HOUSTON THURSDAY PREVIEW –  TOP AMERICAN/SEED FISH, NO. 3 GARCIA-LOPEZ PLAY OPENING MATCHES

The final four second-round matches take place Thursday at the River Oaks Country Club with four seeds looking to reach the quarter-finals.

In the opening match on Stadium, No. 3 seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain meets top Indian Somdev Devvarman for the first time. Garcia-Lopez is looking to reach his third ATP World Tour quarter-final or better on the season and even his match record at 8-8. Devvarman enters with an 11-7 match record, already surpassing his previous wins total (10) from two years ago. In February, he advanced to his second career ATP World Tour final in Johannesburg (l. to Anderson).

In the second match, wild card and 2008 US Clay Court runner-up James Blake attempts to reach his first ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season as he faces No. 7 seed Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay for the first time. Blake saved 18 of 20 break points in his opening round win on Tuesday night. Cuevas  only lost two games in his first round victory. In his last tournament Cuevas defeated No. 8-ranked Andy Roddick in Miami.

On Court 3, Russian Igor Andreev looks for his second win in as many meetings against the top player from Japan, Kei Nishikori. Andreev is trying to reach his first ATP World Tour quarter-final of the year while Nishikori is aiming for his third quarter-final or better. His best result was the semi-finals in Delray Beach in February.

In the evening session, new American No. 1 and top seed Mardy Fish, who won his lone ATP World Tour clay court title in Houston in 2006, meets 23-year-old Spaniard Albert Ramos. Fish is a career-high No. 11 in this week’s South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings and if he wins the title, he will break the Top 10 for the first time next week. Fish is coming off his third semi-final of the year at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

TOP AMERICANS – Fish is the 11th different player to hold the distinction as top American in the history of the ATP World Tour Rankings (since Aug. 23, 1973):

                                        First Became Top American
Mardy Fish                         2011
James Blake                       2006
Andy Roddick                     2003
Pete Sampras                     1992
Jim Courier                         1991
Brad Gilbert                        1990                                                                      
Michael Chang                   1989
Andre Agassi                      1988
John McEnroe                    1980
Jimmy Connors                  1973
Stan Smith                         1973

THURSDAY SECOND ROUND FED-EX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS –  In Order of Play

Stadium

(3) Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) vs Somdev Devvarman (IND)   First Meeting

Garcia-Lopez FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
SF: Zagreb (l Dodig); QF: Doha (l Tsonga)
YTD W-L: 7-8
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 2
Date of Birth: June 4, 1983
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 27

Devvarman FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
F: Johannesburg (l Anderson)
YTD W-L: 11-7
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: February 13, 1985
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 71

(WC) James Blake (USA) vs Pablo Cuevas (URU)    First Meeting

Blake FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 7-5
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 10
Date of Birth: December 28, 1979
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 163

Cuevas FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 8-8
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: January 1, 1986
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 66

(1) Mardy Fish (USA) vs Albert Ramos (ESP)    First Meeting

Fish FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
SF: Memphis (l Raonic); Delray Beach (l Del Potro); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Djokovic)
YTD W-L: 12-6
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 5
Date of Birth: December 9, 1981
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 11

Ramos FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 3-3
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: January 17, 1988
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 113

Court 3
Igor Andreev (RUS) vs (6) Kei Nishikori (JPN)  Andreev Leads 1-0
11 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells  Hard R128 Igor Andreev 6-4 6-7(2) 6-4

Andreev FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 7-10
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 3
Date of Birth: July 14, 1983
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 97

Nishikori FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
SF: Delray Beach (l Tipsarevic); QF: Chennai (l Tipsarevic)
YTD W-L: 10-6
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: December 29, 1989
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 61

