Second seed Novak Djokovic will try to defend his title and 7th seed Mikhail Youzhny will try to become the first Russian to win the $2 million Barclays Dubai Tennis Championship in today’s final. Djokovic had all he could handle against tireless Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, while Youzhny continues as the event’s hottest player against Austrian Jurgen Melzer.

Youzhny has not dropped a set this week. The Russian stayed focused throughout his 7-5, 7-6 (4) win over Melzer. On the other hand, Djokovic had to come from behind for the third consecutive time in the tournament. His 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4 was a nail-biter that could easily have gotten away for the 2009 champ. The Serb was challenged in just about every service game and was fortunate to turn away 13 of 16 break point opportunities.

Baghdatis has hit his stride. He is once again playing to the form that elevated him into the top ten in 2006. Baghdatis may not have the most overpowering game, but he is a retriever extraordinaire and his ability to keep the ball in play pressured Djokovic for nearly three hours. There were no easy points in the nearly three-hour marathon.

After three tough matches, Novak Djokovic admitted fatigue has become a factor. The tourney’s top surviving seed was challenged in earlier matches by Viktor Troicki and Ivan Ljubicic, who also won their first sets.

“I’m definitely tired. It’s been a long week for me, but a final is a final and I have faced this kind of feeling and situation before in my life,” said Djokovic after the match.

The first set featured four consecutive breaks before the players got back on serve and held until the tiebreaker. Trailing 1-2, Baghdatis ran off six straight winners to capture the set.

The players were on serve with Marcos serving at 3-4 and 40-15 before Djokovic had a run of his own. The Serb closed the set with eight straight winning points.

Djokovic scored the only third set break in the long third game of the third set. Baghdatis blamed himself for the loss. He felt he should have won the second set and that he succumbed to his nerves, causing several unforced errors. “I had the chance to beat the guy and I didn’t take it,” the Cypriot lamented.

Russian Mikhail Youzhny reached the finals for the first time since his 2007 loss to Roger Federer. For Youzhny, Dubai is his second ATP finals in two weeks. Youzhny lost the Rotterdam championship to Robin Soderling last week.

Youzhny continued his hard play against Melzer. In the first set, the Russian finally broke through in the tenth game. Melzer only had one break opportunity in the set.

The second set was well played and extremely well served. Melzer, a left- hander, won 82% of his first serves in the match and registered ten aces. Youhzny served equally well. At 2-2 in the tiebreaker, Melzer hit a backhand wide and then erred on a drop shot to give the Russian the edge he needed. Youzhny is now 10-2 this year and has some nice momentum heading into today’s finals.

At 27-years old, Youzhny seeks his sixth ATP title while the 22-year old Serb goes after his 17th title. In six previous matches, the players have each won three times. We expect a battle to the end, but if the defending champion drops his fourth opening set in a row, he will most likely go home the runner-up.

Novak Djokovic in Dubai Open

Dubai is known as a place the world comes together for excitement. In Friday’s semifinal matches, the Barclay’s Dubai Tennis Championship will feature the tournament favorite and three relative upstarts. Perhaps we need Roger Federer to keep order in the pro tennis house after all.

Austrian Jurgen Melzer began the quarterfinals with a stunning upset (7-6(8), 7-5) of the tour’s hottest player, Croatian Marin Cilic. The loss marked the first time in 2010 that Cilic has been ousted before the semifinals.

Cilic sprung from the starting blocks and cruised to a 4-1 first set lead before Melzer fought off two break points in the critical 18-point 6th game. The Austrian seemed to gain confidence with the hold and followed with a four game run to go up 5-4.

In the tenth game, Cilic fell behind 0-30 before rallying to hold. In the tiebreaker, Melzer squandered set points at 6-5 and 8-7 before closing out at 10-8. The first set took 69 minutes.

The 31st ranked Melzer was not overpowering but had terrific control of his serve. His effective location yielded six service holds in the second set. In the eleventh game, Cilic evened the game at 30-30 with his eleventh ace, but Melzer smoked a forehand winner to reach the only match point he would need.

