A new Rome champion will be crowned Sunday at the Foro Italico since its the first time in four years no former tournament winner is remaining in the quarterfinals. World No. 1 Roger Federer is the lone former Rome finalist (2003, 06) leading the way along with No. 3 Novak Djokovic, No. 6 Andy Roddick and No. 8 James Blake. In fact, Roddick is the only other player left to reach the semifinals in Rome (in his 2002 debut). Three of the quarterfinalists -- unseeded Nicolas Almagro, Djokovic and Roddick -- are two-time ATP winners this year. Federer won his 54th career title in Estoril last month while the four remaining players Blake, No. 14 seed Tommy Robredo, unseeded Radek Stepanek and Stanislas Wawrinka are looking for their first ATP title of the season.
Spanish Quarterfinals Streak For the 12th straight year in Rome at least two Spaniards (Nicolas Almagro, Tommy Robredo) have advanced to the quarterfinals. A Spaniard has won the title the last five years and six of the last seven (except 2002).
Americans in Quarterfinals This is the first time at least two Americans have reached the quarterfinals in Rome since 2002 when Andre Agassi won the title, Roddick reached the semifinals and Blake advanced to the quarterfinals. Prior to '02, the last time two Americans reached the quarters in Rome was in 1995 (Michael Chang, Jeff Tarango).
Unseeded Quarterfinalists There are three unseeded players in the quarterfinals Nicolas Almagro, Radek Stepanek and Stanislas Wawrinka. The only unseeded Rome champion in the Open Era was Felix Mantilla in 2003.
Top 20 on the Line Almagro and Wawrinka are not only attempting to reach their first career ATP Masters Series semifinal, but both 22-year-olds are trying to break into the Top 20 South African Airways ATP Rankings for the first time. If either player (or both) advance to the semifinals, they will rank in the Top 20 next week. Almagro came into Rome a career-high No. 21 and Wawrinka a personal-best No. 24.
Swiss Pair in Top 20 The last time two Swiss players ranked in the Top 20 was March 4, 1991 with No. 18 Jakob Hlasek and No. 20 Marc Rosset.
Czech in the Quarters With Radek Stepanek in the quarterfinals, a player from the Czech Republic has reached the quarters (or better) in Rome in four of the last five years (except '06). Jiri Novak was the last semifinalist in 2002.
2008 Clay W-L Leaders Almagro leads the ATP circuit with a 25-4 match record on clay this year. (ATP Digital Services)
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