CASABLANCA THURSDAY PREVIEW - TOP SEED MONTANES IN ACTION, SIMON BACK ON COURT TOO

The second round of the Grand Prix Hassan II wraps up on Thursday with the last four quarter-final berths up for grabs at the clay court tournament. First up is No. 5 seed Potito Starace against Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo. Both are former semi-finalists here, Starace in 2010 and Ramirez Hidalgo in 2007; Starace is ranked over 50 spots higher but Ramirez Hidalgo has dominated their head-to-head, although they haven’t played since 2005. Next up on Court Central is No. 1 seed Albert Montanes against Filippo Volandri. Although he has a losing record of 6-7 so far this year, Montanes has always played well at this venue, with two deep runs in his four previous appearances (reaching the final in 2007 and the semi-finals in 2009); Volandri has always played well here too though, reaching the semi-finals in his only previous attempt in 2005, and he has also won three of the pair’s four previous ATP World Tour meetings. Last up is No. 3 seed Gilles Simon against Frederico Gil. Simon, a former Top 10 player, started this year outside the Top 40 but is now No. 23 in the world after a very strong last few months, highlighted by a title in Sydney and the quarter-finals last week in Miami. In that Miami quarter-final he had to retire due to a neck injury, however, so how will he do today in his first match back? He won his only previous meeting with Gil handily earlier this year in Sydney. In the only other match on the day’s schedule, over on Court 2, No. 7 seed Fabio Fognini will face unseeded Slovenian Blaz Kavcic.

THURSDAY SECOND ROUND FED-EX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS - In Order of Play

Court Central

(5) Potito Starace (ITA) vs Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo (ESP)      Ramirez Hidalgo Leads 1-0
05 Vina del Mar (Chile) Clay R32 Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo    6-1 6-2
Other Meetings: 
02 Manerbio CH (Italy) Clay R16 Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo  7-6(4) 6-7(3) 7-5
04 Lugano CH (Switzerland) Clay R32 Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo  7-5 6-1
05 Napoli CH (Italy) Clay QF Potito Starace  6-4 6-4
05 Rimini CH (Italy) Clay R32 Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo  6-1 3-6 7-6(3)

Starace FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
SF: Santiago (l Giraldo); QF: Sydney (l Mayer); Costa Do Sauipe (l Dolgopolov)
YTD W-L: 8-8
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: July 14, 1981
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 47

Ramirez Hidalgo FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 3-8
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: January 6, 1978
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 103

(1)Albert Montanes (ESP) vs Filippo Volandri (ITA) Volandri Leads 3-1
04 Bucharest (Romania) Clay R32 Filippo Volandri 6-3 6-1
04 Palermo (Italy) Clay R32 Filippo Volandri 6-2 6-3
05 Acapulco (Mexico) Clay QF Albert Montanes 4-6 6-3 6-4
06 Palermo (Italy) Clay QF Filippo Volandri 6-4 6-2
Other Meetings:
00 Samarkand CH (Uzbekistan) Clay R32 Filippo Volandri 6-3 6-1
00 Prague CH (Czech Republic) Clay F Albert Montanes 6-1 6-1
08 San Marino CH (San Marino) Clay QF Filippo Volandri 6-2 3-6 7-6(5)

Montanes FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
QF: Buenos Aires (l Chela)
YTD W-L: 6-7
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 5
Date of Birth: November 26, 1980
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 24

Volandri FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 3-5
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 2
Date of Birth: September 5, 1981
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 75

Frederico Gil (POR) vs (3) Gilles Simon (FRA)  Simon Leads 1-0
11 Sydney (Australia) Hard R16 Gilles Simon 6-1 6-3

Gil FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 5-7
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: March 24, 1985
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 83

Simon FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
W: Sydney (d Troicki); QF: Dubai (l Gasquet); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Federer)
YTD W-L: 14-8
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 8
Date of Birth: December 27, 1984
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 23

Court 2

Blaz Kavcic (SLO) vs (7) Fabio Fognini (ITA)    First Meeting

Kavcic FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
QF: Chennai (l Berdych)
YTD W-L: 7-6
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: March 5, 1987
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 90

Fognini FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
SF: Santiago (l Robredo)
YTD W-L: 6-9
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: May 24, 1987
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 52