Federer Faces Youzhny In Dubai Opening Round

The first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships takes place in earnest today with 32 men all looking to claim the United Arab Emirates-based hard court ATP title. Perhaps the match of the day is that being contested between world number two and reigning champion Roger Federer and Moscow-born 32-year-old Mikhail Youzhny.

Federer sealed last year`s Dubai Tennis Championships with a three set win over Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic. This was the Swiss player`s sixth ever Dubai title. The 33-year-old came back from losing the first set 6-3 to claim the second set 6-4 and seal the title with a 6-3 victory in the decider. This was the second round in a row that Federer had been defeated in the opening set. In the semi-final he had to bounce back following a defeat at the hands of number one seed Novak Djokovic , eventually progressing with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win.

Youzhny made the quarter-final of this 2014 competition but had to retire prior to his match-up with Djokovic following complaints of an illness.

These two players have played each other a total of 15 times in ATP competitions with their current head-to-head standing at 15-0 to Federer. This is an extraordinary record with seven of these victories coming on hard surfaces, though one of these was earned through Youzhny`s withdrawal. All these matches took place between the years 2000 and 2013 with the pair having contested the 2007 final of this competition, that being sealed 6-4, 6-3.

As a result of this stunning piece of form, it is Federer who is the undoubted favourite for the clash. The 6`1" Swiss player, who has already won one title this year in the form of the Brisbane International Tennis Tournament, is the 1/16 favourite for success with a number of bookmakers.

Supporters of the underdog will be interested in Youzhny`s odds, the Russian a mammoth 19/2 with 32red, 888sport and unibet.

Of the six matches that have taken place on hard court surfaces between the two men, five were won by Federer in straight sets. Stan James have the best price on a straight sets victory for the favourite at 15:00 this afternoon, that being 3/10.

The remaining match, taking place right back in 2000, saw 6` Youzhny take the opener 5-7 before Federer picked up 6-4, 6-3 wins in the second and third sets. Whilst the world number two is best priced 13/2 with ladbrokes to lose the first set but win the match, his opponent can be backed at 11/2 with bet365 to be the first set winner. Indeed, the outsider is 7/2 with william hill to win a set at any time during his first round encounter today. Youzhny will have to be ready to take advantage of any Swiss slip up with the second seed having won 93% of the 98 service games he has played so far this year.

Half of the last six meetings between the two men have ended with the players being separated by a difference of five games. paddy Power`s 8/11 says that one of the pair will fight out a five, six or seven game margin of victory against the other. Furthermore, there was a difference of seven games in another two of these six matches whilst the first meeting between the pair saw Youzhny just collect three games less than his victor. Back a three game margin of victory at 7/1 with paddy Power.

Federer has won three of these six opening sets by a score of 6-3. Both Coral and paddy power have odds of 10/3 on this being the score to the Swiss player in the first set of this first round tie today.

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23/02/2015     © Frixo 2024