New No. 1 Nadal Sets Sights on Djokovic Today in Cincinnati Semifinals

Posted on August 2, 2008

All four players remaining are making their first semifinal appearance in the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters, led by No. 2 Rafael Nadal and No. 3 Novak Djokovic. In addition, No. 8 seed Andy Murray takes on No. 16 seed Ivo Karlovic, who is appearing in his first career ATP Masters Series semifinal. The winner between Karlovic-Murray will reach their first ATP Masters Series final. Nadal has 12 career ATP Masters Series shields, including three this year, while Djokovic has captured four AMS shields including two this season.

Rafa Guaranteed No. 1 Spot – Rafael Nadal is guaranteed becoming No. 1 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings in one of the next three weeks. The Spaniard will become No. 1 on the following dates IF he does the following:
-- He will become No. 1 on August 4 IF he wins the title
-- He will become No. 1 on August 11 IF he reaches the final
-- He will become No. 1 on August 18 IF he loses in the semifinals

Roger Federer has held the top ranking a record 235 consecutive weeks (since Feb. 2, 2004) and Nadal has been No. 2 for a record 158 straight weeks (since July 25, 2005). The last player to rank No. 1 before Federer's reign was Andy Roddick the week of Jan. 26, 2004. The Spaniard will become the 24th player in the history of the South African Airways ATP Rankings (since 1973) to hold the No. 1 position. He will join countrymen Carlos Moya (1999) and Juan Carlos Ferrero (2003) to rank No. 1.

Ivo the Serving Machine – No. 16 seed Ivo Karlovic is making his first career ATP Masters Series semifinal. In his first four matches, the towering Croat has held serve 49 of 50 games while firing a tournament-high 81 aces. He came into the week with a 16-21 match record in tie-breaks but thus far he’s 5-0 in breakers.

ATP Masters Series “Slam” – Nadal is trying to become the first player in the history of the ATP Masters Series (since 1990) to reach the final in each of the nine tournaments in his career. Nadal has reached the final in each tournament except Cincinnati. Roger Federer has advanced to the final in eight of the nine (except Paris).

Masters Series Semifinals Success – The 21-year-old Djokovic is appearing in his eighth different ATP Masters Series semifinal in his young career. The only semifinal he hasn’t reached thus far is Paris.

North American Masters Series Clean Sweep – Djokovic has won three different North American ATP Masters Series events and is now two matches from completing the set in Cincinnati. In 2007 he won at Miami (d. Canas) and Montreal (d. Federer), followed a title-winning run at Indian Wells in March (d. Fish) this year.

Match Winning Streak Leaders – Nadal’s 32-match winning streak is the ninth-longest in the Open Era (since 1968). (ATP Digital Services)