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3/14/09 9:28 AM | James Munoz
The first all-French encounter in the men’s draw features two very talented players and occasional doubles team. Last week in Davis Cup, these two paired up in the opening round of Davis Cup Doubles against the Czech Republic.
The two fell to Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek in doubles, and oddly enough, Llodra is teaming up with Stepanek this week in doubles. Perhaps this is the end of the Gasquet-Llodra doubles team.
In any event, this encounter is likely to be reminiscent of their previous encounters. Last years Masters Series events in Cincinnati (3-6, 6-1, 1-0 ret.) and Canada (6-2, 4-6, 6-3) saw Gasquet go ahead 2-0 in the head to head with Llodra. Both matches went three sets and both occurred in the round of 64 as well. Llodra will be looking to get to the net as much as possible, while his opponent will want to take it away from him.
Gasquet served high first-serve percentages (67% and 56%) in their previous matches and as so often goes with him, if he is serving well he is tough to beat. His confidence must remain high, as Llodra can be extremely difficult to break. Gasquet is much steadier from the baseline than his opponent is and will try to dictate play from here. As their previous encounters have demonstrated, Gasquet will win most baseline rallies, especially if he can stay focused.
Llodra may have lost his previous encounters against Richard, but he has the tools and game to thwart many opponents. If Llodra can maintain a high first serve percentage, he has a good a chance as anyone to win on tour. Llodra has some of the best volleys and serve in the game and after playing with Richard may have an inside track to reading Gasquet’s serve a little better. If Llodra can get an early break or stay with his countryman, he could end the drought against his higher-ranked opponent.
Prediction – Gasquet in two sets.
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