the Russians have made much use of the home court advantage to ease their way into the semi finals. Banking on the audience support along with their on-court coordination,
the Russians might find themselves sailing into the finals for a shot at a Motherland win.
As the only doubles matchup of the day finishes, the singles matches resume finishing up the remaining quarterfinals.
Top seed and Russian number one, Mikhail Youzhny battles it out with eighth seed Romanian, Victor Hanescu. In a seeded battle, both professionals will give it their best to stay in the title run. Youzhny might be extra motivated
for a win, since the result will be a step closer to a qualification for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London.
The last matchup of the day is between local and wild card entry Dmitry Tursunov and Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov. Tursunov enjoys the home court advantage which might have factored in his win against fourth seed, Lu Yen-Hsen
in their first round matchup. However, he will have to bank on more than the local advantage since he ranks a good two hundred places below Dolgopolov in the world rankings, which speaks volumes about their respective talent.
With all of the quarterfinals scheduled on the same day, the scoreboard at day’s end will narrow it down for the fans to predict who might win the title this year.
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