SATURDAY PREVIEW – FEDERER & FERRER MEET FOR 12TH TIME, TSONGA & BERDYCH 2ND
Four of the biggest names in tennis will battle it out at the O2 Saturday in the semi-finals of the  last tournament of the ATP World Tour season, the prestigious Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

The first semi-final of the day features five-time champion No. 4 Roger Federer against No. 5 David Ferrer. Although Ferrer was impressive early in the week in Group A round robin play, beating both Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in straight sets (before losing to Tomas Berdych in three sets), it will be a tough challenge, not only because Federer is on a 15-match winning streak (his equal-biggest since a 21-match winning streak in 2009), but also Federer is 11-0 against Ferrer (he has lost only three sets in those 11 meetings, two of them coming on clay). Both players have made it to this stage of the year-end finale previously, this being Federer’s ninth semi-final (6-2 record in SFs) and Ferrer’s second semi-final (he won his first in 2007 before losing to Federer in the final in Shanghai).

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A Federer semi-final victory would resonate on a number of levels. Firstly, he would become the third player to reach the final here seven or more times (Ivan Lendl reached nine finals here, Boris Becker reached eight). Secondly, he would have his 806th career match win, tying him with Stefan Edberg for sixth all-time in the Open Era (only Jimmy Connors, Lendl, Guillermo Vilas, John McEnroe and Andre Agassi have more). Thirdly, he would be the fifth player to reach 100 career tour-level finals in the Open Era (only Connors, Lendl, McEnroe and Vilas have more). Finally, and perhaps most relevant to his current situation, a win would move Federer past Andy Murray and to No. 3 on the year-end rankings - his ninth straight Top 3 year-end ranking.

The second semi-final pits No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga against No. 7 Tomas Berdych. Both had played the year-end finale once before, falling in the round robin stage - Tsonga 2008, Berdych 2010. But this year they went 2-1 in their round robin groups and qualified for the semi-finals for the first time. Tsonga finished second in Group B behind Federer and Berdych finished first in Group A ahead of Ferrer. They will both be trying to reach the second-biggest final of their careers. Tsonga reached the final at the Australian Open in 2008 (losing to Djokovic) while Berdych reached the final of Wimbledon in 2010 (losing to Nadal).

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Although they did meet at a Challenger in 2004 (with Berdych winning in three sets), this is only the second time they have played on the ATP World Tour. Berdych won their first ATP World Tour meeting in the semi-finals of Beijing last month, 64 46 61.

The doubles semi-final line-up kicks off with top seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan against No. 3  Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor. The Bryan brothers are trying to reach their fifth final at the year-end finale (they have won the title three times and were finalists once); Mirnyi and Nestor are trying to reach the final together for the first time, but both have made it there plenty of times individually (Mirnyi is trying to reach his fourth final here, going 1-2 in his first three, while Nestor is trying to reach his sixth final here, going 3-2 in his first five). The Bryans beat Mirnyi and Nestor in their only previous meeting, a straight set win in the final of Vienna last month.

The second semi-final is the No. 4 seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes against No. 8 Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski. Bhupathi and Paes are trying to reach their fourth final here together (they were runners-up in 1997, ‘99 and 2000) and they have each reached one more final with another partner (both of them losing - so they are each 0-4 in finals here). Fyrstenberg and Matkowski are hoping to reach their first final in five appearances here. The Polish duo beat the Indians in their only previous meeting, a straight set win in the quarters of the US Open this year.

SATURDAY SEMI-FINAL FEDEX ATP Head 2 Head

(4) Roger Federer (SUI) vs (5) David Ferrer (ESP)  Federer Leads 11-0 (23-3 sets)
03 Vienna (Austria)   Hard R32 Roger Federer 6-2 6-2
05 Doha (Qatar)   Hard R32 Roger Federer 6-1 6-1
06 ATP Masters Series Miami (USA) Hard SF Roger Federer 6-1 6-4
06 ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo   Clay QF Roger Federer 6-1 6-3
06 Basel (Switzerland)   Carpet QF Roger Federer 6-3 7-6(14)
07 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo  Clay QF Roger Federer 6-4 6-0
07 ATP Masters Series Hamburg  Clay QF Roger Federer 6-3 4-6   6-3
07 Tennis Masters Cup (China) Hard F Roger Federer 6-2 6-3   6-2
09 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati  Hard R16 Roger Federer 3-6 6-3   6-4
10 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid Clay SF Roger Federer 7-5 3-6   6-3
10 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals  Hard RR Roger Federer 6-1 6-4

