La solidità di Seppi vale la semifinale contro il risorto Monfils a Metz (0-3 i precedenti)

TENNIS - Ottima prova di Andreas Seppi che, superando Florian Mayer per 7-5 6-2, raggiunge la semifinale. Un piccolo calo di tensione sul 5-3 del primo parziale non ha compromesso il risultato. Adesso l'azzurro aspetta Monfils (un grande ritorno al primo torneo) vittorioso su Kohlschreiber 67 64 64. Redazione

Andreas Seppi batte, senza soverchie difficoltà, Florian Mayer riservandosi un posto nella semifinale della parte bassa. Molto solido e continuo Seppi che è stata anche capace di superare uno dei suoi soliti cali di tensione per chiudere il primo set.

Il nostro è il primo a conquistare un break volando sul 5-3. Proprio al momento di servire per il set l’altoatesino esita, il braccio si blocca e Mayer ringrazia: controbreak a zero e set completamente riaperto.
Sul 5-5 Andreas è bravo a recuperare calma e fiducia nei colpi riuscendo a garantirsi quantomeno il tie-break.

Gioco decisivo che non risulta necessario poiché Seppio, grazie ad un lungolinea di diritto vincente, strappa per la seconda volta il servizio ad un Mayer incerto e poco presente nella partita: 7-5 Seppi.

Il secondo set procede esattamente come si era concluso il primo, Seppi tiene il servizio in apertura e conquista il terzo break del match; consolidandolo allunga il parziale a 5-0 (dal 5-5 al 7-5 3-0).
Molto intelligente Andreas, resosi conto delle difficoltà odierne e delle fin troppo ampie aperture dell’avversario, nel basare lo scambio su colpi profondi e centrali che tolgono tempo ed angoli al tedesco (mai in grado di sovvertire il tema tattico).

Dal 3-1 in poi, solo game a zero, Seppi ne vince due alla battuta e uno, l’ultimo, alla risposta.

E’ un 7-5 6-2 molto netto e abbastanza convincente. Due colpi hanno fatto la differenza per Seppi: il servizio, sempre molto preciso e aiutato dalla velocissima superficie, ed il diritto lungo linea che più volte ha sorpreso Mayer.
Pessimo peraltro il tedesco che non sembrava avere voglia di giocarsi questa partita. Oggi  Andreas giocherà con Gael Monfils, che ha sconfitto in rimonta Philip Kohlschreiber 67 64 64. Se sarà in grado di tenere costante il livello di gioco, avrà chance di vittoria.

Ex n.7 del mondo Monfils è sceso a n.44 dopo un infortunio al ginocchio.  26 anni Mofils ha vinto il suo ultimo torneo indoor 250 nel 2009 (battendo proprio Kohlschreiber) ed è stato finalista nel 2005 (perse da Ljubicic).

SATURDAY SEMI-FINALS FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play

Centre Court

(5) Andreas Seppi (ITA) vs (7) Gael Monfils (FRA) Monfils Leads 3-0
07 Doha (Qatar) Hard R32 Gael Monfils 6-3 6-4
10 Marseille (France) Hard (I) R16 Gael Monfils 7-6(4) 3-6 7-6(3)
10 Tokyo (Japan) Hard R16 Gael Monfils 6-4 6-4
Other meeting:
07 Sunrise CH (USA) Hard F Gael Monfils 6-3 1-6 6-1

Seppi FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
W: Belgrade (d Paire); F: Eastbourne (l Roddick); QF(4): Doha (l Federer); Rotterdam (l Berdych); Bucharest (l Fognini); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (l Federer)
YTD W-L: 30-22 (10-13 on hard)
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 2
Date of Birth: February 21, 1984
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 28

• Seppi, 28, is playing in his third ATP World Tour semi-final of the year (2-0)…He captured title in Belgrade in May (d. Paire) and was runner-up in Eastbourne in June (l. to Roddick)
• The top Italian is making his fourth appearance at this event (6-3 record)…He reached the QFs in 2005 (l. to Davydenko) then lost early in his other two tries (second round in 2007, first round in 2008)
• He is trying to reach his fifth ATP World Tour final (2-2 mark); he has never been to an ATP World Tour final on hard courts (1-1 on clay, 1-1 on grass)
• Leads the tournament in return games won (17 of 33, 52%) and has held serve 26 of 33 games this week (79%), saving 11 of 18 break points (61%)

Monfils FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
F(2): Doha (l Tsonga); Montpellier (l Berdych)
YTD W-L: 17-7 (14-4 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 4
Date of Birth: September 1, 1986
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 44

• Monfils, 26, is playing in his third ATP World Tour semi-final of the year (2-0 mark)…He was a runner-up in Doha in January and Montpellier in February (l. to Tsonga and Berdych, respectively)
• This is the Frenchman’s first outing since Nice (May 21) after being sidelined with a right knee injury
• Leads the tournament this week in aces (39) and first serve points won (89%) and has held serve 31 of 37 games (84%), saving seven of 13 break points…Has won 12 of 36 return games (33%)
• He is making his fourth appearance at this event (13-2 record); he made the QFs in 2004 (l. to Gasquet) and the final in 2005 (l. to Ljubicic) and won the title in 2009 (d. Kohlschreiber)
• He is trying to reach his 18th ATP World Tour final (4-13 mark) and over half of those finals have come indoors (nine with 3-6 record)…His last title came in Stockholm last October (d. Nieminen)

