US OPEN

New York, NY-USA

August 30-September 12, 2010

$22,668,000/Grand Slam

Hard/Outdoors

 

Sunday, September 5, 2010

 

Singles - Fourth Round

(2) Kim Clijsters (BEL) d. Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 62 61

(3) Venus Williams (USA) d. (16) Shahar Peer (ISR) 76(3) 63

(5) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. (12) Elena Dementieva (RUS) 63 26 76(2)

(6) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. (20) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 63 60

 

Doubles - Third Round

(2) Huber/Petrova (USA/RUS) d. Bacsinszky/Garbin (SUI/ITA) 63 63

(5) Raymond/Stubbs (USA/AUS) d. (10) Kirilenko/Radwanska (RUS/POL) 64 76(1)

(6) King/Shvedova (USA/KAZ) d. (12) Benesova/Zahlavova Strycova (CZE/CZE) 76(9) 36 76(9)

(14) Vesnina/Zvonareva (RUS/RUS) d. Dulgheru/Rybarikova (ROU/SVK) 75 63

 

Doubles - Second Round

(7) Chan/Zheng (TPE/CHN) d. Cibulkova/Pavlyuchenkova (SVK/RUS) w/o (Cibulkova: left Achilles tendon injury)

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour is the world’s leading professional sport for women with more than 2,225 players representing 91 nations competing for more than $86 million in prize money at the Tour’s 53 events and four Grand Slams in 33 countries. More than 4.9 million people attended women’s tennis events in 2009 with millions more watching on television networks around the world. The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season concludes with the Sony Ericsson Championships – Doha 2010 in Doha, Qatar, from October 26-31, and the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali, Indonesia, from November 4-7. Further information on the Tour can be found on the Internet at www.sonyericssonwtatour.com

        

US Open* $22,668,000 GRAND SLAM 2000 New York, U.S.A.  (-4 hours GMT) 30 August - 12 September, 2010     Surface: Hard www.ATPWorldTour.com
	RESULTS - SUNDAY, 5 SEPTEMBER, 2010 Singles - Third Round [1] R Nadal (ESP) d G Simon (FRA) 64 64 62 [25] S Wawrinka (SUI) d [4] A Murray (GBR) 67(3) 76(4) 63 63 [10] D Ferrer (ESP) d D Gimeno-Traver (ESP) 76(2) 62 62 [8] F Verdasco (ESP) d [31] D Nalbandian (ARG) 62 36 63 62 [12] M Youzhny (RUS) d [18] J Isner (USA) 64 67(7) 76(5) 64 [20] S Querrey (USA) d [14] N Almagro (ESP) 63 64 64 [23] F Lopez (ESP) d S Stakhovsky (UKR) 63 40 ret. (right toe) T Robredo (ESP) d M Llodra (FRA) 36 76(6) 64 21 ret. (dizziness) Doubles - Third Round [16] R Bopanna (IND) / A Qureshi (PAK) d [2] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) 63 64 [9] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) d J Chardy (FRA) / C Kas (GER) 62 64 [10] W Moodie (RSA) / D Norman (BEL) d M Melo (BRA) / B Soares (BRA) 62 62 * Grand Slams are not ATP events.

        

2010 US OPEN

DAY 8 MEN’S NOTES

Monday 6 September 2010

Round of 16 Bottom Half

Featured matches

No. 2 Roger Federer (SUI) v No. 13 Jurgen Melzer (AUT)

No. 3 Novak Djokovic (SRB) v No. 19 Mardy Fish (USA)

No. 5 Robin Soderling (SWE) v No. 21 Albert Montanes (ESP)

No. 17 Gael Monfils (FRA) v Richard Gasquet (FRA)

The Spanish quarter…

The 4 players who won the 2009 Davis Cup title for Spain fill the first quarter of the men’s round of 16 draw. On Tuesday, world No. 1 Rafael Nadal will take on Feliciano Lopez, while Fernando Verdasco will face David Ferrer. This is the first time since the 1981 US Open that 4 players from the same country have filled one quarter of the round of 16 here. In 1981, 4 Americans (Eliot Teltscher, Brian Gottfried, Mike Cahill and Jimmy Connors) reached the same quarter in the round of 16.

A total of 6 Spaniards are through to the round of 16, equalling the highest number of Spaniards through to the round of 16 at any Slam. There were also 6 Spaniards in the round of 16 at 1998 Roland Garros.

No. 21 Albert Montanes is the lone Spaniard in round of 16 action on Monday. He bids to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal on his 36th attempt. In the Open Era, only 2 players have played more majors before reaching their first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

All-French clash…

The last 2 surviving French players, Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet, meet on Louis Armstrong Stadium today, with the winner becoming the first French quarterfinalist here since Arnaud Clement in 2000. Gasquet is only 2 months older than Monfils, with both players being former ITF Junior World Champions.

NO. 2 ROGER FEDERER (SUI) v NO. 13 JURGEN MELZER (AUT)

Head-to-head: Federer leads 1-0

2010           Wimbledon       Grass (O)          R16      Federer             63 62 63

A second consecutive Grand Slam meeting in the round of 16 for two players who had never previously met before this year’s Wimbledon despite growing up in juniors together and playing doubles at the junior Orange Bowl.       

FEDERER                                   v                                        MELZER

29                                 Age                                           29

2                           ATP Ranking                                    15

63                               Titles                                           2

206-29                     Career Grand Slam Record                       42-33

54-5                               U.S. Open Record                               11-8

724-174                             Career Record                               240-217

424-94                         Career Record - Hard                          108-104

42-10                                  2010 Record                                   39-20

24-4                              2010 Record - Hard                             18-10

17-13                         Career Five-Set Record                          12-10

6                 Comebacks from 0-2 Down                           2

281-147                      Career Tiebreak Record                         95-103

16-8                            2010 Tiebreak Record                           12-15

FEDERER has not dropped a set on his way to the round of 16, defeating Brian Dabul 61 64 62 in the 1st round, Andreas Beck 63 64 63 in the 2nd and Paul-Henri Mathieu 64 63 63 in the 3rd round.

The last time Federer failed to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam was at 2004 Roland Garros, when, as top seed, he lost in the 3rd round to Gustavo Kuerten 64 64 64. He is on a run of 25 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances.

Federer is bidding to contest his 26th successive Grand Slam quarterfinal. Jimmy Connors is the only man in the Open Era to have appeared in more consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals than Federer:

Jimmy Connors                   27

Roger Federer                    25

Ivan Lendl               14

Bjorn Borg              12

Pete Sampras                     11

(NB: In the Borg/Connors/Lendl era, players frequently did not compete in 4 Slams per year)

Five-time champion Federer is bidding to regain the title having lost to Juan Martin del Potro in last year’s final 36 76 46 76 62. He had won 40 consecutive matches in New York before his defeat in the 2009 final.

Federer is looking to set an Open Era record by winning his 6th US Open title. He currently shares the record with Jimmy Connors and Pete Sampras on 5 titles. He is also looking to extend his record number of Grand Slam titles to 17 titles and close the gap on the 5 women that have won more Grand Slam singles titles.

Federer’s five victories in the final here were over Lleyton Hewitt (2004), Andre Agassi (2005), Andy Roddick (2006), Novak Djokovic (2007) and Andy Murray (2008).

Federer finished second behind Andy Murray in the US Open Series after winning at Cincinnati-1000 (d. Mardy Fish), and finishing as runner-up at Toronto-1000 (l. Andy Murray). As such he will receive a bonus of $500,000 if he wins this year’s US Open.

Federer has a win-loss record of 73-24 against lefthanders. 14 of those losses have been against Rafael Nadal. The last time Federer lost to a left-handed player other than Nadal was in January 2003, at Sydney (l. Franco Squillari).

This is Federer’s 44th straight Grand Slam. He has the longest active streak for consecutive Grand Slam events played. He has only retired during a match once in his career, at the Belgian International Junior Championships aged 16. 

Federer has lost his last match against both potential quarterfinal opponents. If he wins today he will face either No. 5 seed Robin Soderling for the 3rd time in a Grand Slam quarterfinal or No. 21 seed Albert Montanes on Wednesday. He leads Soderling 12-1 in head-to-head meetings, but lost their last match at this year’s Roland Garros, bringing an end to his run of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semifinal appearances. He leads Montanes 3-1, but also lost their last meeting at 2010 Estoril.

Since winning his 16th Grand Slam title at the 2010 Australian Open (d. Andy Murray), Federer has only won one other title at Cincinnati-1000. He lost in the quarterfinals of both Roland Garros (l. Robin Soderling) and Wimbledon (l. Tomas Berdych).

Federer is the most successful active player on hard courts having won 41 titles. Only Andre Agassi (46) has won more hardcourt titles in history. He has extended his 2010 hardcourt win-loss record to 24-4, putting him in 5th place behind Andy Roddick, Marcos Baghdatis, Marin Cilic and Andy Murray.

Federer cannot take back the world No. 1 ranking from Rafael Nadal even if he wins the tournament. He lost the No. 1 ranking on 7 June one week short of equalling Pete Sampras’s record for most number of weeks (286) at No. 1.

Federer has started working with Paul Annacone as his coach. He continues to travel with Swiss Davis Cup captain Severin Luthi.

MELZER is bidding to become the 2nd Austrian player to reach the quarterfinals in US Open history. The other is Thomas Muster, who reached the quarterfinals here in 1993, 1994 and 1996.

By reaching the round of 16, Melzer has recorded his career-best US Open result. He won back-to-back 5-set matches 64 62 36 46 62 against Dmitry Tursunov in the 1st round and 64 67 63 16 75 against qualifier Ricardas Berankis in the 2nd, before defeating former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero 75 63 61 in the 3rd round.

