Monte-Carlo Friday Preview

© Getty ImagesThe top four seeds, including Roger Federer, are through to the quarter-finals.

For just the second time (2008) in the past 20 years, the Top 4 seeds have reached the quarter-finals at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, and they will all be in action on Friday looking for a spot in the semi-finals.

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First up on Court Central is No. 4 seed David Ferrer against No. 11 seed Viktor Troicki. This is the fifth time in seven tournaments this year Ferrer has reached the quarter-finals or better - and most of the times he has come this far he has gone even further (he is 3-1 in his four previous quarter-final matches this year). This is also the sixth time in eight appearances at this event the Spaniard has been to the quarters or better. Even more good news for Ferrer is he has won both of his previous meetings with Troicki handily, losing just six games in the four sets they’ve played. Troicki is in the quarters in Monte-Carlo for the first time.

Second is No. 2 seed Roger Federer against No. 7 seed Jurgen Melzer. Federer has had a strong season so far, his 24-4 record only blemished with three losses to Novak Djokovic and one to Nadal. He is tied for most wins on the ATP World Tour this year now with Djokovic and has done very well here too, his best results being three straight finals in 2006, 2007 and 2008 (losing to Nadal each time). By surprise, Federer and Melzer, both 29 now, never played each other until 2010, but they ended up playing three times last year and Federer won all of them (going 8-0 in sets). Melzer is in the quarters here for the first time.

Next is World No. 1 Rafael Nadal against unseeded Ivan Ljubicic. Nadal has been phenomenal in Monte-Carlo over the years - he is the six-time reigning champion (the only player to win an ATP World Tour title six straight years) and last year he only lost 14 games in his five matches here (the fewest games he has lost en route to an ATP World Tour title in his career). He is 36-1 lifetime in Monte-Carlo (winning 34 in a row) with his only loss coming in his debut in 2003 (a 3rd Rd. loss to Guillermo Coria). Ljubicic, a former World No. 3, went 7-3 to start the year but came in here on a four-match losing streak. But he has turned that around here with three straight set wins, including over seeded players No. 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and No. 5 Tomas Berdych. Nadal leads their head-to-head, 5-2 (2-0 on clay), although Ljubicic did win their last match at ‘10 Indian Wells.

Last up is No. 3 seed Andy Murray against qualifier Frederico Gil. Murray came into Monte-Carlo on a four-match losing streak (going 0-9 in sets) but has snapped out of that with straight-set wins over former Top 10 players Radek Stepanek and Gilles Simon. A semi-finalist here two years ago, he has a first-time encounter with Gil, who is the first Portuguese man to reach the quarters in Monte-Carlo. Last year Gil became the first Portuguese man to reach an ATP World Tour final in Estoril. He hasn’t lost a set en route (10-0) to his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final, defeating No. 8 seed/No. 10-ranked Gael Monfils for his first Top 10 win.

CLAY DOMINATION – Here's a year-by-year look at Nadal's clay court domination since ‘05, compiling a 178-6 match record. He has won 26 straight matches on clay since his last loss to Soderling at ’09 Roland Garros:
W-L Clay Finals
2011 - 2-0 0-0
2010 - 22-0 4-0
2009 - 23-2 3-1
2008 - 24-1 4-0
2007 - 31-1 5-1
2006 - 26-0 4-0
2005 - 50-2 6-0

FRIDAY QUARTER-FINALS FED-EX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play

(11) Viktor Troicki (SRB) vs (4) David Ferrer (ESP) Ferrer Leads 2-0
09 ESP vs. SRB WG 1st RD (Spain) Clay RR David Ferrer 6-0 6-3
09 ATP Masters 1000 Montreal Hard R64 David Ferrer 6-3 6-0

TROICKI FASTFACTS

Tournament Highlights:
• The 25-year-old Serb is making his first quarter-final appearance in three attempts (4-2 mark)…This week the No. 11 seed has defeated wild card Jean-Rene Lisnard 76(4) 61, Italian Fabio Fognini 63 46 64 and Tommy Robredo, who retired with a left adductor injury leading 63 1-2
• He made his debut in 2009 and lost to Stanislas Wawrinka in the first round and last year reached the second round (d. Kubot, l. to Robredo)