Melzer, now 7-38 against top ten opponents, advances to play Mikhail; Youzhny, last week’s runner-up in Rotterdam. The determined Russian made short work of Murray upset winner Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-4. Youzhny, the seven seed, does not lose matches he should win. Tipsarevic did earn three break point opportunities but was unable to convert any as Youzhny held serve throughout the match.

Last year’s champion and this year’s top seed Djokovic had all he could handle with 30-year old Ivan Ljubicic. Novak Djokovic had to mount a comeback against Ljubicic in the 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 two-hour match.

Ljubicic won 16 of 18 service points in the first set. Djokovic was reeling from the assault, but rallied in the tenth game of the second set. At 4-5, Ljubicic recorded his 12th ace before Djokovic ran off four straight points to claim the set.

The wind came away from the Croatian’s sails as Djokovic recorded his 12th career win against just two defeats at Dubai. Ljubicic showed signs of his former world number three ranking but was worn down by Djokovic and the pressing heat.

Djokovic will next face Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis who turned away Michael Berrer 7-6(5), 6-1. Baghdatis was in command of both his game and Berrer as he never faced a break point while firing 11 aces in the match. Baghdatis is playing with confidence and consistency. He seems in top form and unbothered by the Dubai heat.

What a mess! The fans at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championship are witnessing the unpredictable nature of men’s tennis. On Wednesday, a trio of stunning upsets continued to highlight the need for top players to stay in top form. When the game’s elite fail to get in playing shape and stay there, they are very vulnerable. And, there are plenty of wolves lingering in the Dubai weeds to stake their claims to trophies and riches.

So learned, third seed Andy Murray – again, 4th seed Nikolay Davydenko and 5th seed Jo Willfried Tsonga as all three succumbed in the second round. Of the top seeds, only Marin Cilic (6th) and Novak Djokovic (2) remain.

Murray continues to frustrate his avid fans, many of who question his commitment to the game. The world’s number three looked very fragile in the first round and did not improve in the second round. He has ever emerged from the quarters in this event. This year, he is spared the opportunity to fail at that level.

Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic made a name for himself against the over-rated Murray, who has not played nor practiced very much since succumbing against Federer in the Finals at the Australian Open. In the evening session, Tipsarevic drew strength from a bevy of second round upsets to overcome the 3 seed in a stirring 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4 two hour thirty minute upset. The bespectacled Serb had 13 aces and was able to convert of 12 break point opportunities against the moody Scot.

Tipsarevic will next entertain hot playing Russian Mikhail Youhzny who overcame German qualifier Bjorn Phau 7-6 (2), 6-4. Youhzhny, who played well in Rotterdam last week, is on a bit of a roll and is certainly one of the dangerous lions lurking in the Dubai bush.

4th seed and hard playing Russian Nikolay Davydenko was forced to retire in his match with Michaela Berrer. Davydenko is troubled with a left wrist injury and after losing the first set 6-3 in 46 minutes was unable to continue.

5th seed Frenchman Jo Willfried Tsonga was simply no match for the hard serving and fast improving Ivan Ljubicic. The Croatian fired 15 aces and lost just four points on his first serve to put aside Jo Willy 7-5, 6-3. Ljubicic never faced a break point and seems finely tuned for his quarterfinal pairing with defending champ Novak Djokovic.

Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis recovered from his stomach illness in the first round and dispensed of Indian upstart Somdev Devvarman 6-3, 6-1 in one hour forty-five minutes. Baghdatis meets Berrer in the quarters.

Favorites Djokovic and Cilic advanced after tough tussles. Cilic downed Stefan Koubek 6-2, 7-6 (5) and Djokovic overcame a strong three set challenge from countryman Viktor Troicki 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Cilic will meet Jurgen Melzer who defeated Federer fill-in Tommy Robredo. What will happen next in the $2 million Barclays Dubai Tennis Championship? At this point, anything goes as there appears no clear favorite to claim the $383,000 first prize.

