The Top 5 players in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, led by defending champion Roger Federer and last year’s finalist Rafael Nadal are in the third round Thursday at the Rothenbaum Tennis Stadium in Hamburg, Germany.
Federer is 5-0 lifetime against top Swede Robin Soderling while Nadal is 2-0 against No. 15 seed and British No. 1 Andy Murray. No. 3 Novak Djokovic, who leads the ATP circuit with three titles this season, No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko and No. 5 David Ferrer are the others in action. No. 11 seed Carlos Moya meets qualifier and former two-time Hamburg finalist Marat Safin in a battle of former No. 1 ranked players. The lone German remaining is Nicolas Kiefer, who takes on Davydenko for the third time (tied 1-1).
Germans in the Third Round – Kiefer is the first German to reach the third round in Hamburg since Florian Mayer in 2004. The last German to reach the quarterfinals was Tommy Haas in 1999 (l. to eventual champion Rios).
Country Count – There are 10 countries represented in the third round, led by five players from Spain, two from Russia, Serbia and one each from: Argentina, Croatia, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland
Former No. 1s Meet – Marat Safin, who qualified into the main draw for the fourth time in his career in an ATP level tournament, takes on No. 11 seed Carlos Moya for the seventh time (tied 3-3). Both players have ranked No. 1 in their career – Safin for nine weeks in 2000-01 and Moya for two weeks in 1999. Safin, a runner-up in Hamburg in 2000 and ’02, is attempting to reach his first ATP Masters Series quarterfinal on clay since advancing to the semifinals in Monte Carlo in 2004. Moya’s best result in Hamburg was the semifinals in 1999 and last year.
Working Birthday – No. 15 seed and British No. 1 Andy Murray turns 21 years old on Thursday. Murray looks to reach his first career ATP quarterfinal on clay and post his first win (0-2) against No. 2 and last year’s runner-up Rafael Nadal. Murray has reached the third round with back-to-back straight-sets wins.
Swede Success – Federer has won 15 consecutive matches against Swedes since losing to Thomas Enqvist in the third round at ATP Masters Series Indian Wells in March 2002.
German Doubles Duo – While Kiefer is the lone German remaining in singles, the team of Rainer Schuettler and Alexander Waske are left in the doubles draw. They play No. 2 seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic in the second round on Thursday. (ATP Digital Services)
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