DAY TWO NOTES/Friday, March 14, 2008
Pacific Life Open | An ATP Masters
Series Tournament
Indian Wells, California |
$3,589,000
(3,339,000 on-site) | Hard
FRIDAY PREVIEW FORMER TOP 10s SAFIN,
HAAS, ANCIC, RISING TEENAGERS IN FIRST ROUND ACTION
Former Top 10 players
Marat Safin,
Tommy Haas and
Mario Ancic along
with Americans
John Isner,
Mardy Fish and first-time ATP winner
Sam Querrey headline
Fridays first round action in the top half of the draw.
Here is a look at some of Fridays match-ups:
- Jurgen Melzer vs. Marat Safin Melzer
leads 2-1
- Tommy Haas vs. Julien Benneteau Haas leads 1-0
- (WC) Mario Ancic vs. Gael Monfils Ancic leads 1-0
- Simone Bolelli vs. (WC) John Isner First meeting
- Florian Mayer vs. Mardy Fish Fish leads 1-0
- Luis Horna vs. Sam Querrey Querrey leads 1-0
Impressive Field Although seeds wont begin second
round play until Saturday, the tournament features every
player in the Top 45 South African Airways ATP Rankings
and 47 of the Top 50 overall. The only players missing
are No. 46 Steve Darcis, No. 47 Fabrice Santoro and No.
50 Agustin Calleri. It is also the third time in the
last four years (except 05) every Top 10 player is
participating in the tournament.
Teenagers on the Rise Two of the four teenagers in
the main draw square off against each other Friday as
18-year-old qualifier
Kei Nishikori of
Japan (ranked No. 126) takes on 19-year-old
Marin Cilic of
Croatia (No. 45) . The other teenagers are 18-year-old
Donald Young
(No. 86) and 19-year-old
Ernests Gulbis of
Latvia (No. 80). Nishikori captured his first ATP title
as a qualifier last month in Delray Beach and Cilic
opened the season with a semifinal in Chennai and a 4th
Rd. showing at the Australian Open (d. No. 7 Gonzalez,
l. to Blake). Young is coming off his first career ATP
quarterfinal in Memphis two weeks ago. Gulbis advanced
to the quarterfinals in Las Vegas last week.
Sam the Man California native
Sam Querrey takes on
Luis Horna of
Peru in a first round match Friday. The No. 3 American
(behind Roddick, Blake) is coming off his first ATP
title last Sunday at Tennis Channel Open in Las Vegas
where he defeated South African qualifier Kevin Anderson
in the final. Afterwards, the 20-year-old Querrey
climbed from No. 66 to No. 48 in the South African
Airways ATP Rankings. With Roddick winning the Dubai
title one day earlier, it marked the first time two
Americans won ATP titles on the same weekend since Aug.
12, 1996 when Pete Sampras won in Indianapolis and Alex
OBrien in New Haven.
Big John Makes Debut American wild card
John Isner, the
second-tallest player in the draw (69) behind
Ivo Karlovic (610),
makes his tournament debut against Italian
Simone Bolelli. The
22-year-old North Carolina native comes in a career-high
No. 92 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings with a
3-4 record on the season. His best result was the
quarterfinals in San Jose last month.
Big 3 Dominating Last year
Roger Federer (8),
Rafael Nadal
(6) and Novak
Djokovic (5) led the ATP circuit in titles and
finished as the Top 3 players in the South African
Airways ATP Rankings. They began this season by reaching
the semifinals (or better) at the Australian Open with
Djokovic becoming the first player other than Federer,
Nadal to win a Grand Slam title since the 2005
Australian Open (Safin). All three have over 5,000
ranking points, which is the first time that has
happened in the history of the ATP Rankings (since Aug.
23, 1973). Last season the Big 3 accounted for seven of
the nine ATP Masters Series shields with Nadal winning
three, including Indian Wells. One of the three appeared
in every ATP Masters Series final last year.
Roger, Rafa Looking for First Title In the first
two months of the season, the No. 1 and 2 players,
Federer and Nadal, have gone without winning an ATP
title. Federer is 5-2, reaching the semifinals at the
Australian Open and losing in the first round last week
to Andy Murray in Dubai. Nadal is 12-4 on the season,
reaching the final in Chennai (l. to Youzhny), the
semifinals at the Australian Open (l. to Tsonga), the
second round in Rotterdam (l. to Seppi) and
quarterfinals in Dubai (l. to Roddick).
