Gasquet, Monfils Thrill Home Crowd at ATP Metz
Posted on October 7, 2005The ATP stop in Metz continued to be an exhibition for its break-out French homecountry players on Thursday, with No. 2 seed Richard Gasquet punishing countryman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 6-2, and No. 6 Gael "Force" Monfils doing likewise against veteran countryman Arnaud Clement 6-2, 6-2.
"I played my game today, I think I was quite happy with the way things turned out," Monfils said. "Apart from two or three points, everything I tried, seemed to work out really well and I didn't think I was going to win with such an easy result."
Other players into the quarters Thursday were (1) Nikolay Davydenko (d. Llodra), (3) Ivan Ljubicic (d. Santoro 7-6 in the third), (5) Robin Soderling (d. (Q) Luczak), and unseeded Italian Andreas Seppi (d. Pavel).
"Nobody likes to play against Fabrice Santoro," Ljubicic said. "His anticipation, his touch and hands are unbelievable. Every time we play, I know I am going to have a tough match but today, I felt good and I think I did the right things tactically. I am working on having a more complete game. I know I can't reach my goal of being a Top 10 with just a big serve. I think I am on a good track at the moment, I am playing well and have a lot of confidence from the Davis Cup."
Lining up for the Friday quarterfinals are (1) Davydenko vs. Seppi, (3) Ljubicic vs. (5) Soderling, (6) Gael "Force" Monfils vs. (2) Gasquet in an all-French, and (WC) Mark "The Scud" Philippoussis vs. (4) Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty.
"I played my game today, I think I was quite happy with the way things turned out," Monfils said. "Apart from two or three points, everything I tried, seemed to work out really well and I didn't think I was going to win with such an easy result."
Other players into the quarters Thursday were (1) Nikolay Davydenko (d. Llodra), (3) Ivan Ljubicic (d. Santoro 7-6 in the third), (5) Robin Soderling (d. (Q) Luczak), and unseeded Italian Andreas Seppi (d. Pavel).
"Nobody likes to play against Fabrice Santoro," Ljubicic said. "His anticipation, his touch and hands are unbelievable. Every time we play, I know I am going to have a tough match but today, I felt good and I think I did the right things tactically. I am working on having a more complete game. I know I can't reach my goal of being a Top 10 with just a big serve. I think I am on a good track at the moment, I am playing well and have a lot of confidence from the Davis Cup."
Lining up for the Friday quarterfinals are (1) Davydenko vs. Seppi, (3) Ljubicic vs. (5) Soderling, (6) Gael "Force" Monfils vs. (2) Gasquet in an all-French, and (WC) Mark "The Scud" Philippoussis vs. (4) Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty.