Analysis for Canas-Korolev (Metz)

Head-to-head record 0:0

This is a battle of two tennis generations. Argentinean veteran Willy Canas will face Russian qualifier Korolev in quarterfinal clash in Metz. Canas plays an ultra defensive counter-punching game from the baseline, and utilises his retrieving skills in order to frustrate opponents. He plays a two-handed backhand and his favourite surface is naturally clay. But he can be dangerous on slower hard-courts as well. He proved that at Indian Wells and Miami tournaments this year. His great US performances are never-to-be-forgotten. He defeated Roger Federer in straight sets at Indian Wells and ended Federer´s streak of 41 consecutive victories and he managed to repeat this 2 weeks later in Miami to become the first qualifier to make it to a final in Miami where he lost to Serbian young gun Novak Djokovic. On the other hand, his recent form is questionable as he has been struggling lately. The surface in Metz is probably just too rapid for him and he wasn’t impressive against both Ledovskikh and Melzer. His quarterfinal opponent Korolev is much more at home indoors and he seems to play in a pretty good shape. He came through qualifiers easily and defeated both Starace and Gicquel in straight sets. Especially the match against Frenchman was great and his performance was stellar. If he plays his best, he should be able to play a tight match against Canas and odds above 2.5 represent a value for us.