An outstanding quarter-final line-up is set for Friday at the Swiss Indoors Basel as five of the top six seeds are in action. World No. 1 and three-time defending champion Roger Federer, No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia, No. 4 Marin Cilic of Croatia, No. 5 Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic and No. 6 Stanislas Wawrinka headline the order of play. In the first match on Centre Court, Stepanek and Cilic square off for the third time (tied 1-1) followed by Wawrinka and Djokovic, who owns a 6-2 advantage, winning the past five meetings. In the third match on, Frenchman Richard Gasquet takes a 1-0 lead against Swiss wild card Marco Chiudinelli. In the final quarter-final, Federer takes a 17-match unbeaten streak in Basel against Russian qualifier Evgeny Korolev. This is the second time three Swiss have reached the quarter-finals in an ATP World Tour tournament. The only previous time that occurred was here in Basel eight years ago when Federer, George Bastl and Michel Kratochvil reached the quarter-finals.

FRIDAY QUARTER-FINAL HEAD-TO-HEADS – In Order of Play

Centre Court

(5) Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs (4) Marin Cilic (CRO) Tied 1-1
07 Gstaad (Switzerland) Clay R32 Radek Stepanek 7-5 6-3
09 Roland Garros (France) Clay R32 Marin Cilic 6-1 7-6(4)  6-3

Stepanek FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
W: Brisbane (d Verdasco); San Jose (d Fish); F: Memphis (l Roddick); QF: Barcelona (l Davydenko); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Shanghai (l Davydenko); Vienna (l Melzer)
YTD W-L: 43-18
YTD Titles: 2
Career Titles: 4
Date of Birth: November 27, 1978
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 14

• Stepanek, 30, the top player from the Czech Republic, is making his main draw debut this week and thus far he’s defeated Rainer Schuettler 62 60 and Florent Serra 36 76(1) 76(1) en route to his seventh ATP World Tour quarter-final or better in 2009
• Last week he reached the quarter-finals in Vienna where he lost to eventual champion Jurgen Melzer i
• He has compiled a 43-18 match record, including 31-11 on hard courts
• His five previous QF or better results were winning third and fourth ATP World Tour titles of his career at Brisbane (d. Verdasco) and San Jose (d. Fish), runner-up finish at Memphis (l. to Roddick) and QF on clay at Barcelona (l. to Davydenko) and at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Shanghai three weeks ago (l. to Davydenko)
• He captured his first two ATP World Tour titles in a span of 152 tournaments, then won his two in '09 in four events
• Has also helped his country to its first Davis Cup final since 1980 (will play Spain in December)…Has a 3-1 singles mark…In first round tie vs. France, lost to No. 11 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in second rubber before clinching tie with straight-sets win over No. 8 Gilles Simon in fourth rubber
• In July, he beat Argentina’s Juan Monaco in fifth and decisive rubber in quarter-finals…Last month, survived a record 78 aces by Ivo Karlovic in opening rubber to win 16-14 in fifth set in 5:59 marathon
• In Grand Slam play play reached 3rd Rd. or better each time…At Australian Open (l. to Verdasco in 3rd Rd.), Roland Garros (l. to Cilic in 3rd Rd.), Wimbledon (won back-to-back five-setters vs. Starace in 2nd Rd. and Ferrer in 3rd Rd. before falling to Hewitt in 4th Rd., also in five sets) and US Open (l. to Djokovic in 4th Rd.)

Cilic FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
W: Chennai (d Devvarman); Zagreb (d Ancic); F: Beijing (l Djokovic); Vienna (l Melzer); QF: Dubai (l Djokovic); Munich (l Chardy); US Open (l Del Potro)
YTD W-L: 46-19
YTD Titles: 2
Career Titles: 3
Date of Birth: September 28, 1988
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 13

