Roddick, Murray, Haas Highlight Memphis Thursday

In the second match on Stadium court, No. 4 seed Fish plays Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, currently No. 69 in the ATP Rankings, for the first time. Fish is appearing in Memphis for the seventh consecutive year, with a tournament-best run to the semifinals in 2004 (l. to J. Johansson). The 25-year-old American is attempting to reach his fourth straight quarterfinal (or better) at tournaments this year. The youngest player in the singles draw at 18 years, 4 months, del Potro, reached his first career ATP semifinal in Adelaide (l. to Guccione) in the first week of 2007.

In the third match on Stadium court, defending champion Haas – who also won the title in 1999 (d. Courier) – meets American Amer Delic in the second round. ATP World No. 9 Haas, who is writing a blog for ATPtennis.com this week, is making his ninth appearance in Memphis. The 28-year-old Haas, who defeated Swede Robin Soderling in last year’s final, holds a 22-6 tournament record since making his debut in 1998. Delic lost in the first round on his only previous Memphis appearance in 2004. The 24-year-old Florida resident has never won back-to-back matches on the ATP circuit in five years as a pro.

Third-seeded Murray of Scotland face Dane Kristian Pless fourth match on Stadium court, in a repeat of their San Jose second round match last week. Murray, who went on the successfully defend his San Jose title (d. Karlovic) and also finished runner-up in Doha (l. to Ljubicic), is hoping to extend his 13-2-match record for 2007. The 19-year-old is hoping to book his place in a third ATP quarterfinal this year. Pless is hoping to record back-to-back ATP wins for the first time since reaching the Newport quarterfinals (l. to Gimelstob) in July 2006.

Top seed Roddick, who also beat American compatriot James Blake for the 2002 title and finished runner-up the following year (l. to Dent), plays the last match of the day on Stadium Court against Benjamin Becker of Germany. Roddick beat Becker in their only previous meeting in the 2006 US Open fourth round. Roddick, has reached semifinals at the Australian Open (l. to Federer) and San Jose (l. to Murray) this year. Memphis debutant Becker has reached the semifinals at Delray Beach (l. to Blake) and San Jose (l. to Karlovic) in five tournaments this year.

Yen-Hsun Lu meets Jurgen Melzer of Austria for the first time, second match on Grandstand court. Lu is aiming to record back-to-back wins on the ATP circuit for the first time since June 2004, when the 23-year-old reached the Queen’s Club, London, third round (l. to Stepanek). Melzer, currently No. 31 in the ATP Rankings, reached the Sydney semifinals (l. to Blake) last month and holds a 5-4-match record this year.

In the fourth match on Grandstand Court, French No. 7 seed Julien Benneteau attempts to reach his third ATP quarterfinal of the year against 19-year-old Californian Sam Querrey in the second round. Benneteau, who reached the Memphis semifinals (l. to Haas) last year, holds a 5-5-match record in 2007. (ATP)