SUNDAY PREVIEW – RODDICK MAKES 50th FINAL SHOWING, RAONIC LOOKS FOR SECOND TITLE

The championship of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships on Sunday is a first-time meeting between two-time Memphis champion Andy Roddick and rising Canadian star Milos Raonic, a wild card entry. Both players have been broken four times each this week Roddick is appearing in his fifth final here, winning titles in 2002 and ’09 while reaching finals in 2003 and ’07. He owns a 34-7 career mark here. The 29-year-old Roddick is making his 50th final showing (29-20). Roddick is trying to extend his title streak to 11 consecutive years by earning his 30th career crown.

Raonic is making his final debut here and last week in San Jose he captured his first ATP World Tour title (d. No. 9 Verdasco).  He is trying to become the first player to win his first two career ATP World Tour titles in back-to-back weeks since Juan Martin del Potro in 2008 (Stuttgart, Kitzbuehel). The 20-year-old Canadian has made the biggest jump in the Top 100 South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings from last year, climbing from No. 156 at the end of 2010 to a career-high No. 59 this week. He will break the Top 50 (around No. 37) next week and will climb to around No. 32 with a title. He will become the highest-ranked Canadian man in ATP Rankings history (since 1973). Greg Rusedski was No. 41 in June 20, 1994. Raonic, who leads the tournament with 97 aces this week, is off to a 12-2 start this season, has played four straight three-set matches.
 
WHAT’S AT STAKE –
Winner:      $264,000 and 500 South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking points
Runner-up: $122,000 and 300 South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking points

FINALS HISTORY –

Roddick:  Appearing in his 50th career ATP World Tour level final - He is 29-20 lifetime in finals (0-1 in ‘11)
Raonic:    Appearing in his 2nd career ATP World Tour final - He is 1-0 lifetime in finals (1-0 in ‘11)

AIMING FOR NO. 30 – Roddick is trying to become the third active player on the ATP World Tour with 30 or more career singles titles, joining Federer (67) and Nadal (43). With a win he would also become the eighth American-born player to win at least 30 career titles. Here are the Americans with 30 or more career titles:
                            No. 
1) Jimmy Connors 109   4) Andre Agassi  60
2) John McEnroe     77   5) Stan Smith  39
3) Pete Sampras     64    6) Michael Chang 34
7) Arthur Ashe       33

MEMPHIS SUCCESS – Roddick is trying to become the third player with at least three titles in Memphis (since 1976). Jimmy Connors won four titles (1978-79, ’83-84) and Tommy Haas three titles (1999, ’06-07).

2011 MATCH WINS LEADERS – Raonic is among the Top 5 match wins leaders on the ATP World Tour: 
W-L Titles 
1) Robin Soderling  16-1      2  (playing in Marseille final) 
2) Nicolas Almagro 13-2      1   (playing in Buenos Aires final)
    Tommy Robredo 13-4      1
4) Stanislas Wawrinka 12-2   1
    Milos Raonic  12-2           1  (playing in Memphis final)

SUNDAY CHAMPIONSHIP FED-EX HEAD 2 HEADS –

(1) Andy Roddick (USA) vs (WC) Milos Raonic (CAN)      First Meeting

Roddick FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
F: Brisbane (l Soderling)
YTD W-L: 11-2
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 29
Date of Birth: August 30, 1982
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 8

• Roddick, 28, the top American and two-time champion here (2002, ’09), is appearing in his fifth final in Memphis (2-2)…This week, rallied to beat Richard Berankis 46 62 63 in the first round on Tuesday, Janko Tipsarevic 61 76(8) on Thursday, rival Lleyton Hewitt 46 63 64 in the quarter-finals and Juan Martin del Potro 63 64 in the semi-finals
• He is playing here for the 11th straight year (34-7 mark) and the two-time winner (2002, ’09) also was runner-up in ’03 (l. to Dent) and ’07 (l. to Haas)…In his previous 10 appearances, only lost once before the quarter-finals, in his 2001 debut (l. to Haas in 2nd Rd.)
• He is playing in his 50th career final on the ATP World Tour (29-20 mark)…He opened the season by reaching the final in Brisbane (l. to Soderling) and then followed with a 4th Rd. showing at the Australian Open (l. to Wawrinka)
•  Ranks No. 2 in aces (71), No. 3 in first serve pts. won (82%) and No. 5 in service games won (92%, 45 of 49 games held) this week
• He and Federer are the only active players to win a title for at least 10 straight years (Federer has 11)
• Last season finished in the Top 10 for a ninth straight year, joining Federer as only active players to accomplish the feat...Posted a 48-18 match record (42-15 on hard)  
 
