KUALA LUMPUR SATURDAY PREVIEW - TROICKI IN FIRST SEMI SINCE CRACKING TOP 20, BAGHDATIS NEXT  
Two of the Top 4 seeds survived the quarter-finals and will now take on the conquerors of the other two Top 4 seeds, as the semi-finals of the third annual Malaysian Open take place in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

The first semi-final pits No. 2 seed Viktor Troicki of Serbia against Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, a wild card entry. Troicki has not lost a set this week and is now through to his first ATP World Tour semi-final since breaking into the Top 20 seven and a half months ago. Standing in between him and the final will be Baghdatis. It has been a difficult season for Baghdatis, his ranking falling from No. 20 at the start of the year to No. 60 this week, a fall largely due to him failing to defend most of the points he earned in last year’s summer hard court season (he was 11-6 last summer but only 4-6 this summer). Baghdatis has lost his past five matches against Top 20 players, but has shown vintage form this week, not losing a set and taking out two seeds en route to this round - No. 6 Alex Bogomolov Jr. and No. 4 Jurgen Melzer (which was a near-Top 20 win - Melzer is No. 21). Troicki and Baghdatis have split two career meetings, both last year and both meetings coming on hard courts.

“It’s helping my confidence to get some wins here,” said Troicki, who came into Kuala Lumpur on a four-match losing streak. “My confidence wasn’t great coming in here. Getting to another ATP semi-final helps me a lot.”

The second semi-final pits No. 3 seed Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia against No. 8 Kei Nishikori of Japan. Tipsarevic and Nishikori have already met four times this year, Tipsarevic winning the three on faster surfaces in straight sets (at Chennai, Delray Beach and Eastbourne) and their clay court meeting in three sets (in Belgrade). He finished extremely well in that Belgrade encounter however, winning 11 points in a row to seal a 26 62 76(0) victory. Nishikori is very match tough this week however - all of his matches before this one went to three sets, and he did pull off the biggest upset of the week in the quarter-finals, ousting top seed Nicolas Almagro, 67(5) 64 64. Tipsarevic may have extra motivation here: he’s the highest-ranked player never to win an ATP World Tour title. If Nishikori gets to the final, he will move from No. 54 to around a career-high No. 43 or 44, and he would become the highest-ranked Japanese man in ATP Rankings history (since 1973). Shuzo Matsuoka was No. 46 on July 6, 1992.  Nishikori reached No. 46 earlier this year on May 2.

Nishikori has an even 1-1 career record in ATP World Tour finals, while all of the other semi-finalists  have under .500 records in ATP World Tour finals (Troicki is 1-3, Tipsarevic is 0-4 and Baghdatis is 4-6).

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SATURDAY SEMI-FINAL FEDEX HEAD 2 HEADS - In Order of Play

Centre Court

(WC) Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) vs (2) Viktor Troicki (SRB) Tied 1-1
10 Sydney (Australia) Hard R16 Marcos Baghdatis 7-5 6-3
10 Moscow (Russia) Hard F Viktor Troicki 3-6 6-4 6-3

Baghdatis FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
SF: s-Hertogenbosch (l Dodig); QF: Brisbane (l Roddick); Rotterdam (l Ljubicic); Washington (l Young); Winston-Salem (l Isner)
YTD W-L: 24-22
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 4
Date of Birth: June 17, 1985
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 60

• Baghdatis, 26, is playing in his  second ATP World Tour semi-final of the year; in June he reached the semis on grass at ‘s-Hertogenbosch (l. to Dodig)
• Third appearance here (6-2 record); has gone one round better every year, reaching 2nd Rd. in 2009 and QFs in 2010 (l. to Youzhny both times); is 3-0 so far this year (as WC, d. No. 6 seed Bogomolov Jr., Devvarman and No. 4 seed Melzer in first three matches)…Leads the tournament in aces (25) and service games won (31 of 33, 94%)…Has also saved 16 of 18 break points (89%)
• He is trying to reach his 11th career final (4-6), the first since last October in Moscow (l. to Troicki)…His last ATP World Tour title came in Sydney in January 2010 (d. Gasquet)
• Career-high is No. 8 (set August 21, 2006)

