2003 US OPEN
DAY 14 MEN’S NOTES
Sunday 7 September 2003
Singles Final


NO. 3 JUAN CARLOS FERRERO (ESP) v NO. 4 ANDY RODDICK (USA)

At stake for the two finalists, in addition to the prestige of the US Open title, is the following prize money, ATP Champions Race and ATP Entry Ranking points:

Dollars Champions Race
Points Entry Ranking
Points
Champion 1,000,000 200 1000
Finalist 500,000 140 700


The 2003 US Open is the 123rd staging of US National Championships, which began in 1881. This is the 36th staging of the US Open, the Open Era having started in 1968.

Nineteen different men have won US Open titles in the Open Era, the second-fewest of any of the four Grand Slam events. The US Open is guaranteed a 20th different men’s champion this year.

Different champions
Australian Open 21
Roland Garros 22
Wimbledon 17
US Open 20*
* including 2003 US Open

The US Open has been the scene of a player’s first Grand Slam title nine times in the Open Era, and this will increase to ten times if Andy Roddick wins today. Nine men have won their first Slam title at the Australian Open and nine at Wimbledon, while 19 men have done so at Roland Garros (Open Era).

The 2003 Men’s Final could also produce the eighth successive different Grand Slam winner, should Andy Roddick lift the trophy today. There have been different champions at the last seven Grand Slam events, starting with Thomas Johansson’s success at the 2002 Australian Open. Four of these men – Johansson, Albert Costa, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Roger Federer – were also first-time Grand Slam winners.

If an eighth successive different Slam champion is crowned today, this will equal the longest streak of different winners in the Open Era. There have been eight different winners in a row twice before: from 1975 Wimbledon through 1977 Roland Garros, and from 2000 Wimbledon through 2002 Roland Garros.




Entry Ranking Update

By reaching the 2003 US Open final, Ferrero is guaranteed the No. 1 position on the ATP Entry Ranking whatever the outcome of today’s final. He is the 21st player to reach the top spot since the rankings started in 1973, and the second Spaniard after Carlos Moya (who was No. 1 for two weeks 15-28 March 1999).

Roddick will have improved from No. 4 to No. 2 on the Entry Ranking whether he wins or loses the final. Andre Agassi, who was No. 1 before the tournament began, will be pushed down into fourth place, behind Roger Federer, who slipped from No. 2 to No. 3 following his round of 16 loss here.


Champions Race Update

If Ferrero wins the 2003 US Open title, not only will he lead the Entry Rankings, but he will also lead the ATP Champions Race, taking over from current leader Roddick. If Roddick wins, he will keep his place at the top.

Roddick and Ferrero have already qualified for the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup during the US Open, doing so by reaching the semifinals.

The top seven finishers in the ATP Champions Race qualify for a place in the Tennis Masters Cup, taking place in Houston 8-16 November. The eighth place goes to a Grand Slam champion in 2003 who finishes between 8th and 20th in the ATP Champions Race. If no player fits this classification, the eighth place goes to the player finishing eighth in the ATP Champions Race.

ATP Champions Race at 6 September

Pos. Player Points
1. Andy Roddick 747
2. Juan Carlos Ferrero 714
3. Roger Federer 629
4. Andre Agassi 605
5. Guillermo Coria 589
6. Rainer Schuettler 477
7. Carlos Moya 398
8. David Nalbandian 358
9. Lleyton Hewitt 290
10. Mark Philippoussis 276

(Players in bold are through to the US Open final)
Note: Add 60 points to the final points total for winning the US Open title


Head-to-head: first meeting

Ferrero v Roddick

23 Age 21
6’0” / 1.83 m Height 6’2” / 1.88 m
160 lbs / 72 kg Weight 190 lbs / 86 kg
3^ Entry Ranking 4^
3^ ATP Champions Race 1^
7,882,680* Career Earnings (US$) 3,620,311*
1,913,330* 2003 Earnings (US$) 1,705,662*
10 Career Titles 10
3 2003 Titles 5
49-13 Career Grand Slam Record 30-11
Champion
2003 Roland Garros Best Grand Slam Result Finalist
2003 US Open
13-4 US Open Record 14-3
223-92 Career Record 163-56
81-49 Career Record – Hard 101-33
56-12 2003 Record 61-13
21-7 2003 Record – Hard 40-7
12-8 Career Five-Set Record 4-2
1 Comebacks from 0-2 down 2
75-64 Career Tie-break Record 72-41
13-11 2003 Tie-break Record 30-13
15:31 Total Time on Court 13:27
* earnings at 25 August 2003
^ at start of tournament