Last year here, Melzer fell in the 2nd round to eventual champion Juan Martin del Potro.

Melzer broke through to his first Grand Slam semifinal at this year’s Roland Garros, upsetting No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic 36 26 62 76 64 in the quarterfinals for his first ever comeback from 0-2 down, before losing to Rafael Nadal 62 63 76 in the semifinals. It was his 32nd Grand Slam tournament.

Melzer’s other highlights of the season so far are a runner-up finish at Hamburg (l. Andrey Golubev) and semifinal finishes at Zagreb (l. Marin Cilic) and Dubai (l. Mikhail Youzhny). He has yet to win a singles title this year.

Melzer had a disappointing US Open Series, losing to Canadian wildcard Peter Polansky in the 1st round at Toronto-1000 and Ernests Gulbis in the 2nd round at Cincinnati-1000.

Melzer has not won a match against a Top 2 player since 2002, when he defeated No. 2 Tommy Haas 64 63 at Vienna. In fact, he has not won a set against Top 2 opposition since that victory against Haas.

If Melzer wins today he will face either No. 5 Robin Soderling or Albert Montanes in the quarterfinals. He leads Soderling 2-0 and Albert Montanes 3-2 in head-to-head meetings.

Melzer plays here on his career-high ranking of No. 15, which he first recorded following a round of 16 finish at 2010 Wimbledon.

Last year, Melzer was one of just 2 men, along with Tommy Robredo, to finish the season in the Top 30 in both singles and doubles.

Unseeded, Melzer won the men’s doubles title with Philipp Petzschner at this year’s Wimbledon (d. Robert Lindstedt/Horia Tecau). Seeded No. 7, they lost in the 1st round (l. Kevin Anderson/Victor Hanescu) here. 

Melzer is coached by Joachim Nystrom.

NO. 3 NOVAK DJOKOVIC (SRB) v NO. 19 MARDY FISH (USA)

Head-to-head: Djokovic leads 5-0

2006           US Open                       Hard (O)            R64      Djokovic           76(5) 64 36 76(3)

2008           Hopman Cup                 Hard (I)             R2        Djokovic           62 67(4) 76(4)

2008           AMS Indian Wells          Hard (O)            FR        Djokovic           62 57 63

2009           Wimbledon                   Grass (O)          R32      Djokovic           64 64 64

2010           Indian Wells-1000          Hard (O)            R64      Djokovic           61 06 62

DJOKOVIC                                  v                                        FISH

23                                 Age                                        28

3                           ATP Ranking                                 21

17                               Titles                                        5

82-22                      Career Grand Slam Record                    34-30

23-5                               U.S. Open Record                            12-9

309-101                             Career Record                            233-175

186-56                         Career Record - Hard                       170-115

41-12                                  2010 Record                                37-13

23-6                              2010 Record - Hard                           24-9

11-5                           Career Five-Set Record                         5-7

1                 Comebacks from 0-2 Down                        0

107-61                       Career Tiebreak Record                       91-98

9-8                  2010 Tiebreak Record                         19-5

DJOKOVIC came from two-sets-to-one down to defeat countryman Viktor Troicki 63 36 26 75 63 in the 1st round. Troicki held a point to lead 4-1 in the 4th set. He had more straightforward matches in the 2nd and 3rd rounds, overcoming Philipp Petzschner 75 63 76 and wildcard James Blake 61 76 63.

Djokovic’s victory over Troicki improved his 2010 Grand Slam 5-set record to 2-2. He suffered 5-set defeats in the year’s first 2 Grand Slam events, in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open (l. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga) and the quarterfinals at Roland Garros (l. Jurgen Melzer). He went on to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon (l. Tomas Berdych 63 76 63).

Djokovic is attempting to reach his 6th straight Grand Slam quarterfinal, and 13th quarterfinal in the last 15 majors. This would also mark the first time he has reached the quarterfinals at all 4 Grand Slams in the same calendar year.

This is Djokovic’s 6th straight US Open and 24th consecutive Grand Slam. He has reached the semifinals here for the last 2 years and was runner-up in 2007. On all 3 occasions he lost to Roger Federer.

Djokovic won his 17th career singles title at Dubai in February. However he has failed to reach another final, with his best results being semifinal appearances at Rotterdam (l. Mikhail Youzhny), Monte Carlo-1000 (l. Fernando Verdasco), Wimbledon and Toronto-1000 (l. Roger Federer).

Djokovic contested 2 US Open Series events, losing to Roger Federer in the semifinals at Toronto-1000 and Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals at Cincinnati-1000.

Djokovic is unbeaten in Davis Cup play this year, helping Serbia to its first-ever World Group semifinal. Serbia faces Czech Republic in Belgrade later this month for a place in the final.

Djokovic is one of 3 former Grand Slam champions through to the round of 16 from the 6 to start in this year’s US Open men’s draw. He won the 2008 Australian Open title, defeating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final, having previously recorded a runner-up finish at the 2007 US Open.

If Djokovic wins today he will face either No. 17 Gael Monfils or Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals. Djokovic leads Monfils 4-0 and Gasquet 2-1 in head-to-head meetings.

This is Djokovic’s 2nd consecutive meeting with an American player and he has a 27-7 win-loss record against them.

Djokovic has been coached by Marian Vajda since June 2006. His wider team includes physio Milan Amanovic.

FISH reached the round of 16 after defeating Jan Hajek 60 36 46 60 61, Pablo Cuevas 75 60 62 and Arnaud Clement 46 63 64 16 63 in the first 3 rounds. It is the first time he has scored 2 successive victories in 5-set matches, and takes his career 5-set win-loss record to 5-7.

This is Fish’s best performance at a Grand Slam this year. He lost in the 1st round at the Australian Open (l. Andrey Golubev), and reached the 2nd round at Roland Garros (l. Ivan Ljubicic) and Wimbledon (l. Florian Mayer).

Fish plays here with his highest ever seeding at Flushing Meadows. He has only been seeded higher than No. 19 at one previous Grand Slam ­– at 2004 Wimbledon, when he was the No. 14 seed.

Fish is competing at his 10th US Open. He missed last year’s tournament because of a rib injury. His best result here – and at a Grand Slam - is the quarterfinals in 2008 (l. Rafael Nadal). He also reached the quarterfinals at the 2007 Australian Open (l. Andy Roddick).

Fish finished 3rd in this year’s US Open Series behind Andy Murray and Roger Federer. He will win a $250,000 bonus should he win the tournament.

Fish is having an impressive year. He won back-to-back tournaments for the first time at Newport and Atlanta, going on to enjoy his longest-ever winning streak of 11 matches. This was the first time he has won multiple titles in the same year and takes his career singles titles total to 5.

Fish’s hot streak this year started when he was runner-up at Queen’s (l. Sam Querrey). He was also runner-up at Cincinnati-1000 (l. Roger Federer) where, as a wildcard, he defeated both Andy Murray and Andy Roddick on his way to the final.

Following his successful summer run, where he has reached 4 finals in 6 tournaments, Fish has climbed from No. 108 in the rankings in March to No. 21 this week. He is set to climb even higher as he doesn’t have any ranking points coming off for the rest of the year, as he missed the end of the 2009 season after undergoing knee surgery.

Fish is a former Top 20 player, reaching a career-high No. 17 in 2004, but last year he finished the year outside of the Top 50 for the first time since 2005.

If Fish wins today he will face either No. 17 Gael Monfils or Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals. Fish holds a 1-0 lead over Monfils and trails Gasquet 2-1 in previous meetings.

After knee surgery on 28 September 2009, Fish hired a nutritionist to cook and portion-size all of his food. By counting every calorie and cutting out pizza, French fries and cheeseburgers, he lost 30lbs.

In 2006, Fish established the Mardy Fish Foundation to support youth organisations in Indian River County. The Foundation provides after school programs in the community. The program provides a place for children to go and partake in various activities that will help them better themselves using sports, music, art and dance.

Fish won a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics (l. Nicolas Massu).

Fish is coached by David Nainkin. His fitness trainer is Christian LoCasio.

NO. 5 ROBIN SODERLING (SWE) v NO. 21 ALBERT MONTANES (ESP)

Head-to-head: Soderling leads 2-1

2007           Roland Garros               Clay (O)            R128     Montanes          76(4) 4-1 ret. (neck injury)

2009           US Open                       Hard (O)            R128     Soderling          61 36 61 64

2010           Roland Garros               Clay (O)            R32      Soderling          64 75 26 63

This is the pair’s 4th meeting at a Grand Slam event.

SODERLING                               v                                      MONTANES

26                                 Age                                           29

5                           ATP Ranking                                    23

5                                 Titles                                           5

41-27                      Career Grand Slam Record                       25-35

12-7                               U.S. Open Record                                4-8

254-153                             Career Record                               174-187

138-84                         Career Record - Hard                            27-56

39-14                                  2010 Record                                   31-17

21-7                              2010 Record - Hard                               9-5

7-8                 Career Five-Set Record                            5-1

2                 Comebacks from 0-2 Down                           2

89-99                         Career Tiebreak Record                          67-63

9-7                  2010 Tiebreak Record                            10-7

SODERLING is bidding to reach the quarterfinals for the second successive year. Last year he reached this stage for the first time (l. Roger Federer). This is his 8th US Open.

