Despite his discontent over the scheduling, Andy Murray is playing tennis tournaments this week. In addition to picking up what should be a rather hefty appearance check just for showing up in Thailand, Andy’s the odds on favorite to walk away with the title.
Later tonight in the quarterfinals Murray gets his first look at the youngster Grigor Dimitrov. We haven’t heard much from the 20-year-old Bulgarian prodigy since his Wimbledon run, but maybe tonight in Thailand he shines again?
“I’m still trying to overcome the jetlag a little bit, as I find it difficult traveling East,” Murray said yesterday after beating Michael Berrer 6-4, 6-2.
“He’s a young guy trying to make a breakthrough,” Murray said of Dimitrov. “He’s playing his best this year.”
Frenchmen Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon are also on the schedule along with American Donald Young.
The other men’s event this week in Kuala Lumpur we still have the Top 5 seeds (7 of the 8) remaining for their quarterfinals tonight. Top seed Nicolas Almagro collides with Kei Nishikori in a good one. Janko Tipsarevic is also up against Nikolay Davydenko.
In Tokyo, with Maria Sharapova on the mend, the semifinals tonight feature Petra Kvitova against Vera Zvonareva followed by a clash between Victoria Azarenka and Agnieska Radwasnka.
Tennis Channel has live coverage I believe from just Tokyo.
FRIDAY BANGKOK SCHEDULE
CENTRE COURT start 12:00 noon
[Q] G Soeda (JPN) vs D Young (USA)
J Nieminen (FIN) vs [2] G Monfils (FRA)
Not Before 7:00 PM
[1] A Murray (GBR) vs G Dimitrov (BUL)
[3] G Simon (FRA) vs M Bachinger (GER)
FRIDAY KUALA LUMPUR SCHEDULE
CENTER COURT start 2:15 pm
[7] D Tursunov (RUS) vs [2] V Troicki (SRB)
Not Before 4:30 PM
[WC] M Baghdatis (CYP) vs [4] J Melzer (AUT)
Not Before 6:30 PM
[3] J Tipsarevic (SRB) vs [5] N Davydenko (RUS)
Not Before 7:15 PM
[1] N Almagro (ESP) vs [8] K Nishikori (JPN)
FRIDAY TOKYO SCHEDULE
Center Court (from 13.00hrs)
1. Vera Zvonareva vs. Petra Kvitova
2. Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Victoria Azarenka
3. King/Shvedova vs. Dulko/Pennetta
4. Huber/Raymond vs. Azarenka/Kirilenko
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