Raonic FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
W: San Jose (d Verdasco)
YTD W-L: 12-2
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: December 27, 1990
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 59

• Raonic, 20, is appearing in his second straight ATP World Tour final in only his ninth career  tournament…In his Memphis debut this week, he has won four straight three-set matches, including back-to-back third set tie-break wins over No. 2 seed Fernando Verdasco and ’09 finalist Radek Stepanek…He hit a career-high and tournament record (since 1991) 38 aces on Thursday…On Friday, he beat Robert Kendrick 64 36 63, hitting 20 aces
• He leads the tournament in aces (97) and is No. 3 in service games won (93%, 56 of 60), break points saved (80%, 16 of 20) and first serve pct. (67%)…The most aces hit here (since ’91) is Mark Philippousis, who fired 106 in 2001
• The Thornhill, Ontario resident has made the biggest jump from last year’s year-end South African Airways ATP Rankings, improving from No. 156 to No. 59…He will move to around No. 37 thus far and around No. 32 if wins the title
• Last week in San Jose the top Canadian captured his first career ATP World Tour title over Verdasco in two tie-breaks…He was broken once during the week and led the tournament with 58 aces 
• He became the first Canadian to win an ATP World Tour title since Greg Rusedski captured the title in Seoul in April 1995 (he also won in Newport in July 1993)
• At last month’s Australian Open, he qualified and posted wins over Bjorn Phau, No. 24 Michael Llodra and No. 10 Mikhail Youzhny before losing to No. 7 David Ferrer in four sets
• At this time one year ago he was ranked No. 361 and lost in the first round of qualifying at the Belgrade Challenger
 
MILOS MOVING UP – Here is a look at Raonic’s ranking improvement since finishing No. 156 at the end of last season:

Jan. 17 – No. 152  4th RD at Australian Open
Jan. 31 – No. 94 2nd RD in Johannesburg
Feb. 7  -- No. 84 Winner in San Jose
Feb. 14 – No. 59  In Memphis Final
Feb. 21 – around No. 37 and will jump to around No. 32 (if wins title)

DOUBLES FINAL – TOP SEEDS MIRNYI-NESTOR TO FACE NO. 4 BUTORAC-ROJER

Top seeds Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor make their first final appearance together in Sunday’s final as they face No. 4 Eric Butorac and Jean-Julien Rojer in the doubles championship. Mirnyi and Nestor have not lost a set this week while Butorac and Rojer have dropped one set.

Mirnyi has a 37-34 career record in finals while Nestor is 71-46 in finals. The Canadian is the active doubles titles leader on the ATP World Tour. He won titles here in 1996 and 2003 (w/Knowles).

Butorac and Rojer have had a successful partnership since first teaming up in Los Angeles last summer and they were finalists. They have a 26-10 match record together and they are 2-1 in finals. Butorac is 9-3 in doubles finals and Rojer is 2-6.

SUNDAY PREVIEW - SODERLING & CILIC CLASH FOR MARSEILLE CROWN

Nobody has won more matches or more titles on the ATP World Tour this year than Robin Soderling, and on Sunday he tries to beef his numbers up even more as he faces Marin Cilic for the Open 13 title in Marseille.

Soderling, ranked No. 4 in the world and the No. 1 seed this week, has gotten off to a phenomenal 16-1 start to the season, more match wins on the ATP World Tour this year than anyone. He also has two titles under his belt at Brisbane and Rotterdam (no one else has won multiple titles this year). He has always done well here, never falling before the quarter-finals in five tries and compiling a solid 13-4 record going into today’s final.

CIlic, ranked No. 28 and unseeded here, has had a strong year, his 10-4 record going into this final including quarter-finals the last two weeks at Zagreb and Rotterdam. He has spent 11 weeks in the Top 10, all in 2010, but in the last month has seen his ranking dip from No. 15 to No. 28 (last year he was a semi-finalist in Australia and a winner in Zagreb; this year he reached the fourth round in Australia and the quarters in Zagreb).

