Sony Ericsson Open: Roger Federer vs. Gilles Simon – Quarterfinal Preview
Former world number one, Roger Federer is struggling to regain his top rank and so far is on the right track at the Miami Masters. The Swiss will face 25th seeded French Gilles Simon in the quarter-final at the 2011
Sony Ericsson Open on 31st of March.
Ranked 3rd in the world, Federer is in great form and has won 80 percent of his last ten matches. He had an 84 percent winning record in his last 12 months matches and had won five titles in this period. The 29-year-old
had won the title at Doha at the start of the season after trashing 4th seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets in the final. He then made a semi-final berth at Australian Open and Indian Wells and reached the final at Dubai before losing
to Serbian Novak Djokovic in all three tournaments. The Swiss Ace entered this ATP world tour 1000 event with full of confidence and destroyed Czech Radek Stepanek, 32nd seeded Argentinean Juan Monaco and Belgian qualifier Olivier Rochus in straight
sets to reach this spot.
World number 27 Simon hasn’t had much progress this season. He has a 64 percent winning record for the matches he has played in last 12 months. Despite of winning a title at Sydney after overwhelming 4th seeded Serb
Viktor Troicki in straight sets, he exited in the second rounds at Australian Grand Slam, Marseille and Indian Wells. However the 26-year-old had displayed magnificent skills in this event as he dumped German qualifier Rainer Schuettler, Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas
and Serbian Janko Tipsarevic in the previous rounds to reach the quarters.
Simon had a lead in his head to head series against the third seeded Swiss but Federer lowered the trail to 1-2 by winning in their last duel at the Australian Grand Slam in five sets. The Swiss Master hammered 11 aces, committed
only a single double fault and registered an amazing 79 percent win on his slightly higher first serve share. He converted eight out of eighteen breakpoint opportunities to his advantage to clinch the match with a 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3 win.
In his last match here, Federer converted four out of eleven breakpoint opportunities to his advantage to win against the Belgian Olivier Rochus with a breadstick. He also smashed six ferocious aces and had a better first serve
share of 68 percent. In addition to this, the Swiss registered an impressive 88 percent win on it, conceded zero breakpoint and clobbered a single double fault.
Simon on the other hand bounced back from a set down to win against the in-form Serbian, Janko Tipsarevic by 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-2 win. Though the French produced six double faults and save 25 percent breakpoints but he clinched by
converting four out of seven breakpoint opportunities to his advantage. He had an acceptable first serve share of 60 percent and earned a convincing 76 percent win on it.
Looking at their present form, the Swiss star is likely to win the match in straight sets with a score line of 6-3, 6-2. Federer should take full advantage of French’s several unforced errors and double faults and if he converts
more breakpoints, he can easily advance to the semis.
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