Troicki FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
F: Sydney (l Simon); SF: Rotterdam (l Soderling); QF: Doha (l Federer); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Ferrer); Halle (l Berdych); Washington (l Isner)
YTD W-L: 36-20
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: February 10, 1986
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 15

• Troicki, 25, is the No. 2 Serb (behind No. 1 Djokovic) and he enters his third ATP World Tour semi-final of year; He was runner-up in Sydney (l. to Simon) in January and a semi-finalist in Rotterdam (l. to Soderling) in February
•  Making tournament debut (2-0 this week - as No. 2 seed w/1st Rd. bye, d. Istomin and No. 7 seed Tursunov in first two matches)
•  He comes in with a 36-20 match record (24-12 on hard) and he reached a career-high No. 12 on June 6 after achieving a Grand Slam-best fourth round at Roland Garros (l. to Murray in five sets)
• He’s trying to reach his fifth career ATP World Tour final (1-3), all on hard courts…Last October he won his first title in Moscow (d. Baghdatis)
 
(8) Kei Nishikori (JPN) vs (3) Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) Tipsarevic Leads 4-0
11 Chennai (India) Hard QF Janko Tipsarevic 6-4 6-4
11 Delray Beach (U.S.A.) Hard SF Janko Tipsarevic 6-4 6-4
11 Belgrade (Serbia) Clay R32 Janko Tipsarevic 2-6 6-2 7-6(0)
11 Eastbourne (Great Britain) Grass SF Janko Tipsarevic 6-2 6-4

Nishikori FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
F: Houston (l Sweeting); SF: Delray Beach (l Tipsarevic); Eastbourne (l Tipsarevic); QF: Chennai (l Tipsarevic)
YTD W-L: 28-17
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: December 29, 1989
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 54

• Nishikori, 21, enters with a career-best 28-17 match record on the season (18-9 on hard) and he’s
playing in his fourth ATP World Tour semi-final of the year…He was runner-up in Houston (l. to Sweeting) in April and a semi-finalist in Delray Beach in February and Eastbourne in June (l. to Tipsarevic both times)
• He reached a career-high No. 46 on May 2, tying the all-time high by a Japanese player, Shuzo Matsuoka (on July 6, 1992)…If he reaches the final, he will move from No. 54 to around No. 43 or 44 (at the moment is No. 47)
• Second appearance here (3-1 record); fell 1st Rd. in 2010 (l. to Baghdatis); is 3-0 so far this year (as No. 8 seed, d. qualifier Gabashvili, Petzschner and No. 1 seed Almagro in first three matches)…Has broken opponents 15 times this week, converting 15 of 25 break point chances
• Has a 1-1 career mark in ATP World Tour finals and his lone title came in Delray Beach, Fla. in Feb. 2008 (d. Blake)

Tipsarevic FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
F: Delray Beach (l Del Potro); Eastbourne (l Seppi); SF: Chennai (l Malisse); Belgrade (W/O vs Djokovic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Montreal (l Fish); QF: Washington (l Monfils); US Open (l Djokovic)
YTD W-L: 42-20
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: June 22, 1984
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 17

• Tipsarevic, 27, is the No. 3 Serb (behind No. 1 Djokovic, No. 15 Troicki)  is the highest-ranked player without an ATP World Tour title in his career (0-4 in finals)
• He is playing in his sixth ATP World Tour semi-final of the year; runner-up twice, at Delray Beach (l. to del Potro) and Eastbourne (l. to Seppi); semi-finalist three times, at Chennai (l. to Malisse), Belgrade (w/o vs Djokovic) and Montreal (l. to Fish)
• He comes in with a career-best 42-20 match record (30-13 on hard) and No. 17 ranking this week…He reached a career-high No. 13 on Sept. 12
• He is making his tournament debut (2-0 this week - as No. 3 seed w/1st Rd. bye, d. Cipolla and No. 5 seed Davydenko in first two matches)
• A member of his country’s winning Davis Cup team last year (w/Djokovic, Troicki)
 

