Doha

These four players have nearly met before.  Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Gael Monfils were all at the Abu Dhabi exhibition last week.  However, Djokovic beat Monfils and Ferrer beat Tsonga, so the two Frenchman never played Federer or Nadal.  This time, Federer will face his nemesis in Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who beat him twice last year, but who Federer beat three times as well.  Federer struggled to reach the semis requiring three sets (63 57 64) to beat Italian, Andreas Seppi.  Nadal had a solid 64 64 win over Mikhail Youzhny.

After some lengthy matches, Gael Monfils finally had an easy 62 63 win over Troicki.  Tsonga likewise breezed past Albert Ramos 62 61 to make the semis.  Roger Federer is undefeated since his loss at the US Open.  Tsonga is the first serious player that might cause the upset.

Brisbane

Only two quarterfinals were played today.  Dolgopolov beat Stepanek in 3 sets, 46 63 63.  Gilles Simon beat Santiago Giraldo 76 64.

The other two quarterfinals will be played tomorrow including top seed Andy Murray taking on Marcos Baghdatis.  The two were doubles partner in Brisbane and lost today to Melzer and Petzschner 15-13 in the third set champions tiebreak.  Murray has been pushed to three sets in his previous two matches and has a losing record to Baghdatis.  Still, Murray isn’t worried.  He says his goal is not to peak at Brisbane but to peak at Melbourne.

Chennai

Top seed Janko Tipsarevic had an easy time with local favorite, Yuki Bhambri.  And the Belgians, they know how to create short tough players.  Olivier Rochus is one of the shortest players on tour at about 5’6″.  David Goffin, who is 5’4″, upset Andreas Beck, 46 64 62.  This is his best tournament by far.