Top seed and five-time Gerry Weber Open champion Roger Federer brings his 25-match Halle winning streak into the first round against Jarkko Nieminen of Finland on Tuesday. Federer is 10-0 lifetime against the left-hander but this is their first meeting on grass. Since his last loss here in the semi-finals in 2002 (l. to Kiefer), Federer has won titles in 2003-06 and ’08. This is the first time he’s ranked No. 2 since the week of June 29, 2009. He has ranked No. 1 a total of 285 weeks, one week short of the record set by Pete Sampras (286).

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Leading off the busy second day is wild card Nicolas Kiefer against No. 3 seed Mikhail Youzhny. They are tied 3-3 with the German winning the past three meetings. In the second match, No. 2 seed Nikolay Davydenko returns from a left wrist injury as he takes a 1-0 lead against German Simon Greul. In the third match, top German Philipp Kohlschreiber, who reached the final here two years ago, plays No. 5 seed Radek Stepanek. The Czech Republic No. 2 has won three of the past four meetings. Then Federer takes on Nieminen. In the final match, No. 6 Jurgen Melzer meets Russian qualifier Alexandre Kudryavtsev for the first time. There are three Germans on Court 1 – wild cards Andreas Beck and Mischa Zverev, along with Benjamin Becker.

BACK IN ACTION – Davydenko and Stepanek are playing in their first ATP World Tour tournament since the second week of March when they played at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Indian Wells. Davydenko, who first suffered a left wrist injury in a fall during the semi-finals in Rotterdam on Feb. 13, played with the injury before he withdrew from his third round match in Indian Wells, where the diagnosis was made. Stepanek returned last week at the Prostejov Challenger and he reached the final before retiring with a stomach illness. Stepanek, who has been out with a minor case of mononucleosis, lost in his opening round match to Dudi Sela in Indian Wells on Mar. 14.

TOP 20 BREAKTHROUGH – Melzer is coming off a Grand Slam-best semi-final effort at Roland Garros (l. to Nadal) and he broke into the Top 20 this week on the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings at No. 16. He is the first Austrian to rank in the Top 20 since Stefan Koubek was No. 20 on Mar. 13, 2000.

FIRST ROUND HEAD-TO-HEAD MATCH-UPS – In Order of Play by Court

Stadium

(WC) Nicolas Kiefer (GER) vs (3) Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) Tied 3-3
01 ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo Clay R64 Mikhail Youzhny 6-3 6-0
04 ATP Masters Series Hamburg  Clay R64 Mikhail Youzhny 6-4 6-7(2) 6-2
04 Athens Olympics (Greece) Hard R16 Mikhail Youzhny 6-2 3-6 6-2
07 ATP Masters Series Madrid (Spain) Hard R32 Nicolas Kiefer 6-1 6-3
08 Halle (Germany) Grass R16 Nicolas Kiefer 6-2 5-7 6-3
08 ATP Masters Series Toronto Hard R32 Nicolas Kiefer 7-6(4) 7-5

Kiefer FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 0-1
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 6
Date of Birth: July 5, 1977
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 181
- 14th appearance (1996-2009, except ‘06) in Halle (24-12 record, Winner in 1999, Runner-up in 2002-03)

Youzhny FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
W: Munich (d Cilic); F: Rotterdam (l Soderling); Dubai (l Djokovic); QF: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Soderling); Roland Garros (l Berdych)
YTD W-L: 25-8
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 6
Date of Birth: June 25, 1982
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 14
- Eighth appearance (2002-08) in Halle (9-6 record, SF in 2003, QF in 2002, ‘07)
Simon Greul (GER) vs (2) Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) Davydenko Leads 1-0
07 ATP Masters Series Miami (U.S.A.) Hard R64 Nikolay Davydenko 6-4 6-0

Greul FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 8-16
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: April 13, 1981
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 66
-  First appearance in Halle

Davydenko FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
W: Doha (d Nadal); SF: Rotterdam (l Soderling); QF: Australian Open (l Federer)
YTD W-L: 14-3
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 20
Date of Birth: June 2, 1981
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 5
- Fourth appearance (2003-04, ’07) in Halle (1-3 record, 2nd Rd. in 2007)

Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) vs (5) Radek Stepanek (CZE) Stepanek Leads 3-1
05 Adelaide (Australia) Hard R32 Radek Stepanek 6-3 6-4
07 Rotterdam (The Netherlands) Hard R16 Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6(12) 7-6(6)
07 Gstaad (Switzerland) Clay R16 Radek Stepanek 7-5 6-3
09 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Radek Stepanek 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-3
Other Meeting:
00 Eckental CH (Germany) Carpet R32 Radek Stepanek 6-3 6-3

Kohlschreiber FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
SF: Auckland (l Clement); QF: San Jose (l Istomin); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Ferrer); Munich (l Baghdatis)
YTD W-L: 19-13
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 2
Date of Birth: October 16, 1983
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 35
- Sixth appearance (2005-09) in Halle (12-5 record, Runner-up in 2008, SF in ’07, ‘09)

Stepanek FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
F: Brisbane (l Roddick)
YTD W-L: 6-5
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 4
Date of Birth: November 27, 1978
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 25
- Fourth appearance (2002-03, ‘08) in Halle (2-3 record, QF in 2003)

(1) Roger Federer (SUI) vs Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) Federer Leads 10-0
02 Moscow (Russia) Carpet R16 Roger Federer 6-1 6-4
03 Marseille (France) Hard R16 Roger Federer 6-3 6-3
03 Munich (Germany) Clay F Roger Federer 6-1 6-4
03 Vienna (Austria) Hard QF Roger Federer 6-3 6-3
04 Dubai (U.A.E.) Hard SF Roger Federer 7-6(7)6-2
05 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R32 Roger Federer 6-3 5-2 ret
05 Bangkok (Thailand) Hard SF Roger Federer 6-3 6-4
07 Basel (Switzerland) Hard F Roger Federer 6-3 6-4
08 ATP Masters Series Hamburg Clay R32 Roger Federer 6-1 6-3
08 Basel (Switzerland) Hard R16 Roger Federer 7-6(6)7-6(1)

Federer FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
W: Australian Open (d Murray); F: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (l Nadal); SF: Doha (l Davydenko); Estoril (l Montanes); QF: Roland Garros (l Soderling)
YTD W-L: 23-7
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 62
Date of Birth: August 8, 1981
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 2
- Ninth appearance (2000-06, ‘08) in Halle (32-3 record, Winner in 2003-06, ‘08)
  
Nieminen FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
SF: Delray Beach (l Gulbis)
YTD W-L: 9-12
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: July 23, 1981
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 65
- Fourth appearance (2006-08) in Halle (4-3 record, SF in 2007)

(6) Jurgen Melzer (AUT) vs (Q) Alexandre Kudryavtsev (RUS)   First Meeting

Melzer FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
SF: Zagreb (l Cilic); Dubai (l Youzhny); Roland Garros (l Nadal); QF: Auckland (l Clement); Rotterdam (l Davydenko); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (l Almagro)
YTD W-L: 25-13
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 2
Date of Birth: May 22, 1981
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 16
- Fourth appearance (2005, ’07, ‘09) in Halle (3-3 record, QF in 2009)

Kudryavtsev FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 0-0
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: October 26, 1985
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 233
-  First appearance in Halle

Court 1
(WC) Andreas Beck (GER) vs Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)  First Meeting

Florent Serra (FRA) vs (WC) Mischa Zverev (GER)  Zverev Leads 3-1
07 Umag (Croatia) Clay R32 Mischa Zverev 6-0 7-5
08 New Haven (U.S.A.) Hard R64 Mischa Zverev 6-2 7-6(6)
08 St. Petersburg (Russia) Hard R32 Mischa Zverev 6-4 6-2
09 Delray Beach (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Florent Serra 6-3 4-6 6-4
Other Meetings:
07 ATP Masters Series Hamburg Q  Clay Q1- Florent Serra 2-6 6-2 6-0
09 Sunrise CH (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Mischa Zverev 7-5 6-4

(Q) Mikhail Ledovskikh (RUS) vs Benjamin Becker (GER)  First Meeting

Court 2
Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) vs Olivier Rochus (BEL)  First ATP Meeting
Other Meeting:
09 Heilbronn CH (Germany) Carpet R32 Olivier Rochus 6-2 6-4

(Q) Noam Okun (ISR) vs Alejandro Falla (COL)   First ATP Meeting
Other Meeting:
04 Mexico City CH (Mexico) Hard R32 Noam Okun 3-6 6-4 6-3