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1/3/09 6:22 PM | Ricky Dimon
With Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray all in the season-opening Qatar Open, the question was on whose side of the draw would Murray fall? The answer is in: Murray is in Federer's half, while Andy Roddick is in Nadal's section.
Rafael Nadal lost to Andy Murray in three sets in the Abu Dhabi exhibition final on Saturday. The good news for Nadal is that he won't have to play Murray until the final of next week's Qatar ExxonMobil Open, if both men advance that far.
The draw for the season-opening ATP tournament in Doha, Qatar was revealed on Saturday and Murray, seeded third, is in the bottom half along with No. 2 Roger Federer. Nadal, seeded first as the No. 1 player in the world, is in the top half along with fourth-seeded Andy Roddick.
Nadal, however, could have a tricky first-round match against veteran Frenchman Fabrice Santoro. Surprisingly, Nadal and Santoro have never met in their careers. If Nadal advances, he will play the winner of a match between two qualifiers. Gael Monfils, who came on very strong in the second half of 2008, could run into Nadal in the quarterfinals.
Roddick's quarter includes No. 6 seed Igor Andreev, 2008 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Arnaud Clement, Mikhail Youzhny, and Viktor Troicki. Fellow Russians Andreev and Youzhny will battle in round one.
The bottom half of the draw looks far less imposing for Federer and Murray. Federer opens with Potito Starace and his nearest seed is No. 8 Philipp Kohlschreiber. Murray begins his 2009 ATP campaign against Albert Montanes and his first possible seeded opponent is No. 7 Dmitry Tursunov, who ended 2008 mired in a slump.
Roddick, assuming he can get through his first two rounds, will have a tough test against Andreev, Youzhny, Troicki,or Victor Hanescu in the quarterfinals. But if he can navigate safely through that challenge, this intriguing season-opening event should produce mouth-watering semifinal showdowns with the top four seeds.
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come on Andy,,,,,,
THE FLYING SCOTSMAN..........LOL
Casper , 1/4/09 4:45 AM
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C'mon Troicki!
noleisthebest , 1/3/09 7:36 PM