Soderling advanced to the round of 16 after defeating qualifier Andreas Haider-Maurer 75 63 67 57 64 in the 1st round, Taylor Dent 62 62 64 in the 2nd and Thiemo de Bakker 62 63 63 in the 3rd. His 1st round victory means he has now won his last 3 five-set matches in Grand Slam events, having defeated Tomas Berdych in the semifinals at Roland Garros and David Ferrer in the round of 16 at Wimbledon.

In 2010, Soderling reached the final at Roland Garros for the second successive year. In 2009, he fell to Roger Federer 61 76 64 in the final, but avenged that defeat in this year’s quarterfinals by defeating the Swiss 36 63 75 64, ending Federer’s record run of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semifinal appearances. Soderling went on to finish runner-up to Rafael Nadal 64 62 64 in the final.

Soderling followed up his appearance in the Roland Garros final by reaching his first Wimbledon quarterfinal, losing again to Nadal 36 63 76 61.

Also in 2010, Soderling has won the title at Rotterdam (d. Mikhail Youzhny) and finished runner-up at Barcelona (l. Fernando Verdasco), Roland Garros (l. Rafael Nadal) and Bastad (l. Nicolas Almagro). He has won 5 career titles overall and played here on a career-high ranking of No. 5.

Soderling enjoyed less success on the 2010 US Open Series, losing in the round of 16 at both Toronto-1000 (l. David Nalbandian) and Cincinnati-1000 (l. Andy Roddick).

If Soderling wins, he will face either No. 1 Roger Federer or No. 13 Jurgen Melzer in the quarterfinals. He trails Federer 12-1 in previous meetings but holds a winning head-to-head over Melzer 2-0.

Soderling is one of only 2 players, alongside Juan Martin del Potro, to defeat both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at Grand Slam events. Del Potro did so en route to the title at the 2009 US Open.

Soderling broke the Top 10 for the first time on 19 October 2009. He became the first Swedish man to finish the season in the Top 10 since Magnus Norman and Thomas Enqvist in 2000.

For the 2nd successive year, Soderling was the only Swedish man to start in the men’s main draw here. Between 1972-2008, there were at least 2 Swedes in the draw each year. The last Swedish man to win the title was Stefan Edberg in 1992.

Soderling is coached by former player Magnus Norman, who reached the last 16 here in 1999 and 2000.

MONTANES is bidding to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal in 36 majors. Only two players have taken longer to reach their first Grand Slam quarterfinal, Fabrice Santoro (54 majors) and Mark Woodforde (38).

By reaching the round of 16 here, Montanes has recorded his career-best Grand Slam result. He defeated Michal Przysiezny 57 16 75 76 60 in the 1st round, wildcard Carsten Ball 64 63 61 in the 2nd, and was leading 62 2-1 against qualifier Kei Nishikori in the 3rd when his opponent retired with a groin injury. His victory over Przysiezny in the opening round took his career 5-set win-loss record to 5-1.

Montanes has had his best year at majors, reaching the 3rd round at each Grand Slam this year. He lost in the 3rd round at the Australian Open (l. Roger Federer), Roland Garros (l. Soderling) and Wimbledon (l. Novak Djokovic).

Montanes’s previous best US Open result was reaching the 2nd round in 2005, the only time he had won a match here in 8 previous attempts.

Montanes has a win-loss record of 3-13 against Top 5 opposition. This year, he ended a losing streak of 9 matches against Top 5 players by defeating Roger Federer in the semifinals at Estoril.

This is Montanes’s first tournament on hardcourt since Miami-1000, where he lost his opening match in the 2nd round to Florent Serra. Montanes did not play any matches in the US Open Series because of a leg injury.

Montanes has won 2 titles this year, at Estoril (d. Frederico Gil) and Stuttgart (d. Gael Monfils).  He has won 5 career titles, all of which have come on clay. His successful title defence at Estoril marked the first time a player had won back-to-back titles there since Thomas Muster in 1996.

If Montanes wins today, he faces either Roger Federer or Jurgen Melzer in the quarterfinals. He trails Federer 3-1 in head-to-head meetings, but did win their most recent match at 2010 Estoril. He also trails Melzer 3-2 in head-to-head meetings.

Montanes has posted a Top 100 year-end ranking for the last 9 years. He recorded a career-high ranking of No. 22 in August this year and plays here ranked No. 23. He is seeded No. 21, his highest-ever Grand Slam seeding.

Montanes started playing tennis aged six at the Serramar Tennis Club. In 1997 he won Spain’s Junior Tennis Championship aged 16.

Montanes is coached by Narcis Pelach.

NO. 17 GAEL MONFILS (FRA) v RICHARD GASQUET (FRA)

Head-to-head: tied 2-2

2004                       Metz                             Hard (I)             QF        Gasquet            75 61

2005                       Metz                             Hard (I)             QF        Monfils             76(3) 62

2007                       Australian Open             Hard (O)            R32      Gasquet            60 46 75 63

2009                       Metz                             Hard (I)             SF        Monfils             64 63

This is an historic first meeting between 2 French players in the round of 16 at the US Open in the Open Era. This is the latest stage 2 Frenchmen have played each other at the US Open – the previous record was the 3rd round meeting between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Julien Benneteau in 2009.

This is the 2nd Grand Slam meeting between the two players. Surprisingly, 3 of their 4 previous meetings took place at the ATP World Tour event in Metz, which takes place indoors in September.

Gasquet is only 2 months older than Monfils. However they became ITF Junior Boys World Champions 2 years apart. Gasquet was World Champion in 2002, aged 16, after winning the Roland Garros and US Open junior titles. Monfils was World Champion in 2004, aged 18, after winning the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon boys’ titles.

Monfils and Gasquet never played each other on the ITF 18 & Under Junior Circuit.

Both players are bidding to reach their first US Open quarterfinal, having both reached the round of 16 here on 2 previous occasions. The winner will be the first French quarterfinalist here since Arnaud Clement in 2000.

MONFILS                                    v                                       GASQUET

24*                               Age                                           24

19                          ATP Ranking                                    38

2                                 Titles                                           6

39-19                      Career Grand Slam Record                       33-23

10-4                               U.S. Open Record                               10-4

169-114                             Career Record                               213-137

97-65                           Career Record - Hard                           104-72

28-14                                  2010 Record                                   29-16

18-8                              2010 Record - Hard                              11-8

7-2                 Career Five-Set Record                           4-11

0                 Comebacks from 0-2 Down                           1

69-53                         Career Tiebreak Record                          73-75

11-11                           2010 Tiebreak Record                           10-12

*Monfils turned 24 on 1 September

MONFILS has reached the round of 16 here for the 3rd successive year. He is bidding to reach his first US Open quarterfinal. He lost in the round of 16 in 2008 (l. Mardy Fish) and 2009 (l. Rafael Nadal).

Monfils defeated qualifier Robert Kendrick 36 63 64 67 64 in the 1st round, Igor Andreev 63 64 63 in the 2nd round on his 24th birthday, and Janko Tipsarevic 76 67 62 64 in the 3rd round.

Monfils is looking to reach his 3rd Grand Slam quarterfinal. His best Grand Slam performance to date is a semifinal finish at 2008 Roland Garros (l. Roger Federer). He also reached the Roland Garros quarterfinals in 2009 (l. Federer).

Following his 1st round win over Kendrick, Monfils’s career 5-set record now stands at 7-2.

Monfils has reached the round of 16 at a Grand Slam event for the first time in 2010. He lost in the 3rd round at the Australian Open (l. John Isner) and Wimbledon (l. Lleyton Hewitt), and the 2nd round at Roland Garros (l. Fabio Fognini).

Monfils played 2 tournaments in the US Open Series, reaching the last 16 at Toronto-1000 (l. Andy Murray) before losing in the 1st round at Cincinnati-1000 (l. Alejandro Falla).

Monfils’s best result this year was finishing runner-up in Stuttgart (l. Albert Montanes), where he retired with a right ankle injury. He also reached the semifinals at Brisbane (l. Radek Stepanek) and Johannesburg (l. Feliciano Lopez). He had to withdraw from Miami-1000 with a left wrist injury.

Monfils entered the Top 10 for the first time in February 2009 and finished the year ranked No. 13, having improved his year-end ranking for the 3rd straight year.

Monfils narrowly missed out on achieving the Junior Grand Slam in 2004 after winning the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. His preparation for the junior US Open that year was hampered by a knee injury and he lost in the 3rd round to Viktor Troicki. He was named 2004 ITF Junior Boys World Champion.

If Monfils wins, he will face No. 3 Novak Djokovic or No. 19 Mardy Fish in the quarterfinals. He trails Djokovic 4-0 and Fish 1-0 in previous head-to-head meetings.

Monfils has been coached by Roger Rasheed since July 2008.

GASQUET is through to the round of 16 here for the first time since 2006. He is bidding to reach his first US Open quarterfinal. He lost in the round of 16 here in 2005 (l. Robby Ginepri) and 2006 (l. Lleyton Hewitt). Last year, he lost in the 1st round (l. Rafael Nadal).

Gasquet defeated Simon Greul 63 64 62 in the 1st round, No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko 63 64 62 in the 2nd round, and Kevin Anderson 64 76 75 in the 3rd round. These are his first Grand Slam match wins since the 2009 Australian Open. He is contesting his first Grand Slam round of 16 since 2008 Wimbledon.

Gasquet is looking to reach only his 2nd Grand Slam quarterfinal. His best result at a Grand Slam is the semifinals at 2007 Wimbledon (l. Roger Federer). 

Gasquet’s win over Davydenko in the 2nd round marked his second victory over a Top 10 player in 2010. His first came when he defeated Fernando Verdasco to win his 6th career title at Nice in May. It was his first title since 2007. In 2010, he has also reached the final at Sydney (l. Marcos Baghdatis) and Gstaad (l. Nicolas Almagro).

