NOVAK DJOKOVIC AND ANDY MURRAY START THEIR BIDS FOR THE CINCINNATI OPEN TENNIS TITLE

Written by: Staff on 19th August 2015

NOVAK DJOKOVIC AND ANDY MURRAY START THEIR BIDS FOR THE CINCINNATI OPEN TENNIS TITLE |

“Andy Murray talks to the media earlier today #Murray #media #cincytennis #cincinnati ( Getty )” – Photo by @tennis_phil via Instagram.

DJOKOVIC, MURRAY MAKE THEIR WAY TO CINCY: World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Andy Murray headline Wednesday’s schedule in Cincinnati, returning to the North American hard courts only three days after meeting in the Montréal final. On Sunday, Murray ended his eight-match losing streak against Djokovic and denied the Serb a sixth-straight ATP Masters 1000 title. The third-seeded Murray enters the Western & Southern Open with an ATP-leading 53 wins on the season, one more than the top-seeded Djokovic. Also in second-round action are 2013 Cincinnati champion Rafael Nadal, reigning Roland Garros champ Stan Wawrinka and up-and-coming teenagers Borna Coric, Jared Donaldson and Thanasi Kokkinakis.

BIG FOUR DOMINANCE: Murray’s win over Djokovic on Sunday marked the 45th title over the last 49 ATP Masters 1000 tournaments for the ‘Big Four’: Murray, Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer. Dating back to Nadal’s triumph at Monte-Carlo in 2010, the only other men to emerge with an ATP Masters 1000 title are Robin Soderling (2010 Paris), David Ferrer (2011 Paris), Wawrinka (2014 Monte-Carlo) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2014 Toronto). Above is a breakdown of the ATP Masters 1000 titles won by Djokovic, Murray, Nadal and Federer during that time. At least one member of the ‘Big Four’ has played in 42 straight Masters 1000 finals since 2010 Paris (Soderling d. Gael Monfils).

DJOKOVIC SEEKS GOLDEN MASTERS: Djokovic is attempting to become the first player to sweep all nine different ATP Masters 1000 titles in his career. He has never missed the Western & Southern Open since qualifying for the event in 2005 as the 97th-ranked player in the world (l. Fernando Gonzalez). The Serb is 22-10 lifetime in the Cincinnati main draw and making his 11th appearance at the tournament, most of any Masters 1000 event. During the Open Era, only Lleyton Hewitt (28-11) has won more Cincinnati matches without capturing the title. Djokovic, who has reached nine straight finals this season, has failed to win a set in four Cincinnati championship matches. He fell to Murray in 2008 and 2011, and to Federer in 2009 and 2012.

FISH LOOKING TO BACK UP BIG WIN: Wild Card Mardy Fish owns a 4-4 FedEx Head 2 Head record against the second-ranked Murray going into their match Wednesday. Fish defeated World No. 20 Viktor Troicki 6-2, 6-2 in the opening round on Monday. Playing in the second-to-last tournament of his career, the World No. 1034 Fish is trying to become the first player ranked outside the Top 1000 to beat a Top 10 and Top 20 opponent in same tournament since 1013th-ranked Darren Cahill defeated World No. 16 Marc Rosset and World No. 6 Goran Ivanisevic at Indian Wells in 1994. If Fish had to face a member of the ‘Big Four,’ Murray is the man he’s had the most success against. Fish is 0-7 against Djokovic, 1-8 against Federer and 1-8 against Nadal.

NADAL RETURNS TO DEFEND 2013 TITLE: The eighth-seeded Nadal was unable to defend his 2013 Cincinnati title (d. John Isner) last summer due to injury. Nadal also withdraw from the Western & Southern Open in 2012, so his last loss in Cincinnati came to Fish in the 2011 quarter-finals. The Spaniard is 14-8 in his last eight hard-court tournaments overall, falling short of the semifinals at each event he’s played on the surface since facing Djokovic in the 2014 Miami final.

