The action intensifies on Tuesday as the second round of the Paris Masters 1000 gets underway
bet365 are offering online coverage of the 2010 ATP Paris Masters in their live streaming sectionTomorrow’s matches in the Paris Masters 1000 will be crucial for Mikhail Youzhny, Fernando Verdasco, and Tomas Berdych, who are all gunning for a place in the ATP World Tour Finals. This is the last event prior to the finals, and we’ll know who’s going to be playing in London by the end of the week.
Youzhny is up first on Court Central, and he’ll be playing against Latvian hotshot Ernests Gulbis. The pairing have a 1-1 head-to-head record, and Youzhny will be well aware of the threat posed by his young opponent. If Youzhny doesn’t reach the final of this event, his chances of qualifying for the finals will be over.
The second match on Court Central will be between 2007 champ David Nalbandian and Valencia runner-up Marcel Granollers. This could be an exciting match, as Granollers is in great form, but has a 0-2 head-to-head record against his Argentine opponent.
Fernando Verdasco and Arnaud Clement face off in the third match. Clement will be looking for his second victory over a Spanish opponent here, having dispatched Feliciano Lopez in round one. Verdasco is currently in ninth place in the race for qualification, and he needs to at least make the semi’s this week to have any chance of participating in London.
The fourth match involves the unseeded pairing of Andrey Golubev and Gilles Simon. Golubev is a rising star on the tour, and is already ranked No. 36 in the world. He’ll need to be alert on Tuesday though, as Simon played well last week, and is also in the world top fifty.
The evening’s games begin with France’s No. 2, Gael Monfils, up against Benjamin Becker. The French crowd will be behind Monfils in a big way here, due in part to the fact that Monfils is the highest ranked Frenchman in this week’s draw. Becker had to go through qualification to take part, and will be aiming to defy the odds with a win.
The final match on Court Central sees No. 5 seed Tomas Berdych up against Florent Serra. Berdych is in a great position to qualify for the Tour Finals, and should really be looking to defeat his wildcard opponent. Unfortunately for Berdych, he’s lost his last three matches in straight sets, and isn’t entering this competition in good form.
