Interesting tournament in Nice.
In the upper half of the draw we do not have any seeded player in the semifinals, but we have two exciting surprises: Davydenko and Baker.
Nicolas is finding some of his best tennis to defeat the seed no.1 John Isner in straight sets in 1h and 41 minutes. Nicolas was quite effective in not conceding any break to Big Johny in both sets to break him once in the opener. Isner didn’t display a remarkable tennis to try to be afloat with his service (13 aces on 11 service games played).
Nicolay will play another American in the semis: Baker.
Baker is not a new kid on the block (he his 27 years old), he is coming from the qualifications and he is world no.216. He produced an immense upset to defeat Monfils (maybe injured) in straight sets before defeating Kukushkin in the quarters 4-6 6-3 7-6 (4).
We have a competely different story in the lower part of the story where the seed no2 and 3 will clash in the semis. Almagro defeated Darcis 6-4 6-4 and Simon breezed past an erratic Bellucci 7-5 6-0.
Head to Head 2-1 for Simon. 1-1 on clay. Almagro do not beat Simon since 2006.
BAKER’S STORY
