ATP - Monte Carlo Semifinals Preview

Ferrer David (ESP) vs. Melzer Jurgen (AUT)
In increasingly windy conditions the Austrian lefthander beat Roger Federer to reach the semifinals of the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters. Federer had looked at the top of his game while winning his first two matches here and he didn’t made a poor match against Melzer, he had a lot of opportunities to break Austrian serve, but after the Austrian had a problem with his neck, and has retreated to the changing rooms for a medical timeout he let his emotions there and made a solid match. He mix-ed up on court a lot, he was all over the court but also direct a lot of balls on Federer’s backhand and went for his shots from every corner. He will meet Ferrer for a place in final, the Spaniard advanced after a convincing win over Troicki. H2h is 3-2 for Ferrer, 2-1 on clay, but the last two meetings went on Austrian favor. "I will try my best against Ferrer. The last two matches I have won against him. In Paris last year I killed him on clay and hopefully that result is still in the back of his mind." – said the Austrian. Melzer will enter with a lot of morale after his win over Federer, the Spaniard will try to tired him down putting a lot of balls back in but the Austrian goes well for his shots and he is in good shape, in a battle from the back of the court the Spaniard has the upper hand but Melzer mixed up well against Federer, something that should do same here, he masked well the drop shots and won a lot of points at the net, he played with deep balls near the lines and that should push Ferrer a step back which will permit to Melzer to punish him.

Nadal Rafael (ESP) vs. Murray Andy (GBR)

British talent Andy Murray continued his run at the Monte Carlo Masters on Friday, outplaying Frederico Gil of Portugal to nab a 6-2, 6-1 victory.

It was No. 4-ranked Murray’s first match-up against No. 82 Gil, who became the highest-ranked Portuguese player in history when he rose to No. 66 two years ago. In Saturday’s semifinals, No. 3 seed Murray will try to topple top seed and world No. 1 Rafael Nadal, who boasts a 37-1 event record.

Murray faced some booing when he made his entrance onto the court, the crowd’s reaction presumably in response to his 6-3, 6-3 win over the injured Gilles Simon of France in the previous round. During that match, Murray had endured a fair amount of booing and jeering from the crowd when he offered up a succession of drop shots to his opponent, who had suffered an ankle injury in the first set.

Shaking off his initial reception today, Murray enjoyed a less hostile crowd during the quarterfinal match. Murray and Gil remained on serve for the first three games of the match. Murray’s patience and consistency soon paid off during a few long rallies, and he broke Gil to take a 2-1 lead. With strong baseline play, he won the next three games before Gil was able to grasp another, bringing the score to 5-2. Murray held off two break points and brought himself to set point with a backhand down the line, then finished off with a powerful serve out wide to take the set. During the first set, Murray won 83 percent of first-serve points, while Gil won 59 percent. Murray took advantage of Gil’s second serve, holding Gil to only 17 percent of second-serve points and winning 57 percent of points on his own second serve. Gil held serve to begin the second set, pumping his fist at the game’s close in a sign of determination. Gil nearly succeeded at breaking Murray’s serve in the next game, but Murray powered back with another long rally and an ace to even the score. Murray dominated the next five games, making winning look easy as he held Gil to love in the sixth game of the set. After Gil aced Murray in the next game to save one of three match points, Murray responded with a forehand down the line to take the match. It was an efficient set for Murray, who won 90 percent of points on his first serve to Gil’s 38 percent.

Murray’s Monte Carlo run includes a 6-1, 6-4 win over Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic in the first round. His straight-set victories are an encouraging sign, but he will have his work cut out for him against Nadal in the semifinals.

Nadal is seeking a record seventh consecutive title in Monaco. Nadal breezed by Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen, 6-2, 6-2, in the first round and defeated No. 13 seed Richard Gasquet of France, 6-2, 6-4, to reach the quarterfinals. There, he overcame windy conditions to take a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia in what marked his 35th consecutive win at the tournament.

Nadal holds another edge over Murray as they head into the semifinals, having won nine of their thirteen career match-ups.