FEDERER FASTFACTS

2011 Highlights:
W (3): Doha (d Davydenko); Basel (d Nishikori); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris (d Tsona); F (2): Dubai (l Djokovic); Roland Garros (l Nadal); SF (5): Aust. 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 Masters 1000 Cincinnati (l Berdych)
YTD W-L: 62-12 (44-7 on hard, 14-0 indoor, 20-8 in Tie-breaks, 8-9 vs. Top 10)
YTD Titles: 3/Career Titles: 69
Date of Birth: August 8, 1981
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 4

Tournament History:
• The 30-year-old Swiss native completed round robin play undefeated for the seventh time, finishing Group B play with a 61 36 63 win over No. 8 Fish on Thursday…He is making his ninth semi-final showing in 10 appearances (6-2 in SFs)…On Tuesday he defeated rival Nadal 63 60 in 61 minutes (only lost eight points on serve)…He began title defense on Sunday with a 62 26 64 win over Tsonga (lost six points in five service games in third set)
•  He is making his 10th straight appearance in the year-end finale (37-7 tournament record); five-time champion, in 2003 (d. Agassi in final), 2004 (d. Hewitt in final), 2006 (d. Blake in final), 2007 (d. Ferrer in final) and 2010 (d. Nadal in final); also runner-up in 2005 (l. to Nalbandian in final); SF in 2002 (l. to Hewitt) and ‘09 (l. to Davydenko); fell in RR stage once, in 2008 (went 1-2 in RR stage)
• One of only three players to win this tournament five times (also Lendl and Sampras)

2011 in Review:
• The Swiss superstar enters his 11th semi-final or better with a season-high 15-match winning streak after a pair of Davis Cup wins in September and back-to-back titles in his hometown of Basel and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris (losing only one set in titles run) in his past two events…He is trying to reach his 100th career final on ATP World Tour (69-30 mark)
• He is one of seven players with 800 match wins and is No. 4 on Open Era titles list
• Enters ranked No. 4, first time out of Top 3 in year-end championship since his debut in 2002 when he was No. 6 in Shanghai…Fell to No. 4 on Oct. 17 for first time since June 2003 when he was No. 5…If he reaches the final, will pass Murray and finish the season No. 3
• Opened season with title in Doha (d. Davydenko) and it extended his streak to 11 years with at least one ATP World Tour title, tied with Roddick for longest streak among active players
• Has reached SFs or better in 11 of 15 tournaments, including this week…Has advanced to QFs or better in a record 30 consecutive Slams going back to ‘04 Wimbledon…His streak of at least one Slam title for eight consecutive years came to an end
• Compiled a 20-4 mark in Slams and his best result was final at Roland Garros (l. to Nadal in four sets)…In SF, he snapped Djokovic’s 43-match winning streak with four-set victory…Then followed with QF at Wimbledon (l. to Tsonga in five sets after holding two-set lead)…It was first time in a Slam he lost 2-0 set lead…At US Open, lost to Djokovic in SFs for second year in a row (held two M.Ps.)
• Following US Open, travelled to Sydney for Davis Cup World Group playoff tie and posted four-set wins over Lleyton Hewitt and Bernard Tomic as Switzerland prevailed 3-2 with Wawrinka winning fifth and decisive match (d. Hewitt)...Then took six weeks off before returning in his hometown of Basel

YEAR-END CHAMPIONSHIP WINS LEADERS – Federer is second on the all-time year-end championship match wins leaders list:

                              W-L     Titles
1) Ivan Lendl           39-10    5
2) Roger Federer  37-7     5
3) Boris Becker        36-13    3
4) Pete Sampras      35-14    5
5) Ilie Nastase         23-3      4

YEAR-END CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS – Federer is trying to reach his seventh year-end championship final match. Here are the players with the most finals:

                              No. (W-L)
1 ) Ivan Lendl             9 (5-4)
2) Boris Becker           8 (3-5)
3) Roger Federer     6 (5-1)
    Pete Sampras         6 (5-1)
5) Ilie Nastase            5 (4-1)