2011 Highlights:
F: Sydney (l Simon); SF: Rotterdam (l Soderling); QF: Doha (l Federer)

2011 in Review:
• The Serbian No. 2 (behind No. 2 Djokovic) is playing in his first clay court tournament of the season and he comes into his fourth ATP World Tour quarter-final or better with a 19-7 match record
• His last two losses have come to Djokovic, 60 61 in the fourth round in Indian Wells and 63 62 in the same round in Miami
• He opened the season with a quarter-final in Doha (l. to Federer) and followed with a runner-up in Sydney (l. to Simon) and 3rd Rd. at the Australian Open (ret. vs. Djokovic due to stomach muscle strain)
• He returned the week of Feb. 7 in Rotterdam and advanced to the semi-finals (l. to No. 4 Soderling)… Two weeks later he lost in the first round in Dubai (l. to Kohlshcreiber)
• In March first round Davis Cup tie at home vs. India, he defeated Rohan Bopanna in five sets in opening rubber and then ousted Somdev Devvarman in straight sets in fourth rubber to clinch tie
• He is looking to post his first Top 10 win of the season (0-5) and the fourth of his career (3-29)…He has lost 15 in a row since defeating No. 7 Tsonga in the semi-finals of Bangkok in October 2009

ATP World Tour Masters 1000 History:
• Has a career record of 20-21 and this is his first career quarter-final appearance…His previous best result was the fourth round in Indian Wells in 2010-11 and Miami in 2009 and this year

FERRER FASTFACTS

Tournament Highlights:
• The 29-year-old Spaniard is appearing in the quarter-finals for the sixth time in eight attempts and owns a 19-7 career mark after ousting countryman Feliciano Lopez 62 60 and Canadian Milos Raonic 61 63
• Last year he reached the semi-finals for the first time (l. to Nadal)…He also advanced to the quarter-finals from 2005-08
• His past six losses have come to Top 10 opponents – No. 9 Guillermo Coria in 2005, No. 1 Federer in 2006-07, No. 2 Nadal in 2008, No. 8 Fernando Verdasco in 3rd Rd. in 2009 and No. 3 Nadal last year
• A Spaniard has reached the final for the past six years and eight in the past nine years (except ’04)

2011 Highlights:
W: Auckland (d Nalbandian); Acapulco (d Almagro); SF: Australian Open (l Murray); QF: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Fish)

2011 in Review:
• The No. 2 Spaniard (behind No. 1 Nadal) enters with a 19-4 match record (7-0 on clay, 12-4 on hard) on the season and he won ATP World Tour titles in Auckland (d. Nalbandian) in January and Acapulco (d. Almagro) in February…Also a semi-finalist at the Australian Open (d. Nadal in QF, l. to Murray)
• Has an 11-10 career mark in ATP World Tour finals (6-7 on clay)
• In first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells, lost in opening round to Ivo Karlovic and followed with quarter-final in Miami (l. to Fish)

ATP World Tour Masters 1000 History:
• Has a 99-69 career mark and his best result is a runner-up in Rome last year (l. to Nadal)…Also semi-finalist in Miami in 2005-06, Rome in 2005, along with Monte-Carlo and Madrid last year
• He is trying to become the 11th active player to win at least 100 matches in his career

(7) Jurgen Melzer (AUT) vs (2) Roger Federer (SUI) Federer Leads 3-0
10 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass R16 Roger Federer 6-3 6-2 6-3
10 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Roger Federer 6-3 7-6(4) 6-3
10 ATP Masters 1000 Paris (France) Hard QF Roger Federer 6-1 7-6(4)

 
MELZER FASTFACTS

Tournament Highlights:
• The 29-year-old Vienna native is the first Austrian to reach the quarter-finals in Monte-Carlo since Thomas Muster won the title in 1996…In his first two matches, defeated Dutchman Robin Haase 36 61 62 and No. 9 seed Nicolas Almagro 61 64
• He has a 3-4 career mark and prior to this year his only win came over Paul-Henri Mathieu last season (l. to Petzchner)…In his first three appearances, lost in the first round in 2005, ’07 and ‘09

