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  • Roger Federer awaits his quarterfinal opponent

    4/18/08 3:28 AM | Cheryl Murray
    - Roger Federer waits patiently in the quarter-finals for the winner of the last rained-out second round match between two Portuguese players.

    Roger Federer has a double advantage on Friday. First, his opponent has yet to be decided. A steady rain caused the match between Joao Sousa and Frederico Gil to be suspended until Friday. This means that the two Portuguese men will start the day off by finishing their second round match, and finish the day playing in the quarters against the number one player in the world. Second, his opponent will either be a qualifier with whom he has already hit (Sousa) or a Wildcard ranked outside the top 100. To call Federer the heavy favorite against either opponent would be an understatement.

    Florent Serra will take on Italian Flavio Cipolla for the first time ever. Cipolla advanced to his first ATP quarterfinal when opponent Gilles Simon retired with a back injury in their second round match. Serra beat wild card entrant Rui Machado. Both players are presently ranked outside the top 100. Serra is 101, Cipolla is ranked 127. They also both prefer to play on clay; the outcome of this match could come down to experience. Serra has already been in a quarterfinal (in Chennai). Serra in three sets.

    Surprise quarter-finalists Denis Gremelmayr and Jiri Vanek square off for the opportunity to advance to an ATP semi-final. Gremelmayr had a big win over the terribly out of form world number 25 Jarkko Nieminen and beat Teimuraz Gabashvili in the second round to get to his first quarterfinal appearance in 2008. Vanek defeated Petzschner in the first round and eighth seed Michael Berrer in the second round on his way to the quarters. The result is a complete toss-up. They are fairly evenly ranked - Vanek is 96, Gremelmayr is ranked at 104. Whichever one wins, Roger Federer will be happy to have either as his semi-final opponent.

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