Legg Mason Quarterfinals Preview--Nalbandian, and the Rest

WASHINGTON--At a certain point in a tournament, the storylines transition away from the players and onto the matches.  Once everyone remaining has a couple of wins to his name, the question becomes not who is playing well, but rather who will take home the title.

Though it can vary occasionally, this juncture usually comes at the quarterfinals.  With that in mind, here is my look at Friday's four quarterfinal matches, and who has the best chance of winning this title. 

In order of their likelihood of becoming 2010 Legg Mason Tennis Classic Champion:

David Nalbandian (vs. [13] Gilles Simon)--In a lot of ways, this shouldn't be a tremendous surprise.  Nalbandian has been known to pull off huge results straight off the DL, and the way he played just after Wimbledon in an away Davis Cup tie in Russia showed that his weapons are all still there.  But the way he has won this week really has been surprising.  He's absolutely steamrolled any and all competition, losing only nine games in six total sets. A comprehensive beatdown of seventh-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka 6-1, 6-3 was incredibly impressive, as was his 6-1, 6-0 rout of Marco Chiudinelli late last night.  In his quarterfinal tonight, Nalbandian should be able to play the competent power baseline game against Gilles Simon that Roddick couldn't.  Nalbandian is definitely on the trickier half of the draw, but I'm not seeing anyone who can beat him.  Unless an injury flares back up, he is going to win this tournament.

[1] Tomas Berdych (vs Xavier Malisse)--Perhaps no player of these eight remaining has won as unconvincingly as Tomas Berdych has.  He dropped the second set against both Dmitry Tursunov and Denis Istomin, and really has not found his range yet on his serve or his groundstrokes.  But he's proven through his recent deep runs at both the French Open and Wimbledon that his game is sturdy and can translate to vastly different surfaces.  Winning two matches ugly should be enough to have played him into form.  Xavier Malisse pulled off the biggest shock of this tournament in the third round by beating John Isner(yes, bigger than Simon d. Roddick), but in Berdych he should find a much more comprehensive, steady opponent.

[4] Marin Cilic (vs. Janko Tipsarevic)--Marin Cilic is playing Washington for the second time, after an extremely poor showing in 2009 when he flamed out in his first match against qualifier Somdev Devvarman.  Though he's the fourth-seed, Cilic is the only player of the eight remaining who hasn't yet played a match on the Stadium Court (though he did spend some time enjoying the view from the press box).  Though he played both of his matches thus far on the Grandstand, his excellent form hasn't gone unnoticed.  In the third round, he put an end to Mardy Fish's eleven-match win streak, using his superior power and enormous height to pound his way through a Fish that has proved to be quite slippery these last several weeks.  In the quarterfinals, He faces a tricky opponent in Janko Tipsarevic, who hasn't dropped a set and beat sixth-seed Sam Querrey, last week's champion in Los Angeles.  If he can play like he did against Fish, Cilic should be able to hit through Tipsarevic, but it won't be an easy task.

[3] Fernando Verdasco (vs. [9] Marcos Baghdatis)--Fernando Verdasco was on the verge of making headlines early in this tournament for all the wrong reasons.  But down two match points in his first match vs. German Michael Berrer, Verdasco fought back, eventually winning the match in a tiebreaker.  He then survived a tricky third round encounter against streaky American qualifier Ryan Sweeting, coming back from a break down in each set to win 6-4, 7-5.  In Marcos Baghdatis he faces a tricky and similarly flashy opponent, but one who was in a world of trouble last night against the largely unheralded Illya Marchenko.  Verdasco should make it through this match, and could even win the next, but I don't see him possibly besting anyone who would come out of the bottom half.