Closing on No. 1 Federer's lead has dwindled from
1,445 points at the end of last season to 350 points
going into Indian Wells with Nadal and Djokovic in
pursuit. This is the closest margin since May 10, 2004
when Federer led No. 2 Andy Roddick by that same figure.
But Federer could build the lead in March since he lost
early in Indian Wells and Miami last year while Nadal
won Indian Wells and Djokovic reached the final in
Indian Wells and won the title in Miami.
The No. 1 ranking can't change hands at
the Pacific Life Open since Nadal is defending title
points (500) while Federer lost in the opening round
(5). But depending on the results of both players in
Indian Wells, then the No. 1 position could be up for
grabs going into Miami. Nadal has quarterfinal points to
defend (125) while Federer has fourth round points
coming off (75). Federer has ranked a record 215
consecutive weeks at No. 1 since Feb. 2, 2004 while
Nadal has been No. 2 a record 138 straight weeks (since
July 25, 2005).
Roddick on a Roll No. 6
Andy Roddick comes
into Indian Wells with a 15-2 record on the season, his
best start in three years. Last week in Dubai, the
25-year-old American defeated No. 2 Nadal and No. 3
Djokovic in the quarterfinals and semifinals,
respectively, before beating Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in
a three-sets final. Roddick held serve all 55 games
throughout the tournament en route to his 25th career
ATP title. Last month, he won his third career San Jose
title (d. Stepanek). Roddick is 16-5 lifetime in Indian
Wells, reaching the semifinals in 2005 and '07 and
quarterfinals in 2003-04.
International Flavor There are 30 different
countries represented in this years singles draw, led
by France with 12 players and 11 each from Spain and the
U.S. The tournament record for the most countries is 32
in 2004-05.
Two-time ATP Winners Roddick is one of four
two-time winners on the ATP circuit this season. The
others are No. 11
Andy Murray, No. 25
Nicolas Almagro and
No. 38 Michael
Llodra, who lost in his first round match on
Thursday.
Former Champions in Field The last six champions
are in the field, led by defending champ
Rafael Nadal, three
time winner Roger
Federer (2004-06) and two-time titlist
Lleyton Hewitt
(2002-03).
Willy Returns Seeded No. 16
Guillermo Canas, who
was a lucky loser last year (ranked No. 60) and defeated
No. 1 Roger Federer in the second round, is playing in
his third tournament of the season. Canas was sidelined
for nearly three months with a left wrist injury before
returning in Acapulco two weeks ago. Last week in Las
Vegas he lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Sam
Querrey. Canas beat Federer in the first two ATP Masters
Series tournaments last year, losing in the third round
in Indian Wells (l. to Moya) and reaching the final in
Miami (l. to Djokovic).
The Elder Statesman The oldest player on the ATP
circuit Jonas
Bjorkman turns 36 on Mar. 23 and the Swede is still
going strong (ranked No. 59 in singles and No. 21 in
doubles). Bjorkman opened on Thursday with his 13th
tournament singles appearance (13-12), defeating Filippo
Volandri 6-3, 7-6(5). His best result was the semifinals
in 1997. He also is 26-12 in doubles, winning the title
in 1998 (w/Rafter) and reaching the final in 2001
(w/Woodbridge). In the last three years, he's advanced
to the semifinals.
Bryans Eye First Title The top-seeded doubles team
of Bob and Mike
Bryan are making their 10th straight appearance in
Indian Wells (15-9 record) with runner-up showings in
2003 and 2006. The Bryans are off to a 16-5 start this
season, reaching finals in four of the first five
tournaments they've played (Sydney, Delray Beach, San
Jose and Las Vegas).