(1)Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) vs (8-WC) Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) Davydenko Leads 2-0
07 Moscow (Russia) Hard R32 Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 6-2
08 Tennis Masters Cup (China) Hard RR Nikolay Davydenko 6-7(6)6-4 7-6

Tsonga FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
W: Doha (d Monfils); SF(3): Marseille (l del Potro); Wimbledon (l Murray); Winston-Salem (l Isner); QF(6): Dubai (l Del Potro); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Nadal); ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Simon); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (l Djokovic); Roland Garros (l Djokovic); London Olympics (l Djokovic)
YTD W-L: 43-17 (24-8 on hard)
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 8
Date of Birth: April 17, 1985
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 7

• Tsonga, 27, is playing in his fifth ATP World Tour semi-final of the year (1-3 mark)…He received a walkover in the Doha semi-finals (vs. Federer) and went on to win the title (d. Monfils) but has gone 0-3 in semi-finals since
• The top Frenchman is making his third appearance at this event (8-1 record); he made the QFs in 2007 (l. to Murray) and won the title last year (d. Ljubicic in final)
• Has held serve 18 of 19 games this week (95%), saving four of five break points…Has won six of 18 return games (33%)
• He is trying to reach his 14th career ATP World Tour final (8-5 mark) and three of his titles have come on home soil: 2011 Metz, 2009 Marseille and 2008 Paris-indoor

Davydenko FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
SF(2): Rotterdam (l Federer); Nice (l Baker)
YTD W-L: 20-19 (14-10 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 21
Date of Birth: June 2, 1981
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 48

• Davydenko, 31, is playing in his third ATP World Tour semi-final of the year (0-2) and lost in Rotterdam in February and Nice in May (losing to Federer and Baker, respectively)
• The veteran Russian is making his second appearance at this event (6-1 record); in his only previous appearance in 2005 he also reached the semi-finals (l. to Ljubicic)
• Has held serve 33 of 39 games this week (85%), saving 20 of 26 break points (77%)…Has won 12 of 39 return games (31%)
• Has an 0-8 mark vs. Top 10 opponents this year and has lost 14 in a row since defeating No. 1 Nadal in the semi-finals of Doha in January 2011
• He is trying to reach his 28th career ATP World Tour final (21-6 mark) and extend his title streak to 10 consecutive years (last title came in Munich in May 2011)…Has won a title every year from 2003-2011

POTENTIAL FINAL HEAD-TO-HEADS

Andreas Seppi (ITA) vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) Tsonga Leads 2-1
08 Sydney (Australia) Hard R32 Andreas Seppi 3-6 6-3 6-2
11 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R64 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 7-6(1) 7-6(5)
11 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris) Hard (I) R16 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 6-4

Andreas Seppi (ITA) vs Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) Tied 3-3
04 Halle (Germany) Grass R32 Andreas Seppi 7-6(5) 2-6 6-3
05 Metz (France) Hard (I) QF Nikolay Davydenko 6-3 6-1
06 Hamburg (Germany) Clay R32 Nikolay Davydenko 6-1 6-2
08 Poertschach (Austria) Clay QF Nikolay Davydenko 6-3 1-6 6-3
11 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris Hard (I) R64 Andreas Seppi 7-6(2) 7-5
12 Roland Garros (France) Clay R128 Andreas Seppi 6-3 7-6(5) 7-5

Gael Monfils (FRA) vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) Tsonga Leads 3-1
08 Bangkok (Thailand) Hard (I) SF Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-0 6-3
09 Tokyo (Japan) Hard SF Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 6-3
10 Montpellier (France) Hard (I) SF Gael Monfils 7-6(2) 2-6 6-4
12 Doha (Qatar) Hard F Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5 6-3
Other meeting:
03 France F14 (Valescure) Hard R16 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2 6-3

Gael Monfils (FRA) vs Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) Tied 2-2
05 ATP Masters 1000 Miami (USA) Hard R64 Gael Monfils 4-6 6-1 6-4
07 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass R32 Nikolay Davydenko 6-3 7-5 6-3
07 Gstaad (Switzerland) Clay R32 Gael Monfils 3-6 6-4 7-5
09 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) Hard (I) QF Nikolay Davydenko 6-3 6-3

ATP Metz

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (1) def. Jesse Levine, 6-3, 6-4
Gael Monfils (7) def. Philipp Kohlschreiber (2), 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-4
Andreas Seppi (5) def. Florian Mayer (4), 7-5, 6-2
  Nikolay Davydenko (8) def Karlovic 6-7 (7-5), 7-6, 6-0 (dopo aver salvato un matchpoint nel secondo set)

Redazione