Saturday Briefing: Nice, Dusseldorf

© Bongarts/Getty ImagesPhilipp Kohlschreiber will look to bring home the title for Germany in the second singles rubber.

NICE SATURDAY PREVIEW - ALMAGRO LOOKS FOR THIRD TITLE OF SEASON, HANESCU HIS FIRST

One of Spain’s very best will face Romania’s only Top 150 player as the final of the Open de Nice Cote d’Azur, an ATP World Tour 250 tournament, takes place on the red clay courts of Nice on Saturday.

World No. 12 Nicolas Almagro has performed very well in his first appearance at this tournament, losing his first set of the week to Carlos Berlocq but winning six straight since then to make this final. In the semi-finals he posted a 64 64 upset over No. 2 seed Tomas Berdych, which broke a six-match losing streak against Top 10 players. Almagro, who recently spent his first three weeks inside the Top 10 (two at No. 10, one at No. 9), is playing in his fourth ATP World Tour final of the year, his first three all coming during the Latin American clay court swing (winning titles in Costa do Sauipe and Buenos Aires but finishing runner-up over in Acapulco).

World No. 69 Victor Hanescu, who is also making his first appearance here, has not lost a single set this week, beating three unseeded players to start and on Friday taking out No. 5 seed Alexandr Dolgopolov, 63 63. After losing first round at both Madrid and Rome this may have come as a surprise for Hanescu, who is now through to his first ATP World Tour final of the year (his best result of the season before this was one quarter-final).

Almagro is in his 13th ATP World Tour final, going 9-3 in his previous finals, all coming on clay. Hanescu is in his fifth ATP World Tour final, going 1-3, also all on clay.

Almagro leads Hanescu in their head-to-head series, 3-0, their first meeting being extremely close but their two meetings this year comfortably going the Spaniard’s way, straight set wins at both Auckland and Acapulco.

WHAT’S AT STAKE –
Winner:  € 72,600 and 250 South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking points
Runner-up: € 38,200 and 150 South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking points

FINALS HISTORY –
Hanescu: Appearing in his 5th ATP World Tour final…………………He is 1-3 in finals (0-0 in ’11)
Almagro: Appearing in his 13th ATP World Tour final…….………….He is 9-3 in finals (2-1 in ‘11)
  
SATURDAY FINAL FED-EX HEAD 2 HEADS –

Centre Court

Victor Hanescu (ROU) vs. (3) Nicolas Almagro (ESP) Almagro Leads 3-0
09 Barcelona (Spain) Clay R64 Nicolas Almagro 3-6 7-6(7) 2-2 ret
11 Auckland (New Zealand) Hard R16 Nicolas Almagro 6-4 7-6(3)
11 Acapulco (Mexico) Clay R32 Nicolas Almagro 6-3 6-2

Hanescu FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
SF: Casablanca (l Starace)
YTD W-L: 13-15 (11-10 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: July 21, 1981
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 69

• Playing 15th ATP World Tour event of year (13-15 record); QF or better once, at Casablanca (l. to Starace)
• First attempt here (4-0 record - d. qualifier Paire in 1st Rd., LLs Russell and Haase in 2nd Rd. and QFs and No. 5 seed Dolgopolov in SFs)
• Career-high is No. 26 (set July 6, 2009)

Almagro FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
W: Costa Do Sauipe (d Dolgopolov); Buenos Aires (d Chela); F: Acapulco (l Ferrer); SF: Auckland (l Nalbandian); Barcelona (l Ferrer)
YTD W-L: 30-9 (23-5 on clay)
YTD Titles: 2
Career Titles: 9
Date of Birth: August 21, 1985
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 12

• Playing 12th ATP World Tour event of year (30-9 record); has reached QF or better at five of first 11 events, including 13-match winning streak on Latin American clay (winning titles at Costa do Sauipe and Buenos Aires but finishing runner-up at Acapulco); also SFs at Auckland (l. to Nalbandian) and Barcelona (l. to Ferrer)
• First attempt here (3-0 record - as No. 3 seed w/1st Rd. bye, d. Berlocq in 2nd Rd., Andujar in QFs and No. 2 seed Berdych in SFs)
• Career-high is No. 9 (set on May 2, 2011); has spent three weeks in Top 10 (two at No. 10, one at No. 9)

2011 ATP World Tour Title Leaders –
                                    No.
1) Novak Djokovic           7
2) Robin Soderling          3
3) Nicolas Almagro         2
    Juan Martin del Potro  2
    David Ferrer               2
    Rafael Nadal               2

DOUBLES FINAL – (2) Butorac/Rojer (USA/AHO) vs (4) Gonzalez/Marrero (MEX/ESP)
• Eric Butorac and Jean-Julien Rojer, the No. 2 seeds, haven’t lost a set en route to the final, including in their 76(3) 75 semi-final win over No. 3 seeds Frantisek Cermak and Filip Polasek
• Butorac and Rojer are in their sixth ATP World Tour doubles final together (they are 3-2 in their first five)
• Santiago Gonzalez and David Marrero, the No. 4 seeds, have lost two sets en route to the final, one in their first round match and one in their 67(2) 64 119 semi-final win over top seeds Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares
• Gonzalez and Marrero are in their first ATP World Tour doubles final together
• ATP World Tour doubles final records: Butorac (10-4), Rojer (3-7), Gonzalez (2-1), Marrero (2-1)

DUSSELDORF SATURDAY PREVIEW – GERMANY, ARGENTINA MEET FOR FIFTH TEAM TITLE

Germany will face reigning champion Argentina in the final of the Power Horse World Team Cup for the third time on Saturday at the Rochusclub. The winner will become the first country to capture the team title five times in the tournament’s 34-year history.

