MASON - August 18, 2006 -
Second seed Rafael Nadal, No. 4 Ivan Ljubicic, No. 7 Tommy Robredo, No. 9 Andy Roddick, No. 10 David Ferrer and No. 13 Fernando Gonzalez play their quarterfinal matches on Center Court Friday.
The six seeds represent the highest number in the quarterfinals of this event since 1990.
The four Spaniards in the quarters – Nadal, Robredo, Ferrer and Juan Carlos Ferrero – constitute a record for that nationality over the entire history of this tournament: 98 years. The previous record was two Spaniards in the quarters (1997, 2002, ’04).
Nadal, Robredo and Ferrer are the No. 1, 2 and 3 Spanish players in the INDESIT ATP Rankings respectively, and Ferrero is fifth.
NADAL vs. FERRERO, Nadal leads 4-0
World No. 2 Nadal takes on Ferrero. Nadal won all four of their previous matches, with every one played last year (see below). Nadal has a 28-1 record since 2004 against his fellow Spaniards, with the only loss coming to Carlos Moya at Miami in March.
In the third round, Nadal beat No. 14 seed Tommy Haas. Ferrero defeated Robin Soderling, after knocking off No. 6 seed James Blake in the second round.
Nadal, 20, has five titles this year, trailing only Roger Federer’s seven. Two of Nadal’s trophies came in ATP Masters Series events – at Monte Carlo in April and Rome in May (d. Federer both times). He has handed the World No. 1 four of his five losses this year.
Nadal hasn’t captured a crown since Roland Garros in June, but his record is a lofty 13-3 during that period, including a runner-up showing at Wimbledon (l. to Federer). Nadal lost in the third round last week at Toronto (to Berdych). He has a record of 21-3 in Masters Series events this year and a career mark here of 3-2, with all the wins coming this year.
Ferrero, 26, is struggling to regain the form that brought him the No. 1 ranking and Roland Garros crown in 2003. This is the first tournament in which he has won three matches since April in Barcelona, where he reached the quarterfinals (l. to Almagro). Ferrero has a career record of 11-6 here, making the semifinals in 2002 (l. to Moya).
LJUBICIC vs. ROBREDO, Ljubicic leads 4-0
Ljubicic of Croatia faces Robredo and has a 4-0 career edge over him. Ljubicic beat No. 16 seed Dominik Hrbaty in the third round, while Robredo defeated Florent Serra.
Ljubicic, 27, is on pace for a career year with a record of 49-13, including titles at Chennai (d. Moya) and Zagreb (d. Koubek). He has now made it to at least the quarterfinals in 10 of the 13 tournaments he has played this year. Ljubicic has a career record of 10-6 here, reaching the quarterfinals in 2001 (l. to Hewitt).
RODDICK vs. MURRAY, Murray leads 2-0
The American Roddick battles British No. 1 Andy Murray, the first British player to reach the quarterfinals here since Tim Henman was runner-up in 2001. At 19 years, 3 months, 3 days, Murray also is the youngest quarterfinalist here since 1990, when Michael Chang was 18 years, 5 months, 19 days.
Murray has a 2-0 career advantage over Roddick, with both matches played this year. Roddick beat Juan Ignacio Chela in the third round, while Murray defeated No. 15 seed Robby Ginepri, this week’s blogger on atptennis.com.
In the second round, Murray, Britain’s No. 1 ranked player, recorded perhaps the upset of the year in beating Federer 7-5, 6-4
Roddick, 23, is coming back from a side injury that forced him to pull out of Los Angeles last month after winning his second-round match. The injury also left him unable to play in Washington and Toronto the last two weeks. He was on an upswing when he got hurt, reaching his first final of the year last month in Indianapolis (l. to Blake).
Roddick has a strong 21-5 career record here, winning the event in 2003 (d. Fish) and finishing second last year to Federer.
Murray is on a major roll, winning 20 of his last 25 matches. He reached a career-best ranking of No. 21 this week. He made it to the semifinals of Toronto last week (l. to Gasquet) and the final of Washington two weeks ago (l. to Clement). This is just Murray’s second year on the ATP circuit and his second time playing here, where he is 4-1.
FERRER vs. GONZALEZ, Gonzalez leads 3-2
Ferrer squares off against Gonzalez of Chile. The Chilean leads their career series, 3-2, and they are knotted at 1-1 this year. Ferrer beat No. 8 seed Marcos Baghdatis in the third round, while Gonzalez defeated wild card Stanislas Wawrinka.
Ferrer, 24, took the second ATP title of his career at Stuttgart last month (d. Acasuso). He has won 14 of his last 18 matches and has a record of 13-6 in ATP Masters Series events this year. He reached the semifinals of the Masters Series event at Miami in March. Ferrer has a career mark of 4-2 in Cincinnati.
Gonzalez, 26, has won 16 of his last 21 matches. He reached the semifinals just last week at the ATP Masters Series event in Toronto (l. to Federer). He is seeking to make his third Masters Series semifinal of the year. He also advanced that far at Monte Carlo in April (l. to Federer).
Gonzalez has a career mark of 11-4 here, reaching the semifinals in 2002 (l. to Hewitt).
DOUBLES PREVIEW: TOP-SEEDED BRYANS PLAY ASPELIN-PERRY IN QF
The top-seeded American duo of Bob and Mike Bryan face No. 8 seeds Simon Aspelin of Sweden and Todd Perry of Australia in the quarterfinals on the Grandstand Friday.
The Bryans beat Arthurs-Hrbaty in the second round, while Aspelin and Perry defeated Goldstein-Thomas.
The Bryans are the ATP’s hottest team, with four straight titles and three in the last three weeks. They won Wimbledon in July (d. Santoro-Zimonjic), then Los Angeles three weeks ago (d. Butorac-J. Murray), Washington two weeks ago (d. Hanley-Ullyett) and Toronto last week (d. Hanley-Ullyett again).
The twins have now won 19 straight matches, lifting their record to 55-9 this year.
Aspelin and Perry have a record of 25-17 this year. Their best result in 2006 came in their first tournament: at Auckland in January (l. to Pavel Wassen). They reached the semifinals of four straight events in February-March: San Jose, Memphis, Las Vegas and Indian Wells.
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