Shark Bites

DEUCE

by Greg Sharko

26.08.2010

ATP stats and information guru Greg Sharko looks at the numbers behind the stories of the ATP World Tour.

FEDERER EYES SEVENTH STRAIGHT FINAL

Five-time US OPEN champion Roger Federer attempts to reach his seventh consecutive final at Flushing Meadows and become the second player in the Open Era to accomplish the feat. Ivan Lendl advanced to eight straight US OPEN finals from 1982-89. Both players began with an 8-3 mark in their first three appearances. Here is a look at their final runs:

Lendl		Federer
1982	Runner-up (l. to Connors)	2004	Champion (d. Hewitt)
1983	Runner-up (l. to Connors)	2005	Champion (d. Agassi)
1984	Runner-up (l. to McEnroe)	2006	Champion (d. Roddick)
1985	Champion (d. McEnroe)	2007	Champion (d. Djokovic)
1986	Champion (d. Mecir)	2008	Champion (d. Murray)
1987	Champion (d. Wilander)	2009	Runner-up (l. to del Potro)
1988	Runner-up (l. to Wilander)
1989	Runner-up (l. to Becker)

FISH ON THE RISE

Mardy Fish has been one of the hottest players on the ATP World Tour since June, compiling a 22-4 match record and reaching four finals during a six-tournament span leading into the US OPEN. He's climbed from No. 90 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings on June 7 to No. 21 on August 23. Here is a look at Fish's career best run:

	Rank	Tournament	Result
June 7	No. 90	Queen's Club	Runner-up (l. to Querrey)
June 21	No. 73	Wimbledon	2nd Rd. (l. to F. Mayer)
July 5	No. 79	Newport	Winner (d. O. Rochus)
July 19	No. 49	Atlanta	Winner (d. Isner)
Aug. 2	No. 35	Washington	3rd Rd. (l. to Cilic)
Aug. 16	No. 36	Cinicnnati	Runner-up (l. to Federer)
Aug. 23	No. 21	US OPEN	US OPEN (next tourn.)
Note: Fish ranked a season-low No. 108 in March and this is his highest ranking since August 3, 2009 when he was No. 20. He does not have any ranking points coming off the rest of the year.

LEAD-UP GOING INTO US OPEN

In seven of the past 10 years, the US OPEN champion has won at least one ATP World Tour title coming into Flushing Meadows during the North American summer hard court circuit. Here is a look at the past 10 US OPEN champions:

US OPEN Champion	Titles/Finals Leading into US OPEN
2009 - Juan Martin del Potro	Winner - Washington, Finalist - Montreal
2008 - Roger Federer	None
2007 - Roger Federer	Winner - Cincinnati, Finalist - Montreal
2006 - Roger Federer	Winner - Toronto
2005 - Roger Federer	Winner - Cincinnati
2004 - Roger Federer	Winner - Toronto
2003 - Andy Roddick	Winner - Indianapolis, Montreal, Cincinnati
2002 - Pete Sampras	None
2001 - Lleyton Hewitt	None
2000 - Marat Safin	Winner - Toronto

LOOKING FOR FIRST GRAND SLAM TITLE

In the first three Grand Slam tournaments of the year, each runner-up was attempting to capture their first Slam title, only to lose to Federer or Nadal. It's the fourth time in the past 10 years the first three Slams included a player trying to win his first Slam crown:

	Aust. Open	Roland Garros	Wimbledon
2010	Andy Murray (l. to Federer)	Robin Soderling (l. to Nadal)	Tomas Berdych (l. to Nadal)
2003	Rainer Schuettler (l. to Agassi)	Juan Carlos Ferrero* (d. Verkerk)	Roger Federer* d. Mark Philippoussis
2002	Thomas Johansson (d. Safin)	Albert Costa* (d. Ferrero)	David Nalbandian (l. to Hewitt)
2001	Arnaud Clement (l. to Agassi)	Alex Corretja (l. to Kuerten)	Goran Ivanisevic (d. Rafter)
* Both attempting to win first Grand Slam title

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