Marin Cilic may be seeded sixth and ranked sixth internationally, but he is the player, no other tour player wants to play right now. In his first round match at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Tournament, the surging Croatian showed why. Cilic, who has won two AP tour events this year and who sports a spectacular 16-1 won-lost record, dismissed Arnaud Clement 6-2, 6-4 in just ninety minutes.

Cilic is looking to add Dubai to his Aircel Chennai Open and PBZ Zagreb Indoors titles this season. The 21-year old reached the semis in the Australian Open and has been on a roll ever since. Against Clement, the Croatian fired 13 aces and withstood won all five of Clement’s break point opportunities.

Cilic next plays qualifying play-in Austrian Stefan Koubek who rallied in the first set to defeat Spain’s Feliciano Lopes, 7-6 (4), 6-4. The winner of this pairing will benefit from the withdrawal of Roger Fededer and advance to a third round pairing with either Federer fill-in Tommy Robredo or tough Austrian baseliner Jurgen Melzer.

Robredo made the most of his top of the board placement, winning 28 of 34 service points while running through Julien Benneteau 6-1, 6-1. Melzer survived a second set run by Italian Simone Bolelli to move on with a 6-1, 7-5 win.

Prior to Cilic’s extended run, the tour’s hottest player was Nikolay Davydenko, the internationally fourth ranked and fourth seeded player at Dubai. This is Davydenko’s sixth trip to Dubai. Despite his 20 ATP tournament titles, this one has thus far eluded Russia’s top player. His 2010 record is a not too shabby 13-2. Yet, Davydenko seems to be tiring. He uncharacteristically struggled against France’s lightly regarded Florent Serra, dropping the first set tiebreaker before rallying for a 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-1 triumph.

Davydenko was disappointed by Federer’s lung illness. After two successive wins against the number one, Davydenko was seeking to avenge his loss at the Australian Open.

The day’s most popular win took place on Court One where India’s Somdrev Devvarman, another qualifier, rode a 76% service win percentage past Swiss regular tour player, Marco Chiudinelli 6-4, 7-5 in just 80 high-volume minutes. 50% of the Emirate population is of Indian descent, which will present an interesting hurdle for second round opponent Cypriot arcos Baghdatis.

In other first round action, Jo Willfried Tsonga fought off three first-set points to escape 7-6 (9) against another Frenchman Michael Llourda, who was forced to retire following the set. Tsonga moves on to play experienced Croatian Ivan Ljubicic in round two.

Attendance has exceeded previous records as all seats have been sold for the tournament.

Last year’s champion and this year’s top seed Novak Djokovic fought off first round opponent Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 6-4 in the opening match of the $1.6 million 2010 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championship on Monday.

The Spaniard offered stern resistance before succumbing to the hard-serving Serb and world number 2. Trailing 0-5 in the second set Guillermo-Lopez ran off four straight games before Djokovic held serve to close the contest.

Original top seed Roger Federer was unexpectedly forced to withdraw due to a lung infection. His spot atop the draw was taken by the ever dangerous but unseeded Tommy Robredo.

Federer’s departure was probably good fortune for the tournament’s three seed, Andy Murray. The two might have crossed paths in the quarters.

Surprisingly Murray, returning to play for the first time since his Australian final match loss to Federer, has never eclipsed the quarters in Dubai.

The Scotsman cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 first round victory over stubborn Igor Kunitsyn. In a tour oddity, the second game of the first set took more than 24 minutes and featured 14 deuce points. Murray finally converted on his ninth break point.

The first two games of the match took 38 minutes. Murray reported that his lack of practice showed. In his post match interview, the Scot mentioned soreness in his ankle and a noticeable shortness of breath.

Murray’s preparation for the Australian Open was first-rate but the tour has been active as he has recovered from the Federer loss. An out-of-shape Murray will not get through in Dubai.