WAWRINKA MASTERS 1000 UPDATE: Since the 2014 Western & Southern Open, World No. 5 Stan Wawrinka is 7-8 at ATP Masters 1000 events with only one run to the quarter-finals or better (2015 Rome semi-finals). By comparison, Wawrinka is 34-6 in his last eight Grand Slam tournaments with two titles, two semi-finals and three quarter-finals.

KOKKINAKIS DOES IT THE HARD WAY:Three teenagers have advanced to the second round of the Western & Southern Open for the first time since 2006 (Djokovic, Murray, Gael Monfils). They’ve all done it their own way. World No. 38 Borna Coric gained direct acceptance into the main draw before edging fellow 18-year-old Alexander Zverev on Tuesday. American Jared Donaldson earned a wild card, then won his opener over Nicolas Mahut in a match that spanned two days due to rain. Thanasi Kokkinakis, the oldest of the bunch at 19, has already tallied three wins in Cincinnati after beginning the tournament in the qualifying draw. The World No. 79 has qualified for six events on the ATP World Tour this season, falling in the first round of the main draw five straight times before with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Fabio Fognini on Monday.

DAY 4 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play by Court

CENTER COURT

Borna Coric (CRO) vs [5] Stan Wawrinka (SUI)

FedEx Head 2 Head: Wawrinka leads 1-0

2015 Chennai Hard R16 Stan Wawrinka 6-1, 6-4

Wawrinka is making his ninth appearance at the Western & Southern Open (10-8), having reached the quarter-finals last year (l. to Benneteau). His best result was semi-finals in 2012 (l. to Federer).

Wawrinka won his second Grand Slam title earlier this season at Roland Garros (d. Novak Djokovic), having previously won the 2014 Australian Open (d. Rafael Nadal), defeating the No. 1 and No. 2 players during both title runs.

In addition to Roland Garros, Wawrinka has captured titles this season in Chennai (d. Aljaz Bedene) and Rotterdam (d. Tomas Berdych).

Before playing a point in singles at Cincinnati this week, Wawrinka has already won two matches with Leander Paes to reach the doubles quarter-finals. The Swiss-Indo pair won match tiebreakers in the first round against Anderson/Chardy and the 2R against No. 8 seeds Pospisil/Sock.

Wawrinka finished 2014 in the Top 10 for the second year in a row at a year-end high No. 4, having captured his first Grand Slam crown at Australian Open, a first ATP Masters 1000 title in Monte-Carlo (d. Federer) and the Davis Cup with Switzerland for the first time (d. France).

In his Western & Southern Open debut, Coric defeated fellow 18-year-old Alexander Zverev 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(5) on Tuesday. It’s the first all-teenage match here since ’05 when Berdych d. Nadal in 1R

At No. 38, Coric is the highest-ranked teenager in the Emirates ATP Rankings. He notched his 20th win of the season on Tuesday

Coric finished the 2014 season as the youngest player in the Top 100 after rising 276 places to No. 91 during the year.

Among Coric’s 27 career victories on the ATP World Tour are Top 10 wins over Rafael Nadal (2014 Basel QF) and Andy Murray (2015 Dubai QF). Nadal and Murray were each ranked No. 3 at the time of their respective straight-set losses to Coric, who is 2-4 overall vs. Top 10 opponents.

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs [LL] Benoit Paire (FRA)

FedEx Head 2 Head: First ATP World Tour Meeting

Djokovic is the top seed in Cincinnati for the fourth time in five years. The World No. 1 and four-time finalist has a 22-10 tournament record, losing last year in 3R to Tommy Robredo 7-6(6), 7-5.

Only Roger Federer (322) and Rafael Nadal (296) have more ATP Masters 1000 match wins than Djokovic (253).

Djokovic is seeking his first Cincinnati title and 25th ATP Masters 1000 crown overall. He is second-all time to Nadal (27) with 24 ATP Masters 1000 titles. The Serb is also bidding to become the first player to win all nine ATP Masters 1000 events in his career. A maiden title in Cincinnati would give Djokovic five ATP Masters 1000 titles this season, equaling the record he set in 2011 and Nadal matched in 2013.

