BASEL SATURDAY PREVIEW – DJOKOVIC, FEDERER ONE WIN AWAY FROM THIRD BASEL TITLE MATCH
The current No. 1 and arguably the all-time No. 1 are just one win away from a tantalising clash at the Swiss Indoors Basel, but they’ll have to get past tough opponents in Saturday’s semi-finals.

The first semi-final pits World No. 1 Novak Djokovic against fast-rising Japanese Kei Nishikori. Djokovic returned from a six-week back injury lay-off here in Basel and although he has shown a little bit of rust, losing sets in two of his first three matches here, he just keeps winning, his record this year now 67-3 (by winning his quarter-final match with Marcos Baghdatis he passed Rafael Nadal for most ATP World Tour match wins this year). Nishikori has been playing very well this fall season however, leaving the US Open ranked outside the Top 50 and now No. 32, this being his third semi-final in four tournaments since (he has also made semi-finals at Kuala Lumpur and the ATP Masters 1000 event in Shanghai). He has also scored two of his three career Top 10 wins since the last Grand Slam of the year (Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Shanghai, Tomas Berdych in Basel). He is 0-2 in his career against reigning No. 1s (both losses to Nadal). He lost to Djokovic last year at Roland Garros.

"Djokovic is playing unbelievable this year," Nishikori said. "He doesn't have many weaknesses, so I will need to play a bit more aggressive than usual and play my best tennis to beat him."

The second semi-final pits No. 3 seed Roger Federer against Stanislas Wawrinka, an all-Swiss affair. Federer is playing in his hometown of Basel for the 12th time and has a 41-7 record here (the only non-Grand Slam tournament he has won more than 40 matches at). But his results here have been even more impressive in recent years: while he was 14-6 in his first six appearances between 1998 and 2003 (with no titles), after missing the tournament for two years he has been an amazing 27-1 in his last six appearances, including this week (titles in 2006-07-08 and last year, and a runner-up finish to Djokovic in 2009). He will now try to reach his sixth consecutive final here against countryman Wawrinka, who is in his third and biggest semi-final of the year (his first two came at the ATP World Tour 250 level). Federer has dominated their head-to-head, 9-1, with Wawrinka’s only win coming on clay (Federer is 6-0 on hard courts and 3-1 on clay).

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ALL-SWISS SEMI-FINALS – This is the fourth all-Swiss semi-final on the ATP World Tour in the past 30 years, the second in three years in Basel:
2011 - Basel (Federer vs. Wawrinka)
2009 - Basel (Federer d. Chiudinelli)
1995 - Gstaad (Hlasek d. Rosset)
1993 - Marseille (Rosset d. Hlasek)

HOMETOWN SUCCESS – Basel is the sixth different tournament Federer has won at least 40 matches in during his career (the only one other than a Grand Slam event):
                             W-L    Titles
1) US Open            61-7      5
2) Wimbledon        59-7       6
Australian Open     59-8       4
4) Roland Garros   49-12     1
5)  Basel               41-7       4
6)   Miami             40-11     2

BATTLE FOR LONDON -- There are three spots remaining for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour finals in London.  Here are the updated 2011 ranking points leaders going into Saturday:
Bold indicates qualified X-playing in Basel  #-playing in Valencia 
1 Novak Djokovic          13,295-X (add 75 pts. w/SF win)  
2 Rafael Nadal               9,500   
3 Andy Murray               7,200 
4 Roger Federer             5,350-X (add 120 pts. w/SF win) 
5 David Ferrer                4,300-# (add 120 pts. w/SF win) 
6 Tomas Berdych              2,940  
7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga         2,935  
8 Mardy Fish                     2,875 
======================================== 
9  Nicolas Almagro            2,370 
10 Juan Martin del Potro    2,315-# (add 120 pts. w/SF win and will go to No. 9)
11 Janko Tipsarevic           2,305
12 Gilles Simon                 2,155
13 Robin Soderling            2,080
14 Gael Monfils                 1,925
15 Alexandr Dolgopolov    1,835
16 Stanislas Wawrinka       1,810-X (add 120 pts. w/SF win)
 
