Top seed Rafael Nadal looks to advance to the Artois Championships quarterfinals for the third straight year on Thursday as he takes on Japanese teenager Kei Nishikori. Other Top 8 seeds in action include: No. 2 Novak Djokovic, No. 3 and four-time Artois champion Andy Roddick, No. 4 David Nalbandian, No. 5 Richard Gasquet, No. 6 Andy Murray, No. 7 Paul-Henri Mathieu and No. 8 Ivo Karlovic. In addition, another four-time Queen’s winner Lleyton Hewitt, the No. 11 seed, and last year’s runner-up Nicolas Mahut, are among the players in action on Court 1. Here are the third round.
In the first match on Centre Court, top American Andy Roddick opens the order of play for the second straight day as he faces countryman and close friend Mardy Fish. Roddick leads the series 8-1 (winning last eight meetings) and this will be their first match-up on grass.
Roddick, 25, enters the third round with a 25-5 match record on the season. The Austin, Texas resident is playing in his first ATP tournament since retiring with a back injury in the semifinals at ATP Masters Series Rome on May 10. He won ATP titles in San Jose (d. Stepanek) in February and Dubai (d. Nadal in QF, Djokovic in SF, Lopez in F) in March. He also advanced to the semifinals at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami where he defeated No. 1 Roger Federer in the quarterfinals (l. to eventual champ Davydenko) and led the U.S. to a quarterfinal Davis Cup victory over France by winning both of his matches. He owns a 24-2 career record at the Queen’s Club with titles in 2003, ’04 (d. Grosjean twice), ’05 (d. Karlovic) and last year (d. Mahut).
Fish, 26, comes in with a 19-12 record on the season. His best ATP results have come on U.S. soil with a runner-up at the ATP Masters Series Indian Wells (d. Federer in SF, l. to Djokovic in three sets) in March. He also advanced to the quarterfinals in Delray Beach (l. to Ginepri), San Jose (l. to Roddick) and Houston (l. to Hernandez). The No. 15 seed this week came back to defeat Aussie Chris Guccione 4-6, 7-6(0), 6-4 on Wednesday.
The second match on Centre Court features Latvian teenager Ernests Gulbis against British No. 1 and No. 6 seed Andy Murray. This is the first meeting between the two.
Gulbis, 19, is coming off a Grand Slam-best quarterfinal effort at Roland Garros last week. He defeated No. 8 James Blake in the second round before losing to No. 3 Novak Djokovic in the quarters. Afterwards, he jumped from No. 80 to No. 51 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings. He entered Queen’s with an 0-3 career mark on grass but defeated Belgian Kristof Vliegen and No. 12 seed Andreas Seppi in three sets. The Latvian native has a 13-11 match record on the year.
Murray, 21, is trying to advance to his fourth ATP quarterfinal (or better) this season. He opened the campaign with his fourth career ATP title in Doha (d. Wawrinka) and the following month added another title to his resume in Marseille (d. Ancic). The 11th-ranked Dunblane native comes in with a 22-10 match record on the season and he is attempting to reach the quarterfinals at Queen’s for the first time in three attempts. Three years ago he made his debut at No. 357 and reached the third round (l. to T. Johansson). In 2006, he lost in the first round to Janko Tipsarevic.
In the third match, World No. 2 and top seed Rafael Nadal takes on Japanese teenager Kei Nishikori for the
first time.
Nadal, 22, who is making his third straight Queen’s Club appearance, leads the ATP circuit with a 45-7 record (most wins) on the season. He also leads the ATP circuit with four titles after capturing his fourth straight Roland Garros crown on Sunday over No. 1 Roger Federer. The Mallorca native became the first player since Bjorn Borg from 1978-81 to win four straight titles in Paris. The left-hander reached the quarterfinals the last two years. He retired due to a sore back vs. Hewitt in 2006 and lost to Nicolas Mahut last year. He opened the grass circuit Wednesday with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Jonas Bjorkman.
Nishikori, 18, enters the third round with a 9-5 match record on the season and is ranked No. 113 after reaching a career-high No. 99 on April 28. He captured his first ATP title in February, defeating No. 12 ranked James Blake in the final. He became the first Japanese player to win an ATP title since Shuzo Matsuoka captured Seoul in 1992 (also a runner-up at Queen’s that year). (ATP Digital Services)
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