Djokovic’s loss to Andy Murray in Sunday’s Montréal final snapped a 30-match winning streak at ATP Masters 1000 events, a stretch that started with his title at Paris in 2014.

Djokovic has had a stellar season, reaching a career-high nine straight finals since falling in the Doha quarter-finals (l. to Karlovic). Of the nine finals, Djokovic has won six, highlighted by his 50th title overall at Indian Wells (d. Federer) and the eighth and ninth Grand Slam titles of his career (Australian Open d. Murray; Wimbledon d. Federer).

Only four players have beaten Djokovic in 2015: Karlovic (Doha QF), Federer (Dubai F), Stan Wawrinka (Roland Garros F) and Murray (Montréal F). He has an 18-3 record against Top 10 opposition in 2015, beating every Top 10 opponent at least once

Djokovic finished 2014 at No. 1 for the third time in four years (2011-12, 2014), winning an ATP World Tour-high seven titles in eight finals.

Paire is through to the second round despite losing in qualifying to Denis Kudla. The No. 1 qualifying seed gained entry into the main draw after the withdrawal of No. 4 seed Kei Nishikori, then beat Gilles Muller 7-6(5), 7-6(6) in the first round on Monday.

Paire did not drop a set en route to the first ATP World Tour title of his career at Bastad on July 26. In the final, he defeated Tommy Robredo 7-6(7), 6-3. He improved to 1-2 in finals, falling at Montpellier in 2013 (l. Richard Gasquet) and Belgrade in 2012 (l. Andreas Seppi).

After ending 2014 ranked No. 118, Paire is up to No. 42 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

In addition to his tour-level title at Bastad, Paire has won an ITF Futures title (Bressuire, France) and two ATP Challenger titles (Bergamo, Italy; Quimper, France) this season. The last player to complete a Futures/Challenger/ATP title trifecta in the same season was Steve Darcis in 2006.

By winning Bastad, Paire became the sixth first-time ATP World Tour winner this season, following Jiri Vesely (Auckland), Victor Estrella Burgos (Quito), Jack Sock (Houston), Dominic Thiem (Nice) and Denis Istomin (Nottingham).

Paire is 2-15 lifetime against Top 10 players, with his best result being a 6-4, 7-6(3) win over World No. 7 Juan Martin del Potro at Rome in 2013.

At the 2015 Roland Garros, Paire matched his career-best showing at a Grand Slam by reaching the third round (l. Berdych).

[7] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs Jeremy Chardy (FRA)

FedEx Head 2 Head: Nadal leads 1-0

2013 Viña del Mar Clay SF Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-2

Nadal returns to Cincinnati after withdrawing in 2014, winning the title in 2013 (d. John Isner), and missing the event in 2012. Though he is the all-time leader with 27 ATP Masters 1000 titles, the Spaniard has reached one final in nine prior appearances at Cincinnati. He has also played in only one final at Shanghai (l. to Davydenko in 2009) and Paris (l. to Nalbandian in 2007).

With four wins and a return to the Cincinnati final this week, Nadal will reach 300 career victories at ATP Masters 1000 events. Only Roger Federer has more ATP Masters 1000 wins (321).

Nadal is the only player to have won at least one ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title for 10 consecutive seasons (2005-14). His last chances in 2015 are at Cincinnati, Shanghai and Paris.

Nadal has also won at least one Grand Slam title each season beginning with Roland Garros in 2005 and up until Roland Garros in 2014. His last chance to extend streak is at upcoming US Open.

Nadal has won three ATP World Tour titles in 2015, all on clay courts: Buenos Aires (d. Juan Monaco), Stuttgart (d. Viktor Troicki) and Hamburg (d. Fabio Fognini).

Last week at Montréal, Chardy reached his first semi-final in his 53rd appearance at an ATP Masters 1000 event. He saved nine match points along the way – seven in his quarter-final win over John Isner and two in the second round against Leonardo Mayer. Jumped from 49 to No. 27 in Emirates ATP Rankings, just two spots off his career-high No. 25 on Jan. 28, 2013

Chardy defeated American wild card Rajeev Ram 6-4, 6-2 in the Cincinnati first round on Tuesday.