In 2010 Grand Slam play, Gasquet lost in the 1st round at the Australian Open (l. Mikhail Youzhny) and Roland Garros, where he let slip a two-set lead against Andy Murray. He missed this year’s Wimbledon with a rib injury.

Gasquet contested 3 US Open Series events, losing in the 1st round at Washington (l. Kristof Vliegen) and Toronto-1000 (l. Sergiy Stakhovsky), and the 3rd round at Cincinnati (l. Mardy Fish).

In 2009, Gasquet finished outside the Top 50 for the first time since 2004. He did not play from May through to July because of a doping suspension.

Gasquet was ITF Junior Boys World Champion in 2002. He won 2002 junior Roland Garros (d. Laurent Recouderc) and the 2002 junior US Open (d. Marcos Baghdatis). He is the only US Open junior boys champion to reach the round of 16 from the 8 to start in the men’s singles draw. Only Stefan Edberg and Andy Roddick have won both the boys’ and men’s singles titles here.

If Gasquet wins, he will face No. 3 Novak Djokovic or No. 19 Mardy Fish in the quarterfinals. He trails Djokovic 2-1 and leads Fish 2-1 in previous head-to-head meetings.

Gasquet started working with Argentine Gabriel Markus in January 2010.

        

 

 

Lleyton Hewitt will lead Australia’s assault on the World Group of Davis Cup by BNP Paribas against Belgium in Cairns later this month.

 

Hewitt heads the four man team which includes Carsten Ball, Peter Luczak and Paul Hanley.

 

The winner of the World Group Play-off in Cairns on 17-19 September will be in the competition’s elite for next year.

 

The Australians have also named the much-improved Marinko Matosevic as a hitting partner for the team and Queensland’s Ben Mitchell as the “orange boy”.

 

“We are confident that we have a good strong team capable of winning our way back into the World Group,” Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald said. “We have been building toward this tie all year and will be well and truly ready to go by the time we hit Cairns.”

 

Hewitt, Luczak and Ball are expected to use the lead up week of solid practice in Cairns to stake their respective claims for the two singles positions.

 

The return from injury of Chris Guccione caused some speculation, particularly about the doubles positions. In the end it appears Hanley won the day showing he is in good form at the US Open and also because he has some experience against Belgium.

 

"We know that Paul's very adaptable with anybody and the doubles facet is going to be really important here," according to Australian Davis Cup coach Todd Woodbridge.        

"He and Lleyton played in the tie we played against Belgium in Belgium (in 2007) and played a very good match and, although we lost the tie, won against Olivier Rochus and Kristof Vliegen.

 

Woodbridge said Guccione had done everything right but just came up short on match practice.

"I've been really happy with the effort he's put in," Woodbridge said. 

"I asked him to do everything possible to get ready here. Unfortunately he needed another couple of matches to be picked.          

"There's also the fact he's getting married next weekend and wouldn't have arrived back into Cairns until the Wednesday (before the Friday start).               

"So it would have been a big call and potentially a dangerous call to get him as ready as you would have liked to get him ready for a tie like that.               

"He understood that perfectly."

The Australian Davis Cup team defeated Japan 5-0 in the Asia Oceania Group Davis Cup by BNP Paribas tie in May to progress to this World Group play-off.           

 

        

US OPEN

New York, NY-USA

August 30-September 12, 2010

$22,668,000/Grand Slam

Hard/Outdoors

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Singles - Third Round

(1) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. Chan Yung-Jan (TPE) 61 60

(31) Kaia Kanepi (EST) d. (4) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 62 76(1)

(7) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) d. (25) Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) 62 76(2)

(11) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) d. (23) Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 63 64

(14) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. (WC) Beatrice Capra (USA) 60 60

(15) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) d. Patty Schnyder (SUI) 76(5) 36 76(6)

Andrea Petkovic (GER) d. Peng Shuai (CHN) w/o (right elbow injury)

Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) d. (Q) Lourdes Domínguez Lino (ESP) 60 61

Doubles - Second Round

(1) Dulko/Pennetta (ARG/ITA) d. Cirstea/Safarova (ROU/CZE) 60 64

(4) Peschke/Srebotnik (CZE/SLO) d. (WC) Gullickson/Gullickson (USA/USA) 62 63

(5) Raymond/Stubbs (USA/AUS) d. Chuang/Govortsova (TPE/BLR) 62 63

(9) Black/Rodionova (ZIM/AUS) d. Kudryavtseva/Kustova (RUS/BLR) 64 61

(13) Niculescu/Peer (ROU/ISR) d. (WC) Glatch/Vandeweghe (USA/USA) 67(6) 63 76(4)

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour is the world’s leading professional sport for women with more than 2,225 players representing 91 nations competing for more than $86 million in prize money at the Tour’s 53 events and four Grand Slams in 33 countries. More than 4.9 million people attended women’s tennis events in 2009 with millions more watching on television networks around the world. The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season concludes with the Sony Ericsson Championships – Doha 2010 in Doha, Qatar, from October 26-31, and the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali, Indonesia, from November 4-7. Further information on the Tour can be found on the Internet at www.sonyericssonwtatour.com

        

US Open* $22,668,000 GRAND SLAM 2000 New York, U.S.A.  (-4 hours GMT) 30 August - 12 September, 2010     Surface: Hard www.ATPWorldTour.com
	RESULTS - SATURDAY, 4 SEPTEMBER, 2010 Singles - Third Round [2] R Federer (SUI) d P Mathieu (FRA) 64 63 63 [3] N Djokovic (SRB) d J Blake (USA) 61 76(4) 63 [5] R Soderling (SWE) d T de Bakker (NED) 62 63 63 [13] J Melzer (AUT) d [22] J Ferrero (ESP) 75 63 61 [17] G Monfils (FRA) d J Tipsarevic (SRB) 76(4) 67(4) 62 64 [19] M Fish (USA) d A Clement (FRA) 46 63 64 16 63 [21] A Montanes (ESP) d K Nishikori (JPN) 62 21 ret. (groin) R Gasquet (FRA) d K Anderson (RSA) 64 76(3) 75 Doubles - Third Round [14] S Aspelin (SWE) / P Hanley (AUS) d S Stakhovsky (UKR) / M Youzhny (RUS) 62 36 76(2) Doubles - Second Round E Schwank (ARG) / H Zeballos (ARG) d [4] M Bhupathi (IND) / M Mirnyi (BLR) 64 36 76(4) [5] L Kubot (POL) / O Marach (AUT) d B Becker (GER) / L Mayer (ARG) 62 64 [9] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) d R Harrison (USA) / R Kendrick (USA) 67(2) 63 76(4) [12] M Granollers (ESP) / T Robredo (ESP) d R Ram (USA) / B Reynolds (USA) 64 63 M Melo (BRA) / B Soares (BRA) d J Chela (ARG) / P Cuevas (URU) 64 26 76(2) J Chardy (FRA) / C Kas (GER) d J Erlich (ISR) / J Kerr (AUS) 75 46 64 * Grand Slams are not ATP events.

        

2010 US OPEN

DAY 7 MEN’S NOTES

Sunday 5 September 2010

Third Round Top Half

Featured matches

No. 1 Rafael Nadal (ESP) v Gilles Simon (FRA)

No. 4 Andy Murray (GBR) v No. 25 Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)

No. 8 Fernando Verdasco (ESP) v No. 31 David Nalbandian (ARG)

No. 10 David Ferrer (ESP) v Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP)

No. 12 Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) v No. 18 John Isner (USA)

No. 14 Nicolas Almagro (ESP) v No. 20 Sam Querrey (USA)

No. 23 Feliciano Lopez (ESP) v Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)

Tommy Robredo (ESP) v Michael Llodra (FRA)

The Spanish Armada…

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal is one of 7 Spanish players in 3rd round action on Sunday. They are bidding to join Albert Montanes in the round of 16.

The Spaniards have already set a Grand Slam Open Era record with 9 players reaching the 3rd round. They are now looking to set a record for the number of Spaniards in the round of 16: the US Open record is 4 players (in 2007 and 2009), and the Grand Slam record is 6 players, at Roland Garros in 1998.

Flying the French flag…

The French players are also setting records in New York, with 5 players reaching the 3rd round here for the first time in the Open Era. With Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils setting up an all-French round of 16 encounter on Saturday, 2 more Frenchmen are in 3rd round action today. The record number of Frenchmen in the round of 16 at the US Open is 3 in 1999.

NO. 1 RAFAEL NADAL (ESP) v GILLES SIMON (FRA)

Head-to-head: Nadal leads 3-1

2006           Marseille                       Hard (I)             R16      Nadal    75 64

2008           Australian Open             Hard (O)            R32      Nadal    75 62 63

2008           AMS Madrid                  Hard (I)             SF        Simon   36 75 76(6)

2009           Australian Open             Hard (O)            QF        Nadal    62 75 75

NADAL                                       v                                          SIMON

24                                 Age                                           25

1                           ATP Ranking                                    42

41                               Titles                                           6

115-17                     Career Grand Slam Record                       26-18

23-7                               U.S. Open Record                                8-4

455-98                              Career Record                               172-125

210-68                         Career Record - Hard                            96-65

54-7                                   2010 Record                                    9-11

23-6                              2010 Record - Hard                               5-7

14-3                           Career Five-Set Record                            5-2

3                 Comebacks from 0-2 Down                           0

113-75                       Career Tiebreak Record                          55-51

16-6                            2010 Tiebreak Record                             5-4

NADAL advanced to the 3rd round with a 76 76 63 win against Teymuraz Gabashvili and a 62 76 75 victory over Denis Istomin in the opening 2 rounds. He has not lost in the 3rd round at a major since the 2005 US Open (l. James Blake).

