The third round will begin on Thursday at the Paris Masters 1000The third round of the Paris Masters looks set to be intense, as several of the World’s best players will do battle for a place in the quarter-finals. Play on Central Court begins with a clash between Andy Roddick and Ernests Gulbis. Roddick was superb against Jarrko Nieminen in the last round, and he seems to be on course to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals. Even so, he can’t afford a slip-up here, and this should be an intriguing match.
Gael Monfils is up against Fernando Verdasco in the second Central Court game. Verdasco is also aiming to qualify for the Tour Finals in London, but needs to reach the semi’s this week to stand a chance. This is a tall order, and he’ll need a first rate performance to defeat Monfils. Monfils is the only seeded Frenchman here, and the fans will be behind him every step of the way.
Michael Llodra is up against Novak Djokovic in Central Court’s third match. Llodra made it through round two with an impressive 6-3, 6-4 win against America’s John Isner, and appears to be in good form. Despite this, Djokovic is the clear favourite, and he also got through his second round tie (against Juan Monaco) in straight sets (6-4, 6-3).
Match four will be played between Tomas Berdych and Nikolay Davydenko. Berdych has struggled to win matches in recent weeks, but still outranks the rest of the Tour Final qualification challengers. Davydenko, the man who won the Tour Finals event last year, is likely to cause Berdych trouble. This match stands out as one to watch.
The first evening game on Central Court sees Roger Federer facing off against Radek Stepanek. Federer hit top gear once again in yesterday’s second round, seeing off the threat of Richard Gasquet in straight sets. The quality of his performance was such that he only dropped four points on serve in the entire match. Federer met Stepanek last week in Basel, where he cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 victory.
The final match on Central Court takes place between Andy Murray and Marin Cilic. Murray edged past David Nalbandian in three sets in round two, and will probably have to endure yet another tough match here. Cilic is currently ranked fifteenth in the World, and could yet challenge for the title this week.
The two matches to be played on Court One will be Jurgen Melzer v David Ferrer and Stanislas Wawrinka v Robin Soderling. Melzer needs to win this tournament to stand a chance of qualifying for London, whilst Ferrer is currently clinging on to a qualification position. This first match on Court One could turn out to be a thriller. Soderling’s match against Wawrinka also looks set to be a good one. Wawrinka has looked sharp here in Paris, but Soderling is one of the tournament favourites, and is likely to trouble his Swiss opponent.