Chardy is attempting to snap a 17-match losing streak for Frenchmen against Nadal and his own 11-match losing streak against Top 10 players (8-39 overall). His last Top 10 win came over No. 4 Federer in 2R at ATP Masters 1000 Rome last year

GRANDSTAND

Sam Querrey (USA) vs Tommy Robredo (ESP)

FedEx Head 2 Head: Robredo leads 3-0

2007 Australian Open Hard R32 Tommy Robredo 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-1

2011 Indian Wells Hard R16 Tommy Robredo 6-1, 6-3

2014 Cincinnati Hard R32 Tommy Robredo 6-2, 6-4

Querrey defeated countryman and No. 11 seed John Isner in the first round on Tuesday for the fourth time in their five FedEx Head 2 Head meetings.

Querrey’s best Cincinnati finish came in his second appearance in 2007, when he reached the quarter-finals (l. to James Blake).

Querrey, who is the No. 3 American behind Isner and No. 30 Jack Sock, has not won back-to-back matches since reaching the Nottingham final (l. to Denis Istomin). Since then, he has gone 1-1 at Wimbledon (l. to Roger Federer), Newport (l. to Dustin Brown), Washington (l. to Marin Cilic) and Montréal (l. to David Goffin).

Nottingham was Querrey’s second ATP World Tour final of the season – he also reached the final of Houston in April, losing to Sock. Querrey last won an ATP World Tour title at Los Angeles in 2012 (d. Ricardas Berankis)

Robredo, who beat fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar in the first round, has enjoyed great success in Cincinnati, reaching the semi-finals in 2004 (l. Lleyton Hewitt) and 2006 (l. Juan Carlos Ferrero).

Last year, Robredo was a quarter-finalist in Cincinnati, beating both Querrey and World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in straight sets along the way.

Robredo is one of eight ATP Masters 1000 champions in Cincinnati this week. The Spaniard won the 2006 Hamburg title (d. Radek Stepanek). This is his 99th ATP Masters 1000 event overall.

Robredo ended 2014 at No. 17 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, his highest finish to a season since No. 10 in 2007. He reached three finals (Umag, Shenzen, Valencia) and posted his 500th career win (d. Jeremy Chardy in Shenzen SF).

[WC] Mardy Fish (USA) vs [3] Andy Murray (GBR)

FedEx Head 2 Head: Series tied 4-4

2005 Indianapolis Hard R32 Mardy Fish 6-4, 4-6, 6-4

2006 San Jose Hard R32 Andy Murray 6-2, 6-2

2006 Washington Hard QF Andy Murray 6-2, 6-4

2009 London / Queen’s Club Grass QF Andy Murray 7-5, 6-3

2010 ATP Masters 1000 Miami Hard R64 Mardy Fish 6-4, 6-4

2010 London / Queen’s ClubGrass R16 Mardy Fish 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(2)

2010 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati Hard QF Mardy Fish 6-7(7), 6-1, 7-6(5)

2011 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati Hard SF Andy Murray 6-3, 7-6(8)

Murray won his 11th ATP Masters 1000 title on Sunday by defeating Novak Djokovic at Montréal. It was his 11th career win over a World No. 1. Two of Murray’s ATP Masters 1000 titles have come at Cincinnati: 2008 (d. Djokovic) and 2011 (d. Djokovic).

En route to the Montréal title, Murray secured both the No. 2 spot in the Emirates ATP Rankings and a berth in the year-end Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. He was last ranked No. 2 during the week of Aug. 12, 2013.

In 2015, Murray reached the Australian Open final for a fourth time (l. Djokovic) before claiming four titles: Munich, Madrid, London/Queen’s Club and Montréal.

Murray has faced Fish twice before at Cincinnati, avenging his 2010 quarter-final loss to the American one year later in the semi-finals.

Murray finished 2014 in the Top 6 for a seventh year in a row after extending his run of winning at least one title to nine straight seasons (now 10).

Fish is playing in Cincinnati for the 11th and final time before retiring at the US Open. He is 18-10 lifetime at the tournament, losing three-set finals in 2003 (l. Andy Roddick) and 2010 (l. Roger Federer).