2011 Highlights:
QF: Marseille (l Tursunov)

2011 in Review:
• The top Austrian is making his second showing in an ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season, the first since February in Marseille (bye, d. Seppi, l. to Tursunov)…This is also the second time this year he’s won back-to-back matches…At the Australian Open, he reached the 4th Rd. (l. to Murray)
• Has a 9-6 match record (3-1 on clay) and trying to post his first Top 10 win of the season…His last win came over No. 7 Ferrer at ATP Masters 1000 Paris (11-45 mark in career)
• In March, he played in first round Davis Cup home tie vs. France and lost to Jeremy Chardy in opening rubber and defeated Gilles Simon in five sets in fourth rubber although France prevailed 3-2
• In first two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, reached the third round in Indian Wells (bye, d. Benneteau, l. to Gasquet) and lost in opening round to Philipp Petzschner in Miami

ATP World Tour Masters 1000 History:
• Has a 40-47 career mark and this is his sixth career quarter-final – 2004 Hamburg, Toronto, and last year in Madrid, Shanghai and Paris

FEDERER FASTFACTS

Tournament Highlights:
• The 29-year-old Swiss native enters his sixth quarter-final or better with a 23-9 career record and he is making his 10th appearance… He opened on Tuesday with a 62 61 win over top German Philipp Kohlschreiber in 50 minutes and followed with a 64 63 victory over No. 15 seed Marin Cilic
• In his last visit two years ago, he lost for the first time to countryman Stanislas Wawrinka 64 75 in the third round
• Prior to that, he reached the final three years in a row from 2006-08, losing to Nadal each time…This is the first time he’s not ranked No. 1 or 2 here since 2002 when he was No. 11 (did not play in 2003-04)
• He reached the quarter-finals in 2005 (l. to Gasquet) and in ’01 (l. to Grosjean)

2011 Highlights:
W: Doha (d Davydenko); F: Dubai (l Djokovic); SF: Australian Open (l Djokovic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Djokovic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Nadal)

2011 in Review:
• The Swiss superstar has a 24-4 match record on the season and he’s reached the semi-finals or better in his five previous tournaments…Three of his losses have come to Djokovic and the other to Nadal…He advanced to the semi-finals in Indian Wells (l. to Djokovic in three sets) and in the semis in his last tournament in Miami (l. to Nadal)…He also lost to Djokovic, in the semi-finals at the Aust. Open and in Dubai final
• He fell to No. 3 after Indian Wells and last year was No. 3 for 11 weeks, the last week of Oct. 11
• He opened the campaign with his 67th career title in Doha (d. Davydenko) in his 96th final…Since losing to Djokovic in last year’s US Open semi-finals, has compiled a 45-6 match record, reaching final in six of 10 tournaments during that span (four titles)
• He has won at least one ATP World Tour title for 11 straight years, best among active players along with Roddick…His 67 titles rank No. 4 on the Open Era titles list
• Has not won a Grand Slam title in his last four tournaments since capturing ’10 Aust. Open (d. Murray)
• He has 767 career match wins in ATP World Tour level play, which is No. 7 on the Open Era match wins list…Next target: No. 6 Stefan Edberg (806)

ATP World Tour Masters 1000 History:
• He is the all-time leader in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 match wins (234) and has a career mark of 234-70 with 17 ATP Masters 1000 titles (17-12), along with Agassi (17), trailing only Nadal (18)
• He has won six different tournament titles – Hamburg (four times), Indian Wells (three times), Cincinnati (four times), Miami (twice), Toronto (twice) and Madrid (twice) and runner-up in three others – Monte Carlo (three times), Rome (twice) and Shanghai…The only final he hasn’t reached is Paris

