You would have thought playing singles here, after 2 weeks in Mexico, followed by a dash back to London for a tournament would be enough, but David is also playing doubles here.
L16: [2] GEMOUCHIDIS, Paris (GRE) & RICE, David WR 1261 v BYE
QF: Alessandro Bega & Riccardo Sinicropi (ITA/ITA) UNR lost to (2) Paris Gemouchidis (GRE) & David Rice WR 1261 by 4 & 5
SF: Massimo Capone & Enrico Ianuzzi (ITA/ITA) UNR or (3) Marco Bortolotti & Davide della Tommassina (ITA/ITA) WR 2239 vs (2) Paris Gemouchidis (GRE) & David Rice WR 1261
* So David's already had a chance to size up his second-round singles opponent.
Doubles SF: (3) Marco Bortolotti & Davide della Tommassina (ITA/ITA) WR 2239 vs (2) Paris Gemouchidis (GRE) & David Rice WR 1261
The third seeds didn't have it all their own way in their QF: Capone & Ianuzzi gave 'em a run for their money, going down by 3-6 6-2 [9-11]. Let's hope that's a good omen for David &, er, Paris...
QF: (5) David Rice WR 423 v (3) Claudio Grassi (ITA) WR 427 (CH 350 in Nov 09)
Grassi beat Dr No twice last year, 4-6 6-1 6-0 in Bournemouth on clay and 3 & 3 in Glasgow on indoor hard (completing a triple Brit-bash in that tournament, abruptly ended by Evo 2 & 1 in the SFs!), but on Monday David overtook him in the rankings, albeit too late to be seeded higher here.
The other two seeds in the top half have gone out already.
-- Edited by steven on Wednesday 15th of September 2010 08:21:32 PM
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GB on a shirt, Davis Cup still gleaming, 79 years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming ... 29/11/2015 that dream came true!