World No. 1 and four-time Hamburg champion Roger Federer, No. 2 and last year’s finalist Rafael Nadal and No. 3 Novak Djokovic are among the 10 seeds in second round action Wednesday at the Rothenbaum Tennis Stadium. All three are a combined 12-0 against their opponents with Federer holding an 8-0 mark against Finnish lefty Jarkko Nieminen.
Federer has won 25 of his last 26 matches in Hamburg since 2002 and he is trying to capture his first ATP Masters Series title of the season. No. 9 seed Tomas Berdych, who injured his right ankle in last month’s Davis Cup quarterfinal tie in Russia, returns against qualifier Marat Safin. It is the first time since October 1998 in Stuttgart the former No. 1 has qualified in an ATP tournament. The lone German remaining is Nicolas Kiefer, who takes on No. 10 ranked Stanislas Wawrinka for the third time (tied 1-1).
Closing on No. 2 – Djokovic comes into Hamburg after winning his ATP-best third title of the season on Sunday in Rome. The 20-year-old Serb moved to within 310 points of No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the South African Airways ATP Rankings. Djokovic could move to No. 2 for the first time after Hamburg since Nadal will drop his '07 Hamburg runner-up points (350) and Djokovic will lose his quarterfinal points (125). Djokovic will move to No. 2 IF he finishes two rounds better than Nadal in Hamburg; OR he reaches the semifinals and Nadal loses in the quarterfinals; OR he defeats Nadal in the semifinals. Nadal has ranked No. 2 a record 147 consecutive weeks since July 25, 2005.
King of Clay – Nadal is 103-2 on clay since the beginning of ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo in April 2005, winning 17 of 19 clay court tournaments during that stretch. His only losses have come to No. 1 Roger Federer in the final of ATP Masters Series Hamburg last May and to countryman Juan Carlos Ferrero in his opening round match last Wednesday in Rome. That was Nadal’s first opening round loss in 35 career clay tournaments. He hasn’t lost in consecutive clay court tournaments since July 2004. The 21-year-old won titles in the last month for the fourth straight year at ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo (d. Federer) and Barcelona (d. Ferrer).
Marat the Qualifier – Former No. 1 Marat Safin qualified into the main draw of his fourth career ATP level tournament last weekend, the first since October 1998 in Stuttgart. He also qualified at Roland Garros in 1998 and Moscow in 1997. Safin, who is the lowest-ranked player remaining at No. 89, takes on No. 9 seed Tomas Berdych in the second round. Last month he rallied from a two-sets deficit against Berdych in the opening rubber of the Davis Cup quarterfinal tie in Moscow to win in five sets. He is 6-5 on clay after starting with a 1-5 mark on hard courts. (ATP Digital Services)
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