(1)Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) Nadal Leads 5-2
05 Doha (Qatar) Hard QF Ivan Ljubicic 6-2 6-7(3) 6-3
05 ATP Masters Series Miami (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3
05 ATP Masters Series Madrid (Spain) Hard F Rafael Nadal 3-6 2-6 6-3 6-4 7-6(3)
06 Roland Garros (France) Clay SF Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-2 7-6(7)
09 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo Clay QF Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-3
09 ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (China) Hard QF Rafael Nadal 3-6 6-3 ret
10 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells Hard SF Ivan Ljubicic 3-6 6-4 7-6(1)

NADAL FASTFACTS

Tournament Highlights:
• The 24-year-old reigning six-time champion has a 36-1 career record with 34 consecutive match wins after opening with a 62 62 victory over Jarkko Nieminen and 62 64 win over No. 13 seed Richard Gasquet…Has only lost five sets (70-5) during streak (in 2005-06 SF & F, ’09 F)…Last year he beat Verdasco 60 61 in final…He only lost 14 games in his five matches en route to title
• His lone loss came in the third round to Guillermo Coria in 2003 (did not play in 2004 due to injury)
• In 2008, became the first player to win four straight titles since New Zealand’s Anthony Wilding from 1911-14…His six titles ties Reggie Doherty of England for most in tourn. history (1897-99, 1902-04)
• Since the loss to Coria eight years ago, has captured titles over Coria in 2005, World No. 1 Roger Federer from 2006-08 and Djokovic in 2009…Has a 12-0 mark against Top 10 opponents
• In 2008, captured the doubles title (w/Robredo) over Bhupathi-Knowles and became the first player to win both titles in the same year since Ilie Nastase in 1973 (d. Borg, won doubles w/Gisbert)

2011 Highlights:
F: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Djokovic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Djokovic); SF: Doha (l Davydenko); QF: Australian Open (l Ferrer)

2011 in Review:
• The World No. 1 has a 21-4 match record on the season and he’s appearing in the quarter-finals or better for the fifth time in as many tournaments…He is coming off back-to-back finals at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami, losing to Djokovic in three sets in both …This marks the third time in four years (except ’09) he enters Monte-Carlo without a title… His last title came in Tokyo on Oct. 10, 2010
• He opened year with a semi-final in Doha (l. to Davydneko) and followed with a quarter-final at the
Australian Open where he injured his left adductor early in match against countryman David
Ferrer (lost 64 62 63)
• Last month he led Spain to a 4-1 first round Davis Cup victory in Belgium by winning both of his singles matches (d. Ruben Bemelmans in second rubber, O. Rochus in dead rubber)…In July, Spain will travel to Austin, Texas to face the U.S.in the quarter-finals
• Has ranked No. 1 for past 45 weeks (since June 7, 2010 after Roland Garros title) and 91 overall since first taking over the top spot on Aug. 18, 2008

ATP World Tour Masters 1000 History
• The all-time leader with 18 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles (since 1990) is 18-8 in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals…He has a 198-40 career match record…Looking to win his seventh different title
• He’s won at least two titles in each of the past six years (2005-10)…Won a personal-best four in 2005 and three each from 2007-10…He captured his 18th career title at age 23 and Agassi won his 17th title at age 34 in 2004…Has reached the final in eight of the current nine Masters 1000 finals (except Cincinnati)…He also won the former ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Hamburg in 2008

LJUBICIC FASTFACTS

Tournament Highlights:
• The 32-year-old Croat is playing in his third quarter-final in his 11th straight appearance (except 2000) and 12th overall as he enters with a 18-11 record…On Sunday he opened with a 61 62 win over Frenchman Jeremy Chardy and followed with a 76(2) 64 victory over No. 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and 64 62 over No. 5 seed Tomas Berdych
• His other quarter-finals came in 2006 (l. to Gonzalez) and ‘09 (d. No. 5 del Potro, l. to Nadal)
• He has also advanced to the third round five other times (1993, 2003-04, ’07, ’10)