• Cilic, 21, a wild card entry who is playing in Basel for the first time, saved three match points Thursday in his 76(7) 67(8) 76(6) win over Serb Viktor Troicki…In the first round he beat Philipp Petzschner 64 64
• Last Sunday he advanced to his fourth ATP World Tour final of the year in Vienna where he lost to top Austrian Jurgen Melzer in straight sets – his second final in a month
• The young Croat is putting together the best season of his career with a 46-19 match record (33-11 on hard) and two ATP World Tour titles in four finals…He also has surpassed $1 million this season
• On Oct. 11 he reached his third ATP World Tour final of the season in Beijing where he lost to then No. 4-ranked Novak Djokovic…He is 3-2 lifetime in ATP World Tour finals
• He reached a career-high No. 13 on May 18 and was there for seven straight weeks before returning to that spot on Oct. 12 after Beijing
• The top Croat on the ATP World Tour opened the campaign by earning the title in Chennai (d. Devvarman) in January and the following month he won the title in his hometown of Zagreb (d. Ancic)
• In September, he advanced to his first Grand Slam quarter-final at the US Open where he beat No. 2-ranked Andy Murray in the fourth round in straight sets (l. to eventual champ del Potro)

(6) Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) vs (2) Novak Djokovic (SRB) Djokovic Leads 6-2
06 Umag (Croatia) Clay F Stanislas Wawrinka 6-6(1)   ret (breathing)
06 SUI v. SCG WG PO (Switzerland) Hard RR Novak Djokovic 6-4 3-6   2-6  7-6(3) 6-4
06 Vienna (Austria) Hard R16 Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3 6-3
07 Vienna (Austria) Hard F Novak Djokovic 6-4 6-0
08 ATP Masters Series Indian Wells  Hard QF Novak Djokovic 7-6(5)6-2
08 ATP Masters Series Rome (Italy) Clay F Novak Djokovic 4-6 6-3 6-3
09 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells  Hard R16 Novak Djokovic 7-6(7)7-6(6)
09 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo  Clay SF Novak Djokovic 4-6 6-1 6-3
Other Meetings:
04 Aachen CH (Germany) Carpet R32 Novak Djokovic 6-2 6-3

Wawrinka FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
SF: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Djokovic); QF: Tokyo (l Monfils)
YTD W-L: 32-18
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: March 28, 1985
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 21

• Wawrinka, 24, has defeated Croat Ivan Ljubicic 67(5) 63 64 in the first round and Jarkko Nieminen 75 26 61 to improve his career mark to 6-6 in Basel…He is making his seventh straight appearance and his best result was the semi-finals in 2006 (l. to Gonzalez)
• This is the Swiss No. 2’s third ATP World Tour quarter-final or better this season
• He reached the third round last month in Shanghai, defeating No. 6 Andy Roddick, who retired with a knee injury for his second Top 10 win of the year before falling in next round to Radek Stepanek…His other Top 10 win came over countryman Roger Federer, ranked No. 2 at the time in third round, to reach the semi-finals in April at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l. to Djokovic)
• Following an opening round loss at the US Open (l. to Lapentti), played in a Davis Cup World Group tie against Italy and beat Andreas Seppi in straight sets in the opening rubber to help Switzerland back into the 2010 World Group (vs. Spain)
• Followed up in ATP World Tour play by reaching quarter-finals in Tokyo (l. to Monfils)
• He enters with a 32-18 match record on the season (16-10 on hard courts) and one of only two players in current Top 25 (No. 18 Ferrer) who has yet to win an ATP World Tour title in 2009

Djokovic FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
W: Dubai (d Ferrer); Belgrade (d Kubot); Beijing (d Cilic); F: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Murray); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Nadal); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (l Nadal); Halle (l Haas); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati (l Federer); SF: Sydney (l Nieminen); Marseille (l Tsonga); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (l Nadal); US Open (l Federer); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Shanghai (l Davydenko); QF: Australian Open (l Roddick); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Roddick); Wimbledon (l Haas); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Canada (l Roddick)
YTD W-L: 68-18
YTD Titles: 3
Career Titles: 14
Date of Birth: May 22, 1987
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 3