CLOSING IN ON CENTURY CLUB – If Federer wins on Saturday, he will become the fifth player in the Open Era (since 1968) reach 100 career finals on the ATP World Tour:

                                       Finals (W-L)
1) Jimmy Connors             163 (109-54)
2) Ivan Lendl                    146 (94-52)
3) John McEnroe               108 (77-31)
4) Guillermo Vilas              104 (62-42)
5) Roger Federer            99 (69-30)

800 MATCH WINS CLUB – Federer is one match win away from tying Stefan Edberg for sixth place on the Open Era list:
                                                 No.
1) Jimmy Connors                     1,242
2) Ivan Lendl                             1,071
3) Guillermo Vilas                        923
4) John McEnroe                        875
5) Andre Agassi                         870
6) Stefan Edberg                        806
7) Roger Federer                     805

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 (3): Australian Open (l Murray); Tokyo (l Murray); Valencia (l Monaco); QF (4): ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Fish); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (l Djokovic); Nice (l Dolgopolov); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris (l Isner)
YTD W-L: 58-18 (32-11 on hard, 9-4 indoor, 12-9 in Tie-breaks, 7-9 vs. Top 10)
YTD Titles: 2/Career Titles: 11
Date of Birth: April 2, 1982
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 5

Tournament History:
• The 29-year-old Spaniard went 2-1 in Group A play to reach his second semi-final…On Friday, he lost to No. 7 Berdych 36 75 61 (after holding a break at 4-3 in second set)…He opened  with a pair of straight-set wins, defeating No. 1 Djokovic 63 61 on Wednesday (was 1-5 on hard courts coming in and scored third career win over a No. 1)…On Monday, he ousted No. 3 Murray 64 75  (was 0-5 on hard courts coming in)
• He is making his third appearance in the year-end championship (6-5 mark); reached final in 2007 (went 3-0 in RR with wins over No. 3 Djokovic, No. 2 Nadal and No. 8 Gasquet, then d. No. 5 Roddick in SF; l. to Federer in final); last year went 0-3, losing to Federer, Soderling and Murray, all in straight sets
• Two Spaniards have won the year-end championship: Alex Corretja in 1998 (d. Moya) in Hanover and Manuel Orantes (d. Fibak) in 1976 in Houston

2011 in Review:
• The No. 2 Spaniard (behind No. 2 Nadal) is appearing in his 10th semi-final (or better) this season…He’s reached a career-high six ATP World Tour finals, winning titles in Auckland (d. Nalbandian) in January and Acapulco (d. Almagro) in late February…Jumped off to 14-2 start in first two months
• Runner-up in two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events, Monte Carlo (l. to Nadal) in April and Shanghai (l. to Murray) in October…Also a finalist in Barcelona (l. to Nadal) and Bastad (l. to No. 5 Soderling) in July, both on clay
• Won 50-plus matches for third time in his career with 58 (61 in 2007, 60 last year)
• In January, he reached his second career Grand Slam SF (’07 US Open) at Australian Open, defeating No. 1 Nadal in QFs before losing to Murray
• In other three Grand Slam tournaments, reached 4th Rd., at Roland Garros (l. to Monfils in five sets), Wimbledon (l. to Tsonga) and US Open (l. to Roddick)
• Helped his native country to 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
• In final two weeks, reached SFs in Valencia (l. to Monaco) and QFs at ATP Masters 1000 Paris (l. to Isner)
• One of seven Spaniards to win an ATP World Tour title this season (Almagro-3, Nadal-3, Ferrer-2, Granollers-2, Andujar-1, Ferrero-1, Robredo-1)…Spain is 13-20 in finals this season

(6) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) v (7) Tomas Berdych (CZE)  Berdych Leads 1-0
11 Beijing (China)   Hard SF Tomas Berdych  6-4 4-6   6-1
Other Meeting:
04 Besancon Challenger (France) Hard R32 Tomas Berdych 4-6 6-1  6-4

TSONGA FASTFACTS

2011 Highlights:
W (2): Metz (d Ljubicic); Vienna (d Del Potro); F (3): Rotterdam (l Soderling); Queen's Club (l Murray); ATP Masters 1000 Paris (l Federer); SF (4): Doha (l Federer); Wimbledon (l Djokovic); ATP Masters 1000 Montreal (l Djokovic); Beijing (l Berdych); QF (2): Marseille (l Youzhny); US Open (l Federer)
YTD W-L: 54-23 (37-14 on hard, 19-5 indoor, 26-17 in Tie-breaks, 9-12 vs. Top 10)
YTD Titles: 2/Career Titles: 7
Date of Birth: April 17, 1985
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 6

