Federer opens in Paris against Benneteau

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Federer opens in Paris against Benneteau

11/10/09 9:59 PM | Ricky Dimon
Roger Federer kicks off his Paris campaign on Wednesday against Julien Benneteau. Marin Cilic is also looking for a place in the third round as he takes on Lukasz Kubot.

(1) Roger Federer vs. Julien Benneteau

Federer will be going up against Benneteau for the third time in his career as the world No. 1 begins his week at the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday night. Both of their previous encounters resulted in straight-set victories for Federer, who prevailed 6-3, 6-3 at the 2007 Masters Series Cincinnati and advanced to the 2008 French Open quarterfinals with 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 win. Benneteau, however, should be able to make things competitive in front of his own French fans, just as he did at Roland Garros. The 27-year-old Frenchman is a solid 49th in the world and enjoyed recent performances in Cincinnati (quarterfinals), at the U.S. Open (third round), and last month in Lyon (quarterfinals). He opened his Paris campaign with a three-set win over Philipp Petzschner on Tuesday.

An upset, however, is most likely out of the question. Although not in absolutely dominant form at the moment, Federer is an awesome 59-9 for the season. The top-seeded Swiss took some time off after losing to Juan Martin Del Potro in the U.S. Open final, but he returned last week in Basel. Federer, who had been the three-time defending champion of that event, cruised into the final before falling to Novak Djokovic in three sets. Count on Federer bouncing back in style with another straight-set victory over Benneteau.

(12) Marin Cilic vs. (Q) Lukasz Kubot

Cilic and Kubot will be meeting for the first time in their careers at the ATP level when they square off in the Paris second round on Wednesday. However, they faced each other once on the Challenger circuit, with Cilic prevailing two years ago on the hard courts of Sarajevo. The 6'6'' Croat has exploded since then, and he currently registers at 13th in the world thanks to an impressive 46-20 match record on the year. Cilic reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the U.S. Open and he upset Rafael Nadal en route to a runner-up finish in Beijing. He also finished runner-up in Vienna last month, so the No. 12 seed is in fine form right now.

Kubot is also playing some of the best tennis of his less illustrious career. The 111th-ranked Pole is more of a doubles player, but he made headlines earlier this season with a runner-up showing in Belgrade (lost to Djokovic). The 27-year-old, who qualified for the Paris main draw, also qualified at the Shanghai Masters and in Beijing, where he went on to upset Andy Roddick. Kubot opened in Paris on Monday with a three-set win over Andreas Beck. Look for Kubot to make this one interesting, but Cilic in two tight sets is the pick.

Check out Roger Federer and Julien Benneteau head-to-head statistics

Check out Marin Cilic and Lukasz Kubot head-to-head statistics

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Comments

No comments???
Where r Exfed's fans to congrats to Benneteau?
OK...I will...BRAVO Benneteau!!!!
ps. What will bee now excuse??? Only one throwen bottle???

zare , 11/11/09 11:29 PM

get the comments going on the match report

http://www.tennistalk.com/en/match_report/BNP_Paribas_Master s/2009/Roger_Federer_-_Julien_Benneteau

RickyDimon , 11/11/09 11:42 PM

The excuse zare? An obvious one (ahem):

It's hard to play tennis when you have both hands tightly grasping your own neck!

SenorPlaid , 11/11/09 11:44 PM

fed getting knocked out from a tournament in the very first round has not happened in a very long time...... iam in a bit of a shock !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! maybe taking a break from the sport was not such a great idea.......... many congratulation to benneteau...... it shud one of his most memorable victories..

deepz , 11/11/09 11:45 PM

Actually it was the 2nd round since he had a first round bye

SGHIceman , 11/12/09 12:03 AM

Ice you know what deepz meant:)

alik , 11/12/09 12:44 AM

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