2007 IN REVIEW

The Czech Republic native finished in Top 100 for second straight year and third time in his career...Finished as his country's No. 3 player (behind No. 14 Berdych, No. 30 Stepanek)...Compiled best results in Challenger play (23-17 record), winning title in Manerbio, Italy (d. Prodon) and reaching finals in his hometown of Prague (l. to Lojda) and Lugano (l. to Eschauer)...Went 7-13 in ATP level competition, reaching QF on clay in Stuttgart (d. Monfils, l. to Wawrinka) and 2nd RD in five other tournaments (Acapulco, Barcelona, Gstaad, Tokyo, Vienna)...Compiled marks of 5-7 on clay and 2-5 on hard courts.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

1995 - Played three Challengers, all in native Czech Republic, and reached 2nd RD in two...In doubles, reached SF at the Pilzen Challenger (w/Tabara)...1996 - Won Slovakia Satellite...Advanced to first Challenger doubles final at Pilzen (w/Tabara)...1997 - Reached first Challenger QF at Skopje...Captured Yugoslavia Satellite...1998 - Won first Challenger title in Warsaw (d. Cherkasov) in August and added title in Belgrade (d. Moyano)...Also won Netherlands Satellite...Doubles best was a SF at Belgrade (w/Nielsen)....1999 - Runner-up at Lima (l. to Chela) and SF at Schevenigen, Sopot and Kiev Challengers...In doubles, reached SF in Sopot (w/Friedl)...2000-Played in all four Grand Slams for first time in his career…Captured third career Challenger title at Ho Chi Minh and had a final appearance at Lisbon Challenger...Reached QF at ATP stops in Atlanta, Orlando and San Marino...Played in first Olympics where he reached 2nd RD…2001 – Best ATP results were QFs in Houston and Palermo…Won Challengers at Weiden (d. Armando) and Lugano (d. Marin)… 2002 – Opened year with QF in Chennai, but retired from match against Canas with back injury…Lost in straight sets in Australian Open then missed six months with lower back injury…Reached two Challenger finals…Doubles finalist at Budaors Challenger (w/Vik)…2003 – Reached QF at Vina del Mar (l. to Montanes)…Won Ljubljana Challenger (d. Pashanski)…Was 18-15 in Challengers…2004 – Reached QF at Sopot (l. to Acasuso)… Won back-to-back Challengers in Ljubljana (d. Phau) and Furth (d. Simon)…Finalist at Kiev Challenger (l. to Almagro)…Compiled a 33-18 Challenger record…Reached a pair of doubles finals at Challenger events…2005 – Claimed Challenger title in Heilbronn (d. Burgsmuller)... Finalist at Prague Challenger (l. to Hernych)... For the first time since 2001 played Roland Garros (l. to Ferrer) and Wimbledon (l. to Roddick)... Reached first career SF at Bastad, posting wins over J. Johansson, Serra and Hernandez before losing to Berdych... Compiled a 22-11 Challenger record... In doubles, reached first career ATP final in Acapulco (w/Zib)... Also reached SF in Chennai (w/Kim), Amersfoort (w/Skoch) and Ho Chi Minh City (w/Popp)... Won Napoli Challenger doubles (w/Tipsarevic)...2006 -- Posted a year-end Top 100 ranking for the first time since 2000 as he tallied a double-digit match win total (10) for third time in his career...Found early season success on clay in Latin America with QF in Costa do Sauipe (l. to Martin)...Had strong spring Challenger results, reaching QF at Sunrise (l. to Martin) and SF at Mexico City (l. to Delgado) and Aguascalientes (l. to Roitman)...Closed April with QF at ATP stop in Casablanca (l. to Phau)...Opened May with Tunis Challenger SF (l. to Ouahab)...Reached a Grand Slam 2nd RD for the first time since 2000 with win over Mahut at Roland Garros...Advanced to QF in Umag (l. to Djokovic)... In September, reached SF at Szczecin Challenger (l. to Ulihrach)...Reached doubles SF at Umag (w/Bozoljac)... Earned a career-high $232,170...2007--Finished in Top 100 for second straight year and third time in his career...Finished as his country's No. 3 player (behind No. 14 Berdych, No. 30 Stepanek)...Compiled best results in Challenger play (23-17 record), winning title in Manerbio, Italy (d. Prodon) and reaching finals in his hometown of Prague (l. to Lojda) and Lugano (l. to Eschauer)...Went 7-13 in ATP level competition, reaching QF on clay in Stuttgart (d. Monfils, l. to Wawrinka) and 2nd RD in five other tournaments (Acapulco, Barcelona, Gstaad, Tokyo, Vienna)...Compiled marks of 5-7 on clay and 2-5 on hard courts.

PERSONAL

Began playing tennis at age nine with his father, Jiri, who is a businessman; mother, Lubica, is a nurse... Nickname is Vana...During junior career, reached SF at Roland Garros and QF at Australian Open in 1996 along with SF at European Championships...Won Galea Cup (Michal Tabara and Ota Fukarek) in 1995...Played hockey, soccer, track and field as a youngster...A big hockey fan and favorite NHL teams are Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres...Says if he wasn’t a tennis player, would be a hockey player because it’s most popular sport in Czech Republic...Played in two hockey games in November 2000 against fellow players from Slovak Republic and split series, with Slovaks winning 8-4 on the road and Czechs taking a 4-2 victory in Slovakia...Considers service and forehand as strengths and favorite surface is clay...Wife, Marketa...Son, Jiri Giorgio...Coached by countryman Ivan Jankovsky (since 2004) and fitness trainer is Petr Pech.