• Djokovic, 22, posted the first double bagel win in his career Thursday over Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic…On Tuesday he made his Basel debut with a 63 75 victory over German Andreas Beck
• Since opening the year with a first round loss to Ernests Gulbis in Brisbane, has reached the quarter-finals or better in 18 of his next 19 tournaments (except Roland Garros, 3rd Rd.)…He is trying to reach his 14th semi-final or better in 20 tournaments this season and fifth straight semi-final or better
• He has advanced to four ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals this season, including three consecutive  – Miami (l. to Murray), Monte-Carlo (l. to Nadal in three sets) and Rome (l. to Nadal)…Also runner-up in Cincinnati in August (l. to Federer)…Has a 28-7 record in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in ‘09
• Owns three titles in 2009 and leads the ATP World Tour in overall match wins (68) and hard court wins (43)…He is co-leader (w/Nadal) with eight finals…The Serb has recorded at least 60 match wins for the third straight season
• Last month, he collected his third ATP World Tour title of the year in Beijing (d. Cilic)
• His other titles have come in his hometown of Belgrade (d. Kubot) on clay in May and in Dubai (d. Ferrer) on hard courts in late February
• In March at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, came in as defending champion and lost to Andy Roddick in the quarter-finals…Earlier in the month lost both of his singles matches on clay in a first round Davis Cup tie in Spain, falling to David Ferrer and Nadal in fourth rubber, which clinched the tie
• Prior to Davis Cup, defeated No. 8 Gilles Simon (SF) and David Ferrer (on Feb. 28) in the Dubai final for his first ATP World Tour title of the season

Richard Gasquet (FRA) vs (WC) Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) Gasquet Leads 1-0
06 US Open (USA)  Hard R32 Marco Chiudinelli 7-6(2)  6-3   2-6   7-6(2)

Gasquet FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
SF: Brisbane (l Stepanek); Sydney (l Nalbandian); Dubai (l Ferrer); Metz (l Monfils); QF: Kuala Lumpur (l Verdasco)
YTD W-L: 22-14
Career Titles: 5
Date of Birth: June 18, 1986
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 57

• Gasquet, 23, defeated Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos 76(3) 64 in the first round in his Basel debut and followed with a 46 76(9) 62 win over big-serving American John Isner (saving two match points)
• He comes into sixth ATP World Tour quarter-final (or better) with a 22-14 match record on the season (19-12 on hard)
• The Frenchman has reached four ATP World Tour semi-finals and one quarter-final this year…He advanced to the semis in back-to-back weeks in Brisbane and Sydney in January and in Dubai in late February…He also was a semi-finalist in Metz on Sept. 26, losing to eventual champion Gael Monfils
• His last ATP World Tour final came in Stuttgart in July 2008 when he lost to Juan Martin del Potro
• Overall he is 5-6 in his career in ATP World Tour finals and his last title came in Mumbai on Sept. 30,  2007 (d. O. Rochus)

Chiudinelli FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
QF: Bangkok (l Tsonga)
YTD W-L: 9-11
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: September 10, 1981
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 73

• Chiudinelli, 28, defeated No. 8 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber 76(5) 36 75 on Tuesday and followed with a 26 63 63 win over countryman Michael Lammer to reach his second career ATP World Tour quarter-final…He is making his fifth appearance in Basel (3-4 record), winning his only previous match in 2004 (d. Montanes)
• He has qualified seven times this year on the ATP World Tour, including four in a row this fall (US Open, Bangkok, Tokyo and Shanghai)
• He reached a career-high ranking of No. 71 last week, putting him behind World No. 1 Roger Federer and No. 21 Stanislas Wawrinka as the top Swiss players
• All of his matches but one have been on hard courts, as he improves to 9-11 overall match record on the ATP World Tour
• Last month he advanced to his first career ATP World Tour quarter-final result in Bangkok where he lost to No. 7-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in three sets…He followed up by qualifying into Tokyo (d. Sela, l. to Monfils) and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Shanghai (l. to Bellucci)
• He also qualified at the US Open, reaching the third round with wins over Potito Starace and Mikhail Youzhny before losing to Davydenko
• He is a candidate for ATP Comeback Player of the Year after finishing last season ranked No. 779...He underwent left knee surgery on Nov. 14, 2007 and didn't return to competition until August 2008...He played in four Challenger and three Futures events, closing the year with a title at Dubai #1 Futures
• In March, he played in first round Davis Cup tie against the U.S. and lost to Roddick and Blake in straight sets

(1) Roger Federer (SUI) vs (Q) Evgeny Korolev (RUS) Federer Leads 1-0
09 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R64 Roger Federer 6-2 6-3 6-1

Federer FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
W: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (d Nadal); Roland Garros (d Soderling); Wimbledon (d Roddick); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati (d Djokovic); F: Australian Open (l Nadal); US Open (l Del Potro); SF: Doha (l Murray); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Murray); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Djokovic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (l Djokovic); QF: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Canada (l Tsonga)
YTD W-L: 57-8
YTD Titles: 4
Career Titles: 61
Date of Birth: August 8, 1981
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 1