SEMI-FINAL FEDEX HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play

Centre Court

(1) Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs (WC) Kei Nishikori (JPN) Djokovic Leads 1-0
10 Roland Garros (France) Clay R64 Novak Djokovic 6-1 6-4 6-4

Djokovic FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
W (10): Australian Open (d Murray); Dubai (d Federer); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (d Nadal); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (d Nadal); Belgrade (d Lopez); ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (d Nadal); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (d Nadal); Wimbledon (d  Nadal); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Montreal (d Fish); US Open (d Nadal); F (1): ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati (l Murray); SF(1): Roland Garros (l Federer)
YTD W-L: 67-3 (43-2 on hard)
YTD Titles: 10/Career Titles: 28
Date of Birth: May 22, 1987
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 1

• Djokovic, 24, is appearing in his 13th semi-final in as many tournaments this season and owns an outstanding 67-3 match record (43-2 on hard courts)
• The World No. 1 returned on Tuesday with a 62 46 75 victory over Belgian Xavier Malisse, on Thursday defeated Polish qualifier Lukasz Kubot in 55 minutes and on Friday came back to beat Marcos Baghdatis 26 62 63…He improved to 12-1 in Basel (won title two years ago, runner-up last year)
• He has won a career-high 10 titles in 11 finals, including three Grand Slam crowns and a record five ATP Masters 1000 titles…This is his first tourney since capturing first US Open on Sept. 12 (d. Nadal)
• He played in Davis Cup semi-final vs. Argentina on Sept. 18 and retired vs. del Potro due to back injury
• Prior to US Open, he retired in final at ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati (vs. Murray) due to right shoulder
• In August , he captured ninth title of the year, defeating Mardy Fish 62 36 64 in Montreal in first tournament as No. 1…That was only set he lost during week…He had a 57-1 start, the best  record since 1984 when John McEnroe went 59-1
• He became the first player to win a title in World No. 1 tournament debut since Pete Sampras in April 1993 in Hong Kong …He took over the top spot on July 4 after capturing his first Wimbledon crown (d. Nadal)…This is the 18th straight week he’s No. 1 and clinched year-end No. 1 when Nadal lost in the third round in Shanghai on Oct. 13
• The Belgrade native is 20-2 vs. Top 10 opponents, defeating rivals Nadal six times and Federer four times…His 20 Top 10 wins surpasses his previous best total (15-12 in 2009)…Last year went 4-8
• His first loss came to Federer in the semi-finals at Roland Garros in June, which snapped a 43-match winning streak going back to last year’s Davis Cup final (41 in 2011)…Since loss he won 16 in a row
• He became the first player to win five ATP Masters 1000 titles in a season (since 1990) and he is one of three players (Federer, Nadal) to earn four (or more) ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles in a year… Four of his five Masters 1000 titles have come over Nadal (two on clay and hard courts), other over Fish …He is the only player to defeat both Nadal and Federer three straight times in a season
• In May he won his hometown title in Belgrade (d. Lopez) in his clay court season debut
• His five other titles have come on hard courts against Top 10 opponents, winning his second Australian Open (d. No. 5 Murray), Dubai (d. No. 2 Federer) and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami (d. No. 1 Nadal in both) and Montreal (d. No. 8 Fish)

Nishikori FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
F: Houston (l Sweeting); SF: Delray Beach (l Tipsarevic); Eastbourne (l Tipsarevic); Kuala Lumpur (l Tipsarevic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Shanghai (l Murray); QF: Chennai (l Tipsarevic)
YTD W-L: 35-20 (25-12 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: December 29, 1989
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 32

