Nine ATP World Tour stars will do battle for four semi-final berths at the Pilot Pen Tennis at Yale on Thursday, with one third round match to finish and then the four quarter-finals taking the courts.

First up on Stadium court is No. 12 seed Thiemo de Bakker against Evgeny Korolev, a first-time meeting between two of ATP World Tour’s brightest young talents. It has been a breakthrough season for de Bakker, as he has shed over 40 spots off his ranking since the start of the year (No. 96 to No. 53 this week); Korolev has gone the other direction (No. 53 to No. 73). But both have recorded their best ever showings at this event, de Bakker making his debut here and Korolev never making it beyond the first round here before this year.

Another first-time meeting is up next, as No. 15 seed Denis Istomin faces qualifier Teymuraz Gabashvili. Istomin is having a breakthrough season, reaching the quarter-finals or better three times before this (one on hard, one on clay, one on grass); Gabashvili had a breakthrough run to his first Grand Slam second week at Roland Garros in the spring but hadn’t won a match during the summer hardcourt season before this week. Both Istomin and Gabashvili had never passed the first round in New Haven before this week.

Next up will be top seed Marcos Baghdatis taking on one of two players, either No. 6 seed Tommy Robredo or No. 9 seed Sergiy Stakhovsky - those two will finish their rain-delayed third round match earlier in the day. Baghdatis has a strong 3-1 head-to-head record on Robredo but the loss came in their most recent meeting, in the fourth round of Indian Wells earlier this year, one round after Baghdatis upset then-World No. 1 Roger Federer; Baghdatis and Stakhovsky have only played once but it was on the Challenger circuit (Baghdatis won).

Last up is No. 10 seed Viktor Troicki against Radek Stepanek, a lucky loser (but ranked 15 spots above Troicki - No. 30 to No. 45). Stepanek holds a 3-1 head-to-head lead against  but Troicki’s lone win came just last week in Cincinnati in straight sets.

THURSDAY QUARTER-FINAL HEAD-TO-HEADS – In Order of Play by Court

Stadium

Evgeny Korolev (KAZ) vs (12) Thiemo de Bakker (NED)    First Meeting

Korolev FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 12-18
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: February 14, 1988
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 73

de Bakker FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
SF: Barcelona (l Soderling); QF: Chennai (l Tipsarevic)
YTD W-L: 23-16
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: September 19, 1988
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 53

(Q) Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) vs (15) Denis Istomin (UZB) First ATP Meeting
Other Meeting:
06 Seville CH (Spain) Clay R32 Denis Istomin 6-4 2-6 7-5

Gabashvili FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 8-11
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: May 23, 1985
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 98

Istomin FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
SF: San Jose (l Verdasco); Eastbourne (l Garcia-Lopez); QF: Hamburg (l Golubev)
YTD W-L: 24-19
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: September 7, 1986
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 46

(1) Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) vs (6) Tommy Robredo (ESP) Baghdatis Leads 3-1
05 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R32 Marcos Baghdatis 7-6(2)6-4 6-1
07 ATP Masters Series Paris (France) Hard QF Marcos Baghdatis 6-4 6-4
09 s-Hertogenbosch (The Netherlands) Grass R32 Marcos Baghdatis 7-5 6-2
10  ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells  Hard R16 Tommy Robredo 7-5 0-6 6-4

Baghdatis FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
W: Sydney (d Gasquet); F: Washington (l Nalbandian); SF: Dubai (l Djokovic); Munich (l Cilic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati (l Federer); QF: Nice (l Mayer); Los Angeles (l Tipsarevic)
YTD W-L: 37-20
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 4
Date of Birth: June 17, 1985
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 18

Robredo FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
SF: Båstad (l Almagro); QF: Auckland (l Isner); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Roddick)
YTD W-L: 15-17
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 9
Date of Birth: May 1, 1982
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 39

OR

(1) Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) vs (9) Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) First ATP Meeting
Other Meeting:
03 Bukhara CH (Uzbekistan) Hard R16 Marcos Baghdatis 7-5 6-2

Baghdatis FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
W: Sydney (d Gasquet); F: Washington (l Nalbandian); SF: Dubai (l Djokovic); Munich (l Cilic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati (l Federer); QF: Nice (l Mayer); Los Angeles (l Tipsarevic)
YTD W-L: 37-20
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 4
Date of Birth: June 17, 1985
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 18

Stakhovsky FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
W: s-Hertogenbosch (d Tipsarevic); QF: Nice (l Verdasco)
YTD W-L: 19-18
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 3
Date of Birth: January 6, 1986
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 47

(10) Viktor Troicki (SRB) vs (LL) Radek Stepanek (CZE) Stepanek Leads 3-1
08 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass R64 Radek Stepanek  6-7(1)  6-7(3) 6-3 6-1 6-2
09 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati  Hard R64 Radek Stepanek 7-6(2) 1-0
09 ATP Masters 1000 Paris  Hard R32 Radek Stepanek 6-4 6-0
10 ATP  Masters 1000 Cincinnati Hard R64 Viktor Troicki 7-5 6-1

Troicki FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
SF: Doha (l Nadal); QF: Zagreb (l Berrer); Belgrade (l Wawrinka)
YTD W-L: 24-23
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: February 10, 1986
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 45

Stepanek FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
F: Brisbane (l Roddick)
YTD W-L: 9-8
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 4
Date of Birth: November 27, 1978
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 30

Grandstand – Third Round – To Continue

(9) Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) vs (6) Tommy Robredo (ESP) Robredo Leads 1-0
10 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (U.S.A.)  Hard   R64 Tommy Robredo 3-6 6-3 7-5

Stakhovsky FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
W: s-Hertogenbosch (d Tipsarevic); QF: Nice (l Verdasco)
YTD W-L: 19-18
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 3
Date of Birth: January 6, 1986
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 47

Robredo FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
SF: Båstad (l Almagro); QF: Auckland (l Isner); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Roddick)
YTD W-L: 15-17
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 9
Date of Birth: May 1, 1982
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 39