Djokovic, Roddick, Nadal Could be Tested Friday; Wozniacki Hits No. 1
Some pretty good matches are on tap in men’s tennis tonight starting in a few hours. In Tokyo, top seed Rafael Nadal meets the dangerous Dmitry Tursunov in the quarterfinals. ADHEREL
Tursunov hasn’t played much this year because of an ankle injury, but the powerful Russian has a game, that when on, matches up well with Rafa. However, Nadal has won both meetings against DT in straight sets. Tursunov did score a couple of impressive wins this week over Ernests Gulbis and Richard Gasquet.
Fresh off a win last night over Jeremy Chardy, second seed Andy Roddick now hooks up with my man Gael Monfils. Roddick and Monfils, who serves just like the American, have played seven times with the Frenchman ahead with four. Monfils played really well in New York up until that horrendous showing in the wind against Djokovic. If he can cut out the clowning I think he should pull through.
“I am still a bit slow and not using enough my forehand,” Monfils said after his win over Andreas Seppi today. “It will be a tough match against Andy, I have known him for a long time. It will be an interesting match.”
Also tonight, Viktor Troicki battles Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Radek Stepanek meets Jarkko Nieminen.
All four quarterfinals will be shown live on the Tennis Channel starting just after midnight Eastern with Stepanek.
In Beijing, the top four seeds have all reached the quarterfinals stage which is highlighted by a clash between Novak Djokovic and the suddenly resurgent Gilles Simon. The Serb has won four of five against Simon who just won Metz last week.
Andy Murray is on against Ivan Ljubicic, Nikolay Davydenko has a date with big John Isner and Robin Soderling meets David Ferrer.
In the women’s field, Caroline Wozniacki is the new No. 1 after straight-setting Petra Kvitova last night.
“Serena has been injured for a big part of the season. She’s a great champion,” Wozniacki said. “What she has achieved in her career is a dream for me to achieve. I’ll always see Serena as a big champion. For me right now though, I should just enjoy my moment.”
The Dane now faces former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic in the quarterfinals. Ivanovic had one of her best wins of the year beating Elena Dementieva yesterday. I’ll have more on Wozniacki and her ascension to No. 1 tomorrow.
FRIDAY TOKYO SCHEDULE
Not Before 12:00 Noon
R Stepanek (CZE) vs J Nieminen (FIN) – ATP
[5] G Monfils (FRA) vs [2] A Roddick (USA) – ATP
[1] R Nadal (ESP) vs D Tursunov (RUS) – ATP
V Troicki (SRB) vs G Garcia-Lopez (ESP) – ATP
FRIDAY BEIJING SCHEDULE
LOTUS COURT start 12:30 pm
[1] N Djokovic (SRB) vs G Simon (FRA) – ATP
Not Before 3:00 PM
[9] N Li (CHN) vs [Q] A Sevastova (LAT) – WTA
[1] C Wozniacki (DEN) or P Kvitova (CZE) vs A Ivanovic (SRB) or [7] E Dementieva (RUS) – WTA
Not Before 7:30 PM
I Ljubicic (CRO) vs [2] A Murray (GBR) – ATP
[1] G Dulko (ARG) / F Pennetta (ITA) vs V Dushevina (RUS) / A Parra Santonja (ESP) – WTA
MOON COURT start 12:00 noon
[5] F Schiavone (ITA) vs [2] V Zvonareva (RUS) – WTA
Not Before 2:30 PM
[4] N Davydenko (RUS) vs [WC] J Isner (USA) – ATP
[8] D Ferrer (ESP) vs [3] R Soderling (SWE) – ATP
Not Before 7:30 PM
[15] S Peer (ISR) vs T Bacsinszky (SUI) – WTA
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