Tournament History:
• The Frenchman went 2-1 in Group B round robin play…On Thursday he defeated No. 2 Nadal 76(2) 46 63 for his fourth career win over a Top 2...On Tuesday he defeated No. 8 Fish 76(4) 61 …He opened with a 62 26 64 loss to Federer on Sunday in one hour, 29 minutes
• The last Frenchman to reach the final was Sebastien Grosjean in 2001 (l. to Hewitt) in Sydney
• He  is making his second appearance in the year-end championship and three years ago he went 1-2 in round robin play in his debut in Shanghai…Lost first two matches vs. Nikolay Davydenko (in third set tie-break) and Juan Martin del Potro in two tie-breaks before defeating Novak Djokovic 16 75 61 in final round robin match

2011 in Review:
• The 26-year-old Frenchman is appearing in his 10th semi-final of the season, the third in London (runner-up at Queen’s, SF at Wimbledon)…Has played well from June to rest of season with a 37-12 match record after 17-11 start in first five months…In early part of year, advanced to final in Rotterdam (l. to No. 4 Soderling), SF in Doha (l. to Federer) and QF in Marseille (l. to Youzhny)
• En route to third Top 10 finish in four years, won a pair of ATP World Tour indoor titles and runner-up in three other tournaments, including at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris (l. to Federer) in his last tournament
• In June, reached first career grass court final at Queen’s Club in London (l. to Murray) and followed with SF at Wimbledon where he defeated No. 6 Ferrer and No. 3 Federer in five sets (from two sets down) before losing to eventual winner Djokovic in four sets
• Continued consistent play in summer with SF at ATP Masters 1000 Montreal with wins over No. 3 Federer and No. 10 Almagro before retiring vs. Djokovic due to arm injury
• Then at US Open advanced to QFs for first time (d. No. 8 Fish in five sets), losing to Federer…Afterwards, moved back into the Top 10 on Sept. 12
• In September, played in Davis Cup SF vs. Spain and lost to Nadal in fourth rubber (won doubles)…Followed with first title of season in Metz, defeating Ivan Ljubicic in three-set final
• In final three weeks of European indoor circuit, became first Frenchman to win Vienna title (d. del Potro), lost in 2nd Rd.  in Valencia and runner-upat ATP Masters 1000 Paris (l. to Federer)

BERDYCH FASTFACTS

2011 Highlights:
W (1): Beijing (d Cilic); SF (7): Chennai (l Wawrinka); Dubai (l Djokovic); Nice (l Almagro); Halle (l Petzschner); Bastad (l Soderling); ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati (l Djokovic); ATP Masters 1000 Paris (l Federer); QF (7): Aust. Open (l Djokovic); Rotterdam (W/O vs Tsonga); Marseille (l Cilic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Nadal); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (l Bellucci); ATP Masters 1000 Rome (l Gasquet); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Montreal (l Tipsarevic)
YTD W-L: 53-21 (37-13 on hard, 9-4 indoor, 16-7 in Tie-breaks, 6-7 vs. Top 10)
YTD Titles: 1/Career Titles: 6     
Date of Birth: September 17, 1985
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 7

Tournament History: 
• The 26-year-old Czech Republic native won Group A with a 2-1 round robin record…On Friday, he rallied to defeat No. 5 Ferrer 36 75 61 (was down a break 4-3 in second set, had lost last four meetings)…On Wednesday, saved one match point and defeated alternate Tipsarevic 26 63 76(6)…Was 1-4 vs.Tipsarevic…On Monday, fell to No. 1 Djokovic 36 63 76(3) after holding a match point…Also led 4-2 in final set (now 0-8 on hard vs. Djokovic)
• He is first player from Czech Republic to reach semi-finals since Ivan Lendl in 1991…Lendl reached final in 1988 and won title in ’87 (overall a five-time winner)
• Went 1-2 last year, losing to Djokovic, defeating Roddick and falling to Nadal in RR play