2011 Highlights:
SF: Rotterdam (l Tsonga); QF: Zagreb (l Dodig)
,
2011 in Review:
• The Monte-Carlo resident is appearing in his third ATP World Tour quarter-final or better this season and he enters with a 10-7 match record…He broke a three-match opening round losing streak with win over Jeremy Chardy 61 62 on Sunday…He posted his 40th career Top 10 win (40-64) over No. 7 Tomas Berdych on Thursday
• Prior to this week, his best results came indoors in February with a semi-final in Rotterdam (l. to Tsonga) and quarter-final in Zagreb (l. to Dodig)
• He began the year with a third round at the Australian Open (l. to Almagro) and went 7-4 but then retired in the first round in Dubai on Feb. 21 due to an ankle injury (vs. Bubka)
• As defending champion in Indian Wells, he lost in his opening match to del Potro and afterwards fell from No. 16 to No. 38 on Mar. 21

ATP World Tour Masters 1000 History:
• Has an 115-80 career mark and he captured his lone title in Indian Wells last year (d. Roddick)…Also a runner-up in Madrid (l. to Nadal) and Paris (l. to Berdych) in 2005 and in Miami in 2006 (l. to Federer)

(3-WC) Andy Murray (GBR) vs (Q) Frederico Gil (POR) First Meeting

MURRAY FASTFACTS

Tournament Highlights:
• The 23-year-old Scot is trying to reach his second semi-final in three years…He opened with a 61 64 win over Radek Stepanek on Wednesday and followed with a 63 63 victory over No. 15 seed Gilles Simon… He is making his fifth appearance in six years (except '07) and owns a 7-4 record
• Two years ago he reached his first clay court semi-final, defeating No. 9-ranked Nikolay Davydenko 76(1) 64 for his first Top 10 win on clay (l. to Nadal)…He was the first British player to reach the semi-finals here since Tim Henman in 2002 (l. to Moya)
• Last year he lost in the opening round (after bye) to Philipp Kohlschreiber 62 61
• Made his debut in 2006 (ranked No. 45) and lost to No. 154-ranked Jean-Rene Lisnard in three sets in first round…In 2008, came in No. 20 and beat F. Lopez and Volandri before losing to No. 3 Djokovic

2011 Highlights:
F: Australian Open (l Djokovic)

2011 in Review:
• The top British player has an 8-4 match record on the season and he’s appearing in his second quarter-final (or better)…He snapped a four-match losing streak (nine straight sets lost) on Wednesday…It was his first win since defeating David Ferrer in the semi-finals at the Australian Open…He lost to Djokovic 64 62 63 in his third Grand Slam final and then to Marcos Baghdatis 64 61 in Rotterdam,Donald Young 76(4) 63 in Indian Wells & Alex Bogomolov 61 75 in Miami

ATP World Tour Masters 1000 History:
• Has a 95-40 career mark and 6-1 in finals…Last year won titles in Toronto and Shanghai…He’s won most ATP Masters 1000 titles without a Grand Slam crown

GIL FASTFACTS

Tournament Highlights:
• The 26-year-old Portuguese native qualified into the main draw for the first time with a pair of wins over Argentine Federico Del Bonis 62 60 and Italian Flavio Cipolla 61 63…He’s followed with three straight-set wins over Sergiy Stakhovsky 61 63, Florian Mayer 75 61 and No. 8 seed/No. 10-ranked Gael Monfils 76(6) 62…He is the first Portuguese player to reach the quarter-finals in Monte-Carlo

2011 in Review:
• The top player from Portugal is appearing in his first career ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final and he’s looking to advance to his first semi-final since last May in Estoril where he reached the final (l. to Montanes)…He will climb from No. 82 to around a career-high No. 63 next week with QF thus far
• He enters with an 8-8 match record on the season (5-4 on clay) and this is the third tournament he’s qualified in this year (Sydney-2nd Rd., Acapulco-1st Rd.)…Posted first career Top 10 win (1-5) over No. 10 Monfils on Thursday
• He won his first career Grand Slam match (in 10th attempt) at the Australian Open (d. Cuevas 9-7 in fifth set, l. to Monfils)

ATP World Tour Masters 1000 History:
• Has a career mark of 6-3 and this is the best result of his career…His previous best showing was the third round in Miami in 2009