POTENTIAL FINAL HEAD-TO-HEADS –

Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) vs Kei Nishikori (JPN)   Baghdatis Leads 2-0
09 Memphis (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Marcos Baghdatis 7-5 6-3
10 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) Hard R32 Marcos Baghdatis 6-1 6-1

Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) vs Janko Tipsarevic (SRB)  Baghdatis Leads 2-1
05 Tokyo (Japan) Hard R64 Marcos Baghdatis 6-4 6-4
07 Marseille (France) Hard R32 Marcos Baghdatis 6-3 6-4
10 Los Angeles (U.S.A.) Hard QF Janko Tipsarevic 6-3 7-5

Viktor Troicki (SRB) vs Kei Nishikori (JPN)   Troicki Leads 1-0
10 Tokyo (Japan) Hard R32 Viktor Troicki 6-4 6-2
Other Meeting:
08 Bermuda CH (Bermuda) Clay F Kei Nishikori 2-6 7-5 7-6(5)

Viktor Troicki (SRB) vs Janko Tipsarevic (SRB)   Troicki Leads 1-0
08 Moscow (Russia) Hard R16 Viktor Troicki 6-3 6-4

BANGKOK SATURDAY PREVIEW - TOP 3 SEEDS AND YOUNG MAKE UP BANGKOK’S FINAL FOUR
The Top 3 seeds and one of America’s brightest young stars who beat the No. 4 seed, make up Saturday’s semi-finals at the PTT Thailand Open. This is the third time in tournament history (since ’03) the top three seeds are in the semi-finals. The top four reached the semis in 2004 and ’08.

The first semi-final pits No. 2 seed Gael Monfils against unseeded Donald Young, who has been playing some excellent tennis this week, upsetting No. 4 seed and defending champion Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the second round and Japan’s Go Soeda in the quarter-finals. By reaching the semi-finals, Young will break into the Top 50 on Monday, just another milestone in his breakthrough season. But Monfils will be tough - not only did he win their only previous meeting handily three years ago, but he’s the highest-ranked player at No. 9 on the ATP World Tour not to win a title this year, and hungry to change that. He was in the semis here in 2008.

The second semi-final pits top seed Andy Murray against No. 3 Gilles Simon. Murray’s path to the semi-finals has been much smoother, winning both of his matches in straight sets and spending two hours and 38 minutes on the court; meanwhile, Simon has gone to three sets in both of his matches and has spent four and a half hours on the court. Additionally, the head-to-head certainly favours Murray, who has beaten Simon seven times in a row, losing just one set in those seven matches (he lost their first meeting so leads the overall series, 7-1). The Brit is also a perfect 6-0 against Frenchmen this year (including three of his wins over Simon). Murray reached the first of his 27 career tour-level finals here in 2005 (falling to Roger Federer).

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SATURDAY SEMI-FINAL FEDEX HEAD 2 HEADS  - In Order of Play

Centre Court

Donald Young (USA) vs (2) Gael Monfils (FRA) Monfils Leads 1-0
08 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati  Hard R64 Gael Monfils 6-1 6-1

Young FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
SF: Washington (l Stepanek)
YTD W-L: 17-13
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: July 23, 1989
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 55

• Young, 22, is appearing in his second career ATP World Tour semi-final…On Aug. 6, he reached his first ATP semi-final in Washington, defeating No. 18-ranked  Jurgen Melzer (by ret.) and No. 26 Marcos Baghdatis before losing to eventual champ Radek Stepanek…With this week’s result, he will jump into the Top 50 for the first time next week from No. 55 to around No. 46 (if reaches final to around No. 43)
• Has broken opponents a tournament-best 12 times this week and No. 3 in 2nd serve pts. won (59%)
• This is the left-hander’s first tournament since reaching a career-best 4th Rd. at US Open where he posted wins over No. 14 Wawrinka in five sets (2nd Rd.) and No. 24 Chela (3rd Rd.) before losing to No. 4 Murray... Afterwards jumped from 84 to No. 57 and comes in this week ranked a career-high 55
• He has a 17-13 ATP World Tour match record (14-9 on hard) this season and after 6-10 start, has won 11 of past 14 matches since August…Also has a 13-5 mark in Challengers with one title (Tallahassee, d. Odesnik) and runner-up in Savannah (l. to Odesnik) in May
• Has three Top 20 wins and seven overall Top 50 wins this season after defeating No. 35 Garcia-Lopez on Thursday…Has an 1-4 career mark vs. Top 10 opponents and in March in Indian Wells, posted his first Top 10 win over No. 5 Andy Murray in 2nd Rd.
• The Atlanta resident is 3-2 in main draw matches in Bangkok  after 1st Rd. losses in 2008-09

