Top two seeds David Ferrer and Stanislas Wawrinka will be looking for spots in the Kuala Lumpur semifinals on Friday. They are set for respective meetings with Joao Sousa and Dmitry Tursunov. Hasan Murad previews the action.
(6) Dmitry Tursunov vs. (2) Stanislas Wawrinka
Wawrinka is bidding to win his second title of the year this week at the Malaysian Open. His next opponent is a potent Russian–Tursunov–who has two indoor hard-court titles to his name. Their lone previous meeting took place on the hard courts of Sydney 2008, when Tursunov emerged triumphant with little trouble. However, this match is not expected to unfold in a similar manner.
Although Tursunov is enjoying a resurgent year in which he is finally putting together good results on a relatively consistent basis (26-16 record) , he is up against a man who has generated huge momentum after his best-ever finish at a Grand slam–a semifinal appearance at this summer’s U.S. Open. Wawrinka is an excellent all-court player and a solid 7-8 record against Top 10 players this year is clear evidence of his improved competitiveness and mental perseverance. Tursunov is a clean ball-striker who can generate easy power off both wings, but it is the whimsicality in his game that has always made him vulnerable. Wawrinka looks poised to follow his impressive win against Marcos Baghtadis in the previous round with a victory over the 36th-ranked Russian.
Pick: Wawrinka in 2
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(1)David Ferrer Vs. (SE) Joao Sousa
Ferrer will be looking to enter the semifinals of a tournament for the ninth time in 2013, as he faces Portugal’s Sousa in the quarterfinals of Bangkok. The 24-year-old Sousa is currently at a career-high ranking of 77th in the world and his career is certainly on the right track after he just registered his first-ever third-round appearance at a Grand Slam (2013 U.S. Open).
Sousa has won two Challenger titles this season and he reached his first-ever ATP semifinal last week in St. Petersburg, where he lost to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. His opponent, on the other hand, is known for his tenacity and ruthless consistency on all surfaces. Ferrer scored a comfortable 6-2 6-3 win in his previous match against Matteo Viola. Sousa does not have any major weapons with which to trouble Ferrer, so this one should be a routine victory for the French open runner-up.
Pick: Ferrer in 2
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Rafa’s first opponent is Santiago Giraldo. They won’t play on Monday..
Ed is right, great contributions from everyone involved (Y) keep it up everyone 😀 and thanks ed