MASON - August 15, 2006 - Defending champion and top seed Roger Federer, No. 2 Rafael Nadal, No. 9 Andy Roddick and British No. 1 Andy Murray play their first-round matches on Center Court Tuesday.
Several top players will see action on the Grandstand Court including fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic, No. 7 Tommy Robredo, No. 13 Fernando Gonzalez, No. 14 Tommy Haas, last week’s Toronto runner-up Richard Gasquet and former World No. 1 Marat Safin.
FEDERER vs. SRICHAPHAN, Federer leads 2-0
Federer of Switzerland takes on Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan. Federer has a 2-0 career edge over his foe, including a win at Indian Wells in March (see below).
The Swiss magician, 25, comes off his seventh title of the year Sunday in Toronto (d. Gasquet). That also represented his 11th ATP Masters Series shield, tying him for second on the 16-year list with Pete Sampras. Federer is gunning for his 18th straight final, which would tie him with Ivan Lendl for the Open Era record.
Federer has a 54-match winning streak in North America since his last loss to Dominik Hrbaty in the first round right here on Aug. 3, 2004. That streak has brought the Swiss tennis genius nine titles, including this tournament last year (d. Roddick) and the U.S. Open in 2004-05. He has a career record of 7-4 here.
World No. 1 Federer has a 17-match winning streak. He is 84-2 on hard courts over 2005-06, going 50-1 last season and 34-1 thus far this year.
Srichaphan, 27, has struggled to reach his top form this year, posting a record of 17-20. He hasn’t won more than two matches in a tournament since his semifinal loss at Indian Wells to Federer. Srichaphan has a 6-6 record at Masters Series events this year. He has a 2-3 career mark here, reaching the third round in 2004 (l. to Roddick).
NADAL vs. QUERREY, First Meeting
Nadal of Spain faces 6’6” American wild card Sam Querrey in their first ATP meeting.
World No. 2 Nadal, 20, trails only Federer this year with five titles. Two of those came in Masters Series events – at Monte Carlo in April and Rome in May (d. Federer both times). Nadal has handed Federer his only losses in 2006, holding a 4-1 edge over him.
Nadal hasn’t captured a crown since Roland Garros in May, but his record is a lofty 10-3 since then, 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 18-3 in Masters Series events this year and is looking for his first win here in his third try.
Querrey, 18, reached a career-best ranking of No. 178 this week. He is playing ATP events for his first year and sports a record of 4-8. His highest-ranked victim was Vince Spadea, ranked No. 92 when Querrey beat him at Los Angeles last month. He has won two Challenger events – one level below the ATP – this year.
RODDICK vs. BRACCIALI, Roddick leads 1-0
The American Roddick plays Italy’s Daniele Bracciali, with Roddick having won their only prior match – at Wimbledon last year.
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 18-5 career record here, winning the event in 2003 (d. Fish) and finishing second last year to Federer.
Bracciali, 28, is on pace for a career year, with a record of 15-16. He had played only 25 ATP matches prior to this year. He attained a career-best INDESIT ATP Ranking of No. 49 in May and is now No. 63. He has a record of 1-5 in Masters Series events this year and is making his debut in Cincinnati.
MURRAY vs. HENMAN, Murray leads 2-0
Murray takes on his childhood hero and compatriot Tim Henman. Murray has a 2-0 career edge over Henman, beating him just last week in the second round at Toronto.
Murray, 19, is on a roll, winning 17 of his last 22 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 he is playing here for the second time.
Henman, 31, has won eight of his last 12 matches. That includes a semifinal appearance at London-Queen’s Club in June (l. to Hewitt) and a quarterfinal showing at Washington last month (l. to Tursunov). He has a record of 6-5 at Masters Series events this year.
Henman has a career mark of 16-10 here, making the final in 2000 (l. to Enqvist).
MORE BLOCKBUSTER OPENERS
Ljubicic vs. Rusedski
Ljubicic of Croatia plays Greg Rusedski of Britain. Ljubicic, 27, has made it to at least the quarterfinals in nine of the 12 tournaments he has played this year and climbed to a career-best INDESIT ATP Ranking of No. 3 in May. He is No. 4 now and has a career record of 7-6 here, reaching the quarterfinals in 2001 (l. to Hewitt).
Robredo vs. Gasquet
Robredo of Spain plays Gasquet of France, who won their only prior match. Robredo won his second title of the year last month in Bastad (d. Davydenko). Gasquet is on a hot run of his own, with a 15-3 record over his last five events.
Gonzalez vs. Massu
Gonzalez of Chile faces countryman and pal Nicolas Massu. Both are 26. Gonzalez has a 2-1 career edge over his frequent doubles partner, but Massu won their last match in the semifinals of Vina del Mar in February.
Haas squares off against Fernando Verdasco in their first ATP meeting. Haas has won 12 of his last 16 matches, and Verdasco has won 12 of his last 17.
DOUBLES PREVIEW
The Spanish duo of David Ferrer and Tommy Robredo play Wayne Arthurs of Australia and Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia in the first round on Center Court Tuesday.
Ferrer and Robredo began playing together last year and have a record of 3-8. Their best result was here last year, reaching the quarterfinals (l. to Bjorkman-Mirnyi).
Arthurs and Hrbaty are playing together for the second week in a row, after reaching the quarterfinals of Toronto last week (l. to Hanley-Ullyett). They had only teamed up once before then, making the semifinals at Tokyo in 2000 (l. to Hill-Tarango).
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