ATP - Monte Carlo Masters Friday Preview

Troicki Viktor (SRB) vs. Ferrer David (ESP)

Viktor Troicki had luck to advance in quarter-finals in Monte Carlo. The Serb was losing to Tommy Robredo, when the Spaniard had to withdraw with a thigh injury. He now will meet Spaniard David Ferrer for a place in semi-finals. Ferrer passed through Raonic forcing the Canadian into errors and some long rallies but also benefit by a poor serving day of the Canadian. Troicki had a slow start against Robredo while Ferrer always start very aggressive the opening games and he should break the Serbian quickly. The Spaniard is a fast baseliner who will force Troicki to play an extra shot, the Serbian wasn’t solid on serve so far and the Spaniard once more will punish the Serbian. They have two meetings so far and in both the Serbian won only three games.

Melzer Jurgen (AUT) vs. Federer Roger (SUI) 

16 time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer takes on Austrian Jurgen Melzer for a place in the semifinals of the 2011 Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, an ATP World Tour 1000 event being played here in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

Swiss maestro Roger Federer is hungry for success. His three consecutive losses to an undefeated Novak Djokovic have left him wondering if his prime is over in men's tennis. Roger Federer started the 2011 season on a bright note and picked up a title in Doha. However, what followed was a series of disappointing losses to arch rivals, leaving the Swiss star with a lot to ponder upon. Federer has not won a Grand Slam title in his past 4 attempts and is seeking some solace with an attempt to lift the silverware here in Monte Carlo.

Federer's opponent, Austrian Jurgen Melzer had an impressive 2010 season with a semifinal finish at the French Open, along with a title win in Vienna towards the tail end of the season. Melzer is an accompolished claycourt player and has his best Grand Slam run on the same soil in Paris about a year ago.

Both players have played each other three times before with Federer winning each one of them handily. With all three meetings coming in 2010 at stages no less than Grand Slams, Federer ensured dominant wins to maintain his supremacy over the Austrian star. Federer is playing aggressive tennis as is evident from his performance in the previous matches from the past few weeks and the same tenacity will fetch him good results  in the matches ahead in Monte Carlo.

Federer once again looked sharp, just as he did in beating Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber, in his win over Marin Cilic. He mix-ed up well on court putting a lot of drop shots or sliders troubling the Croat who needed to bend his knee to hit the ball. But he will meet Melzer who made a solid match against Almagro, he was aggressive ripping a lot of forehands from the back of the court, quick around the court and kept his errors low. Solid performance from the Austrian who will enter with a lot of morale. This will be the key of the match, the mental approach of the Austrian in this match as he has the game to make a solid match, his left serve will head into Federer’s backhand wining a lot of free points and if he will keep his ground strokes deep and powerful once more will force Federer to make a step back. Melzer hasn’t the same spin as Nadal and neither same backhand.

Nadal Rafael (ESP) vs. Ljubicic Ivan (CRO)

Top seed and six time defending champion Rafael Nadal takes on 2010 Indian Wells champion Ivan Ljubicic for a place in the semifinals of the 2011 Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, an ATP World Tour 1000 event being played here in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Nadal opened the 2011 season on a less-than-perfect note and lost in Doha semifinals before finishing quarterfinalist in Melbourne at the Australian Open. Nadal's efforts to reclaim title glory that he last shone bright with in october 2010, went in vain when he suffered back-to-back masters series final defeats to Novak Djokovic. After the North American hardcourt debacle, as expected, Nadal is playing like a champion on red clay and is very much a favourite to win this year's event as well to make it seven in a row in Monte Carlo.

Nadal's opponent, Croatian Ivan Ljubicic remainded silent for almost a year after his breakthrough title win in Indian Wells in March 2010. But with confidence boosting wins over players like Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Tomas Berdych in the previous rounds, Ljubicic has emerged as the dark horse in a masters series event one more time. Both players have contested seven matches before with Nadal leading the way 5-2.

Six-time defending champion Rafael Nadal advanced into the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters with straight-set victory. Once more the Spaniard was rarely troubled against Gasquet controlling the match. "I think I was consistent and didn't allow him to get into the points he wanted to on my own serve." – said Nadal. He lost his serve once in the second set when he was up front but Gasquet rushed into errors to give straight back the break. Ivan Ljubicic advanced after he beat Berdych who made a poor match with a lot of errors and being behind the serve in the second set. The Croatian received lengthy treatment to his shoulder during the match but Berdych didn’t found a way to exploit that. Ljubicic managed to beat Nadal last time when they met, in Indian Wells where he won the title, the Croat was tired in the end but still managed to win mainly because of his serve. But on clay his serve will be negated and we don’t see him to push too much because of his shoulder injury.

Murray Andy (GBR) vs. Gil Frederico (POR)

Murray ousted a hobbling Gilles Simon. The Frenchman turned his right ankle jumping up to play a forehand from the baseline at the end of the first set and completed the match with the ankle heavily wrapped. But was a great performance from the Britt who was solid from the back of the court wining a lot of grueling rallies and creating good angles on court. "I feel like I'm hitting the ball well. Each match I'll keep moving better. You need to always try and get yourself in the right position. That's the one thing I'll need to keep getting better at in preparation for the French Open." – said Murray. Also Gil made a solid match against Monfils benefiting by a player who wasn’t at his best and was tired on court but still the Portuguese made his match and advanced comfortably. They never met but they know well. “When I was over training in Spain, we were playing some futures tournaments together. I practised with him a few times. I watched his match today, as much as I could. Obviously, clay court is his best surface. It will be a tough match, but definitely think I can win.” – said Murray by his opponent. The Britt looked solid on court but Gil is on his best surface but he needs not to stay too much in long rallies as Murray looked very solid in defense, Gil has the game to keep close and we will go for over games.

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