Road to the Final
Ferrero Time Time Roddick
d. (Q) Jan Vacek 62 46 63 62 2:13 1st Round 2:04 d. Tim Henman 63 76 63
d. Jurgen Melzer 16 76 62 64 2:25 2nd Round 3:03 d. Ivan Ljubicic 63 67 63 76
d. No. 33 Juan Ignacio Chela 75 75 61 2:09 3rd Round 1:26 d. Flavio Saretta 61 63 63
d. Todd Martin 62 64 36 57 63 3:23 Round of 16 1:59 d. Xavier Malisse 64 64 76
d. No. 6 Lleyton Hewitt 46 63 76 61 2:47 Quarterfinals 1:24 d. No. 12 Sjeng Schalken 64 62 63
d. No. 1 Andre Agassi 64 63 36 64 2:34 Semifinals 3:31 d. No. 13 David Nalbandian
67 36 76 61 63


Sets Won/Lost Games Won/Lost
Ferrero 18-6 132-97
Roddick 18-3 127-84

Roddick has spent 4 hours 55 minutes on court over the previous three days, playing eight sets in his complete quarterfinal and semifinal matches, which were played Friday and Saturday. Roddick did not play on Thursday because his round of 16 match against Xavier Malisse was completed by close of play on Wednesday. This compares with his opponent Ferrero, who has been on court for 8 hours and 9 minutes in the previous three days, playing 12 sets. This includes the last four sets of Ferrero’s round of 16 defeat of Todd Martin on Thursday (the match resumed on Thursday after Ferrero won the first set on Tuesday), and his complete quarterfinal and semifinal wins on Friday and Saturday.


• Ferrero scored back-to-back wins over two former US Open champions to reach the US Open final. In the semifinals, he had his third win in four career meetings with 1994 and 1999 winner Andre Agassi, defeating him 64 63 36 64. Before that, Ferrero defeated 2001 champion Lleyton Hewitt 46 63 76 61 in the quarterfinals. Hewitt and Agassi were the only two US Open champions starting in the draw here. Ferrero’s victim in the third round, Todd Martin, was also runner-up here in 1999.

• As well as reaching his first Grand Slam final outside Roland Garros and third overall, Ferrero secured the No. 1 Entry Ranking by defeating Agassi in the semifinals. (See Entry Ranking update above). By reaching the semifinals, Ferrero (and Roddick) claimed their places at the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup. This means Ferrero has achieved all his objectives for the year, having said at the start of the season, “I am setting my goals on winning Roland Garros this year. I also want to do well at the US Open, and the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston is very important to me.”

• Ferrero’s round of 16 match against Todd Martin started on Tuesday, but was suspended due to rain with Ferrero having won the first set 62. It was not completed until two days later, on Thursday.

• Ferrero is bidding to win his second Grand Slam title, having won his first at Roland Garros earlier this year. The last man to win Roland Garros and the US Open in the same year was Andre Agassi in 1999.

• Ferrero is just the second Spanish man to reach the final here in the Open Era, and the third in the history of the U.S. Championships. Each time previously that a Spaniard reached the final at this event, he went on to win the title.

Spanish men in US Open finals (all-time)
Year Player Result in final
1965 Manuel Santana (ESP) Defeated Cliff Drysdale (RSA) 62 79 75 61
1975 Manuel Orantes (ESP) Defeated Jimmy Connors (USA) 64 63 63
2003 Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) v Andy Roddick (USA) ???

• However, Ferrero is today bidding to become the first Spanish winner of the U.S. Championships on hard court. Santana’s victory here in 1965 was achieved on the grass courts of the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, while Orantes’ 1975 triumph came on clay court, 1975 being the first of three years in which the event was held on that surface at the West Side Tennis Club.

• This is the 16th time that Spain has had a Grand Slam tournament finalist in the Open Era, and the nation has a 7-8 win-loss record in Slam finals to date. Apart from Orantes’ victory at the US Open in 1975, the other six Grand Slam titles won by the nation in the Open Era have all been at Roland Garros.

• Eight different Spaniards account for the 16 appearances by the nation in Grand Slam tournament finals. Six of those eight have won a Grand Slam title at some point.