Soderling has had an uncomplicated path to this week’s final, not dropping a set in three matches so far; Cilic has had to battle, going to three sets in his opener against qualifier Stephane Bohli, beating No. 2 seed Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals then, in the semi-finals, saving match point down 5-3 in the third to beat another seed, No. 3 seed Mikhail Youzhny, 62 16 75. He had been 0-2 against Berdych and 0-4 against Youzhny.

Soderling has been phenomenal on serve this week: he has held 30 of 31 service games, saving seven of the eight break points against him (the only player to break him was Nicolas Mahut in his opening match).

WHAT’S AT STAKE
Winner   €93,450 and 250 South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking points
Runner-up  €49,180 and 150 South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking points

FINALS HISTORY
Soderling Appearing in his 19th career ATP World Tour final (8-10 in first 18 finals… 2-0 in 2011)
Cilic  Appearing in his 9th career ATP World Tour final  (5-3 in first 8 finals… 0-0 in 2011)

SUNDAY FINAL FED-EX HEAD 2 HEAD

(1) Robin Soderling (SWE) vs Marin Cilic (CRO)     Soderling leads, 1-0
10 Roland Garros (France)  Clay R16 Robin Soderling  6-4 6-4 6-2

Soderling FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
W: Brisbane (d Roddick); Rotterdam (d Tsonga)
YTD W-L: 16-1
YTD Titles: 2
Career Titles: 8
Date of Birth: August 14, 1984
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 4

• Playing fourth tournament of year (16-1 record); won two of first three events played, at Brisbane (d. Roddick in final) and Rotterdam (d. Tsonga in final); reached 4th Rd. at Australian Open (l. to Dolgopolov in five sets)
• Fifth appearance at Marseille (13-4 record); runner-up in 2004 (l. to Hrbaty in final); SF in 2007 (l. to Simon); QF twice, in 2008 (l. to Ancic) and 2010 (l. to Llodra); is 3-0 so far this year (as No. 1 seed w/1st Rd. bye, d. WC Mahut in 2nd Rd., No. 8 seed Llodra in QFs and Tursunov in SFs)
• Has an 8-10 career record in ATP World Tour finals (7-6 indoors - has won last four)

Cilic FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
QF: Zagreb (l Mayer); Rotterdam (l Troicki)
YTD W-L: 10-4
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 5
Date of Birth: September 28, 1988
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 28

• Playing fifth tournament of year (10-4 record); reached QF twice, at Zagreb (l. to Mayer) and Rotterdam (l. to Troicki); reached 4th Rd. at Australian Open (l. to Nadal); fell 1st Rd. at Chennai (l. to Nishikori)
• Second appearance at Marseille (4-1 record); fell 1st Rd. in 2008 (l. to Youzhny); is 3-0 so far this year (d. qualifier Bohli in 1st Rd., Petzschner in 2nd Rd., No. 2 seed Berdych in QFs and No. 3 seed Youzhny in SFs)
• Has a 5-3 career record in ATP World Tour finals (2-0 indoors)

DOUBLES FINAL

Haase/Skupski (NED/GBR) vs. Benneteau/Tsonga (FRA/FRA)
• Robin Haase and Ken Skupski, unseeded, haven’t lost a set en route to the final
• Julien Benneteau and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, unseeded, have lost one set en route to the final, against Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins in the quarter-finals
• Benneteau and Tsonga are playing their second ATP World Tour doubles final together, having won their only previous one at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Shanghai last fall
• ATP World Tour doubles finals records: Haase (0-2), Skupski (2-1), Benneteau (6-3), Tsonga (4-0)

SUNDAY PREVIEW - FIRST-TIME BUENOS AIRES FINALISTS ALMAGRO & CHELA TO CLASH

They have both played the Copa Claro in Buenos Aires for many years but are now through to their first finals at the clay court event and will duke it out for the ATP World Tour 250 title in the Argentine capital.

Nicolas Almagro, the No. 1 seed, has gotten off to a strong start in 2011, going 13-2 and already picking up his first title of the year last week in Costa do Sauipe. In fact, if he wins in Buenos Aires today he will have won ATP World Tour titles in back-to-back weeks for the first time in his career. He is 11-5 lifetime at this event, his best showing here before this year being the semi-finals in 2007 (falling to Juan Monaco).