The first day’s biggest upset came at the hands of Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis. The smooth playing Baghdatis has been in top form of late. He registered 14 aces in his one hour forty-three win (7-6 (3), 6-4) over 8th seeded Gilles Simon of France. The match was the first between the two veterans in three years.

Baghdatis claimed his fourth ATP tour championship last month in Sydney at the Medibank International. He now sports a 12-4 record in 2010. For Simon, who has been hobbled by a knee injury, Dubai is just his second tour appearance of the year.

In Dubai, day one was particularly kind to Austria’s favorite tennis sons. World number 31, Jurgen Melzer, and qualifier Stefan Koubek both registered straight set wins to advance. Melzer took out Italy’s Simone Bolellini (6-1, 7-5) while Koubek dispensed with Feliciano Lopez 7-6, 6- 4.

All seats for the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championship have been sold and attendance was strong on Monday. Mikkhail Youhzny, Nikolay Davydenko, Tommy Robredo and Jo Willfried Tsonga all swing into action today.

At the biggest tournaments in tennis, Michael Llodra is considered a lightweight. At the 2010 Open 13 event in his native country, the left-handed Frenchman lived up to his last name.

Mr. Llodra – make that, Monsieur Llodra – was simply a load over the past week at the Palais des Sports in Marseilles, France.

A man with a modest haul of three career ATP singles titles – none of them in Masters or Grand Slam events – registered championship number four on Sunday afternoon. Unseeded but undaunted, Llodra defeated his doubles partner, Julien Benneteau, 6-3, 6-4, to win the tournament he lost last year to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the championship match.

Benneteau – the No. 8 seed in the singles draw – defeated Tsonga in Saturday’s semifinal round, and while that fact might have played a part in giving Llodra an advantage, the most central reality of Sunday’s singles showdown was that the winning player provided a level of tennis that was simply too good for his opponent to match.

The 29-year-old Llodra didn’t back his way into this situation. The floater from Paris knocked off top-seeded Robin Soderling in Friday’s quarterfinals, the kind of conquest that should lead to a deep run at an ATP 250 event. Yes, some will say that he might have had a tougher time against Tsonga, but that argument – if it is indeed articulated – would be similar to saying that Roger Federer was lucky to win the 2009 French Open due to Rafael Nadal’s fourth-round loss.

Two players can meet only once in a tournament. If those two players are slated to meet in the final but only one of them gets there, the successful player deserves nothing but praise as a result. There really isn’t a good reason to place a cloud over a player who makes the final of a tennis tournament, only to draw an opponent who proves to be less than intimidating as Benneteau proved to be on Sunday. Michael Llodra had to get to the final in the first place, and that point cannot be stated enough.

Once he did arrive at the final destination of the Open 13 singles tournament, Llodra didn’t allow a golden opportunity to slip through his fingers.

This writer felt that Benneteau – due to his stellar play against Tsonga and his ability to get off the court first in Saturday’s semis (with Llodra playing second on that day) – would have had an advantage in this final throwdown, but Llodra turned that line of thinking into rubble by blitzing Benneteau from the get-go.

Llodra’s lefty serve was on target throughout this match, as the southpaw hammered 12 aces and put his first serve in the court on 67 percent of his attempts. It’s true that Llodra committed four double faults, but those occasional errors were the product of an intentionally aggressive game that sought to suffocate his less powerful but considerably crafty opponent. Benneteau – as shown in his Saturday slaying of Tsonga – likes to get into rallies and use his defensive skills to win points. Llodra needed to make this a serving match, and that’s exactly what he did… even when he double faulted.

Two more numbers bear out both the wisdom of Llodra’s approach and the effectiveness with which he employed it. For one thing, Llodra won 80 percent of his first-serve points. Given a 67-percent rate at hitting an accurate first serve, an 80-percent conversion rate represents a strong standard of quality. A brief explanation will show why that’s the case.

Since tennis’ unique scoring system demands that a player win a cluster of points by a margin of at least two, it’s not necessary to hit a successful first serve 95 percent of the time. Second serves have their place in this sport, and even the best servers will lose one or two points in almost every game they play.

