The top four seeds of Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Fernando Gonzalez and Novak Djokovic are on Centre Court Thursday while No. 5 Ivan Ljubicic is playing on Court 1. Roddick, who captured the title three straight years from 2003-05, is the only former champion remaining in the draw.
But before third round action gets underway on Centre Court, one second round match needs to finish. No. 8 seed Marat Safin is serving at 4-all, deuce in the third set against former two-time Queen’s finalist Sebastien Grosjean.
Following the completion of that match, No. 15 seed Robby Ginepri takes on No. 3 Gonzalez for the second time. The Chilean prevailed 6-3, 6-4 in their first meeting in the quarterfinals of Auckland in January 2005.
Ginepri is appearing at the Queen’s Club for the sixth straight year (8-5 record) and he is trying to reach his first quarterfinal. The 24-year-old American has yet to drop a set in his first two matches and his last ATP quarterfinal
came in Lyon in October 2006.
Gonzalez saved one match point in his second round victory over Janko Tipsarevic on Wednesday and the 26-yearold Chilean is looking to reach his second straight quarterfinal at Queen’s and his fifth of the season. The Australian
Open runner-up enters with a 21-11 match record on the year.
In the next match, the lone remaining British player Alex Bogdanovic attempts to reach his second career ATPquarterfinal against former three-time champion Roddick. This is their first career meeting.
Bogdanovic is appearing in the third round at Queen’s for the first time and the 23-year-old left-hander is attemptingto register his first career Top 10 victory (0-3). Last year at Wimbledon he lost in the first round to No. 2 and eventual
finalist Rafael Nadal 6-4, 7-6, 6-4. His previous ATP quarterfinal came in Newport last season.
In the fourth match, Nadal won the previous meeting 6-3, 7-6 against Mirnyi in the first round of Dubai in 2004.
Nadal is trying to reach the quarterfinals at Queen’s for the second straight year. The Mallorca native leads the ATP circuit with five titles and a 44-6 match record. The Spaniard is the No. 2 player in the ATP Rankings for a record 99th
consecutive week. The three-time Roland Garros champion and Bjorn Borg are the only players to win at least three straight titles in Paris since 1925. At 21 years, 7 days, he is also the youngest three-time Roland Garros winner.
Mirnyi brings a 10-7 career record at Queen’s Club and he is trying to reach his first quarterfinal in singles. His best result this year was the quarterfinals in Doha (l. to Murray) in the first week of the season. The “Beast” has a 16-37
career record against Top 10 opponents and his last win came over No. 7 James Blake at Wimbledon last year.
In the final match, Djokovic plays Frenchman Arnaud Clement for the second time. The 20-year-old Serb won the previous meeting 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of Bucharest in September 2004.
Djokovic made a successful Queen’s Club main draw debut on Wednesday by defeating American Robert Kendrick 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. The youngest player in the ATP Top 10 Rankings at No. 4 has a 41-9 record this year with three ATP
titles – Adelaide (d. Guccione), ATP Masters Series Miami (d. Canas) and Estoril (d. Gasquet). He also reached the final at ATP Masters Series Indian Wells (l. to Nadal). He is trying to reach his 10th quarterfinal or better this year.
Clement is looking to even his match record on the season (12-13) by advancing to the quarterfinals at Queen’s for the first time in four appearances. The 29-year-old Frenchman is also trying to defeat his first Top 10 opponent since
February 2006 when he defeated No. 2 Nadal in the semifinals of Marseille en route to the title. (ATP Digital Services)
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