Gilles Simon takes on Nicolas Kiefer for the first time and World No. 9 Andy Murray takes a 0-4 series deficit into his clash with No. 2 Rafael Nadal in Saturday’s semifinals at the Rogers Cup in Toronto. Simon is the only player to be making a semifinal appearance in Canada for the first time, while Nadal is the only former champion remaining (2005 d. Agassi). Simon (Casablanca, Indianapolis), Nadal (Barcelona, AMS Monte-Carlo, AMS Hamburg, Roland Garros, Queens, Wimbledon) and Murray (Doha, Marseille) have all won at least two ATP singles titles this season, while Kiefer is searching for his first title since 2000 Hong Kong.
Battle for No. 1 – World No. 1 Roger Federer’s hopes of retaining the top ranking in coming weeks took a major hit with his departure against Gilles Simon in the second round this week. Should World No. 2 Rafael Nadal now go on and win the Rogers Cup this week, the Spaniard would have the chance next week at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati to dethrone Federer, who has held top spot in the South African Airways Rankings for 234 consecutive weeks (since February 2004). Nadal is 770 points behind Federer this week but could cut that lead to a mere 300 points should he win the Rogers Cup, which he did in Montreal in 2005.
Unseeded Semifinalists – Simon and Kiefer are the unseeded players in the semifinals. The last unseeded player to reach the final was Richard Gasquet in 2006; he finished runner-up to Roger Federer. Argentine Guillermo Canas was the last unseeded player to capture the title, defeating Andy Roddick in the 2002 final.
German in the Semis - Kiefer is the first German player to reach the semifinals since he himself last did so in 2004 (l. to Roddick). Rainer Schuettler also did so the year before (l. to Nalbandian). The last German player to reach the final was Boris Becker, who defeated Stefan Edberg to capture the title in 1986.
2008 ATP W-L Leaders – Nadal has amassed a win-loss record of 59-7 this season and has captured six titles from eight finals, including two Grand Slams and two ATP Masters Series events. He is chasing a place in his fifth straight final on the ATP Circuit. Here are the Top 5 match wins leaders this season:
W-L Titles
1) Rafael Nadal* 59-7 6
2) Roger Federer 43-10 2
3) Nikolay Davydenko 42-12 3
4) Novak Djokovic 40-10 3
5) David Ferrer 39-15 2
*Still active in tournament
(ATP Digital Services)
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