The key is not to avoid losing a single point; no, the true task for a server is to win four out of every six points, because that rate of efficiency will win a game and, by extension, a match. If a player is hitting 67 percent of his first serves, he’s on pace to win four of six points. If he’s winning 80 percent of the points in which he’s getting his first serve into the court, that means he’s winning at least three points in every service game. Up against this level of serving, a returner must win 100 percent of second serve points just to have a fighting chance. It goes without saying that that’s just not realistic.

The bottom line is this: If a server is hitting 67 percent of his first serves and winning 80 percent of his first-serve points, he’ll be very tough to overcome in anything other than a tiebreak set. (Needless to say, Benneteau couldn’t take either set to a tiebreak on Sunday.)

This leads us to the second big statistic Monsieur Llodra brought to the table in this championship tilt: He never faced a break point in the match. Benneteau got to deuce on multiple occasions in the match’s most dramatic moment, the eighth game of the second set with Llodra serving at 4-3, but the dynamic left-handed serve that dominated the match proved to be too much for Benneteau’s return game.

The most arresting feature of that 4-3 game in the second set could be traced to something mentioned above: namely, Llodra’s willingness to risk a double fault with a big second serve. Indeed, on the final deuce point of that drawn-out game, Llodra cranked a second serve to the wide corner of the service box, drawing an errant return from Benneteau.

That final stroke of boldness allowed Llodra to breathe just a bit more freely, and after he won the next point for a 5-3 lead, the last remaining challenge on the road to a championship trophy had been surmounted. Benneteau held to make Llodra serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set, and that’s exactly what occurred. Llodra held at love with the same big-serving, net-rushing tennis that had worked throughout the afternoon. After an ace whizzed by Benneteau on match point, the result had become official: Michael Llodra owned a fourth career ATP singles crown.

Julien Benneteau had a fabulous week in beating Tsonga and – in Friday’s quarterfinals – the formidable Gael Monfils. In the end, however, Michael Llodra took home the trophy, leaving Benneteau without an ATP title in four career singles finals appearances.

***********************

The day wasn’t a total washout for Benneteau, however. In the doubles championship match played after the singles, the loser of the day’s first competition became a victor in the nightcap. Benneteau and Llodra defeated Julian Knowle of Austria and Sweden’s Robert Lindstedt, 6-4, 6-3. The triumph gave Llodra his 18th career doubles crown. Benneteau – with the victory – earned the sixth doubles championship in his ATP Tour career.

Sam Querrey won the Memphis tournament beating his friend John Isner 6-7(3-7), 7-6(7-5), 6-3. Querrey came back from 2-5 down in the second set tie break as well. The players who are Davis cup team mates and doubles partners at this event battled hard before Querrey won.

Twenty two year old Querrey earned $261,500 and 500 ATP Rankings points as the winner of the ATP 500 indoor tournament while runner up Isner won $121,600 and 300 points.

This was the tallest ATP tour final in history and featured two players with big serves. Querrey who had started the year badly with three consecutive first round losses showed improved form reaching semi final last week at San Jose.

The first set saw both the players having an easy time on their serves before Querrey faced two set points at 4-5 down on his serve. He saved both chances continuing his good record facing breakpoints in matches played in this tournament.

Isner who had earlier won his maiden title at Auckland this year won the tie break with only one mini break.

Down 2-5 in the second set tie-break, Querrey reeled off 5 points in a row to win the tie break and the set. The momentum looked like it had shifted to Querrey as he got an early break of serve in the third set when Isner dumped an easy backhand volley into the net.

Soon after crossing swords for the singles title at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships, the two American finalists  Isner and Querrey teamed up to clinch the doubles title with a 6-4, 6-4 win over the pairing of Jordan Kerr and Ross Hutchins.

Sam Querrey is the first person to perform the “Double” at Memphis since Gene Mayer in 1981. He became the second player after Michael Llodra to win the double in 2010.