The host country advanced to the final with a 2-1 Blue Group record, winning the tie-break with Serbia with win earlier in the week. The home nation is bidding to win the ATP World Tour Team Championship for the first time since 2005 (d. Argentina). Germany also won titles in 1989 (d. Argentina), 1994 (d. Spain) and 1998 (d. Czech Republic)

The Argentines will play in their seventh final (4-2) in Duesseldorf. They won in 1980, 2002, 2007 and last year while losing in 1989 and 2005 – both times to Germany.

Leading off the action on Centre Court 1 is top German Florian Mayer against Juan Monaco. Mayer has won three of the previous four meetings (2-1 on clay) and their last meeting came in the first round of Adelaide in January 2006 with Mayer winning 6-2, 6-4. In the second match, Philipp Kohlschreiber attempts to even his record against Juan Ignacio Chela, who has won two of the previous three meetings (1-1 on clay). Chela won their last encounter in Valencia in three sets in the first round in November last year.

MOST TITLES WON  No.    RED GROUP   BLUE GROUP
1  Argentina              4      ARG (3-0)      GER (2-1)
    Germany               4      USA (2-1)      SER (2-1)
    Spain                    4      SWE (1-2)      RUS (1-2)
    Sweden                 4      KAZ (0-3)       ESP (1-2)
    United States         4
6  Australia                3

CENTRE COURT 1 FED-EX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS –

Juan Monaco (ARG) vs Florian Mayer (GER)                            Mayer Leads 3-1
04 Kitzbuhel (Austria) Clay R16 Florian Mayer 6-4 6-4
05 Casablanca (Morocco) Clay R16 Juan Monaco 7-6(4) 6-0
05 Kitzbuhel (Austria) Clay R64 Florian Mayer 5-7 7-6(4) 6-4
06 Adelaide (Australia) Hard R32 Florian Mayer 6-2 6-4

Monaco FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
QF: Buenos Aires (l Wawrinka); Acapulco (l Ferrer)
YTD W-L: 13-13 (11-9 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 3
Date of Birth: March 29, 1984
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 38
- Third Appearance (2009-10) in Duesseldorf (5-1 record)
- This week the 27-year-old Argentine is 5-0 in singles and doubles…He posted a 6-4, 6-0 win over Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan and 7-6(4), 7-5 over American Mardy Fish…In doubles, has won all three of his matches, two with Maximo Gonzalez, taking a 6-4, 6-3 win over Golubev-Kukushkin and 6-2, 6-4 victory over Isner-Querrey...Also teamed (w/Chela) to beat Aspelin-Lindstedt 7-6(1), 6-0.

Mayer FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
F: Munich (l Davydenko); SF: Sydney (l Troicki); Zagreb (l Berrer); QF: Brisbane (l Stepanek); Dubai (l Djokovic)
YTD W-L: 25-13 (11-4 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: October 5, 1983
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 21 (Career-High)
-Third Appearance (2005, ‘07) in Duesseldorf (4-3 record)
- The 27-year-old German has won both of his singles matches this week, opening with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Serb Viktor Troicki and 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 and following with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Spaniard Marcel Granollers…Played in lone doubles match (w/Petzschner) and lost 7-6(6), 6-4 to Russians Andreev-Tursunov.

Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG) vs Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)         Chela Leads 2-1
06 Kitzbuhel (Austria) Clay QF Juan Ignacio Chela 6-4 6-4
10 Hamburg (Germany) Clay R32 Philipp Kohlschreiber 2-6 6-2 6-4
10 Valencia (Spain) Hard R32 Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2 3-6 6-2

Chela FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
F: Buenos Aires (l Almagro); SF: Costa Do Sauipe (l Almagro); QF: Santiago (l Giraldo)
YTD W-L: 16-12 (14-8 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 6
Date of Birth: August 30, 1979
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 43
- Fourth Appearance (2004, ’07-08) in Duesseldorf (9-2 record)
- This week the 31-year-old Argentine is 3-0 in singles, dropping just 12 games, en route to a 6-1, 6-2 win over Mikhail Kukushkin, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Swede Christian Lindell and 6-1, 7-6(1) decision over American John Isner…Also played one doubles match (w/Monaco) and defeated Swedes Aspelin-Lindstedt 7-6(1), 6-0.

Kohlschreiber FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
QF: Auckland (l Ferrer); Munich (l Stepanek)
YTD W-L: 15-12 (6-4 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 2
Date of Birth: October 16, 1983
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 44
- Seventh Appearance (2002, ’06-10) in Duesseldorf (11-8 record)
- The 27-year-old German went 2-1 in singles, opening with a 6-4, 7-6(5) win over Serb Janko Tipsarevic…He then lost to Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, and finished Blue Group play with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Russian Mikhail Youzhny.