Nadal is looking to become just the 7th man in history to complete the career Grand Slam. This is the 2nd year running that Nadal has the opportunity to win the only Slam missing from his collection. 

Having won this year’s Roland Garros and Wimbledon, Nadal is bidding to follow Rod Laver, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer as the 4th man to win 3 consecutive Grand Slam titles in the Open Era, as well as just the 5th man to win 3 Grand Slam titles in a year.

Nadal has reached the US Open semifinals for the last 2 years. In 2008, as No. 1 seed, he lost to Andy Murray 62 76 46 64. In 2009, seeded No. 3, he lost to eventual champion Juan Martin del Potro 62 62 62. He is making his 8th successive appearance at the event.

Nadal won his 8th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in July, defeating Tomas Berdych 63 75 64 in the final. In June he won his 5th Roland Garros title defeating Robin Soderling 64 62 64 in the final to avenge his defeat to Soderling in the round of 16 in 2009. It marked the second time he had won the title there without dropping a set. At the 2010 Australian Open, he retired against Andy Murray in the quarterfinals with a knee injury. 

After an injury-plagued 2009 season, Nadal has come back in 2010 in record-breaking form. Nadal became the all-time ATP Masters-1000 leader when winning his 18th Masters title at Madrid; the first player in Open Era history to win 6 straight titles at Monte Carlo; and the first player in history to capture all 3 ATP Masters-1000 claycourt tournaments and Roland Garros in the same year.

Nadal has won a tour-leading 5 titles in 2010, but is looking for his first hardcourt title since 2009 Indian Wells-1000.

Nadal regained the world No. 1 ranking from Roger Federer following his victory at Roland Garros.

Nadal has been coached by his uncle Toni Nadal since the age of 4.

SIMON is bidding to reach the round of 16 at the US Open for the first time. He defeated wildcard Donald Young 61 64 62 in the 1st round and No. 29 Philipp Kohlschreiber 46 63 16 61 63 in the 2nd round.

This is Simon’s 5th straight US Open. Last year here he retired in the 3rd round with a right knee injury when trailing Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Simon’s best performance at a Grand Slam came at the 2009 Australian Open when he reached the quarterfinals (l. Rafael Nadal). This is his 19th major.

This year, Simon has been troubled with a right knee injury, sustained at last year’s US Open, which saw him miss the Australian Open and Roland Garros. He underwent surgery following Miami-1000. As a result, his ranking has suffered and he plays here ranked No. 42, his lowest ranking since September 2007. Simon reached a career-high ranking of No. 6 in January 2009.

Simon’s best results this year are reaching the quarterfinals at Eastbourne (l. Michael Llodra) and Washington (l. David Nalbandian). He also reached the 3rd round at Wimbledon (l. Andy Murray).

Simon is on a 6-match losing streak against Top 5 players. His last loss to a Top 5 player was to Andy Murray at 2010 Wimbledon. He has a 6-13 win-loss record against Top 5 opposition.

Simon is coached by Thierry Tulasne. His fitness trainer is Paul Quetin.

NO. 4 ANDY MURRAY (GBR) v NO. 25 STANISLAS WAWRINKA (SUI)

Head-to-head: Murray leads 5-3

2005           Davis Cup (WG-PO)      Clay (I)              R2        Wawrinka          63 76(5) 64

2006           AMS Miami                   Hard (O)            R128     Wawrinka          75 36 64

2008           Doha                            Hard (O)            FR        Murray              64 46 62

2008           Marseille                       Hard (I)             R16      Murray              36 76(5) 61

2008           AMS Rome                   Clay (O)            R32      Wawrinka          62 76(5)

2008           AMS Toronto                Hard (O)            R16      Murray              62 06 64

2008           US Open                       Hard (O)            R16      Murray              61 63 63

2009           Wimbledon                   Grass (O)          R16      Murray              26 63 63 57 63

This is the pair’s 2nd meeting at the US Open, with Murray winning in straight sets in the round of 16 in 2008 en route to his first Grand Slam final. Their last meeting came in the round of 16 at 2009 Wimbledon in the first full match played under the Centre Court roof. The match finished at 22:38, which at the time was the latest ever finish in Wimbledon history. [NB The 1st round match between Novak Djokovic and Olivier Rochus at 2010 Wimbledon finished at 22:59.]

MURRAY                                    v                                      WAWRINKA

23                                 Age                                           25

4                           ATP Ranking                                    27

15                               Titles                                           2

57-19                      Career Grand Slam Record                       38-22

17-5                               U.S. Open Record                               12-5

258-89                              Career Record                               169-130

184-53                         Career Record - Hard                            77-65

37-13                                  2010 Record                                   28-14

25-7                              2010 Record - Hard                              11-7

10-5                           Career Five-Set Record                           13-7

4                 Comebacks from 0-2 Down                           4

75-52                         Career Tiebreak Record                          57-79

7-11                            2010 Tiebreak Record                             4-8

MURRAY defeated Lukas Lacko 63 62 62 in the 1st round and Dustin Brown 75 63 60 in the 2nd round. This is his easiest ever start to the US Open - the first time he has reached the 3rd round without dropping a set.

2008 finalist Murray is making his 6th successive appearance at the US Open. He reached his first Grand Slam final here 2 years ago, upsetting world No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals, before losing to Roger Federer 62 75 62 in a Monday night final.

Last year here, seeded No. 2 at a Grand Slam for the first time, Murray was defeated in the round of 16 by Marin Cilic 75 62 62.

Murray won the 2010 US Open Series, and could earn up to an additional $1 million in prize money if he goes on to win the title, which would take his total prize money to $2.7 million.

Murray captured his first title of 2010 during the US Open Series at Toronto-1000. He defeated Rafael Nadal 63 64 in the semifinals and Roger Federer 75 75 in the final, marking the first time he defeated the two players at the same tournament. Also this summer, he reached the final at Los Angeles (l. Sam Querrey) and the quarterfinals at Cincinnati-1000 (l. Mardy Fish).

Murray has extended his 2010 hardcourt win-loss record to 25-7. This puts him in joint 3rd place behind Andy Roddick and Marcos Baghdatis.

Murray reached his 2nd Grand Slam final at the 2010 Australian Open, as No. 5 seed, defeating Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals, before losing to Roger Federer 63 64 76 in the final. He went on to reach the round of 16 at Roland Garros (l. Tomas Berdych), before reaching his 2nd successive semifinal at Wimbledon (l. Rafael Nadal).

Murray won the US Open boys’ title in 2004, defeating Sergiy Stakhovsky in the final. He was one of 3 former junior boys champions to reach the 3rd round from the 8 to start. Richard Gasquet is already through to the round of 16. Only 2 players, Stefan Edberg and Andy Roddick, have won both the boys’ and men’s singles titles here.

Murray split with coach Miles MacLagan in July 2010, but is currently working with Alex Corretja as a part-time advisor.

WAWRINKA is through to the 3rd round at the US Open for the 5th time in 6 appearances here. He defeated Mikhail Kukushkin 63 62 62 in the 1st round and Juan Ignacio Chela 75 63 64 in the 2nd round.

Wawrinka is looking to equal his best performance here by reaching the round of 16 for the 3rd time. He lost in the round of 16 in both 2007 (l. Juan Ignacio Chela) and 2008 (l. Murray). Last year he lost in the 1st round to Nicolas Lapentti.

The round of 16 represents Wawrinka’s best showing at any Slam. He has also reached this stage at Wimbledon in 2008-09, and 2010 Roland Garros (l. Roger Federer).

Wawrinka lost in the 2nd round at 3 US Open Series events, at Washington (l. David Nalbandian), Toronto-1000 (l. Rafael Nadal) and Cincinnati-1000 (l. Julien Benneteau).

Wawrinka won his 2nd career title at Casablanca on clay in May, defeating Victor Hanescu in the final. In 2010, he has also reached the final at Chennai (l. Marin Cilic) and semifinals at Belgrade (l. John Isner).

Wawrinka reached a career-high ranking of No. 9 in June 2008, but plays here ranked No. 27, his lowest ranking since April 2008

Wawrinka has played Davis Cup for Switzerland since 2004. Switzerland faces Kazakhstan later this month in the World Group Play-offs in Astana. He also teamed up with Roger Federer to win a men’s doubles gold medal for Switzerland at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Wawrinka married Ilham in December 2009. Their first daughter Alexia was born on 12 February 2010.

Wawrinka is coached by Peter Lundgren.

NO. 8 FERNANDO VERDASCO (ESP) v NO. 31 DAVID NALBANDIAN (ARG)

Head-to-head: Verdasco leads 1-0

2006           Wimbledon       Grass (O)          R32      Verdasco          76(9) 76(9)  62

VERDASCO                                v                                     NALBANDIAN

26                                 Age                                           28

8                           ATP Ranking                                    33

5                                 Titles                                          11

57-29                      Career Grand Slam Record                       80-29

18-7                               U.S. Open Record                               19-8

278-189                             Career Record                               330-153

128-96                         Career Record - Hard                           161-77

39-16                                  2010 Record                                    24-5

17-8                              2010 Record - Hard                              19-4

12-8                           Career Five-Set Record                          16-11

1                 Comebacks from 0-2 Down                           6

102-107                      Career Tiebreak Record                         112-79

16-15                           2010 Tiebreak Record                            10-3

VERDASCO is through to the 3rd round here for the 6th successive year. He defeated Fabio Fognini 16 75 61 46 63 in the 1st round and qualifier Adrian Mannarino 61 62 62 in the 2nd round. His victory over Fognini avenged his defeat in the 1st round at Wimbledon.

