5/23/08 12:16 AM | David Cox
Many people’s pick for the title now is experienced Argentine 3rd seed Agustin Calleri who’s had one of the easiest paths through to the last 4, two comfortable wins over lowly ranked French players and then not even required to play Younes El Aynaoui in the quarters, the Morrocan withdrawing before play began.
Calleri has made 8 ATP finals during his 13 years on the tour, standing between him and a first final since New Haven 2006 is a 3rd Frenchman (and the most accomplished of the trio) Julien Benneteau. They’ve played just the once before, resulting in a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 win for Calleri in the Dutch town of Amerfoort back in 2005.
Benneteau also had an easier ride than he might of expected in the quarters, facing a below par Oscar Hernandez who retired with the end nigh at 6-3, 5-2 down. Benneteau came close to an early exit against Florian Mayer in round 1 but has gone from strength to strength after that scare with 2 easy wins.
Its Benneteau’s 2nd semi-final of the year after a great run in Auckland, beating Ferrer and Almagro. Although clay has yielded his best slam performance, faster hard courts are where Benneteau really likes to ply his trade with more impressive wins against Tsonga and Hewitt in the US this year
For the stylish Calleri it’s the first time he’s gone past the quarters all year, 5 quarter-finals prior to this
Prediction: Calleri in 2
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Did you know that... Fernando Verdasco is a huge fan of football club Real Madrid.
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