Youzhny have risen to 14 in the rankings since the start of the year and part of it can be credited to his ahrd work and extra consistency in his matches this year. In the past, when he was down, there was tendency that he would be errant in his subsequent shots and that really was a sign of giving up to me. I really do fancy his chances in this one here today and whatsmore, I do think he has a chance in nicking this tournament tomorrow if he continues his impressive run of form. In their head to head meetings between the two, both encounters took place this year with the serb winning two of them comfortably in straight sets which speaks volume in the gulf in quality between the two.

Granoellers will always remain as a second-tier player for me unless he makes some sort of improvement to his game and with an unimpressive 12-18 record this year, I do not think it has been a rather successful season for him to date. Granollers may have made it through to this stage with emphatic victories over some tricky opposiitons but I cannot see Youzhny tailing off from his game today.

Pick: Youzhny