Washington Saturday Briefing: Fish, Dolgopolov, Haas & Querrey In SF Action

© Getty ImagesSecond seed Alex Dolgopolov plays eighth seed Sam Querrey in the Washington semi-finals on Saturday.

WASHINGTON SATURDAY PREVIEW - TOP 2 SEEDS FISH & DOLGOPOLOV HEADLINE SEMI-FINAL LINE-UP

• The Top 2 seeds - as well as the No. 4 seed and an American on the rise again - highlight today’s semi-final line-up at the Citi Open, an ATP World Tour 500-level event held on the hardcourts of the nation’s capital
• The first semi-final pits No. 1 seed Mardy Fish against No. 4 seed Tommy Haas; Fish is in his first ATP World Tour semi-final of the year, in fact his first ATP World Tour semi-final in 10 months (his last one came at Tokyo in October last year); but the difficulty level steps up in a big way today: Haas has not only won all three of their previous hardcourt meetings in straight sets, he has also won five of his last six matches against Top 15 players
• Fish is trying to reach his 21st ATP World Tour final (6-14 in his first 20)
• Haas is trying to reach his 24th ATP World Tour final (13-10 in his first 23)
• The second semi pits No. 2 seed Alexandr Dolgopolov against No. 8 seed Sam Querrey; both are former Top 20 players and both are playing their third ATP World Tour semi-finals of the year; but the only previous meeting between the two saw Dolgopolov dominate, a semi-close 64 63 scoreline but a 62-minute timeline; Querrey has momentum now though, currently on a seven-match win streak (the second-longest of his career)
• Dolgopolov is trying to reach his 4th ATP World Tour final (1-2 in his first 3)
• Querrey is trying to reach his 13th ATP World Tour final (7-5 in his first 12)
• This is the third of six ATP World Tour events in the Emirates Airline US Open Series; Atlanta champion Andy Roddick and Los Angeles winner Querrey are currently co-leaders of the Series with 70 points each 

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

Stadium

(1) Mardy Fish (USA) vs. (4) Tommy Haas (GER)     Haas leads 3-1
00 Miami (U.S.A.)  Hard R64 Tommy Haas 6-2 6-1
05 Miami (U.S.A.)  Hard R64 Tommy Haas 7-6(6) 7-5
06 Houston (U.S.A.)  Clay SF Mardy Fish 4-1 ret.
07 Memphis (U.S.A.)  Hard SF Tommy Haas 6-3 6-4

Fish FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
SF (1): Washington DC**; QF (1): Miami (l. Monaco)
YTD W-L: 13-8 (9-6 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 6
Date of Birth: December 9, 1981
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 15

• Seventh appearance here (8-6 record); is in semi-finals here for first time; previous-best results were two QFs in first two appearances in 2003 (l. to Roddick) and 2006 (l. to Murray); pre-QF losses in other four attempts
• Missed two and a half months between April and June - underwent operation to rectify an irregular heartbeat in May (returned at Wimbledon, reaching fourth round before falling to Tsonga)
• Fell from No. 13 to No. 15 this week, lowest ranking since Miami fortnight in 2011 (was No. 15 there too); has some big points to defend in coming weeks as well (was finalist in Canada and semi-finalist in Cincy last year)
• One of four Americans in Top 50 (No. 11 Isner, No. 15 Fish, No. 21 Roddick, No. 38 Querrey)

Haas FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
W (1): Halle (d. Federer); R-Up (1): Hamburg (l. Monaco); SF (2): Munich (l. Cilic), Washington DC**
YTD W-L: 22-9 (7-4 on hard)
YTD Titles: 1/Career Titles: 13
Date of Birth: April 3, 1978
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 36

