Tennis - Dubai quarter-final preview

Events / Editor / 01 March 2007 / Leave a Comment

Tommy Haas is back on the title trail again just four days after beating Andy Roddick in Memphis.
The German star defied jet lag and two matches in the space of 18 hours to book his place in the quarter-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Men's Open.

Haas didn't have a break point against him in 47 service games in Memphis and he has brought that hot form with him to Dubai, where yesterday he beat Frenchman Florent Serra 7-6, 6-3 to make the last eight.
The fifth seed, who didn't arrive in Dubai until 3am Tuesday, began his title bid with victory over Czech player Radek Stepanek 6-4 6-3. Within 18 hours he was back on court to face Serra.

Today he goes into action against Olivier Rochus of Belgium. Haas, 29 in just over four weeks, has met the world No 34 just once, beating him in two sets in Stockholm in 2004.

"I only got four hours sleep and was up again at 5.30," said Haas, "but it's going to take a tough opponent to beat me."
The 6ft 2in world No 9 should have the power to go through and is 1.37 with Betfair to book a semi-final ticket.
But don't be fooled by Rochus. This 5ft 5in pocket battleship sank Russian third seed Nikolay Davydenko's hopes in the second round with a 4-6 6-4 6-2 win.

If Haas prevails he will meet the winner of the clash between World No 1 Roger Federer and 19-year-old Serbian Novak Djokovic. They last met in the Australian Open last 16 when Djokovic, the world No 14, became the fourth of the great man's seven straight set victims on the way to winning the title without dropping a set.

They have met three times and Federer has won all three of their clashes - in Monte Carlo in three sets in 2006, in the Davis Cup world group in straight sets and in Melbourne in January.

Djokovic booked his quarter-final place with a 7-6 (5) 6-3 win over veteran German Rainer Schuettler. Federer eased past Daniele Bracciali 7-5 6-3 after that rusty start in his first match since his Melbourne triumph as he needed three sets to get past Denmark's Kristian Pless 7-6 (2) 3-6 6-4.

Djokovic is available at 5.6 to take a set off Federer, who is celebrating a record 161-week stay in the world's No 1 spot this week, but lose 2-1.

In the bottom half of the draw Sweden's Robin Soderling beat Dominik Hrbaty 6-3 7-5 to earn a quarter-final spot against Fabrice Santoro of France. It was Soderling's first victory in four meetings with Hrbaty.

Santoro beat fellow Frenchman Gilles Simon to reach the last eight, winning 6-4 6-2 in 63 minutes.
Their meeting this afternoon is only their second, Santoro having won in Monte Carlo in 2005 in two sets.

But since then Soderling has climbed to No 29 in the world rankings compared to Santoro's No 60.
Both have knocked out seeds in the first round this week. Soderling stunned eighth seed David Ferrer of Spain 7-6 (13) 6-1 while Santoro toppled fourth seed Tommy Robredo of Spain 7-6 (6) 6-4.

Mikhail Youzhny and Rafael Nadal, who is the holder and second seed, come together in the fourth quarter-final and it could be a cracker. Nadal, the world No 2, leads the No 18 ranked Russian 3-2 but Youzhny won their most recent meeting at last year's US Open when he won in four sets.

Youzhny is buoyant after his Rotterdam victory at the weekend and he followed that up by knocking out sixth seeded Czech ace Tomas Berdych yesterday 7-6 (6) 6-3.

But Nadal had a tough time in the second round before battling through against big-hitting Russian Igor Andreev 6-2 3-6 7-6.
Unseeded Youzhny is trading at 2.54 with Betfair to overcome Nadal and reach the last four.
Soderling and Santoro open the action this afternoon followed by Rochus against Haas.

Federer takes on Djokovic in the first of the evening's singles with Youzhny following on against Nadal.