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  • ATP Valencia: Ferrer (1) vs Verdasco

    4/18/08 8:49 AM | David Cox
    - Despite being the world no 5, Ferrer has yet to make it past the quarter-finals this year and he’ll be determined to rectify that today.

    He’s got quite a bit to defend over the next month having made the semis of Rome and the Hamburg quarters last season but the big plus is that he exited at the 3rd round stage in Paris so an opportunity to really gain some ground there. The man who knocked him out will be on the other side of the net today. Verdasco holds a 4-3 lead over Ferrer and beat him twice on clay last year - 4-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-3 at Roland Garros and then 7-5, 6-3 at Stuttgart two months later. He also won last time they squared off in the Valencia quarters 4 years ago. Ferrer’s game is to hustle from the back and look to upload off the forehand but in the past he’s been unable to deal with the brutal topspin and pace off the Verdasco groundstrokes and his ability to strike winners from anywhere, at any time off the forehand.

    Prediction: Verdasco to continue his jinx over the top seed and progress in 2


    Robredo (3) vs Starace

    Starace made the Valencia final last year but he’s never managed to defeat Robredo before, the 3rd seed having won all 3 of their previous matches. None though have been since 2006 and the Robredo of 2008 is a completely different animal, finding himself powered off the court by heavier hitters like Agustin Calleri and Mardy Fish. Starace isn’t in the same league power-wise as the likes of Fish but has the potential to cause plenty of problems this afternoon especially if he continues his superb serving - consistently in the high 70s and 80 %s on 1st serve. Robredo has dug deep in both of his matches so far this week, winning a very long one over Santiago Ventura in the last round and I reckon he’ll grind Starace down again over 3 sets

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