2011 in Review:
• The top player from the Czech Republic has won a personal-high 53 matches and appearing in his ninth semi-final or better…He is first player from his country to finish  in Top 10 back-to-back seasons since Petr Korda in 1991-92
• Last month captured his sixth career ATP World Tour title in Beijing (d. Cilic), his first title since Munich in May 2009…Has a 6-6 career mark in finals
• Advanced to seven other SFs, four on hard courts – Chennai in January, Dubai in late February and ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati in August (ret. vs. Djokovic due to shoulder injury), and ATP Masters 1000 Paris (l. to Federer) along withh seven QFs, including Australian Open for first time (l. to Djokovic)
• Overall he reached QFs or better in 15 of 22 tournaments and lost in 1st Rd. only twice during year, at Roland Garros (lost to Stephane Robert 9-7 in fifth set) and in Basel (l. to Nishikori in three sets)
• In ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events, played in all nine tournaments and compiled a 19-9 mark, with SF in Cincinnati and Paris and QFs in Miami, Madrid, Rome and Montreal
• In other Grand Slam tournaments, reached 4th Rd. at Wimbledon (l. to Fish) and 3rd Rd. at US Open (ret. vs. Tipsarevic due to shoulder)…Enters 2012 having played in 33 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments since ’03 US Open
 
POTENTIAL FINAL HEAD-TO-HEADS

Roger Federer (SUI) vs Tomas Berdych (CZE)     Federer Leads 10-4
04 Athens Olympics (Greece)  Hard R32 Tomas Berdych 4-6 7-5   7-5
05 ATP Masters Series Hamburg  Clay R32 Roger Federer 6-2 6-1
06 Roland Garros (France)  Clay R16 Roger Federer 6-3 6-2   6-3
06 Halle (Germany)   Grass F Roger Federer      6-0 6-7(4)  6-2
06 Wimbledon (England)  Grass R16 Roger Federer 6-3 6-3    6-4
07 CZE v. SUI WG PO (Czech Republic)Carpet RR Roger Federer 7-6(5)  7-6(10) 6-3
08 Australian Open (Australia)  Hard R16 Roger Federer 6-4 7-6(7) 6-3
08 Beijing Olympics (China)  Hard R16 Roger Federer 6-3 7-6(4)
09 Australian Open (Australia)  Hard R16 Roger Federer 4-6 6-7(4) 6-4  6-4 6-2
10 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami Hard R16 Tomas Berdych 6-4 6-7(3) 7-6(6)
10 Wimbledon (Great Britain)  Grass QF Tomas Berdych 6-4 3-6    6-1 6-4
10 ATP Masters 1000 Toronto   Hard QF Roger Federer 6-3  5-7   7-6(5)
11 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati  Hard QF Tomas Berdych 6-2 7-6(3)
11 ATP Masters 1000 Paris  Hard SF Roger Federer 6-4 6-3

Roger Federer (SUI) vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)    Federer Leads 7-3
08 ATP Masters Series Madrid (Spain) Hard R16 Roger Federer    6-4 6-1
09 ATP Masters 1000 Montreal  Hard QF Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6(5)  1-6    7-6(3)
10 Australian Open (Australia)  Hard SF Roger Federer   6-2 6-3    6-2
11 Doha (Qatar)    Hard SF Roger Federer   6-3 7-6(2)
11 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome  Clay R32 Roger Federer   6-4 6-2
11 Wimbledon (Great Britain)  Grass QF Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-6 6-7(3)  6-4   6-4 6-4
11 ATP Masters 1000 Montreal  Hard R16 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6(3)  4-6   6-1
11 US Open (U.S.A.)   Hard QF Roger Federer   6-4 6-3   6-3
11 ATP Masters 1000 Paris  Hard F Roger Federer   6-1 7-6(3) 
11 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Hard RR Roger Federer   6-2     2-6  6-4

David Ferrer (ESP) vs Tomas Berdych (CZE)       Ferrer Leads 5-3
04 Gstaad (Switzerland)   Clay R32 David Ferrer  2-6 6-3    6-4
04 Palermo (Italy)   Clay SF Tomas Berdych  7-5 6-4
05 ATP Masters Series Hamburg  Clay R64 Tomas Berdych  6-2 2-6    6-3
06 Stuttgart (Germany)   Clay SF David Ferrer  6-3 7-5
07 ATP World Team Chp. (Germany) Clay RR David Ferrer  6-1 6-3
07 ATP Masters 1000 Paris (France) Hard R16 David Ferrer  6-4 6-2
10 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)    Hard QF David Ferrer  4-6 7-5     6-4
11 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Hard RR Tomas Berdych 3-6 7-5     6-1