Fish’s 18 wins in Cincinnati are his most at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament.

Fish has a 24-49 career record against Top 10 opponents. Fish’s last three wins over Murray came while the Brit was ranked inside Top 10.

Fish has played three singles matches in 2015 after missing the entire 2014 season. The former World No. 7 picked up his first win in nearly two years on Monday, defeating World No. 20 Viktor Troicki 6-2, 6-2.

On his farewell tour this summer, Fish has also played doubles at three tournaments, winning one round at Atlanta with Andy Roddick (d. Chennai champions Lu/Marray) and one round at Washington with Grigor Dimitrov (d. Indian Wells champions Pospisil/Sock). Fish and Tomas Berdych lost their Cincinnati opener 7-6(5), 6-4 to Halle champions Klaasen/Ram.

STADIUM 3

[Q] Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) vs [12] Richard Gasquet (FRA)

FedEx Head 2 Head: First ATP World Tour meeting

Kokkinakis made his Western & Southern Open debut on Monday, rallying past Italian Fabio Fognini 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 after coming through qualifying (d. Ryan Harrison in Q1, Marsel Ilhan in Q2).

This is sixth time in seven tournaments Kokkinakis has qualified in this season (15-1 in qualifying). He is one of three players (Michael Berrer, Denis Kudla) to qualify six times on ATP World Tour and one of three teenagers in 2R here (Borna Coric, Jared Donaldson) for first time since 2006.

Kokkinakis reached the 4R in Indian Wells (2R d. No. 26 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 3R d. No. 48 Juan Monaco, 4R l. Bernard Tomic). His three wins there were his first at the ATP Masters 1000 level (4-5 career).

Kokkinakis climbed more than 450 ranking spots during 2014 to finish as one of four teenagers in the Top 150 (No. 150). He and fellow Australian Nick Kyrgios were the first teenage duo from same country to finish in Top 150 since 2005 (Gasquet and Gael Monfils of France).

Gasquet returns to Cincinnati for ninth time (7-8 record) and opened with 6-2, 6-1 win over Kyrgios in 56 minutes on Tuesday. Looking to reach 3R for third time (2010-11, l. both to Mardy Fish in 3R). He missed the 2014 tournament with an injured abdominal muscle.

Gasquet withdrew from Montréal (illness) following a 3R defeat in Washington (l. Jack Sock), his first ATP World Tour action since reaching the SF at Wimbledon for the second time in his career (l. Novak Djokovic in 2015, l. Roger Federer in 2007).

Gasquet has two titles to his name in 2015, winning in Montpellier (d. Jerzy Janowicz) and Estoril (d. Nick Kyrgios).

Gasquet ended 2014 inside the Top 30 for a fifth year in a row and the ninth time overall with runner-up showings in Montpellier (l. Gael Monfils) and Eastbourne (l. Feliciano Lopez).

Fernando Verdasco (ESP) vs [13] David Goffin (BEL)

FedEx Head 2 Head: Verdasco leads 2-0

2013 Australian Open Hard R128 Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

2013 Madrid Clay R64 Fernando Verdasco 7-6(2), 6-2

Goffin improved his career record to 3-1 in Cincinnati after beating qualifier Yen-Hsun Lu on Monday. Two years ago, Goffin qualified and lost in 3R to No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-0.

Goffin has reached two ATP World Tour finals this season, in s-Hertogenbosch on grass in June (l. Nicolas Mahut) and at Gstaad on clay earlier this month (l. Dominic Thiem). He has returned to his career-high ranking of No. 14, first reached following 4R run at Wimbledon (l. Wawrinka).

Goffin is playing his 17th ATP Masters 1000 event (16-16). Last week, reached 3R in Montreal (d. Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey, l. No. 4 Kei Nishikori). In May, he reached his first ATP Masters 1000 QF in Rome (l. David Ferrer).

Goffin finished 2014 as Belgium’s highest-ranked player (No. 22) after winning a personal-best 25 matches. He rose 91 places from 2013 and was named the ATP Comeback Player of the Year.