• Nishikori, 21, a wild card entry, is making his sixth ATP World Tour semi-final showing of the season and third in past four tournaments…He made his Basel debut on Tuesday with a 36 63 62 win over No. 7-ranked Tomas Berdych, his third career Top 10 victory (3-10), on Thursday defeated Andreas Seppi 63 76(4) and on Friday beat lucky loser Mikhail Kukushkin 64 57 64
• The top Asian player on the ATP World Tour has a 35-20 match record on the season (25-12 on hard) and in his last tournament, he reached his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final in Shanghai on Oct. 15 (l. to Murray)
• He came into this year with 26 career tour level matches between 2007-10 and has 35 this season
• After Shanghai, he reached a career-high No. 30 on Oct. 17, becoming the highest-ranked Japanese man in ATP World Tour Rankings history (since 1973), which was held by Shuzo Matsuoka, who reached No. 46 on July 6, 1992…Comes in No. 32 and will move to around No. 26 thus far
• He posted his second Top 10 win over No. 9 Tsonga in the second round of Shanghai (’08 US Open, d. No. 4 Ferrer) and then lost to No. 4 Murray in the semi-finals
• In late September, he reached his fourth ATP World Tour semi-final (or better) of the season in Kuala Lumpur, losing to eventual champion Janko Tipsarevic for the fifth time this year…His best result was a runner-up in Houston (l. to Sweeting) in April…He also was a semi-finalist in Delray Beach in February and Eastbourne in June (l. to Tipsarevic both times)

(3) Roger Federer (SUI) vs Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) Federer Leads 9-1
05 Rotterdam (The Netherlands) Hard R16 Roger Federer 6-1 6-4
06 Dubai (U.A.E.) Hard R32 Roger Federer 7-6(3)6-3
09 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo  Clay R16 Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4 7-5
09 ATP Masters 1000 Montreal  Hard R16 Roger Federer 6-3 7-6(5)
10 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid  Clay R16 Roger Federer 6-3 6-1
10 Roland Garros (France) Clay R16 Roger Federer 6-3 7-6(5) 6-2
10 Stockholm (Sweden) Hard QF Roger Federer 2-6 6-3 6-2
11 Australian Open (Australia) Hard QF Roger Federer 6-1 6-3 6-3
11 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (USA) Hard QF Roger Federer 6-3 6-4
11 Roland Garros (France) Clay R16 Roger Federer 6-3 6-2 7-5

                                   Roger Federer Stanislas Wawrinka
 Sets Won:                            21                      3
 Tiebreak Sets Won:               3                        0

 Match Wins By Surface:
 Clay:                                   3                        1
 Hard:                                  6                        0

Federer FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
W (1): Doha (d Davydenko); F (2): Dubai (l Djokovic); Roland Garros (l Nadal); SF (5): Australian Open (l Djokovic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Djokovic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Nadal); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (l Nadal); US Open (l Djokovic); QF (3): ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Melzer); Wimbledon (l Tsonga); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati (l Berdych)
YTD W-L: 52-12 (34-7 on hard)
YTD Titles: 1/Career Titles: 67
Date of Birth: August 8, 1981
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 4

• Federer, 30, the four-time Basel champion, has a 41-7 career mark…Has reached the final here the past five years and seven overall in 11 showings…He won titles from 2006-08 and last year and was runner-up in ‘09 (along with 2000-01)
• He opened on Monday with a 76(3) 64 win over Italian Potito Starace, on Wednesday defeated Jarkko Nieminen 61 46 63 for the 12th time and improved to 21-2 vs. Andy Roddick with a 63 62 victory
• The Swiss superstar has a 52-12 match record this year (34-7 on hard) and he’s won 50-more matches for 10 straight years…He is playing in his first tournament since the US Open semi-finals (l. to Djokovic in five sets) on Sept. 10…His last match prior to this week was Sept. 18 when he defeated Aussie Bernard Tomic in four sets in a Davis Cup World Group playoff tie in Sydney
• He fell to No. 4 on Oct. 17 and the last time he played in a tournament outside the Top 3 was at ’03 Wimbledon where he entered No. 5
• Has reached the semi-finals or better in nine of 14 tournaments
• He reached the final at Roland Garros (l. to Nadal in four sets) and snapped  Djokovic’s 43-match winning streak in the semi-finals, and followed with quarter-final at Wimbledon (l. to Tsonga in five sets after holding two-set lead)
• He opened the campaign with his 67th career title in Doha (d. Davydenko) and followed with semi-final at Australian Open (l. to Djokovic)
• He has won at least one ATP World Tour title for 11 straight years, best among active players along with Roddick…His 67 titles rank No. 4 on the Open Era titles list
• In late February, he reached the final in Dubai (l. to Djokovic) and following month, he advanced to the semi-finals in Indian Wells (l. to Djokovic in three sets) and in the semis in Miami (l. to Nadal)
• He has 795 career match wins in ATP World Tour level play, which is No. 7 on the Open Era match wins list…Next target: No. 6 Stefan Edberg (806)
 