Spaniards in Grand Slam tournament finals (Open Era)
Event Surface Player Final result
1969 Australian Open Grass Andres Gimeno Lost to Rod Laver 63 64 75
1972 Roland Garros Clay Andres Gimeno Defeated Patrick Proisy 46 63 61 61
1974 Roland Garros Clay Manuel Orantes Lost to Bjorn Borg 26 67 60 61 61
1975 US Open Clay Manuel Orantes Defeated Jimmy Connors (USA) 64 63 63
1993 Roland Garros Clay Sergi Bruguera Defeated Jim Courier 64 26 62 36 63
1994 Roland Garros
1994 Roland Garros Clay
Clay Alberto Berasategui
Sergi Bruguera Lost to Sergi Bruguera 63 75 26 61
Defeated Berasategui (see above)
1997 Australian Open Hard Carlos Moya Lost to Pete Sampras 62 63 63
1997 Roland Garros Clay Sergi Bruguera Lost to Gustavo Kuerten 63 64 62
1998 Roland Garros
1998 Roland Garros Clay
Clay Alex Corretja
Carlos Moya Lost to Carlos Moya 63 75 63
Defeated Corretja (see above)
2001 Roland Garros Clay Alex Corretja Lost to Gustavo Kuerten 67 75 62 60
2002 Roland Garros
2002 Roland Garros Clay
Clay Juan Carlos Ferrero
Albert Costa Lost to Albert Costa 61 60 46 63
Defeated Ferrero (see above)
2003 Roland Garros Clay Juan Carlos Ferrero Defeated Martin Verkerk 61 63 62
2003 US Open Hard Juan Carlos Ferrero v Andy Roddick ???

• Playing in his second Roland Garros final, Ferrero claimed his first Grand Slam title in June by defeating Albert Costa 63 76 64 in the semifinals and Martin Verkerk 61 63 62 in the final. His semifinal victory of Costa avenged his defeat by his fellow Spaniard in the Roland Garros final the year previously.

• Ferrero broke through to his first Grand Slam tournament semifinal outside Roland Garros when he defeated Hewitt in the quarterfinals, having won all four quarterfinals played at the French Open. He has now won his last three Grand Slam tournament semifinals, having lost the first two.

• The 2003 Australian Open marked Ferrero’s first appearance in a Grand Slam tournament quarterfinal outside of Roland Garros. As the No. 4 seed, he lost at that stage to Wayne Ferreira 76 76 61.

• Roddick is the third American Ferrero has faced at this year’s US Open. His defeat of Agassi in the semifinals extended his win-loss record against the nation to 13-4, 3-1 in Grand Slam tournaments, having previously defeated Todd Martin in the round of 16 as stated above. Ferrero is currently on a three-match winning streak against American opponents, having defeated Vince Spadea 63 64 in the semifinals at 2003 TMS Monte Carlo in his most recent meeting with the nation prior to the 2003 US Open.

• This is Ferrero’s fifth US Open. His best result here before this year was a round of 16 finish in 2000, when he defeated Roger Federer 75 76 16 76 in the third round before falling to No. 6 seed and eventual champion Marat Safin 61 62 62. After reaching the round of 16 in 2000, Ferrero reached the third round in 2001, losing to Tommy Robredo 76 46 64 46 76, and again in 2002, losing to Fernando Gonzalez 64 64 64.

• By reaching the US Open final, Ferrero has kept intact his record in 2003 of posting his best result at each of the Grand Slam events. At the Australian Open he reached the quarterfinals for the first time, he was champion at Roland Garros for the first time, and at Wimbledon he reached the round of 16 for the first time.

• Ferrero is seeded No. 3 here, his best seeding at the US Open and his joint-highest seeding at a Grand Slam event (he was also seeded third at 2003 Roland Garros and 2003 Wimbledon).

• Ferrero has won six consecutive hard court matches for the first time in his career. Two of Ferrero’s ten career titles have come on hard court, at 2002 Hong Kong and 2001 Dubai, and each involved five successive victories on the surface. Ferrero has reached three further finals on hard court: 2000 Dubai, 2002 Tennis Masters Cup-Shanghai and 2003 Sydney.

• Prior to the 2003 US Open, Ferrero played two tournaments during the North American summer hard court circuit. He reached the round of 16 at TMS Montreal, falling to Karol Kucera 63 75, and the second round at TMS Cincinnati, where he fell to Gaston Gaudio 67 76 64.