Verdasco’s best result here is a quarterfinal finish last year (l. Novak Djokovic). This is Verdasco’s 8th consecutive US Open and 30th straight Grand Slam.

In 2009, Verdasco enjoyed a breakthrough year in Grand Slams. Having never previously progressed beyond the round of 16, he reached the semifinals at the Australian Open (l. Rafael Nadal) and quarterfinals at the US Open (l. Djokovic). He was one of 3 players to reach the round of 16 at all 4 majors, along with Roger Federer and Andy Murray.

Verdasco has had less success at Grand Slams in 2010, but still reached the round of 16 at both the Australian Open (l. Nikolay Davydenko) and Roland Garros (l. Nicolas Almagro). He lost in the 1st round at Wimbledon (l. Fognini).

In 2010, Verdasco has won 2 titles at San Jose (d. Andy Roddick) and Barcelona (d. Robin Soderling). He is one of 12 men to have won multiple titles this year. In total, he has won 5 career titles.

Verdasco had a disappointing US Open Series. He reached the quarterfinals at Washington (l. Marcos Baghdatis), but lost in the 2nd round at Toronto-1000 (l. Jeremy Chardy) and Cincinnati-1000 (l. Mardy Fish).

Verdasco has been a member of 2 winning Spanish Davis Cup teams, in 2008 and 2009. However he lost both his singles and doubles matches in Spain’s 5-0 defeat to France in the 2010 quarterfinals in Clermont-Ferrand in July.

Verdasco is coached by the Adidas team.

NALBANDIAN defeated Florent Serra 75 64 62 in the 2nd round, having defeated qualifier Rik de Voest 76 36 64 67 64 in the 1st round. His victory over de Voest was his first 5-set match since the 2009 Australian Open, and first 5-set win since April 2008.

This is Nalbandian’s first Grand Slam since the 2009 Australian Open. He missed most of the 2009 season following hip surgery and this year he has suffered with an abdominal tear and a hamstring injury.

Nalbandian is looking to reach his first Grand Slam round of 16 since 2007 Roland Garros.

Nalbandian is playing his 9th US Open having missed last year’s event while recovering from hip surgery. His best result here is the semifinals in 2003 (l. Andy Roddick).

Nalbandian had an excellent US Open Series. He returned from injury and won his 11th career title at Washington (d. Marcos Baghdatis), reached the quarterfinals at Toronto-1000 (l. Andy Murray) and reached the last 16 at Cincinnati-1000 (l. Novak Djokovic). His ranking improved from No. 117 at the beginning of August to No. 33 this week.

Nalbandian has twice helped Argentina to win Davis Cup ties this year. In the 1st round against Sweden, he won the doubles rubber with Horacio Zeballos and then defeated Andreas Vinciguerra in the decisive 5th rubber. In the Davis Cup quarterfinals, he returned from a hamstring injury to defeat Nikolay Davydenko and Mikhail Youznhy and seal Argentina’s place in the semifinals. Argentina faces France in the semifinals in Lyon later this month for a place in the final.

Nalbandian was one of 3 US Open junior champions through to the 3rd round from the 8 to start in the draw. He won the title in 1998 (d. Roger Federer). Richard Gasquet is already through to the round of 16. Since the US Open Junior Championships began in 1973, only Stefan Edberg and Andy Roddick have won both the boys’ and men’s singles titles.  

Nalbandian’s career-best ranking is No. 3 (March 2006). His best Grand Slam result was a final appeararance at 2002 Wimbledon (l. Lleyton Hewitt). He has reached the semifinals at all four Grand Slams.

Nalbandian is coached by Luis Lobo. His fitness trainer is Mariano Seara.

NO. 10 DAVID FERRER (ESP) v DANIEL GIMENO-TRAVER (ESP)

Head-to-head: Ferrer leads 1-0

2009           Estoril               Clay (O)            R32                  Ferrer                64 61

FERRER                                     v                              GIMENO-TRAVER

28                                 Age                                        25

12                          ATP Ranking                                 59

8                                 Titles                                        0

59-31                      Career Grand Slam Record                      5-8

14-7                               U.S. Open Record                             2-1

337-204                             Career Record                              33-53

126-95                         Career Record - Hard                           3-9

44-16                                  2010 Record                                15-19

10-8                              2010 Record - Hard                            3-5

13-7                           Career Five-Set Record                         1-1

3                 Comebacks from 0-2 Down                        0

68-73                         Career Tiebreak Record                       15-21

7-6                  2010 Tiebreak Record                          7-6

FERRER defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov 62 62 63 in the 1st round and Benjamin Becker 63 64 64 in the 2nd round.

Ferrer is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the first time since 2007, when he broke through to reach his only Grand Slam semifinal. Seeded No. 15, he defeated Rafael Nadal in the round of 16 before losing to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.

Last year, seeded No. 18, Ferrer lost in the 2nd round of the US Open to Jose Acasuso in 5 sets.

Ferrero is looking to reach his 2nd successive Grand Slam round of 16, having reached that stage at 2010 Wimbledon, where he lost to Robin Soderling in 5 sets.

Ferrer only won 2 matches in the US Open Series. He was knocked out in the 1st round at Toronto-1000 (l. David Nalbandian) and reached the round of 16 at Cincinnati-1000 (l. Nikolay Davydenko)

Ferrer’s won his 8th career title at Acapulco in February (d. Juan Carlos Ferrero). In 2010, he has reached 2 other finals at Buenos Aires (l. Ferrero) and Rome-1000 (l. Rafael Nadal). He sits in second place for most match wins so far this year (44-16 win-loss) behind Rafael Nadal (54-7).

Ferrer’s success this year is an improvement on his 2009 season, when he finished with his lowest year-end ranking (No. 17) since 2004. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 4 in 2008.

Ferrer has reached the quarterfinals or better at 3 of the 4 Grand Slams. The round of 16 remains his best performance at Wimbledon.

Ferrer’s 8-match winning streak in Davis Cup singles matches came to an end against Gael Monfils in the World Group quarterfinals in July. Spain lost 5-0 to France, only the second time the defending champion had been whitewashed since the inception of the World Group.

Ferrer is coached by Javier Piles and Rafael Garcia.

GIMENO-TRAVER has reached the 3rd round at a Grand Slam event for the first time in 9 majors.

Gimeno-Traver defeated Jarkko Nieminen 76 64 63 in the 1st round and Jeremy Chardy 46 62 60 76 in the 2nd round.

On his US Open debut in 2009, Gimeno-Traver lost in the 1st round to Gilles Simon. He had never previously tried to qualify for the US Open.

Gimeno only won his first Grand Slam match at 2009 Roland Garros, where he reached the 2nd round. He also reached the 2nd round at 2009 Wimbledon and 2010 Roland Garros.

Gimeno-Traver has had an outstanding summer, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 58 in August. He reached his first 2 tour semifinals at Stuttgart (l. Gael Monfils) and Gstaad (l. Nicolas Almagro) on clay. He also won the Segovia Challenger (ESP) on hardcourt, and reached the final of the San Benedetto Challenger (ITA) and semifinals of the Turin Challenger (ITA) on clay.

Since Wimbledon, Gimeno-Traver has compiled a 20-4 win-loss record in tour-level and challenger events.

Gimeno-Traver broke into the world’s Top 100 for the first time in 2008 at the age of 23. He reached his first quarterfinal at Portschach and won the challenger titles at Aarhus (DEN) and Brasov (ROM).

Gimeno-Traver is also through to the round of 16 in the US Open men’s doubles with Frederico Gil.

Gimeno-Traver reached a career-high ITF Junior Ranking of No. 4 in 2003. His best Grand Slam junior performance was the quarterfinals at 2003 Roland Garros (l. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga). He was also the 2003 European junior champion (d. Marcos Baghdatis).

Gimeno-Traver has been coached by Israel Sevilla since 2010 Stuttgart.

NO. 12 MIKHAIL YOUZHNY (RUS) v NO. 18 JOHN ISNER (USA)

Head-to-head: Youzhny leads 1-0

2009           Montreal-1000   Hard (O)            R32      Youzhny           67(8) 61 63       

YOUZHNY                                   v                                          ISNER

28                                 Age                                           25

14                          ATP Ranking                                    20

6                                 Titles                                           1

65-36                      Career Grand Slam Record                       13-10

15-7                               U.S. Open Record                                7-3

328-239                             Career Record                                 77-62

165-120                        Career Record - Hard                            64-42

32-14                                  2010 Record                                   31-20

19-7                              2010 Record - Hard                              22-9

12-9                           Career Five-Set Record                            3-2

3                 Comebacks from 0-2 Down                           0

123-112                      Career Tiebreak Record                          79-47

13-8                            2010 Tiebreak Record                           27-16

YOUZHNY advanced to the 3rd round here for the first time since 2006 after defeating Andrey Golubev 62 63 63 in the 1st round and Dudi Sela 61 63 46 63 in the 2nd.

Last year, Youzhny lost in the 2nd round to Marco Chiudinelli. His best result here, and at a Grand Slam, is the semifinals in 2006 (l. Andy Roddick).

Youzhny had a disappointing US Open Series, losing in the 2nd round at Toronto-1000 (l. Alexandr Dolgopolov) and the 1st round at Cincinnati-1000 (l. Richard Gasquet).

