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  • Las Vegas Quarterfinals Preview

    3/7/08 6:17 AM | Ricky Dimon
    - Robby Ginepri vs. Ernests Gulbis headlines quarterfinal action at the Tennis Channel Open, as some big-name players have already faltered elsewhere in the draw. Despite the absence of seeds 1 and 2, the presence of Americans Sam Querrey and Amer Delic as well as the entertaining Guillermo Canas makes for a strong slate of matches.

    Evgeny Korolev vs. Kevin Anderson
    Korolev, a 2007 semifinalist in Las Vegas, is fresh off a 6-3, 7-6(4) upset of No. 1 seed Fernando Gonzalez. That came three days after his first-round victory over Sergio Roitman 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. He will face little-know Kevin Anderson, who is in his first full year on the pro tour after playing college tennis at Illinois. The 6’7’’ Anderson surprised Michael Llodra in the first round and then dispatched fellow big-server John Isner 7-6(2), 7-5 to reach his first-ever ATP quarterfinal. In fact, those were the first two ATP matches he has ever won. The South African will be tough to break, but Korolev has a distinct advantage from the back of the court and should handle the quarterfinal pressure better due to more experience, even though he is younger than Anderson.

    (4) Guillermo Canas vs. Amer Delic
    After missing the start of 2008 with a wrist injury, Canas is beginning to regain the form that allowed him to be the spring sensation on last year’s U.S. hard-court tour. The Argentine stunned Roger Federer in consecutive tournaments and reached the final of the Masters Series event in Miami. This week in Las Vegas he impressively took out Thomas Johansson in the opening round before scoring a relatively routine 6-2, 7-5 victory over big-serving Aussie Chris Guccione. Delic, meanwhile, endured a dreadful second half of last season, but he is also beginning to turn things around now. He reached the second round of the Australian Open where he lost to Juan Monaco 8-6 in the fifth, and then won a Challenger event in Dallas. In Vegas he has triumphed over Jurgen Melzer and Potito Starace without dropping a set. Canas, however, is a whole different beast and should have the edge over Delic. He should be able to handle Delic’s big serve with his strong return, and Canas will dominate points that develop into baseline rallies.

    Sam Querrey vs. Julien Benneteau
    This matchup will feature two players who like to play short points and there most likely won’t be too many breaks of serve on Friday night. Querrey owns one of the biggest serves in tennis and he consistently blasts more aces than almost anyone on tour. The up-and-coming American survived Sebastien Grosjean 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(8) in a two hours and four minute first-round battle and saved one match point at 7-8 in the third-set tiebreaker. His second contest was far easier, as Querrey erased Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 6-1 in just 58 minutes. Benneteau cruised to straight-set victories in each of his first two contests. The Frenchman got past Jonas Bjorkman in round one before playing some remarkable tennis to shock No. 2 seed Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 7-5. Querrey defeated Benneteau three times in 2007—all on hard courts—including once at the Tennis Channel Open. Expect the American to improve his match record to 4-0 over Benneteau, but it would not be surprising to see this one go three sets.

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