Wawrinka FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
W: Chennai (d Malisse); SF: Buenos Aires (l Chela); QF: Australian Open (l Federer); Acapulco (l Dolgopolov); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Federer); Gstaad (l Granollers); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Montreal (l Fish)
YTD W-L: 35-18 (22-8 on hard)
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 3
Date of Birth: March 28, 1985
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 19

• Wawrinka, 26, the Swiss No. 2, is appearing in the semi-finals or better for the third time this year, the first since Buenos Aires in February…Comes in with a 35-18 match record (22-8 on hard courts)
• Has a 9-7 career record in Basel and into the semi-finals for the second time (2006)
• In last two tournaments, lost in the third round in ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (l. to Murray) and in second round in Stockholm (l. to Nieminen)
• Has a 16-43 career record vs. Top 10 opponents (3-6 this year) and his last win came over No. 7 Berdych at ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells in March
• Helped his country back into Davis Cup World Group by coming back from 1-2 sets down to defeat Lleyton Hewitt in fifth and decisive rubber on grass in Sydney…In July, played in Davis Cup World Group playoff tie vs. Portugal (on hard) and defeated Frederico Gil in opening rubber
• In Grand Slam play this season, he reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open (d. Monfils, Roddick, l. to Federer), 4th Rd. at Roland Garros (d. Tsonga, l. to Federer), 2nd Rd. at Wimbledon (l. to Bolelli) and 2nd Rd. at US Open (l. to Young)
• He reached the quarter-finals or better in his first five tournaments (17-4 mark) and is 18-14 in last 15 events, including this week
• He opened the season with his third career ATP World Tour title in Chennai (d. Malisse) and then followed with a quarter-final at the Australian Open (d. Roddick, l. to Federer)
• He is trying to reach his 10th career ATP World Tour final (3-6), the second on home soil…Reached his first career final in Gstaad in 2005 (l. to Gaudio)
• In February, he played two weeks on clay, reaching the semi-finals in Buenos Aires (l.  to Chela) and the quarter-finals in Acapulco (l. to Dolgopolov)

POTENTIAL FINAL HEAD-TO-HEADS

Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs Roger Federer (SUI)   Federer Leads 14-10
06 ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo  Clay R64 Roger Federer 6-3 2-6 6-3
06 SUI v. SCG WG PO (Switzerland) Hard RR Roger Federer 6-3 6-2 6-3
07 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R16 Roger Federer 6-2 7-5 6-3
07 Dubai (U.A.E.) Hard QF Roger Federer 6-3 6-7(6) 6-3
07 ATP Masters Series Montreal Hard F Novak Djokovic 7-6(2) 2-6 7-6(2)
07 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard F Roger Federer 7-6(4) 7-6(2) 6-4
08 Australian Open (Australia) Hard SF Novak Djokovic 7-5 6-3 7-6(5)
08 ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo  Clay SF Roger Federer 6-3 3-2 ret
08 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard SF Roger Federer 6-3 5-7 7-5 6-2
09 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami Hard SF Novak Djokovic 3-6 6-2 6-3
09 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome Clay SF Novak Djokovic 4-6 6-3 6-3
09 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati  Hard F Roger Federer 6-1 7-5
09 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard SF Roger Federer 7-6(3) 7-5 7-5
09 Basel (Switzerland) Hard F Novak Djokovic 6-4 4-6 6-2
10 ATP Masters 1000 Toronto  Hard SF Roger Federer 6-1 3-6 7-5
10 US Open (U.S.A.)  Hard SF Novak Djokovic 5-7 6-1 5-7 6-2 7-5
10 ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (China) Hard SF Roger Federer 7-5 6-4
10 Basel (Switzerland) Hard F Roger Federer 6-4 3-6 6-1
10 Barclays ATP World Tour finals  Hard SF Roger Federer 6-1 6-4
11 Australian Open (Australia)  Hard SF Novak Djokovic 7-6(3) 7-5 6-4
11 Dubai (U.A.E.)  Hard F Novak Djokovic 6-3    6-3
11 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells  Hard SF Novak Djokovic 6-3     3-6 6-2
11 Roland Garros (France) Clay SF Roger Federer 7-6(5) 6-3 3-6 7-6(5)
11 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard SF Novak Djokovic 6-7(7) 4-6 6-3 6-2 7-5