Sixth seed John Isner reached the final of the ATP 500 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships. The twenty five year old continued his great form in this year where he has now built up a record of 12 wins to one loss including a title at Adelaide in January. His only loss had come against Andy Murray at the Australian Open.

Isner however needed three sets to overcome a fighting Phillip Petzschner 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Isner had a chance to lead 3-1 with a breakpoint in the fourth game after taking the first set but dropped his focus and level of play to allow Petchner to go up a break in the second set.

Isner fought back to level at 4-4 but then promptly lost his serve with erratic forehand errors and double faulted facing breakpoint. Isner had previously won 40 service games in a row before getting broken in the second set.

The third set went with serve till a late break to Isner gave him the chance to serve out the match. He had to fight off two break points while serving for the match and was relieved to get through.

He was watched by his mom Karen in the stands who was fervently supporting her son. The match took just over two hours with Isner serving 13 aces to 12 for Petzschner.

Sam Querrey made it an All American final beating Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 6-4.

Querrey will play his doubles partner and US Davis cup team mate in the final on Sunday. Gulbis started off strong with 0-40 opportunity on Querrey’s serve but showed the inconsistency in letting go of his chances to break.

This is what has troubled him in his career so far. Querrey himself didn’t capitalise on 4 breakpoint chances in the fourth game allowing Gulbis to level at 2-2.

Querrey then had 3 breakpoints to break Gulbis serve in the sixth game. Gulbis saved two but was unable to fight off the third. Querrey then went on to win the set 6-3.

The eighth seed ranked 31st in the world managed an early break in the second set to lead 2-1 as Gulbis made two bad forehand errors smashing his racquet in frustration as well. The American then held serve at love with 3 consecutive aces and one service winner. Querrey just held on to win after fighting off 5 breakpoints while serving for the match.

Maria Sharapova

Highly regarded media magnet and photogenic powerhouse Maria Sharapova returned to winning form while claiming the Cellular South Cup in Memphis. The one-time world number one has had a tough go since returning to the tour in the middle of the 2009 season. Following her early exit at this year’s Australian Open, Maria vowed to return to form and ascend the tour’s ranking ladder.

The victim of surprising losses to Melanie Oudin in New York last year and with a first round exit in Melbourne this year, many analysts wondered if the blonde bombshell might rather be in the photo studio than on the tennis court. Sharapova arrived at Memphis with a purpose, “I feel great. I came here for matches, I got five and I got the win, so it was a good week.”

While most of the tour’s upper echelon players were competing in the $2 million Dubai Open, Maria scurried to Memphis to assume the top spot and play like a champion. She did not disappoint tournament organizers and was a gracious champion.

Maria Sharapova marched through the field losing just 21 games in ten sets this week. A final round dismantling of Sweden’s 26-year old Sofia Arvidsson 6-2, 6-1 showcased her tremendous ability. Maria said she had been working on her game and this event against a lightly regarded field highlighted the difference in levels of play on the tour.

The stiffest challenge was to be provided by America’s third ranked player, little Melanie Oudin, who reached her first Sony Ericsson semifinal last week in Paris. Arvidsson spoiled the tournament organizer’s plans by thrashing the 18-year old Georgia Peach and number 2 seed 6-1, 6-3.

Arvidsson, the 2006 Cellular South Champion, had a long week. As a qualifying play-in, she won more matches than any other player at the event and in knocking off two seeded players will be jumping up from her 102nd place tour ranking.

Against Sharapova, Sofia started well and held on to get to 2-2 in the first set. After that the lights went out for the buxom Swede until the match ended and she received her biggest paycheck in two years.

For Sharapova, the championship will help her rise to number 14 on the tour and was her 21st WTA Sony Ericsson career title. Every win is a good win. Time will tell if Maria is all the way back. In the meantime, stay tuned for more Sharapova drama and those exciting photo ops.

