MASON - August 17, 2006 - Second seed Rafael Nadal, No. 4 Ivan Ljubicic, No. 9 Andy Roddick, No. 14 Tommy Haas and No. 15 Robby Ginepri play their third-round matches on Center Court.
NADAL vs. HAAS, First Meeting
World No. 2 Nadal of Spain takes on Haas of Germany in their first ATP match. Nadal beat Hyung-Taik Lee in the second round, while Haas defeated Gilles Simon.
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 May, but his record is a lofty 12-3 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 20-3 in Masters Series events this year and a career record here of 2-2.
Haas, 28, has won 14 of his last 18 matches. That includes his third title of the year at Los Angeles three weeks ago (d. Tursunov). Those three crowns tie him for third on the ATP list with James Blake, behind Federer and Nadal. Haas has a career mark of 11-7 in Cincinnati, reaching the quarterfinals two years ago (l. to Roddick).
LJUBICIC vs. HRBATY, Ljubicic leads 5-2
Ljubicic of Croatia faces No. 16 seed Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia. Ljubicic has a 5-2 career advantage over Hrbaty (see below), though the Slovak has won their last two meetings. Ljubicic beat Mikhail Youzhny in the second round, while Hrbaty defeated qualifier Davide Sanguinetti.
Ljubicic, 27, is on pace for a career year with a record of 48-13, including titles at Chennai (d. Moya) and Zagreb (d. Koubek). He has made it to at least the quarterfinals in nine of the 12 tournaments he played this year before Cincinnati. Ljubicic has a career record of 9-6 here, reaching the quarterfinals in 2001 (l. to Hewitt).
Hrbaty, 28, has played below his peak form this year, with his win Tuesday pushing his record above .500, to 20-19. He did reach the semifinals at Los Angeles three weeks ago (l. to Haas). But that was the first ATP tournament at which he won three matches since January at the Australian Open. His career record here is 6-5.
RODDICK vs. CHELA, Roddick leads 5-1
The American Roddick battles Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina, with Roddick carrying a 5-1 career edge over the Argentine. Roddick beat Kristof Vliegen in the second round, while Chela defeated Vince Spadea.
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 20-5 career record here, winning the event in 2003 (d. Fish) and finishing second last year to Federer.
Chela, 26, has won eight of his last 11 matches. That run began in July with a runner-up showing at Kitzbuhel (l. to Calleri) and included a quarterfinal appearance in Sopot. Chela has a 5-6 record at ATP Masters Series events so far this year. He has a career mark of 8-5 here and has reached the third round for his fourth straight year, but never beyond.
GINEPRI vs. MURRAY, Murray leads 1-0
In the other match on Center Court, Ginepri of the U.S. faces Andy Murray. The British No. 1 recorded perhaps the upset of the year in beating Federer in 7-5, 6-4 in the second round Wednesday, breaking the Swiss magician’s 55-match North American winning streak. Ginepri ousted Dmitry Tursunov in the second round.
Murray beat Ginepri in their only prior match, last October in the quarterfinals of Bangkok.
Murray, 19, is on a roll, winning 19 of his last 24 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 3-1.
DOUBLES PREVIEW: TOP-SEEDED BRYANS PLAY ARTHURS-HRBATY
The top-seeded American duo of Bob and Mike Bryan face Wayne Arthurs of Australia and Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia in the second round. The Bryans had a bye in the first round, while Arthurs and Hrbaty beat Ferrer-Robredo.
The Bryans are on fire, coming off 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).
Those four crowns came from 18 straight match wins by the twins, lifting their record to 54-9 this year.
Arthurs and Hrbaty are playing together for the second time in their careers, the first being last week, when they lost in the quarterfinals of Toronto to Hanley-Ullyett. Arthurs has a doubles record of 6-8 this year and 12 career titles. Hrbaty is 10-17 with two titles.
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