Top 5 Americans – Young is the fifth-highest ranked American on the ATP World Tour:

No. 8 Mardy Fish
No. 14 Andy Roddick
No. 18 John Isner
No. 40 Alex Bogomolov Jr.
No. 55 Donald Young (will move to around No. 46 with SF, around No. 43 with final)

Monfils FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
F: Washington (l Stepanek); SF: San Jose (W/O vs Raonic); Halle (l Kohlschreiber); QF: Barcelona (l Nadal); Roland Garros (l Federer); Hamburg (l Simon); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Canada (l Djokovic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati (l Djokovic)
YTD W-L: 32-13
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 3
Date of Birth: September 1, 1986
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 9

• Monfils, 25, the No. 2 Frenchman (behind No. 7 Tsonga), is appearing in his fourth ATP World Tour semi-final of the season with a 32-13 match record (16-5 on hard)…This is his first showing in Bangkok in three years when he reached the semi-finals…Has held serve 22 of 25 games this week (88%)
• He is trying to reach his 15th career ATP World Tour final (3-11), the second this year
• During the recent North American summer circuit, reached the final in Washington (l. to Stepanek), his first in U.S., and back-to-back quarter-finals at ATP Masters 1000 tourn. in Montreal and Cincinnati (l. to Djokovic both times)…Then lost in 2nd Rd. at US Open (l. to Ferrero in five sets)
• His previous best results were the semi-finals in San Jose in February when he withdrew (vs. Raonic) due to a left wrist injury (sidelined for two months) and in Halle on grass in June (l. to eventual champ Kohlschreiber)
• Parted ways with Aussie coach Roger Rasheed after Wimbledon 3rd Rd. loss (here with Patrick Chamagne)
 
Top 5 Frenchmen – Monfils and Simon are two of the highest ranked Frenchmen on the ATP World Tour:

No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
No. 9 Gael Monfils
No. 12 Gilles Simon
No. 16 Richard Gasquet
No. 34 Michael Llodra

(1)Andy Murray (GBR) vs (3) Gilles Simon (FRA) Murray Leads 7-1
07 ATP Masters Series Rome (Italy) Clay R64 Gilles Simon 6-1 1-6 6-3
08 ATP Masters Series Hamburg  Clay R32 Andy Murray 6-3 6-3
08 ATP Masters Series Madrid (Spain) Hard (I) F Andy Murray 6-4 7-6(6)
08 Tennis Masters Cup (China) Hard (I) RR Andy Murray 6-4 6-2
10 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass R32 Andy Murray 6-1 6-4 6-4
11 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo  Clay R16 Andy Murray 6-3 6-3
11 ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (Spain) Clay R32 Andy Murray 6-4 3-6 6-0
11 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati (USA)  Hard QF Andy Murray 6-3 6-3

Murray FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
W: London / Queen's Club (d Tsonga); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati (d Djokovic); F: Australian Open (l Djokovic); SF: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Nadal); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (l Djokovic); Roland Garros (l Nadal); Wimbledon (l Nadal); US Open (l Nadal)
YTD W-L: 43-11
YTD Titles: 2
Career Titles: 18
Date of Birth: May 15, 1987
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 4