FRIDAY FIRST ROUND HEAD-TO-HEADS In
Order of Play by Court
Stadium 1
Simone Bolelli (ITA) vs John Isner (USA)
First Meeting
Bolelli FastFacts:
2008 Highlights:
SF: Zagreb (l Stakhovsky);
YTD W-L: 4-5
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: October 8, 1985
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 54
Isner FastFacts:
2008 Highlights:
QF: San Jose (l Garcia-Lopez);
YTD W-L: 3-4
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: April 26, 1985
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 92
Florian Mayer (GER) vs Mardy Fish (USA)
Fish Leads 1-0
07 New Haven (U.S.A.) Hard R64 Mardy Fish 4-6 7-5
6-4
Mayer FastFacts:
2008 Highlights:
QF: Auckland (l Kohlschreiber);
YTD W-L: 2-6
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: October 5, 1983
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 81
Fish FastFacts:
2008 Highlights:
QF: Delray Beach (l Ginepri); San Jose (l Roddick);
YTD W-L: 7-5
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 2
Date of Birth: December 9, 1981
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 98
Stadium 2
Jurgen Melzer (AUT) vs Marat Safin (RUS)
Melzer Leads 2-1
04 ATP Masters Series Hamburg (Germany)Clay R16
Jurgen Melzer 6-4 6-4
04 ATP Masters Series Paris (France) Carpet R16 Marat
Safin 6-2 7-5
06 Metz (France) Hard R16 Jurgen Melzer 4-6 6-2 7-6(5)
Melzer FastFacts:
2008 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 4-7
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: May 22, 1981
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 85
Safin FastFacts:
2008 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 1-3
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 15
Date of Birth: January 27, 1980
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 88
Luis Horna (PER) vs Sam Querrey (USA)
Querrey Leads 1-0
07 Estoril (Portugal) Clay R32 Sam Querrey 7-6(5)
6-4
Horna FastFacts:
2008 Highlights:
SF: Acapulco (l Nalbandian);
YTD W-L: 5-4
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 2
Date of Birth: September 14, 1980
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 100
Querrey FastFacts:
2008 Highlights:
W: Las Vegas (d Anderson); SF: Delray Beach
(l Nishikori);
YTD W-L: 12-6
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: October 7, 1987
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 48
Mario Ancic (CRO) vs Gael Monfils (FRA)
Ancic Leads 1-0
05 Wimbledon (England) Grass R32 Mario Ancic 6-3 6-3
6-1
Ancic FastFacts:
2008 Highlights:
F: Marseille (l Murray); SF: Zagreb (l
Ljubicic);
YTD W-L: 7-2
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 3
Date of Birth: March 30, 1984
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 72
Monfils FastFacts:
2008 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 0-1
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: September 1, 1986
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 53
Stadium 3
Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) vs Nicolas Massu
(CHI) Massu Leads 1-0
04 Roland Garros (France) Clay R128 Nicolas Massu
3-6 6-1 6-4 7-6(3)
Tommy Haas (GER) vs Julien Benneteau (FRA)
Haas Leads 1-0
06 Memphis (U.S.A.) Hard SF Tommy Haas 6-3 6-1
Kei Nishikori (JPN) vs Marin Cilic (CRO)
First Meeting
Court 4
Oscar Hernandez (ESP) vs Ernests Gulbis
(LAT) First Meeting
Jose Acasuso (ARG) vs Max Mirnyi (BLR)
Acasuso Leads 1-0
05 Roland Garros (France) Clay R128 Jose Acasuso 6-4
7-6(9) 6-2
Sergio Roitman (ARG) vs Guillermo
Garcia-Lopez (ESP) Roitman Leads 1-0
07 Kitzbuhel (Austria) Clay R64 Sergio Roitman 2-6
6-1 6-1
Court 5
Victor Hanescu (ROU) vs Albert Montanes
(ESP) Hanescu Leads 3-1
05 Sopot (Poland) Clay R32 Victor Hanescu 7-6(3) 5-7
6-3
05 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R128 Albert Montanes 6-4 3-6
6-3 2-1 ret
07 Amersfoort (The Netherlands) Clay R32 Victor Hanescu
7-6(3) 4-6 7-6(4)
07 Bucharest (Romania) Clay R16 Victor Hanescu 6-3 6-2
Other Meetings:
01 Freudenstadt CH (Germany) Clay F Albert Montanes 6-0
6-3
07 ATP Masters Series Rome Q (Italy) Clay Q1 Albert
Montanes 6-4 6-4
Rik De Voest (RSA) vs Michael Berrer
(GER) First ATP Meeting
Other Meetings:
02 France Futures 17 (Plaisir) Hard R16 Rik De Voest
6-3 2-1 ret
Gilles Simon (FRA) vs Carlos Berlocq (ARG)
Simon Leads 1-0
07 Bucharest (Romania) Clay SF Gilles Simon 6-7(4)
6-2 6-3
Court 6
Thomas Johansson (SWE) vs Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)
Johansson Leads 1-0
07 Las Vegas (U.S.A.) Hard RR Thomas Johansson 6-0
6-1
Evgeny Korolev (RUS) vs Nicolas Mahut (FRA) First
Meeting