• Seventh appearance here (14-6 record); is in semi-finals here for second time, having made semis once before in 2008 (l. to del Potro); also three QFs in 1997 (l. to Korda), 2007 (l. to Isner) and 2009 (l. to Gonzalez)
• Started year at No. 205 but got all the way up to No. 35 last week (dipped one spot to No. 36 this week); biggest jump of the rise came on June 18 after winning Halle (rose 38 spots from No. 87 to No. 49)
• Haas has won 5 of last 6 matches against Top 15 players:
     - Munich 2nd Rd: d. No. 5 Tsonga, 6-1 6-4
     - Halle QFs: d. No. 7 Berdych, 6-4 3-6 7-5
     - Halle F: d. No. 3 Federer, 7-6(5) 6-4
     - Hamburg 2nd Rd: d. No. 12 Simon, 4-6 6-3 6-4
     - Hamburg SFs: d. No. 15 Cilic, 7-6(7) 6-0
     - Hamburg F: l. to No. 14 Monaco, 7-5 6-4

(2) Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) vs. (8) Sam Querrey (USA)   Dolgopolov leads 1-0
11 Sydney (Australia)  Hard R16 Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4 6-3

Dolgopolov FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
R-Up (1): Brisbane (l. Murray); SF (2): Umag (l. Cilic), Washington DC**; QF (1): Madrid (l. del Potro)
YTD W-L: 21-15 (13-7 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: November 7, 1988
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 25

• First appearance at this event (3-0 record)
• This week dipped out of Top 20 from No. 17 to No. 25 (after points from last year’s Umag title fell off)
• Has spent 41 career weeks in Top 20 (peaking at No. 13 for the two weeks of this year’s Australian Open)

Querrey FastFacts:
2012 Highlights:
W (1): Los Angeles (d. Berankis); SF (2): Queen’s Club (l. Cilic), Washington DC**; QF (1): Memphis (l. Stepanek)
YTD W-L: 21-15 (12-7 on hard)
YTD Titles: 1/Career Titles: 7
Date of Birth: October 7, 1987
South African Airways ATP Ranking: 38

• Fourth appearance at this event (4-3 record); fell early in all three previous appearances (lost first match in 2006 and 2010, then second match in 2009)
• Currently on seven-match win streak, the second-longest ATP World Tour-level win streak of his career - longest one was eight wins in a row in 2010 (5-0 to win Queen’s Club, 3-0 to reach Wimbledon fourth round)
• Was ranked outside Top 100 as recently as mid-April but with strong results last three and a half months has shot back into Top 40 (biggest jump was this week after winning Los Angeles - 19 spots, No. 57 to No. 38)
• Has spent 23 career weeks inside Top 20 (peaking at No. 17 for two weeks right after 2011 Australian Open)
 
POTENTIAL FINAL HEAD-TO-HEADS

(1) Mardy Fish (USA) vs. (2) Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR)    First ATP Meeting
Other Meeting
10 Madrid Qualifying (Spain)  Clay Q2 Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-7(5) 6-4 7-6(5)

(1) Mardy Fish (USA) vs. (8) Sam Querrey (USA)     Fish leads 2-1
07 Los Angeles (U.S.A.)  Hard R32 Mardy Fish 7-5 6-4
10 Queen’s Club (Great Britain)  Grass F Sam Querrey 7-6(3) 7-5
11 Memphis (U.S.A.)  Hard QF Mardy Fish 6-3 6-4

(4) Tommy Haas (GER) vs. (2) Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR)   First Meeting

(4) Tommy Haas (GER) vs. (8) Sam Querrey (USA)     Haas leads 3-2
07 Delray Beach (U.S.A.)  Hard RR Tommy Haas 6-4 7-5
07 Memphis (U.S.A.)  Hard QF Tommy Haas 6-2 6-2
07 Houston (U.S.A.)  Clay R32 Tommy Haas 3-6 6-3 7-5
09 Memphis (U.S.A.)  Hard R32 Sam Querrey 7-6(4) 6-4
09 Los Angeles (U.S.A.)  Hard SF Sam Querrey 6-3 7-5