                                   Novak Djokovic Roger Federer
 Sets Won:                           30                   43
 Tiebreak Sets Won:              5                     6
 Match Wins By Surface:
 Clay:                                  1                      3
 Hard:                                 9                     11
 
Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)  Djokovic Leads 9-2
06 Umag (Croatia) Clay F Stanislas Wawrinka 6-6(1)  ret
06 SUI v. SCG WG PO (Switzerland) Hard RR Novak Djokovic 6-4 3-6   2-6  7-6(3) 6-4
06 Vienna (Austria) Hard R16 Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3 6-3
07 Vienna (Austria) Hard F Novak Djokovic 6-4 6-0
08 ATP Masters Series Indian Wells  Hard QF Novak Djokovic 7-6(5) 6-2
08 ATP Masters 1000 Rome (Italy) Clay F Novak Djokovic 4-6 6-3 6-3
09 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells  Hard R16 Novak Djokovic 7-6(7) 7-6(6)
09 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo  Clay SF Novak Djokovic 4-6 6-1 6-3
09 Basel (Switzerland) Hard QF Novak Djokovic 3-6 7-6(5)  6-2
10 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo  Clay R16 Novak Djokovic 6-4 6-4
11 ATP Masters 1000 Rome (Italy) Clay R16 Novak Djokovic 6-4 6-1
Other Meeting:
04 Aachen CH (Germany) Carpet R32 Novak Djokovic 6-2 6-3

                                 Novak Djokovic Stanislas Wawrinka
 Sets Won:                         19                        8
 Tiebreak Sets Won:            5                          0
 Match Wins By Surface:
 Clay:                                4                           1
 Hard:                               5                           1

Kei Nishikori (JPN) vs Roger Federer (SUI)  First Meeting

Kei Nishikori (JPN) vs Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) First Meeting

VALENCIA SATURDAY PREVIEW - DEL POTRO EYES NO. 9 SPOT IN RACE, FERRER LOOKS FOR FINAL AGAIN
The road to the Barclays ATP World Tour finals heats up and the World No. 5 tries to keep his Valencia winning streak alive in the semi-finals of the Valencia Open 500 on Saturday.

The first semi-final pits unseeded Spaniard Marcel Granollers, who is looking to reach the final for the second year in a row, against No. 6 seed Juan Martin del Potro in a first-time meeting. Del Potro has been making major progress this week in his bid to qualify for the eight-man Barclays ATP World Tour finals: having started the week at No. 11 in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Year-To-Date rankings and he moved up to No. 10 by winning his quarter-final match. With a semi-final win he will move up to No. 9. The Argentine hasn’t lost a set yet in his first appearance at this tournament. Granollers has been pushed to three sets twice but has had to take out some very notable names so far: No. 7 seed Alexandr Dolgopolov in the first round, new St. Petersburg champion Marin Cilic in the second round (three sets) and No. 3 seed Gael Monfils in the quarter-finals (also three sets). The Spaniard reached his first ATP World Tour hard court final here last year (his other two came on clay - he is 2-1 overall).

