Wednesday Briefing - Hamburg, Atlanta

© Bongarts/Getty ImagesGael Monfils, who returns for Hamburg for the first time in five years, leads the field this week.

HAMBURG WEDNESDAY PREVIEW –  TOP SEED MONFILS, ’10 FINALIST MELZER, FOUR GERMANS IN ACTION
Second round action continues on Wednesday at bet-at-home Open German Tennis Championships 2011 with the top seed and four Germans on the Centre Court schedule. Germans have compiled a 7-2 record in the first two days of play.

In the opening match, No. 12 seed Marin Cilic of Croatia takes on German qualifier Bastian Knittel.  Cilic has reached the quarter-finals or better in six tournaments this season and he owns a 23-13 match record (8-5 on clay). His best result was a runner-up in Marseille (l. to Soderling) in February. The 27-year-old Knittel, who is ranked No. 187, posted his first career ATP World Tour match win over Ivan Dodig on Monday. This is his third career ATP World Tour tournament (1-2). He is 12-12 in Challengers with one title.

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In the second match, top German and No. 6 seed Florian Mayer meets Turkish qualifier Marsel Ilhan. This is their first ATP World Tour meeting but Mayer won two Challenger matches two years ago. The No. 20-ranked Mayer comes in with a 30-18 match record on the year (13-7 on clay) and his best result was a runner-up in Munich in May (l. to Davydenko). Ilhan is 4-7 this season and he’s trying to defeat a German opponent for the second straight day. On Tuesday he made his Hamburg debut with a 62 46 76(5) win over Philipp Petzschner.
 
In the third match, top seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils squares off with Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos for the first time. Monfils is ranked a career-high No. 7 and comes in with a 19-8 match record on the season (9-5 on clay). This is Monfils’ first appearance in Hamburg in five years. His best 2011 results are a pair of semi-finals and quarter-finals, including at Roland Garros. Ramos is playing in his first full season on the ATP World Tour and he has a 6-6 match record on clay. The 23-year-old Barcelona native is ranked No. 83.

In the fourth match, German wild card Cedrik-Marcel Stebe attempts to defeat No. 11 seed/former World No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko for the second week in a row. Last week in Stuttgart, the 20-year-old left-hander posted wins over Davydenko and Roland Garros quarter-finalist Fabio Fognini before losing in his first ATP World Tour quarter-final to Pablo Andujar. Davydenko, who won the title here two years ago, is 16-7 lifetime in Hamburg. In May, he won his 21st career ATP World Tour title in Munich (d. Mayer) and in January was runner-up in Doha.

In the final match on, No. 16 seed Albert Montanes of Spain and German No. 2 Philipp Kohlschreiber meet for the first time. Montanes, who is making his fourth appearance in Hamburg (3-3), reached the quarter-finals in 2008, is 16-16 on the season (13-11 on clay). His best result was the semi-finals in Casablanca in April. Last month Kohlschreiber captured his third career ATP World Tour title in Halle (d. Petzschner). He also was a quarter-finalist in Munich in May. He’s trying to reach the third round here for the third straight year (4-7 mark).

On outside courts, there are five matches, all involving seeds – No. 2 and last year’s runner-up Jurgen Melzer of Austria, No. 3 Nicolas Almagro of Spain, No. 8 Fernando Verdasco of Spain, No. 9 Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia and No. 13 Andreas Seppi of Italy. Melzer, Almagro and Verdasco have all ranked in the Top 10 this year. Seppi captured his first career ATP World Tour last month in Eastbourne.