David Ferrer (ESP) vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)  Tied 1-1
10 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome Clay QF David Ferrer 6-4 6-1
11 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass R16 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 6-4 7-6(1)

DOUBLES SEMI-FINAL MATCH-UPS

(1) Bob BRYAN / Mike BRYAN v (3) Max MIRNYI / Daniel NESTOR
                                           BRYAN / BRYAN LEADS 1: 0
2011 Vienna   Hard (I) Final   BRYAN / BRYAN 7-6(10) 6-3

BRYAN / BRYAN

Tournament History:
• The three-time champions (2003-04, ’09) have a 25-12 career match record together and they are making their fourth straight semi-final showing and seventh overall in ninth appearance…
Also runner-up in 2008
• They are 2-1 this week, losing on Friday to No. 4 Bhupathi-Paes 64 62 in their final Group A match…On Wednesday, they defeated No. 6 Lindstedt-Tecau 61 62 after opening on Monday with a 67(4) 75 11-9 win over No. 7 Melzer-Petzschner, savi ng a match point…Last year they reached the semi-finals, losing to Nestor-Zimonjic

2011 in Review:
• The American twins enter the semi-finals with a 60-15 match record on the season and they have won at least 60 matches for a sixth consecutive year
• They finished No. 1 for a record seventh time in past nine years, highlighted by an 8-3 mark in finals...They have won a team record 75 titles together and they are only team in Open Era (since 1968) to win 700 matches…They are 717-236 lifetime together
• They earned their 10th and 11th career Grand Slam titles, respectively, at Australian Open (d. Bhupathi-Paes) and Wimbledon (d. Lindstedt-Tecau)
• They have won at least one Grand Slam title for seventh straight year…It was their fifth crown Down Under and second at All England Club
• In ATP World Tour Masters 1000 play, they went 16-7, capturing titles in Monte-Carlo and Madrid while reaching final in Montreal
• After a 12-4 start in first three months of season, they reach four straight finals, winning titles in Houston (d. Isner-Querrey), Monte-Carlo (d. Chela-Soares), reaching final in Barcelona (l. to S. Gonzalez-Lipsky) and winning in Madrid (l. to Llodra-Zimonjic)...Went 14-1 during that stretch
• After a SF at Roland Garros (l. to Cabal-Schwank), collected back-to-back grass court titles at Queen’s Club in London (d. Bhupathi-Paes) and Wimbledon…Then won Davis Cup QF tie over Spain’s Granollers-Verdasco
• During North American summer circuit, runner-up in Montreal and SF in Cincinnati and was upset in 1st Rd. at US Open (l. to Karlovic-Moser)…It was their first opening round loss in Flushing Meadows since 1999
• During indoor circuit leading into London, captured back-to-back titles in Vienna (d. Mirny-Nestor) and Valencia (d. Butorac-Rojer) and lost in opening round at ATP Masters 1000 Paris

MIRNYI / NESTOR

Tournament History:
• They tandem went 3-0 in Group B play after defeating No. 2 Llodra-Zimonjic 46 63 10-7 on Thursday…On Tuesday, they defeated  No. 8 seeds Fyrstenberg-Matkowski 64 63 and on Sunday made their team debut with a 76(2) 46 11-9 win over Bopanna-Qureshi
•  Overall, Mirnyi is 17-13 in his eighth appearance, including a title run in 2006 (w/Bjorkman)… Nestor is a former three-time champion, winning in 2007 (w/Knowles) and 2008, ’10  (w/Zimonjic)…Overall the Canadian is 30-19 in his 13th year-end showing