The second semi-final is another clash between a Spaniard and an Argentine, top seed and defending champion David Ferrer against wild card Juan Monaco. Ferrer has won his last 14 matches in Valencia (going 5-0 to win the title in 2008, 1-0 before having to withdraw from his second round in 2009, 5-0 again to win the title in 2010 and 3-0 so far this week). The 29-year-old Spaniard will be trying to reach his seventh ATP World Tour final of the season (2-4); meanwhile, the 27-year-old Monaco is trying to reach his first ATP World Tour final since Santiago back in February 2010. Although Ferrer and Monaco are tied in their head-to-head, 3-3, Ferrer has an advantage in two respects: he has won their last two meetings (2009 Hamburg, 2011 Acapulco) and did win their only hard court meeting as well (a 62-minute, 62 62 win at Miami in 2007).

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BATTLE FOR LONDON -- There are three spots remaining for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour finals in London.  Here are the updated 2011 ranking points leaders going into Saturday:
Bold indicates qualified X-playing in Basel  #-playing in Valencia 
1 Novak Djokovic          13,295-X (add 75 pts. w/SF win)  
2 Rafael Nadal               9,500   
3 Andy Murray               7,200 
4 Roger Federer             5,350-X (add 120 pts. w/SF win) 
5 David Ferrer                4,300-# (add 120 pts. w/SF win) 
6 Tomas Berdych              2,940  
7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga         2,935  
8 Mardy Fish                     2,875 
======================================== 
9  Nicolas Almagro            2,370 
10 Juan Martin del Potro    2,315-# (add 120 pts. w/SF win and will go to No. 9)
11 Janko Tipsarevic           2,305
12 Gilles Simon                 2,155
13 Robin Soderling            2,080
14 Gael Monfils                 1,925
15 Alexandr Dolgopolov    1,835
16 Stanislas Wawrinka       1,810-X (add 120 pts. w/SF win)

SATURDAY SEMI-FINALS  FEDEX HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play

Agora

Marcel Granollers (ESP) vs (6) Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)  First Meeting

Granollers FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
W: Gstaad (d Verdasco); QF: Belgrade (l Volandri); Stuttgart (l Ferrero); Kitzbuehel (l Chela)
YTD W-L: 25-24 (11-11 on hard)
YTD Titles: 1/Career Titles: 2
Date of Birth: April 12, 1986
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 34

• Granollers, 25, improved his record to 9-3 in Valencia after defeating No.7 seed Alexandr Dolgoplov in the first round, top Croat Marin Cilic 36 63 75 and No. 3 seed Gael Monfils 76(12) 36 64…Last year’s runner-up (l. to Ferrer) as a qualifier also reached the quarters here in ‘07
• On July 31, he captured his second career ATP World Tour title in Gstaad, defeating countryman Fernando Verdasco…He also advanced to the quarter-finals in Belgrade (l. to Volandri) in May and Stuttgart (l. to Ferrer) and Kitzbuehel (l. to Chela), all on clay
• Has a 25-24 match record on the season (11-11 on hard, 14-12 on clay)…He comes in ranked No. 34 and reached a career-high No. 30 on Sept. 12 after reaching a Grand Slam-best 3rd Rd. at US Open
• Has a 3-10 career mark vs. Top 10 opponents (1-7 this year) after defeating No. 10 Monfils on Friday…His previous win came over No. 8 Robin Soderling in the first round at the ‘10 Australian Open
• His lone ATP World Tour singles title came in April 2008 on clay in Houston where he defeated No. 8-ranked James Blake in the final in three sets

Del Potro FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
W (2): Delray Beach (d Tipsarevic); Estoril (d Verdasco); F: Vienna (l Tsonga); SF (3): San Jose (l Verdasco); Memphis (l Roddick); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Nadal); QF: Los Angeles (l Gulbis)
YTD W-L: 48-15 (33-12 on hard)
YTD Titles: 2/Career Titles: 9
Date of Birth: September 23, 1988
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 14