WEDNESDAY SECOND ROUND  FED-EX HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play by Court

Centre Court 

(12) Marin Cilic (CRO) vs (Q) Bastian Knittel (GER)  First Meeting

Cilic FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
F: Marseille (l Soderling); QF: Zagreb (l Mayer); Rotterdam (l Troicki); Munich (l Davydenko); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (l Nadal); London / Queen's Club (W/O vs Murray)
YTD W-L: 23-13 (8-5 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 5
Date of Birth: September 28, 1988
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 32

Knittel FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 1-1 (1-1 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: August 8, 1983
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 187

(6) Florian Mayer (GER) vs (Q) Marsel Ilhan (TUR) First ATP Meeting
Other Meetings:
09 Bangkok CH (Thailand) Hard QF Florian Mayer 6-4 2-6 6-1
09 Istanbul CH (Turkey) Hard QF Florian Mayer 6-4 6-4

Mayer FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
F: Munich (l Davydenko); SF: Sydney (l Troicki); Zagreb (l Berrer); QF: Brisbane (l Stepanek); Dubai (l Djokovic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (l Murray); Halle (l Monfils)
YTD W-L: 30-18 (13-7 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: October 5, 1983
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 20

Ilhan FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 4-7 (2-1 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: June 11, 1987
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 117

(1)Gael Monfils (FRA) vs (Q) Albert Ramos (ESP)   First Meeting

Monfils FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
SF: San Jose (W/O vs Raonic); Halle (l Kohlschreiber); QF: Barcelona (l Nadal); Roland Garros (l Federer)
YTD W-L: 19-8 (9-5 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 3
Date of Birth: September 1, 1986
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 7

Ramos FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 6-6 (6-6 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: January 17, 1988
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 83

(WC) Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (GER) vs (11) Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) Stebe Leads 1-0
11 Stuttgart (Germany) Clay R32 Cedrik-Marcel Stebe  3-6 6-1 6-4

Stebe FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
QF: Stuttgart (l Andujar)
YTD W-L: 3-3 (3-1 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: October 9, 1990
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 168

Davydenko FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
W: Munich (d Mayer); F: Doha (l Federer)
YTD W-L: 14-14 (8-6 on clay)
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 21
Date of Birth: June 2, 1981
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 29

(16) Albert Montanes (ESP) vs Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)   First Meeting

Montanes FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
SF: Casablanca (l Andujar); QF: Buenos Aires (l Chela); Belgrade (l Lopez)
YTD W-L: 16-16 (13-11 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 5
Date of Birth: November 26, 1980
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 49

Kohlschreiber FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
W: Halle (d Petzschner); QF: Auckland (l Ferrer); Munich (l Stepanek)
YTD W-L: 21-17 (7-8 on clay)
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 3
Date of Birth: October 16, 1983
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 43

M 1 Court

Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP) vs (2) Jurgen Melzer (AUT) Melzer Leads 2-1
09 Bastad (Sweden) Clay R16 Jurgen Melzer 6-2 6-2
10 ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (China) Hard R32 Jurgen Melzer 6-3 7-6(2)
11 ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (Spain) Clay R32 Daniel Gimeno-Traver 7-6(8) 6-3
 
(8) Fernando Verdasco (ESP) vs Pablo Andujar (ESP)  Tied 1-1
09 s-Hertogenbosch (The Netherlands) Grass R32 Fernando Verdasco 6-3 7-5
11 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami Hard R64 Pablo Andujar 3-6 7-6(3)  6-4

M 2 Court

Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs (13) Andreas Seppi (ITA)  Stepanek Leads 1-0
08 Sydney (Australia) Hard R16 Radek Stepanek 7-5 2-6 6-4
Other Meeting:
11 Prostejov CH (Czech Republic) Clay QF Radek Stepanek 7-5 6-4

Juan Monaco (ARG) vs (9) Janko Tipsarevic (SRB)  Monaco Leads 1-0
09 ATP World Team Chp. (Duesseldorf) Clay RR Juan Monaco 6-4 7-6(8)

(LL) Lukas Rosol (CZE) vs (3) Nicolas Almagro (ESP)   First Meeting

ATLANTA WEDNESDAY PREVIEW - ALL-AMERICAN CLASH BETWEEN ISNER & BLAKE HIGHLIGHTS DAY 3
The first four quarter-final berths are up for grabs at the Atlanta Tennis Championships on Wednesday, with the first four second round matches taking the courts of the ATP World Tour 250 tournament.