Juan Ignacio Chela, the No. 8 seed, had some early losses in Australia but has picked up steam during the South American clay court events the last few weeks, making the quarter-finals at Santiago and the semi-finals at Costa do Sauipe. The Argentine had played this event in his hometown 10 times before but had never been past the semi-finals (going that far in 2002 and 2008, falling to Agustin Calleri and David Nalbandian).

Almagro leads Chela in their head-to-head series, 4-2, including the last three straight (although all of those went to three sets). They are 1-1 in Buenos Aires. In their only meeting so far this year, Almagro beat Chela in the semi-finals of Costa do Sauipe last week, 16 62 64 (after the two players stayed on serve through the first nine games of the third set, Almagro broke in the 10th game of that deciding set to take the match).

For the ninth year in a row, a Spaniard or an Argentine will win this title. Spaniards have won it four of the last eight years (Moya in 2003 and 2006, Robredo in 2009, Ferrero in 2010) while Argentines have won it the other four of the last eight years (Coria in 2004, Gaudio in 2005, Monaco in 2007 and Nalbandian in 2008).
 
WHAT’S AT STAKE
Winner   $82,800 and 250 South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking points
Runner-up  $43,600 and 150 South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking points

FINALS HISTORY
Almagro Appearing in his 11th career ATP World Tour final (8-2 in his first 10 finals… all on clay)
Chela  Appearing in his 12th career ATP World Tour final (6-5 in his first 11 finals… 6-3 on clay)

SUNDAY FINAL FED-EX HEAD 2 HEAD

(1)Nicolas Almagro (ESP) vs (8) Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG) Almagro leads, 4-2
06 Acapulco (Mexico) Clay SF Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2 6-2
07 Buenos Aires (Argentina) Clay QF Nicolas Almagro 6-4 6-3
08 Buenos Aires (Argentina) Clay QF Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3 2-1 ret
09 Barcelona (Spain) Clay R32 Nicolas Almagro 3-6 7-6(4) 6-3
10 Vienna (Austria) Hard QF Nicolas Almagro 7-5 3-6 6-3
11 Costa Do Sauipe (Brazil) Clay SF Nicolas Almagro 1-6 6-2 6-4

Almagro FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
W: Costa Do Sauipe (d Dolgopolov); SF: Auckland (l Nalbandian)
YTD W-L: 13-2
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 8
Date of Birth: August 21, 1985
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 13

• Playing fourth tournament of year (13-2 record); started with SF at Auckland (l. to Nalbandian) and 4th Rd. at Australian Open (l. to Djokovic); won first title of year last week in Costa do Sauipe (d. Dolgopolov in final)
• Sixth appearance at Buenos Aires (11-5 record); best prior results were SF in 2007 (l. to Monaco) and QFs in 2005 (l. to Acasuso) and 2008 (l. to Chela); fell 1st Rd. last two years (2009, 2010); is 3-0 this year (as No. 1 seed, d. qualifier Galdon in 1st Rd., Mayer in 2nd Rd., WC Acasuso in QFs and No. 6 seed Robredo in SFs)

Chela FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
SF: Costa Do Sauipe (l Almagro); QF: Santiago (l Giraldo)
YTD W-L: 10-4
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 6
Date of Birth: August 30, 1979
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 35

• Playing fifth tournament of year (10-4 record); 2nd Rd. at Sydney (l. to Troicki) and 1st Rd. at Australian Open (l. to Llodra); strong on clay, reaching QF at Santiago (l. to Giraldo) and SF at Costa do Sauipe (l. to Almagro)
• 11th appearance at Buenos Aires (17-10 record); best prior results were SFs in 2002 (l. to Calleri) and 2008 (l. to Nalbandian) and QFs in 2003 (l. to Gaudio) and 2007 (l. to Almagro); 2nd Rd. five times, 1st Rd. once

DOUBLES FINAL

Ferreiro/Sa (BRA/BRA) vs. Marach/Mayer (AUT/ARG)
• Franco Ferreiro and Andre Sa, unseeded, beat No. 1 seeds Bracciali/Starace en route to the final
• Ferreiro and Sa are playing their first ATP World Tour doubles final together
• Oliver Marach and Leonardo Mayer, unseeded, beat No. 2 seeds Almagro/Chela en route to the final
• Marach and Mayer are playing their first ATP World Tour doubles final together