• del Potro, 23, is appearing in his seventh ATP World Tour semi-final of the season and second in as many weeks…He made his Valencia debut Wednesday with a 64 61 win over Dmitry Tursunov and followed with a 64 64 victory over Kevin Anderson…He deeated Sam Querrey 62 75 on Friday
• He is 2-1 in finals this year and last Sunday he reached his second career indoor final in Vienna (l. to Tsonga)…His previous was ’09 Barclays ATP World Tour finals in London (l. to Davydenko)
• Has a 48-15 match record (33-12 on hard) and his last ATP World Tour title came on May 1 in Estoril (d. Verdasco)…In February, he captured title in Delray Beach (d. Tipsarevic)
• He is trying to earn one of the three remaining spots for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour finals in London…Stands No. 10 in ATP year-to-date rankings and 560 pts. behind No. 8 Fish…Will move to No. 9 if he reaches the final
• Two weeks ago he lost in the opening round (after bye) to James Blake in Stockholm…It’s his only  opening round loss in 19 tournaments this year
• In September, he led his native country to the Davis Cup final (vs. Spain) with a pair of wins in SF tie in Serbia, defeating Tipsarevic and No. 1 Djokovic, who retired in the second set with a back injury…Prior to that, he reached the third round at the US Open (l. to Simon)
• The Argentine is rapidly improving and getting back to his Top 10 form after being sidelined for more than eight months last year with a right wrist injury… He ranked a season-low No. 484 on Feb. 7  before making his climb back into the Top 20 at No. 19 on July 4 after reaching the 4th Rd. at Wimbledon (l. to Nadal)…Comes in No. 14 this week
• In February, he reached back-to-back semi-finals in San Jose  (l. to No. 9 Verdasco)  and Memphis (l. to No. 8 Roddick) before winning his eighth career title in Delray Beach (d. Tipsarevic)…It was his first final since the ’09 Barclays ATP World Tour finals in London (l. to Davydenko) and first title since the ’09 US Open (d. Federer in five sets)

(1) David Ferrer (ESP) vs (WC) Juan Monaco (ARG) Tied 3-3
04 Kitzbuhel (Austria) Clay R32 Juan Monaco 6-3 6-4
05 Stuttgart (Germany) Clay R32 Juan Monaco 6-4 6-2
07 ATP Masters Series Miami (U.S.A.) Hard R64 David Ferrer 6-2 6-2
09 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid Clay R32 Juan Monaco 6-4 6-4
09 Hamburg (Germany) Clay R16 David Ferrer 4-6 7-5 6-2
11 Acapulco (Mexico) Clay QF David Ferrer 2-6 7-5 6-2

Ferrer FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
W  (2): Auckland (d Nalbandian); Acapulco (d Almagro); F (4): ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Nadal); Barcelona (l Nadal); Bastad (l Soderling); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Shanghai (l Murray); SF (2): Australian Open (l Murray); Tokyo (l Murray); QF (3): ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Fish); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (l Djokovic); Nice (l Dolgopolov)
YTD W-L: 54-15 (28-8 on hard)
YTD Titles: 2/Career Titles: 11
Date of Birth: April 2, 1982
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 5

• Ferrer, 29, the No. 2 Spaniard (behind No. 2 Nadal) and reigning champion, is playing in his ninth ATP World Tour semi-final or better this season
• He opened with a 63 62 win over countryman Fernando Verdasco on Tuesday, followed with a 63 63 victory over Canadian qualifier Vasek Pospisil and 63 64 triumph over Nikolay Davydenko … He has a 20-4 mark in Valencia, capturing the title last year (d. Granollers) and in ‘08 (d. Almagro) and reaching the final in 2005 (l. to Andreev)…Has won 14 straight matches here
• In his last tournament he was runner-up at ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (l. to Murray) on Oct. 16
• He is 2-4 in finals this season…He won ATP World Tour titles in Auckland (d. Nalbandian) in January and Acapulco (d. Almagro) in late February…Also runner-up to Nadal in ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo, Barcelona in April and Bastad (l. to Soderling) in July…He is 11-14 in career finals (4-4 on hard)
• He comes in with a 54-15 match record (28-8 on hard) and third time in his career he’s won 50-more matches (61 in 2007, 60 last year)…Has a 5-8 mark vs. Top 10 opponents this year (1-7 vs. Top 5 w/best win over No. 1 Nadal in Aust. Open QF) and  33-62 in career
• He became the fifth player to qualify for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour finals in London
• This is his third tournament since the US Open where he reached the 4th Rd. (l. to Roddick)
• He’s helped his native country to the Davis Cup final (vs. Argentina) by posting a 3-0 record this year in wins over U.S. in Austin, Texas, defeating Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish, and over France’s Gilles Simon on Sept. 16 in SF tie
• One of seven Spaniards to win an ATP World Tour title this season (Almagro-3, Nadal-3, Ferrer-2, Andujar, Ferrero, Granollers, Robredo)…Spain is 12-19 in finals this season (co-title leader w/Serbia)
 
