Rafael Nadal and Mikhail Youzhny will be squaring off for the 13th time in their careers when they clash in quarterfinal action at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Thursday.
Youzhny has been somewhat of a nemesis for Nadal in the past, but the Spaniard has won two in a row (Wimbledon 2008, U.S. Open 2010) and leads the head-to-head series 8-4. Youzhny's last win over Nadal was a 6-0, 6-1 destruction in the 2008 Chennai final after Nadal had battled Carlos Moya for almost four hours the previous day.
Both players are off to strong starts in 2012 despite having been tested. Youzhny has victories this week over Ernests Gulbis and Ivo Karlovic, both of which went to three sets after the Russian dropped the second sets in tiebreakers. Nadal got past Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-3 before ousting Denis Gremelmayr 6-2, 6-2.
All four of Youzhny's wins over Nadal have come in faster conditions--twice in Dubai (2004 and 2007) and once in the 2006 U.S. Open quarterfinals in addition to the Chennai blowout. Doha is playing much slower and the world No. 35 will have a tough time imposing his aggressive baseline game and one-handed backhand on the top seed.
This should be another tough one for Nadal, but look for him to prevail in straight sets.
0 comments:
Post a Comment