In a possible preview of the Davis Cup final, France's Michael Llodra beat Serbia's Novak Djokovic 7-6 (6), 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters. I've been high on Llodra for a long time—the man seems to love tennis, based on his willingness to play both singles and doubles, and he has one of the more aesthetically pleasing games on tour. I saw him serve and volley up close when France played the United States in the 2008 Davis Cup; a few weeks later I was wearing a pair of Llodra's Lacoste Repel shoes.
Here's what I take away from this match: Llodra needs to be representing France in both singles and doubles come December, when Les Bleus travel to hostile Belgrade with the Davis Cup on the line. Llodra has plenty of experience, and this match showed he has the skills to beat any of Serbia's threats—Viktor Troicki, Janko Tipsarevic, even world No. 3 Djokovic. Three matches in three days is taxing, but with his huge serve and a propensity to charge the net (ending points quickly), Llodra doesn't play a physically demanding style of tennis. And he's getting a taste of the gauntlet this week in Paris: He beat John Isner yesterday, Djokovic today, and will play either Tomas Berdych or Nikolay Davydenko tomorrow. Oh, and he also played doubles with Arnaud Clement.
With Jo-Wilfried Tsonga unavailable for France due to injury, Guy Forget will have a choice between Richard Gasquet, the somewhat surging Gilles Simon and Llodra for the second singles spot. The safe play is Simon; the risky—borderline suicidal—play is Gasquet. But if France hopes to pull off the upset, the right play is Llodra on Vendredi, Samedi and Dimanche.
—Ed McGrogan