Monaco FastFacts:
2011 Highlights:
QF: Buenos Aires (l Wawrinka); Acapulco (l Ferrer); Winston-Salem (l Roddick)
YTD W-L: 27-24 (11-11 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 3
Date of Birth: March 29, 1984
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 41

• Monaco, 27,  the No. 3 Argentine on the ATP World Tour (behind No. 14 del Potro, No. 28 Chela), is making his fourth straight appearance in Valencia (8-3 mark)…He’s in the semi-finals for the first time and he reached the quarter-finals in 2008 (l. to Almagro) and last year (l. to Granollers)
• This week en route to his first ATP World Tour semi-final of the season, has defeated  No. 4 seed Nicolas Almagro 64 36 64, top Italian Fabio Fognini 63 61 and former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero 63 63
• He was a quarter-finalist three times, in February in Buenos Aires (l. to Wawrinka) and Acapulco (l. to Ferrer) and in August in Winston-Salem (l. to Roddick) prior to US Open
• He is trying to reach his 11th career ATP World Tour final (3-7), the first on hard courts…His last ATP World Tour final came in Santiago in February 2010 (l. to Bellucci) and last title came in Kitzbuehel on July 29, 2007 (d. Starace)…Won all three of his titles in ‘07
• He enters with a 27-24 match record on the season (11-11 on hard) and his best hard court result was in Winston-Salem…His previous best result was the 3rd Rd. in Miami (l. to Federer) in March
• Has an 11-34 career record vs. Top 10 opponents (2-6) with both of his wins in May over No. 10 Gael Monfils at ATP Masters 1000 Madrid and No. 10 Mardy Fish at ATP World Team Chp. in Duesseldorf
• Comes in ranked No. 41 and looking to finish in Top 50 for fifth straight year (best No. 23 in ’07)

POTENTIAL FINAL HEAD-TO-HEADS
Marcel Granollers (ESP) vs David Ferrer (ESP)   Ferrer Leads 3-0
10 Barcelona (Spain) Clay R32 David Ferrer 7-5 6-4
10 Valencia (Spain) Hard F David Ferrer 7-5 6-3
11 ATP Masters 1000 Miami (USA) Hard R16 David Ferrer 6-1 6-2

Marcel Granollers (ESP) vs Juan Monaco (ARG)  Tied 1-1
08 Warsaw (Poland) Clay QF Juan Monaco 6-4 6-3
10 Valencia (Spain) Hard QF Marcel Granollers 1-6 6-3 6-4

Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) vs David Ferrer (ESP)  Tied 2-2
08 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R64 David Ferrer 6-3 6-4 ret
08 s-Hertogenbosch (The Netherlands) Grass SF David Ferrer 7-6(4)6-1
08 Tokyo (Japan) Hard QF Juan Martin Del Potro 6-1 7-5
09 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami Hard R16 Juan Martin Del Potro 6-3 6-2

Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) vs Juan Monaco (ARG)  Tied 1-1
06 Costa Do Sauipe (Brasil) Clay R32 Juan Monaco 7-5 7-5
09 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R128 Juan Martin Del Potro 6-3 6-3 6-1
Other Meetings:
03 Argentina F2 (Buenos Aires) Clay R32 Juan Monaco 7-5 7-5
07 Sunrise CH (USA) Hard R32 Juan Martin Del Potro 6-2 6-1