On the final day of the 2010 Marseilles Open, Michael Llodra and Julien Benneteau will begin a long afternoon as opponents locked in battle. A few hours later, they’ll be on the same side of the net as they pursue a championship together.

That’s not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon in the middle of winter.

On a particularly fascinating tennis weekend in the generally low-key month of February, two French comrades have managed to do something quite remarkable. For starters, Llodra and Benneteau claimed singles victories in the semifinal round of the Open 13 event in Marseilles, France. Llodra dismissed Mischa Zverev, 6-1, 7-6 (3), while Benneteau edged defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 7-6 (11), 5-7, 7-6 (3).

The fact that two players made their way to a singles final is, by itself, unremarkable. What’s amazing is how the singles competition at the Palais des Sports hasn’t been the singular source of satisfaction for two longtime ATP Tour veterans.

Two triumphant athletes thoroughly enjoyed their afternoon advancements, by all appearances. Llodra and Benneteau, given wings by their singles conquests, used their adrenaline rush to then win a doubles semifinal match in the evening, defeating Arnaud Clement and Nicolas Mahut, 7-6 (0), 6-4. At the end of three matches, seven sets, four tiebreaks, and several hours of professional tennis, Llodra and Benneteau earned twin spots in both the singles and doubles finals of this French tennis festival.

When Sunday’s schedule begins at 2 p.m. local time, Llodra and Benneteau will contest the singles championship for 250 ATP rankings points. After a break of at least 45 minutes, if not an hour, the two men – one of them a singles champion, one of them a runner-up – will go back to the light blue rectangle and join forces in the doubles final against Julian Knowle and Robert Lindstedt, who won their doubles semifinal on Friday.

It’s quite rare to see a singles final and a doubles final being contested by the same pair of players. It’s not something tennis diehards see every weekend on the ATP circuit. (The WTA Tour, with Serena and Venus Williams, has provided such a scenario on several occasions over the years, including at the Majors.) Yet, what makes the Llodra-Benneteau “double stack” even more incredible is that it has been replicated elsewhere on this very same weekend.

At another ATP 250 stop in Memphis, Tennessee, Americans John Isner and Sam Querrey have advanced to Sunday’s singles final while also marching to the doubles final as a team. One weekend and two ATP tournaments have produced two tandems who will play as adversaries in one match and then join hands in the next, with two championships waiting to be won.

And you thought February was a boring tennis month.

In looking ahead to Sunday, the advantage in the singles match lies with Benneteau. The No. 8 seed at this tournament knocked off the second-seeded Tsonga with a clutch serve and superior composure under pressure.

Tsonga had three set points in the first-set tiebreak, but he biffed an easy forehand on one of them (at 9-8) to give Benneteau a reprieve. To his credit, Benneteau took advantage by wearing down Tsonga and drawing errors from the 2010 Australian Open semifinalist. The third-set tiebreak was less contentious, but the winner was the same, as Benneteau showed steely nerves and reached the fourth ATP final of his career.

Benneteau – in beating Tsonga – took down an opponent with a much bigger and more formidable game than Zverev, the man Llodra swept away in Saturday’s other singles semifinal. Llodra isn’t playing quite as well as Benneteau is. Moreover, Llodra’s semifinal was played after Benneteau’s match, so that means Benneteau will likely be a fresher player. The doubles semifinal forced Llodra – as the second semifinal winner – to play two straight matches, while Benneteau was able to get a breather. That might come in handy for the No. 8 seed on Sunday.

In the doubles, the accumulated strain on Llodra and Benneteau will be tough to overcome. Knowle and Lindstedt have been resting since Friday evening, and they’ll be particularly fit for the last match of the Marseilles Open. It could well be that Llodra and Benneteau will be denied a chance to take home a doubles trophy on the friendly soil of their home country.

However, the possibility of a doubles loss can’t change the fact that one of these two Frenchmen – Michael Llodra or Julien Benneteau – will win a rare and precious ATP Tour singles championship. It’s been some kind of weekend for two journeymen who – though playing indoors – are basking in the sweet sunshine of success.