Mikhail Youzhny aims to go one better than his 2010 Gstaad showing when he faces Andreas Haider-Maurer in Friday’s quarter-finals.
Youzhny has never shone in Gstaad over the years but he’s always been reasonably consistent. This is his third quarter-final in his last four showings at the Swiss Open and he reached it with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 win over Denis Istomin on Wednesday.
Haider-Maurer has snuck into the top 100 over the past year and is not to be underestimated. He took Robin Soderling to five sets at last year’s US Open and is a gritty competitor.
He was thoroughly outclassed by David Ferrer in the quarters of the recent Swedish Open, managing just two games but is Youzhny capable of handing out the same kind of treatment ? He’s not in the same class as Ferrer on clay, lacking the same kind of consistency as the Spaniard on this surface.
The conditions in Gstaad have been very wet over the past couple of days and the clay will be even slower than usual. It is doubtful that this will suit Youzhny, a shot-maker who likes the ball to be going through the court.
Look for him to make the semi-finals but it’s going to be a tough battle.