Youzhny gave a walkover in the 3rd round at this year’s Australian Open to Lukasz Kubot due to a right wrist injury.

This is Youzhny’s 8th US Open and his 38th Grand Slam. Since the 2003 Australian Open, he has only missed one Grand Slam event, here in 2008, due to a viral illness.

Youzhny has won one title every year for the past 4 years. This year, he won at Munich (d. Marin Cilic). He has also reached 2 finals this year, at Rotterdam (l. Robin Soderling) and at Dubai (l. Novak Djokovic). He has won 6 singles titles in his career.

Youzhny has played Davis Cup since 2000. He replaced Yevgeny Kafelnikov for the decisive 5th rubber in the 2002 World Group final against France. He came back from 2-sets-to-love down to defeat Paul-Henri Mathieu. It was the first time in the history of the competition that the Davis Cup title was won from 2-sets-to-love down in a decisive fifth rubber.

Youzhny also has a good doubles record. He has won 7 career doubles titles, including at Halle this year with Sergiy Stakhovsky (d. Martin Damm/Filip Polasek). He played the men’s doubles here with Stakhovsky, losing in the 3rd round.

Youzhny first broke into the Top 10 in August 2007. His career-high ranking is No. 8, achieved in 2008 after reaching the quarterfinals at the 2008 Australian Open.

Youzhny has been coached by Boris Sobkin since he was 10 years old. His fitness trainer is Oleg Mosiakov.

ISNER reached the 3rd round here after defeating Frederico Gil 64 63 64 in the 1st round and Marco Chiudinelli 63 36 76 64 in the 2nd.

Isner is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the second successive year. Last year he lost to Fernando Verdasco at this stage. This is his best result at a Grand Slam alongside reaching the round of 16 at this year’s Australian Open (l. Andy Murray).

In his last event before the US Open, Isner retired with a right ankle injury in the 2nd round at Cincinnati-1000. He only returned to the tennis court two days before this year’s US Open.

Isner won his first ATP Tour title this year, defeating Arnaud Clement in the final at Auckland. He has reached 3 other finals this year, losing to fellow Americans every time. He lost to Sam Querrey at Memphis and Belgrade, and Mardy Fish at Atlanta.

Isner reached his career-best ranking of No. 18 in July.

Isner’s 64 36 67 76 70-68 1st round defeat of Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon set the record for the longest ever tennis match in history in terms of number of games and duration. The match lasted 11 hours 5 minutes and totalled 183 games. The final set alone lasted 8 hours 11 minutes. In comparison, the fewest games played through 7 rounds to win a Grand Slam Open Era men’s singles title is 147, by Guillermo Vilas at the 1977 US Open.

Isner is the record-holder for most number of aces served by one player in a men’s singles match (since ATP began keeping records in 1991), with 113.

Isner made his Davis Cup debut for USA against Serbia in March this year. He lost his two singles rubbers but claimed a point for USA in the doubles with Bob Bryan. USA faces Colombia in Bogota in the World Group play-offs later this month.

Isner is coached by former player Craig Boynton, who used to work with Mardy Fish and Jim Courier.

NO. 14 NICOLAS ALMAGRO (ESP) v NO. 20 SAM QUERREY (USA)

Head-to-head: Querrey leads 1-0

2009           Auckland          Hard (O)            QF        Querrey 63 62

ALMAGRO                                  v                                    QUERREY

25                                 Age                                        22

16                          ATP Ranking                                 22

7                                 Titles                                        6

30-24                      Career Grand Slam Record                    16-16

9-5                     U.S. Open Record                             8-4

183-138                             Career Record                            131-100

37-48                           Career Record - Hard                         93-63

41-20                                  2010 Record                                37-18

12-7                              2010 Record - Hard                           17-9

7-7                 Career Five-Set Record                         1-2

1                 Comebacks from 0-2 Down                        0

68-90                         Career Tiebreak Record                       49-52

20-14                           2010 Tiebreak Record                        14-15

ALMAGRO is bidding to reach the round of 16 for the first time in 6 appearances here. He defeated Potito Starace 46 64 64 76 and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 63 76 46 76 in the first 2 rounds.

Almagro has reached the 3rd round here for the 4th consecutive year, his best result at the US Open. His best Grand Slam result is a quarterfinal finish at Roland Garros in 2008 (l. Rafael Nadal) and 2010 (l. Nadal). This is his 24th major.

Almagro’s best hardcourt result is reaching the round of 16 at this year’s Australian Open (l. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga).

This year, Almagro has won 2 titles at Bastad (d. Robin Soderling) and Gstaad (d. Richard Gasquet), both on clay. He also reached the semifinals at Madrid-1000 and made quarterfinal appearances at 4 other tournaments. All of Almagro’s 7 career titles have come on clay.

In the US Open Series, Almagro lost to Michael Llodra in the 2nd round at Toronto-1000 and in the 1st round at Cincinnati-1000 to Stanislas Wawrinka. His best hardcourt result of the year is the quarterfinals at Miami-1000.

Almagro has a 7-10 win-loss record against American players.

Almagro has been coached by Jose Perlas since September 2009.

QUERREY defeated wildcard Bradley Klahn 63 46 75 64 in the 1st round and Marcel Granollers 62 63 64 in the 2nd. He is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the second time in 3 years.

This is Querrey’s 5th straight US Open. Last year he reached the 3rd round (l. Robin Soderling). His best result at Flushing Meadows - and at any Slam - is the round of 16 in 2008 (l. Rafael Nadal). He also reached the round of 16 at 2010 Wimbledon (l. Andy Murray).

Querrey has enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2010, entering the world’s Top 20 for the first time in July at No. 19. He plays here ranked No. 22. 

Querrey has won 4 titles so far this year, at Memphis (d. John Isner), Belgrade (d. Isner), Queen’s (d. Mardy Fish) and Los Angeles (d. Andy Murray). He is the only player to win titles on 3 different surfaces so far this year. At Belgrade he became the first American since 2003 to win a European claycourt title. Only Rafael Nadal (5 titles) has won more titles this year.

Querrey is one of 4 players to win 2 hardcourt titles in 2010: Marin Cilic, Roger Federer and Andy Roddick are the others. However, he had a disappointing US Open Series. After winning at Los Angeles, he lost in the 2nd round at his next 3 events, at Washington (l. Janko Tipsarevic), Toronto-1000 (l. Kevin Anderson) and Cincinnati-1000 (l. David Ferrer).

Querrey contested his 2nd Davis Cup tie for the USA in March, with the USA losing 3-2 to Serbia in the 1st round in Belgrade. He is expected to be part of the team that takes on Colombia in the World Group play-offs in Bogota later this month.

Querrey’s 2009 season was cut short after he suffered a right arm injury during a freak accident at 2009 Bangkok, when a glass table shattered beneath him in the locker room following a practice session. He had emergency surgery and resumed practice 6 weeks later.

As a wildcard, Querrey reached the quarterfinals at the 2004 US Open junior championships, losing to eventual champion Andy Murray.

At 22 years, 10 months, Querrey is the youngest player left in the men’s draw.

In August this year Querrey won a bid to run the Darling Tennis Center in Las Vegas in conjunction with his family and the city.

Querrey is coached by David Nainkin.

NO. 23 FELICIANO LOPEZ (ESP) v SERGIY STAKHOVSKY (UKR)

Head-to-head: first meeting     

LOPEZ                                                    v                                                STAKHOVSKY

28                                           Age                                                          24

25                                  ATP Ranking                                                36

2                                            Titles                                                         4

45-35                              Career Grand Slam Record                                 3-7

10-8                                         U.S. Open Record                                          2-1

232-231                                      Career Record                                            55-49

131-127                               Career Record - Hard                                     36-23

24-18                                             2010 Record                                              24-18

13-10                                      2010 Record - Hard                                        15-9

12-8                                    Career Five-Set Record                                     3-4

2                      Comebacks from 0-2 Down                                   1

143-115                             Career Tiebreak Record                                  27-14

12-10                                   2010 Tiebreak Record                                      13-6

LOPEZ reached the 3rd round after defeating Santiago Giraldo 64 64 64 in the 1st round and qualifier Benoit Paire 64 67 57 76 62 in the 2nd. Paire served for the match at 5-4 in the 4th set. It was Lopez’s first 5-set victory since 2008 Wimbledon.

Lopez is playing in his 9th US Open and his 36th Grand Slam. He is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the first time since 2007 (l. Roger Federer). Last year, he was knocked out in the 1st round (l. Taylor Dent).

Lopez has twice reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam, at Wimbledon in 2005 (l. Lleyton Hewitt) and 2008 (l. Marat Safin).

This year, Lopez ended a 6-year title drought by winning his 2nd career singles title at Johannesburg in February (d. Stephane Robert). He won his first title at 2004 Vienna.

Lopez played in 3 US Open Series events, reaching the semifinals at Los Angeles (l. Andy Murray), before losing in the 1st round at Toronto-1000 (l. Thiemo de Bakker) and Cincinnati-1000 (l. Taylor Dent).

Lopez has played Davis Cup since 2003. He was an integral member of the Spanish team that won Davis Cup back-to-back in 2008 and 2009.

Lopez is coached by Jose Clavet.

STAKHOVSKY has reached the 3rd round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career after saving 3 match points in the 5th set tiebreak of his 2nd round match against American qualifier Ryan Harrison on Friday to win 63 57 36 63 76. He defeated Peter Luczak 67 75 64 62 in the 1st round.