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First up on Stadium court is No. 2 seed Kevin Anderson against American Michael Russell. Anderson has been playing the best tennis of his career this year, winning his first ATP World Tour title at Johannesburg and reaching the quarter-finals or better four other times; now he will try to reach his sixth quarter-final of the year but will have to get through 33-year-old grinder Russell, who won their only previous ATP World Tour meeting at Indian Wells earlier this year (Russell has also won two of their three Challenger meetings). Both players did well here last year, Russell reaching the quarters and Anderson reaching the semis (both lost to John Isner).

Next up is Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller against American wild card Robby Ginepri. Muller, who like Anderson and Russell lost to Isner here last year (in the second round), has worked his way back into the Top 100 this year thanks to some strong results on the Challenger circuit (one title, three more finals) and the 2008 US Open quarter-finalist will next face former Top 15 player Ginepri, who also scored his best Grand Slam result at the US Open - he was a semi-finalist there in 2005. The pair’s only three meetings all came within a matter of months during 2005, with Muller winning in L.A. but Ginepri retaliating with wins at the US Open and Tokyo.

Last up on Stadium is No. 3 seed John Isner against 10-time ATP World Tour title winner James Blake in a battle of Tampa residents. Isner is a former No. 18 currently at No. 35, Blake is a former No. 4 now at No. 91. But both have shown some impressive form recently, Isner winning his second ATP World Tour title just two weeks ago in Newport, and Blake winning a pair of Challenger titles and now 8-7 in ATP World Tour matches this season. While Isner was a finalist here last year and Blake did lose first round, Blake does love playing on American soil - he has won five of his 10 career ATP World Tour titles at American hard court events. The 26-year-old Isner and the 31-year-old Blake will be playing each other for the first time although they have had plenty of battles in practice at Saddlebrook.

WEDNESDAY SECOND ROUND FED-EX HEAD 2 HEADS - In Order of Play by Court

Stadium

Michael Russell (USA) vs (2) Kevin Anderson (RSA) Russell Leads 1-0
11 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells  Hard R128 Michael Russell 6-7(4) 6-3 6-4
Other Meetings:
08 Nashville CH (U.S.A.) Hard QF Michael Russell 6-3 3-6 6-3
08 Champaign CH (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Kevin Anderson 6-4 6-2
09 Rome-2 CH (Italy) Clay R16 Michael Russell 6-3 7-6

Russell FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
QF: Memphis (l Del Potro)
YTD W-L: 7-12 (6-6 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: May 1, 1978
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 102

Anderson FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
W: Johannesburg (d Devvarman); SF: Brisbane (l Roddick); QF: Delray Beach (l Del Potro); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Djokovic); Estoril (l Verdasco)
YTD W-L: 25-16 (16-7 on hard)
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: May 18, 1986
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 34

Gilles Muller (LUX) vs (WC) Robby Ginepri (USA) Ginepri Leads 2-1
05 Los Angeles (U.S.A.) Hard QF Gilles Muller 7-6(5) 7-5
05 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R64 Robby Ginepri 6-1 6-1 6-4
05 Tokyo (Japan) Hard R16 Robby Ginepri 6-4 6-4

Muller FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 7-3 (5-2 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: May 9, 1983
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 82

Ginepri FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 1-0 (1-0 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 3
Date of Birth: October 7, 1982
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 369

James Blake (USA) vs (3) John Isner (USA)   First Meeting

Blake FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 8-7 (7-5 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 10
Date of Birth: December 28, 1979
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 91

Isner FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
W: Newport (d Rochus); QF: Auckland (l Nalbandian); Houston (l Karlovic)
YTD W-L: 16-14 (6-6 on hard)
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 2
Date of Birth: April 26, 1985
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 35

Court 1

(Q) Marinko Matosevic (AUS) vs Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)   First Meeting