MASON - August 14, 2006 - Third seed David Nalbandian, No. 6 James Blake, No. 8 Marcos Baghdatis, No. 10 David Ferrer and No. 15 Robby Ginepri play their first round matches on Center Court Monday on Day 1 of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati.
BAGHDATIS vs. T JOHANSSON, First Meeting
Baghdatis of Cyprus battles Thomas Johansson of Sweden in their first ATP match. Baghdatis, 21, is playing just his second tournament since reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon (l. to Nadal). Last week at Toronto he lost in the first round (to Benneteau). His best hard-court showing this year was a runner-up finish at the Australian Open (l. to Federer). Baghdatis is playing in Cincinnati for the first time.
Johansson, 31, has struggled this year, with a record of only 6-13. He was hampered recently by an eye injury. But last week at Toronto, he made it to the third round (l. to Malisse), upsetting No. 11 seed Lleyton Hewitt along the way. Johansson has a career record of 5-8 in Cincinnati, reaching the quarterfinals in 1998.
NALBANDIAN vs. DE VOEST, First Meeting
Nalbandian of Argentina faces qualifier Rik De Voest of South Africa in their first ATP meeting. Nalbandian, 24, was feeling sick last week and lost in the first round of the Rogers Masters event in Toronto to Davide Sanguinetti. That was his first tournament since Wimbledon. Nalbandian’s INDESIT ATP Ranking stood at a career-best No. 3 last week. He has a career record of 4-3 in Cincinnati, making the quarterfinals in 2003.
De Voest, 26, is appearing in his fifth ATP tournament of the year and the 13th of his career. He mostly plays Challenger events – one level below the ATP – and has won two of them this year. He has two ATP match wins this year – over Bjorkman at Memphis and Kubot at Newport. De Voest is making his debut in Cincinnati.
GINEPRI vs. MATHIEU, Mathieu leads 1-0
Ginepri of the U.S. plays Paul-Henri Mathieu of France. Mathieu has a 1-0 edge over Ginepri, beating him last year at Lyon.
Ginepri, 23, has struggled after a stellar second half last year that lifted his INDESIT ATP Ranking to a career-best No. 15 at year-end. In 2006 Ginepri has sagged to 11-18. But he has won five of his last eight matches, making the semifinals in Indianapolis. He has a career record of 7-4 in Cincinnati, reaching the semifinals last year (l. to Federer).
Mathieu, 24, has suffered a slump since giving Rafael Nadal everything he could handle in the third round of Roland Garros in June. Including that defeat, Mathieu has lost seven of his last eight matches, dragging his 2006 record below .500 – to 16-19. He has a career record of 2-2 at this event.
BLAKE vs. SANTORO, Blake leads 1-0
The American Blake squares off against Fabrice Santoro of France. Blake won their only previous ATP match. Blake, 26, won his third title of the year last month in Indianapolis (d. Roddick). Those three crowns tie him for third place this year with Tommy Haas behind Federer with seven titles and Nadal with five. Blake has won 13 of his last 17 matches. He has a career record of 5-4 in Cincinnati, losing in the first round last year to Federer.
Santoro, 33, has won five of his last eight matches, reaching the quarterfinals of Halle and ‘s-Hertogenbosch on grass in June. The highlight of his year came in January at the Australian Open, when he reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam event for the first time. Santoro has a career record of 11-9 in Cincinnati, with two quarterfinal showings.
MOYA vs. FERRER, Moya leads 5-0
Ferrer of Spain takes on his countryman Carlos Moya, who has a perfect record of 5-0 in their career meetings, the last coming in Umag last year.
Ferrer, 24, took the second ATP title of his career at Stuttgart last month (d. Acasuso). He has won 11 of his last 15 matches and has a record of 10-6 in ATP Masters Series events this year. Ferrer has a career mark of 1-2 in Cincinnati.
Moya, 29, has won seven of his last 10 matches. He is 9-6 on hard courts so far this year and 4-6 at ATP Masters Series events. He has a career record of 13-7 in Cincinnati, taking home the trophy in 2002 (d. Lleyton Hewitt).
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The 2006 Western & Southern Financial MASTERS will be held August 11-20 in Mason, Ohio. The Western & Southern Financial Group WOMEN'S OPEN will be held July 15-23. For tickets or information click here, or call 513-651-0303. Tickets also are available via TicketMaster at 513-562-4949 or www.ticketmaster.com.