2011 Review
• The veteran duo finished the season in strong fashion, with title at ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai last month and back-to-back runner-up results in  Vienna (l. to Bryans) and Basel (l. to Llodra-Zimonjic)…They are 3-4 in finals on the season
• They reunited full-time, after a brief partnership in 2000… Their biggest title this season  came at Roland Garros (d. Cabal-Schwank) in June…In February, they won their first title together in Memphis (d. Butorac-Rojer)
• Of their four runner-up showings, two came in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events, in Miami (l. to Bryans) in April, and Cincinnati (l. to Bhupathi-Paes) in August
• In Grand Slam play, compiled a 12-3 mark with SF at Australian Open (l. to Bhupathi-Paes), title at Roland Garros, second round at Wimbledon and US Open
• Prior to this year, they played twice in 2000, going 2-2
• The Canadian has 74 career doubles titles, which is tied for No. 6 on the Open Era career list

(4) Mahesh BHUPATHI / Leander PAES v (8) Mariusz FYRSTENBERG / Marcin MATKOWSKI     
                                         FYRSTENBERG / MATKOWSKI LEADS 1 : 0
2011 US Open Hard (O) QF FYRSTENBERG / MATKOWSKI  6-4  7-6(4)

BHUPATHI / PAES

Tournament History:
• The Indians went 2-1 in Group A round robin play…On Friday, they defeated World No. 1 Bryan brothers 64 62….On Wednesday, they defeated  No. 7 Melzer-Petzschner 75 63 and on Monday opened with a 76(6) 61 loss to No. 6 Lindstedt-Tecau
• They are makng their sixth year-end championship appearance, the first  in 10 years,and they have a 12-10  career mark, reaching finals in 1997 (l. to Leach-Stark), ’99 (l. to Lareau-O’Brien) and 2000 (l. to Johnson-Norval)
• Overall, Bhupathi is making his 11th appearance (20-20 mark) and he was runner-up two years ago (w/Mirnyi)…Paes is making his 13th showing (18-26 record) and he was runner-up in 2005 (w/Zimonjic) in Shanghai

2011 in Review
• The veteran Indian tandem reunited full-time for the first time in 10 years, capturing three titles in five finals…They played sparingly together since 2001, teaming up mostly for Davis Cup and Olympics competition
• In first month of season, won title on home soil in Chennai (d. Haase-Martin) and followed with runner-up at Australian Open (l. to Bryans) in first Grand Slam final since winning title at Roland Garros in ’01…Their Indian title was first together since ATP Masters 1000 Toronto in 2004
• In April, they captured ATP Masters 1000 crown in Miami (d. Mirnyi-Nestor) and won last three rounds in a match tie-break
• Two months later, reached final at Queen’s Club in London (d. Mirnyi-Nestor in SF, l. to Bryans)…Lost in second round at Wimbledon (l. to Clement-Dlouhy)
• In August, won ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati title, defeating Bryans in SFs and Llodra-Zimonjic in two tie-breaks
• In  Grand Slam play, compiled a 10-4 mark and finished with QF at US Open (l. to Fyrstenberg-Matkowski)
• On Asian circuit, reached QFs in Beijing and followed with SFs at ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (l. to Mirnyi-Nestor)
• Compiled an impressive 10-3 record in match tie-breaks and 15-3 in decisive-set matches

FYRSTENBERG / MATKOWSKI

Tournament History:
• The Polish duo went 2-1 in Group B to earn their third semi-final showing…On Thursday, they defeated No. 5 Bopanna-Qureshi 62 61 after falling 64 63 to No. 3 Mirnyi-Nestor on Tuesday …They opened with a 64 57 11-9 win over No. 2 Llodra-Zimonjic on Sunday…They qualified for their fifth season-ending championship in the past six years (except ’07)
• They have an 8-9 match record and their other semi-finals came last year (l. to Bhupathi-Mirnyi) and in ’08 (l. to Bryan-Bryan)

2011 Review
• The only team in the field without an ATP World Tour title this season are trying to reach their second final…In September, they advanced to their first Grand Slam final at the US Open (l. to Melzer-Petzschner)
• In first half of season, struggled with 7-13 match record with best results SF at ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo and QF in three other events, including Australian Open in opening month
• Entered Flushing Meadows with a 9-19 mark and posted impressive wins over veteran duos Bhupathi-Paes in QFs and Bopanna-Qureshi in SFs, both in straight sets, before falling to Melzer-Petzschner 62 62
• Continued consistent play in final month with SF at ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (d. Bryan brothers, l. to Llodra-Zimonjic) and in Vienna (l. to Bryans)…Finished with QF at ATP Masters 1000 Paris (l. to Benneteau-Mahut) and 120 points ahead of Butorac-Rojer