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1/9/09 12:07 AM | Ricky Dimon
Andy Roddick, after winning his quarterfinal match, was probably all set to play Rafael Nadal. Instead, Roddick will take on Gael Monfils in the Doha semifinals.
It will be the fourth career encounter between Andy Roddick and Gael Monfils when the familiar opponents meet in the semifinals of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. They have squared off once in each of the previous four seasons; Roddick took the first match, but Monfils now leads the head-to-head series 3-1. The Frenchman most recently prevailed in three sets at last season's Masters Series Madrid.
Monfils was in the midst of a serious hot streak during the Madrid meeting, and he clearly did not cool off during the off-season. The No. 5 seed scored straight-set wins over Jan Hernych and Nicolas Devilder in the first two rounds this week, then shocked world No. 1 Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. Last season Monfils reached the semifinals of the French Open, where he lost to Federer in four sets, and followed that up with a semifinal appearance on the grass courts of Nottingham. The 22-year-old missed Wimbledon due to injury, but bounced back to reach the quarterfinals of the Olympics and the fourth round of the U.S. Open. Monfils finished 2008 at a career-high ranking of No. 13 in the world.
Roddick is also looking good in Doha, having taken out Ivan Navarro, Arnaud Clement, and Victor Hanescu all in straight sets. It's a good start to 2009 for the No. 4 seed, who is looking to bounce back from a relatively unmemorable 2008 campaign. Roddick limped through a considerable stretch of the season with various physical problems. He did nothing in the slams last year other than a respectable quarterfinal appearance at the U.S. Open, but he still had enough solid results to qualify for the Masters Cup. A title in Dubai and a win over Roger Federer in Miami were the highlights of an otherwise lackluster year. But after an off-season in which he had no reported ailments and hired new coach Larry Stefanki, Roddick should be able to hold his spot in the top ten.
Monfils has stolen the headlines this week and he will now be a trendy pick to reach the final of this prestigious season-opening event. Roddick needs to serve well in order to prevent that from happening, because Monfils is looking flat-out dangerous from the back of the court. If Roddick is not putting in a ton of first serves, Monfils will roll. The pick here, however, is that Roddick serves his way to a thrilling three-set victory.
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