RICKY DIMON LOOKS @ FRIDAY’S MATCH UPS: ISNER VS. QUERREY HEADLINES QUARTERFINAL FRIDAY, BERDYCH AND MONFILS ALSO IN ACTION

Isner vs. Querrey headlines quarterfinal Friday, Berdych and Monfils also in action in Rotterdam

 

 

A pair of blockuster quarterfinal lineups are on hand for Friday at the Memphis Open and the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. In Memphis, American fans will be treated to five of their own in action. In Rotterdam, among those still alive in the title hunt are Tomas Berdych, Gael Monfils, Stan Wawrinka, and Gilles Muller.

 

A look at some of Friday’s best matchups:

 

Memphis: (3) John Isner vs. Sam Querrey

 

Isner and Querrey will be squaring off for the the fourth time in their careers. Querrey leads the head-to-head series 2-1 and their first-ever encounter came in the final of this same Memphis event (except when it was worth 500 points) in 2010. The 6’6” American triumphed 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-3 after trailing 5-2 in the second-set tiebreaker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In three trips since to this tournament, Isner has not made it back to the semifinals. However, the No. 3 seed got off to a strong start this time around by beating Ivan Dodig 6-4, 7-6(5) on Wednesday. Querrey has advanced with wins over Benjamin Becker and Jared Donaldson. Isner was outclassed by a red-hot Gilles Muller in the Australian Open third round, but he is not playing poor tennis this season. He will be especially encouraged by 22 aces, one double-fault, and 77 percent serving against Dodig.

 

Memphis: Donald Young vs. Bernard Tomic

 

Both Young and Tomic are in solid form to start the 2015 campaign and it has led to what will be their first-ever collision. Young made it to the Auckland quarterfinals and advanced one round at the Australian Open before succumbing to Milos Raonic. So far this week the 67th-ranked American has dismissed Adrian Mannarino and Denis Kudla in straight sets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomic has already won nine matches this season, including three in Melbourne prior to an elimination at the hands of Berdych. The 22-year-old Aussie has advanced in Memphis with defeats of Igor Sijsling and Alexandr Dolgopolov. The key for Young will to keep his wits about him and stay focused as he tries to counter Tomic’s eclectic style of play.

 

Rotterdam: (3) Tomas Berdych vs. Gael Monfils

 

Berdych and Monfils will be squaring off for just the fifth time in their careers. The head-to-head series stands at 3-1 in favor of Berdych, who is 2-0 against Monfils on hard courts. They most recently collided in round one of the 2013 French Open, with the Frenchman prevailing 7-6(8), 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-7(4), 7-5.

 

One of the best players on tour this season, Berdych finished runner-up in Doha and reached the semifinals of the Australian Open. The seventh-ranked Czech has taken out Tobias Kamke and Andreas Seppi so far in Rotterdam. Monfils booked his spot in the last eight with straight-set victories over Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Roberto Bautista Agut. The world No. 21 is coming off a semifinal appearance last week in Montpellier.

 

Gilles Muller vs. (4) Stan Wawrinka

 

Wawrinka and Muller will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the second time this year. Their only previous encounter came last month in Chennai, where Wawrinka scored a 6-2, 7-6(4) quarterfinal victory en route to the title. The eighth-ranked Swiss then advanced to the semifinals of the Aussie Open and so far in Rotterdam he has fought past Jesse Huta Galung and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in three sets.

 

Like Wawrinka’s second-round opponent, Muller has been one of the veteran stars in 2015. In addition to his Chennai performance, the 31-year-old Luxembourgian turned in a semifinal showing in Sydney and a fourth-round finish in Melbourne. Muller earned his place in the Rotterdam quarters by ousting David Goffin and Grigor Dimitrov. Playing indoors at an event Wawrinka does not dominate like Chennai, this one is likely to be more competitive.

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Atp, Bernard Tomic, Donald Young, Gael Monfils, Gilles Muller, John Isner, Ricky Dimon, Sam Querrey, Stan Wawrinka, Tennis, Tomas Berdych

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