• Murray, 24, the top British player, comes into his ninth semi-final or better with a 43-11 match record on the year (22-6 on hard), winning 14 of the past 15 matches…He is 3-5 in SF matches this season… During that span, won his second title of the year at ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati (d. Djokovic), reached the semi-finals at the US Open (l. to Nadal) and won a pair of Davis Cup matches vs. Hungary
• Has not been broken thus far, holding all 19 games and saving five break points, while winning 74% of second serve points
• Has already qualified for season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London along with Djokovic, Nadal and Federer
• He is making his third appearance in Bangkok (6-2 record), the first since 2006 when he lost to countryman Tim Henman in the first round…The previous year he made his debut ranked No. 109 and reached his first ATP World Tour final (l. to Federer)
• In June, won his second Queen’s Club title in London (d. Roddick in SF, Tsonga in F) and followed with semi-final at Wimbledon (l. to Nadal)…Has an 18-9 career record in finals
• Went into the clay court circuit with a 6-4 match record before reaching the semi-finals in Monte-Carlo (l. to Nadal in three sets)…He then made 3rd Rd. in Madrid (d. Simon, l. to Bellucci) and semi-finals at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (l. to Djokovic) and Roland Garros (l. to Nadal)
• He began the season with a second straight runner-up at the Australian Open (l. to Djokovic) and then lost three straight opening round matches before turning things around on clay in April, going 12-4
• He posted a career-best 21-4 mark in Grand Slam play, reaching SFs or better for first time in a season

Simon FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
W: Sydney (d Troicki); Hamburg (d Almagro); QF: Dubai (l Gasquet); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Federer); Casablanca (l Starace); Estoril (l Raonic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati (l Murray)
YTD W-L: 38-21
YTD Titles: 2
Career Titles: 8
Date of Birth: December 27, 1984
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 12

• Simon, 26, who captured the title here two years ago (d. Troicki) in his last appearance, enters his third  ATP World Tour semi-final of the season with a 38-21 match record (21-10 on hard)
• Has a 15-36 career mark vs. Top 10 opponents, including 3-8 this year, posting wins over No. 10 Fish (Roland Garros), No. 7 Monfils (Hamburg) and No. 6 Ferrer (Cincinnati)
• Has rallied from a set down in his first two matches, over Yen-Hsun Lu 67(4) 75 64 and Matthias Bachinger 36 63 62…Leads ATP World Tour with 12 wins in main draw from a set down this year
• He is the No. 3 Frenchman (behind No. 7 Tsonga, No. 9 Monfils) and he’s a two-time winner on the ATP World Tour, capturing titles in Sydney (d. Troicki) in January and Hamburg (d. Almagro ) in July
• Has a 9-2 career mark in ATP World Tour finals with three titles coming indoors
• He is battling for one of the four remaining spots for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London and he’s No. 11 in the ATP year-to-date rankings, 330 points from No. 8 Tomas Berdych

POSSIBLE FINAL HEAD-TO-HEADS –

Andy Murray (GBR) vs Donald Young (USA)   Tied 1-1
11 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells  Hard R64 Donald Young 7-6(4) 6-3
11 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Andy Murray 6-2 6-3 6-3

Andy Murray (GBR) vs Gael Monfils (FRA)   Murray Leads 3-2
06 ATP Masters Series Hamburg  Clay R64 Andy Murray 6-4 6-1
06 Roland Garros (France) Clay R128 Gael Monfils 6-4 6-7(2) 1-6 6-2 6-1
08 ATP Masters Series Madrid (Spain) Hard QF Andy Murray 6-2 6-2
10 ATP Masters 1000 Toronto (Canada) Hard R16 Andy Murray 6-2 0-6 6-3
10 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris  Hard QF Gael Monfils 6-2 2-6 6-3

Gilles Simon (FRA) vs Donald Young (USA)   Simon Leads 3-0
08 Nottingham (Great Britain) Grass R32 Gilles Simon 6-1 6-4
08 ATP Masters 1000 Toronto (Canada) Hard R64 Gilles Simon 6-1 6-3
10 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R128 Gilles Simon 6-1 6-4 6-2

Gilles Simon (FRA) vs Gael Monfils (FRA)   Simon Leads 2-0
09 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R16 Gilles Simon 6-4 2-6 6-1 ret
11 Hamburg (Germany) Clay QF Gilles Simon 6-4 3-6 6-0