Verdasco rallied on Tuesday for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He is trying to reach 3R in Cincinnati for third time (2008 l. Nicolas Lapentti; 2011 l. Rafael Nadal). This is his 10th Western & Southern Open appearance (7-9 record).

Verdasco earned his 100th ATP Masters 1000 win Tuesday (100-96), joining 11 other active players to achieve that feat. He has reached one ATP Masters 1000 final (2010 Monte-Carlo, l. to Rafael Nadal), one SF and 10 QF in 97 appearances since his debut at Miami in 2003.

Verdasco broke a three-match 1R losing streak since his last win over Dominic Thiem in 2R Wimbledon (l. Stan Wawrinka in 3R). Since then, made 1R exits in Bastad (l. to Nicolas Almagro), Hamburg (l. to Rafael Nadal) and Montreal (l. to Nick Kyrgios).

Verdasco finished 2014 in the Top 40 for the 11th year in a row, winning his sixth career ATP World Tour title in Houston in April (d. Almagro) to break a six-match losing run in finals and ending a four-year wait for a trophy.

[15] Kevin Anderson (RSA) vs Jack Sock (USA)

FedEx Head 2 Head: Sock leads 1-0

2015 Houston Clay SF Jack Sock 7-6(3), 6-3

Anderson opened on Tuesday with a 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-1 win over top Argentine Leonardo Mayer to improve his record to 2-5 in Cincinnati and break a three-match 1R losing streak here. His only previous win came in 2011 (d. Xavier Malisse).

Anderson played well on grass with a runner-up result at London/Queen’s Club (d. No. 4 Stan Wawrinka in 2R, l. Andy Murray), his 10th career ATP World Tour final, and 4R at Wimbledon for second straight year (l. Novak Djokovic 7-5 in fifth set after holding two-set lead).

Anderson reached a ninth ATP World Tour final at Memphis in February (l. Kei Nishikori).

Anderson rose to a career-high No. 14 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on June 22.

Early in the season, Anderson advanced to SF in Auckland (l. Jiri Vesely). He went on to reach 4R at the Australian Open (l. Rafael Nadal).

In 2014, Anderson became the first South African to post back-to-back Top 20 seasons since Wayne Ferreira (1994-96) after reaching the QF or better eight times during the year.

Sock won his first match in Cincinnati (1-2) on Monday, defeating countryman Bjorn Fratangelo 6-1, 6-2. Over the previous two weeks, he reached QF in Washington (l. Steve Johnson) and R16 in Montréal (l. Djokovic). He returns to No. 30 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time since June 15, just after he reached 4R at Roland Garros (l. Nadal). Looking to be seeded in a Grand Slam tournament for first time.

Sock has six Top 20 wins this season and is looking for his third Top 20 win in as many weeks (d. No. 13 Richard Gasquet in Washington and No. 17 Grigor Dimitrov in Montréal).

Sock returned from a four-month injury layoff (Dec. 16 surgery after tearing pelvic muscle during off-season) at Indian Wells in March (reached 4R, l. Roger Federer).

Sock won his first ATP World Tour title at Houston in April, his third event of the season, beating two Top 20 players (2R d. Roberto Bautista Agut, SF d. Anderson) before defeating Sam Querrey in final.

Sock ended 2014 as the No. 4 American, having climbed more than 50 places during season to finish in Top 50 for the first time at a year-end high of No. 42, winning a personal-best 27 matches in singles and the Wimbledon doubles title with Vasek Pospisil.

( Courtesy of the ATP and Original Link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/cincinnati-2015-wednesday-preview-djokovic-murray-nadal )

Topics: Andy Murray, Atp World Tour, Cincinnati, Cincy Tennis, Novak Djokovic, Sports Update, Tennis, Western & Southern Open

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10sBalls_com says:

August 19, 2015 at 11:05 am

-@DjokerNole AND @andy_murray START THEIR BIDS FOR THE #Cincinnati OPEN #tennis TITLE- http://t.co/2av6N8L8yT @CincyTennis #CincyTennis #ATP