Before this year’s US Open, Stakhovsky had only ever won one Grand Slam match, at 2009 Roland Garros. This year, he lost in the 1st round of the Australian Open (l. Jo Wilfried Tsonga), Roland Garros (l. Leonardo Mayer) and Wimbledon, where he retired against Sam Querrey through illness.

Stakhovsky is bidding to become the second Ukrainian player through to the round of 16 at a Grand Slam singles event. Andrei Medvedev was the only other Ukrainian to reach the last 16, most recently at 2000 Roland Garros. Medvedev also reached the last 16 here in 1993, 1996 and 1999. 

Stakhovsky’s 2nd round win against Harrison was only his third 5-set victory. It improved his career 5-set win-loss record to 3-4.

Stakhovsky is currently on a 7-match winning streak, having won his 2nd title of the year last week at New Haven (d. Denis Istomin). This is the 2nd successive Slam where he has won a tournament the previous week, having won ’s-Hertogenbosch (d. Janko Tipsarevic) the week before 2010 Wimbledon. Stakhovsky’s victory in New Haven maintained his perfect record in tournament finals, and he has now won 4 career titles.

Stakhovsky is the first Ukrainian since Andrei Medvedev in 1994 to win two titles in the same year. In 2008, he became the first Ukrainian since Medvedev in 2000 to finish the year in the Top 100.

Stakhovsky plays the US Open on a career-high ranking of No. 36.

Stakhovsky was runner-up in the 2004 US Open boys’ singles, losing to Andy Murray in the final. He was one of 2 players to reach the 3rd round who have been runner-up in the boys’ event from the 6 to start in the men’s main draw. The other, Roger Federer, is already through to the round of 16.

Stakhovsky is coached by Tibor Toth.

TOMMY ROBREDO (ESP) v MICHAEL LLODRA (FRA)

Head-to-head: Robredo leads 2-1

2004           ’s-Hertogenbosch          Grass (O)          SF        Llodra               63 62

2008           Lyon                             Carpet (I)           R32      Robredo           64 63

2009           Shanghai                      Hard (O)            R64      Robredo           61 64

ROBREDO                                             v                                                      LLODRA

28                                           Age                                                          30

41                                  ATP Ranking                                                35

9                                            Titles                                                         5

76-39                              Career Grand Slam Record                               23-36

24-9                                         U.S. Open Record                                          8-6

404-249                                      Career Record                                          135-159

175-127                               Career Record - Hard                                     75-91

20-18                                             2010 Record                                              23-15

15-10                                      2010 Record - Hard                                       12-10

10-4                                    Career Five-Set Record                                     3-7

3                      Comebacks from 0-2 Down                                   0

133-100                             Career Tiebreak Record                                  75-91

7-7                        2010 Tiebreak Record                                    10-11

ROBREDO has advanced to the 3rd round for the 7th successive year here. He defeated qualifier Lukas Rosol 64 63 61 in the 1st round and was leading Julien Benneteau 64 6-6 in the 2nd round when his opponent retired with a left wrist injury.

Robredo is competing in his 10th successive US Open and his 40th straight Grand Slam. He is second behind Roger Federer (44 consecutive majors) for the longest active streak of Grand Slam singles appearances. Wayne Ferreira holds the Open Era record having played 56 consecutive Grand Slam events.

Robredo has never reached the quarterfinals here despite reaching the last 16 on 6 occasions, including last year (l. Roger Federer). He has made 5 Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances, at 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009 Roland Garros and the 2007 Australian Open. 

Robredo played in 3 US Open Series events, failing to win back-to-back matches in any of them. He lost in the 2nd round at Toronto-1000 (l. David Nalbandian), 1st round at Cincinnati-1000 (l. Michael Berrer) and the last 16 at New Haven (l. Sergiy Stakhovsky).

Robredo plays here ranked No. 41, his lowest ranking since April 2002. He has achieved a Top 30 year-end ranking for the past 9 years, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 5 in August 2006. He was also the only player to finish in the Top 20 in both singles and doubles rankings last year.

Robredo has yet to win a title this year. He has won 9 career singles titles and 3 doubles titles. His best result this year is the semifinals at Bastad (l. Nicolas Almagro). He also reached the quarterfinals at Indian Wells-1000 (l. Andy Roddick) and Auckland (l. John Isner).

Robredo is coached by Javier Duarte.

LLODRA is bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the first time since 2004 after defeating No. 7 seed Tomas Berdych 76 64 64 in the 1st round and Victor Hanescu 76 64 62 in the 2nd.

This is Llodra’s 7th US Open. Last year, he lost in the 1st round (l. Nicolas Kiefer). He is bidding to equal his best result here, having reached the round of 16 in 2004 (l. Joachim Johansson).

Llodra’s best Grand Slam performance is a round of 16 appearance at 2004 and 2008 Roland Garros, and the 2004 US Open. However, he had lost in the 1st round in 22 of his previous 36 Grand Slam events.

Prior to the US Open, Llodra lost in the 2nd round at Washington (l. Ryan Sweeting), round of 16 at Toronto-1000 (l. Roger Federer), and 1st round at Cincinnati-1000 (l. Julien Benneteau).

This year Llodra has won two titles at Marseille (d. Julien Benneteau) and Eastbourne (d. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez) to take his total career titles to 5.

Llodra is better-known as a doubles player and has 18 doubles titles, including 3 Grand Slam doubles titles. Llodra contested the men’s doubles here with Julien Benneteau, but had to give a walkover to Frederico Gil and Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the 2nd round due to Benneteau’s left wrist injury.

Llodra has played Davis Cup since 2002 and this year helped France to its first semifinal since 2004. Later this month it faces Argentina in Lyon for a place in the final.

Llodra started working with Fred Decan at this year’s US Open.

        

1971, 1973 US Open Finalist To Sign Copies of “JAN KODES: A JOURNEY TO GLORY FROM BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN” at US Open Bookstore and Czech Restaurant “Café Prague” During 2010 US Open

Coffee Table Book Provides Narrative and Illustrated History of Czech Tennis

NEW YORK – Former Wimbledon champion and two-time U.S. Open finalist Jan Kodes of the Czech Republic will host two additional signings for his new book “JAN KODES: A JOURNEY TO GLORY FROM BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN” during the 2010 US Open.

Kodes will host a signing on Sunday, September 5 at 5 pm at the US Open Bookstore on site at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Kodes will also sign copies of his book at Café Prague, an authentic Czech coffee house in mid-town Manhattan at 2 West 19th Street at Fifth Avenue on Friday, September 10 at 3 pm. Kodes hosted his first book signing at the US Open bookstore on Thursday.

The coffee table book, originally published in Czech, provides a narrative and illustrated history of Czech tennis through the eyes of Kodes and author Peter Kolar. The book, filled with hundreds of unique and personal photographs, documents the successful journey of Kodes from political turmoil of the Cold War to international tennis fame, detailing the early days of darkness and family persecution in communist Czechoslovakia and the complexities of becoming a professional tennis player under a totalitarian regime. Entertaining anecdotes featuring Czech tennis legends Ivan Lendl and Martina Navratilova are also featured as well as the stories behind Kodes’ victories at Wimbledon and the French Open and his two runner-up finishes at the U.S. Open.

“I am very pleased that this book is now available in English so fans outside of the Czech Republic can learn about my story and some history of tennis in my country,” said Kodes. “I am happy to share stories of my triumphs and failures as well as stories about Martina Navratilova, Ivan Lendl and other Czech tennis greats.”

“JAN KODES: A JOURNEY TO GLORY FROM BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN” is available for $49.95 in bookstores and retail outlets across the United States and Canada. It is a deluxe glossy photo and text hard cover that fills 548 pages.

Kodes is considered the most under-rated tennis champion of the Open Era, reaching five major singles finals, winning the French Open in 1970 and 1971 and the men’s singles title at Wimbledon in 1973. He also reached the U.S. Open final in both 1971 and 1973, losing to Stan Smith and John Newcombe, respectively. Kodes played Davis Cup for Czechoslovakia for 15 years, leading his country to the final in 1975, where it lost to Sweden in Stockholm. His Davis Cup finale came in representing the team in 1980 when it won the championship over Italy in the final. Kodes has served as his country's Davis Cup captain, president of the Czech Tennis Association, and tournament director of ATP Czech Open tournament.

“I believe that, in his time, Jan was one of the best players in the world,” said five-time Wimbledon champion Bjorn Borg. “He earned his place in tennis history as a great champion.”

Peter Kolar is a Czech writer, who has written for Basket, Sports Plus, and Xantypa. He is the author of several Czech books profiling the NBA, the Winter Olympics, and three-time world decathlon champion, Tomas Dvorak.

“JAN KODES: A JOURNEY TO GLORY FROM BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN” is published by New Chapter Press – also the publisher of The Roger Federer Story, Quest for Perfection by Rene Stauffer, The Bud Collins History of Tennis by Bud Collins, The Education of a Tennis Player by Rod Laver with Bud Collins, Acing Depression: A Tennis Champion’s Toughest Match, by Cliff Richey with Hilaire Richey Kallendorf, Tennis Made Easy by Kelly Gunterman, Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games by Tom Caraccioli and Jerry Caraccioli, The Lennon Prophecy by Joe Niezgoda, Bone Appetit, Gourmet Cooking For Your Dog by Susan Anson, The Rules of Neighborhood Poker According to Hoyle by Stewart Wolpin, People’s Choice Cancun – Travel Survey Guidebook by Eric Rabinowitz and Weekend Warriors: The Men of Professional Lacrosse by Jack McDermott, among others. Founded in 1987, New Chapter Press is an independent publisher of books and part of the Independent Publishers Group. More information
can be found at www.NewChapterMedia.com.