Novak Djokovic looked a bit shaky in his win against Viktor Troicki.  However, he came on strong at the end and won 6-1.  Djokovic had mentioned in interviews that his shoulder would be fine, even if it wasn’t great, but perhaps money was on his mind.  Had Djokovic not played Paris, he would have lost a 1.6 million dollar bonus.  Djokovic won two matches, but decided the pain was a bit too much and chose not to play today.

This makes Tsonga the first semifinalist in at Paris.

Today, the remaining quarterfinalists will play.

  • Murray vs. Berdych  This will be the third time they’ve met, but the first time in 2011.  They haven’t played since the 2010 French Open where Berdych reached the semifinals.  Murray will be favored because of his win streak, but yesterday’s win is Berdych’s 50th, his best year ever.
  • Ferrer vs. Isner This may be the greatest height difference of two top players.  Ferrer is about 5’9″ and Isner about a foot taller. The two have met 3 times, with Ferrer winning all three.  However, the two haven’t met in two years.  Ferrer will still be favored as his ranking moved up in the last two years, but Isner has likewise improved.  Ferrer has the speed and can handle power, so he’s favored.  Isner will use his tenacity to pull the upset as he did against Lopez (poor play on Lopez’s part lead to a quick loss).
  • Federer vs. Monaco Monaco has been on a hot streak.  He reached the finals of Valencia and of the finalists last week only he and Federer made it out of the first round.  Granollers (winner at Valencia) and Nishikori (Basel finalist) lost in the first round.  Given how long both players have been on the tour (nearly ten years for Monaco), it’s surprising that they’ve only met 3 times, and 2 of the 3 times have been this year.  Federer leads 3-0 in this match up.  He had a close match in Miami, but Federer won handily in the US Open.  The high seed in Federer’s section was Mardy Fish, but for the second week in a row, Fish had a hamstring issue and had to withdraw.  Federer again favored here, but expect Monaco to play better given his recent form.