• Federer, 28, the three-time defending champion in Basel, enters the quarter-finals with a 17-match winning streak in Basel (31-6 career mark) after beating Belgian qualifier Olivier Rochus 63 64 in the first round and Andreas Seppi 63 63 in the second round…Since losing to Ivan Ljubicic in the second round in 2003, returned in 2006 and has won titles in ‘06 (d. Gonzalez), 2007 (d. Nieminen) and 2008 (d. Nalbandian)
• This is his first tournament since reaching his sixth straight final at the U.S. Open (l. del Potro in five sets) on Sept. 14
• The No. 1 player on the ATP World Tour has a 57-8 match record on the season, including 32-6 on hard courts…He has won 36 of his past 38 matches…He is 4-2 in finals
• This year, from mid-May to July, he won three straight titles at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (d. Nadal), Roland Garros (d. Soderling) and Wimbledon (d. Roddick), setting the Grand Slam record with 15 titles…Then in August he captured his third title at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati (d. Djokovic)…Has won at least one title for nine straight years (since 2001)
• This is his 255th week at No. 1 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings (since 1973), which is fourth all-time behind Pete Sampras (286), Ivan Lendl (270) and Jimmy Connors (268)

• The Swiss superstar became the sixth man in history to complete a career Grand Slam at Roland Garros in his 11th attempt by defeating Swede Robin Soderling in straight sets in the final…Lost six sets en route to the title, the most of any Grand Slam title run and was pushed to five sets by Tommy Haas in the fourth and Juan Martin del Potro in the semi-finals                                                           
• Four weeks later he won a record-breaking 15th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, where he collected his sixth crown at the All England Club...Only dropped one set (against Kohlschreiber) en route to a record seventh straight Wimbledon final, where he defeated Andy Roddick 16-14 in the fifth set, breaking the American for the first time in the final game of the match after he held 37 straight service games…Fired a personal-best 50 aces in the epic battle…By clinching his 60th tour-level title – the most among active players, he reclaimed No. 1 ranking on July 6 after Nadal held the top spot for 46 weeks earlier
• He opened the first month with a SF in Doha (l. to Murray) and followed with runner-up at the Australian Open, falling to rival Nadal in five sets...It was his first loss in a Grand Slam hard court final (8-1)...He then withdrew from Dubai and first round Davis Cup tie vs. the U.S. with a back injury…Returned from a six-week layoff due and advanced to the SF in Indian Wells, defeating No. 17 Fernando Gonzalez and No. 10 Fernando Verdasco before losing to No. 4 Andy Murray for the fourth straight time

Korolev FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
F: Delray Beach (l Fish); SF: Houston (l Hewitt); QF: Metz (l Kohlschreiber); Bangkok (l Simon); Moscow (l Marchenko)
YTD W-L: 18-18
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: February 14, 1988
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 58

• Korolev, 21, who qualified into his fifth ATP World Tour tournament of the season, has defeated Italian Simone Bolelli 36 76(4) 62 and Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 64 76(1) in the main draw
• The young Russian is appearing in his sixth ATP World Tour quarter-final (or better) of the season, including four of his past five tournaments since the US Open
• He enters with an 18-18 match record (14-9 on hard) on the year and he is ranked No. 58 this week after reaching a career-high No. 50 last week…He is 2-10 lifetime vs. Top 10 opponents (0-2 in ’09) and his last win came over No. 6 Blake in round robin play in Las Vegas in 2007…He also defeated No. 6 Davydenko in the second round of Marselle in 2006
• He has put together a solid seven-week stretch following a first round exit at the U.S. Open…He reached the quarter-finals at the Genova Challenger, won the title at the Szczecin Challenger (d. Serra) and advanced to the quarter-finals in ATP World Tour stops in Metz (l. to Kohlschreiber), Bangkok (l. to Simon) and Moscow (l. to Marchenko)…He also was a quarter-finalist at the Mons Challenger
• In February, the young Russian reached his first ATP World Tour final in Delray Beach (as a qualifier), losing to American Mardy Fish...Afterwards, moved from No. 105 to No. 79
• In April, advanced to semi-finals on clay in Houston (l. to eventual champion Hewitt)