• Ferrero is one of five men who started in the draw owning one Grand Slam title: the others were Michael Chang (1989 Roland Garros), who lost in the opening round, Albert Costa (2002 Roland Garros), who lost in the second round, plus Carlos Moya (1998 Roland Garros) and Roger Federer (2003 Wimbledon) who both lost in the round of 16.

• Ferrero has won three titles this year, all on clay – TMS Monte Carlo, Valencia and Roland Garros. He began the year with a runner-up finish at Sydney on hard court, holding a match point against Hyung-Taik Lee in the final but falling 46 76 76.

• Until now, Ferrero’s best results on hard court in 2003 were his final appearance at Sydney and his quarterfinal showing at the Australian Open (in each he won four matches).

• Ferrero has been selected to be part of the four-man Spanish team that will contest the Davis Cup World Group semifinal against Argentina in September (see head-to-head for more detail). He has a 10-2 Davis Cup record, all in singles, and helped Spain to win its first title in the competition in 2000.

• Ferrero has been coached by Antonio Martinez since 1989, and is also coached by Samuel Lopez.


• Roddick defeated No. 13 seed David Nalbandian 67 36 76 61 63 in the semifinals to reach his first Grand Slam tournament final. This was Roddick’s second career comeback from two-sets-to-love down, the previous one having come at the Australian Open this year, when he defeated Mikhail Youzhny 67 36 75 63 62 in the round of 16.

• Roddick recorded the 100th hard court victory of his career against Schalken in the quarterfinals.

• Roddick defeated Xavier Malisse 63 64 76 in the round of 16, becoming the second man through to the quarterfinals following the rain delays Monday-Wednesday. Roddick’s round of 16 match against Malisse was the only one completed by close of play on Wednesday, Agassi’s round of 16 match against Taylor Dent having been the only match finished on Tuesday.

• In his first round match here, Roddick defeated Tim Henman, the highest ranked non-seed in the draw, 63 76 63. This win avenged his loss to the Briton in the semifinals at Washington, his only loss on the summer hard court circuit. In his second round defeat of Ivan Ljubicic, Roddick turned 21 during the match, which spanned two days, starting at 9.01pm on 29 August and finishing at 12.07am on 30 August (Roddick’s birthday).

• In his semifinal defeat of Nalbandian, Roddick saved a match point on his own serve, when Nalbandian was two sets to love up and leading 6-5 in the third set tiebreak. Roddick has won two tournaments already this year after saving match points, at Queen’s after saving a match point against Agassi in the semifinals, and at TMS Cincinnati, where he saved two match points on his own serve at 4-5 in the third set against Mardy Fish in the final.

• Roddick has now won five matches this year after saving match points. In addition to here and the two matches described above, he also defeated Hyung-Taik Lee 57 64 76 in the second round at Memphis having saved one match point, and Younes El Aynaoui 46 76 46 64 2119 in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, having saved three match points.

• Roddick is the second man this year to reach a Grand Slam final having saved a match point earlier in the tournament. At Roland Garros, Martin Verkerk saved three match points in his 46 64 46 75 62 second round defeat of Luis Horna, before going on to reach the final. In the fourth set against Horna, Verkerk was trailing 2-5 and 0-40 on his serve, before coming back to win.

• The semifinal victory over Nalbandian was Roddick’s fourth career five-set win. Roddick has won one of the three matches he has played immediately following his previous five-set wins. At 2001 Roland Garros, Roddick lost to Lleyton Hewitt 67 64 22 ret. (left hamstring) in the third round, after defeating Michael Chang 57 63 64 67 75. At the Australian Open this year, Roddick defeated Younes El Aynaoui 46 76 46 64 2119 in the quarterfinals after his five-set defeat of Youzhny as described above, but followed this up with a loss to Rainer Schuettler in the semifinals 75 26 63 63.

• Roddick is now on an 18-match winning streak, the longest of the year so far. The previous best this year was held by both Roger Federer and Guillermo Coria, who each recorded 15 successive victories earlier this season. While Roddick’s and Coria’s winning streaks were compiled on a single surface, hard court and clay respectively, Federer’s took in matches on grass (at Halle and Wimbledon) and clay (Gstaad).

• Roddick compiled his 18-match winning streak by winning back-to-back Masters Series titles at Montreal and Cincinnati, then winning six matches here. In Montreal, Roddick defeated David Nalbandian 61 63 in the final; in Cincinnati, Roddick overcame good friend Mardy Fish 46 76 76. Roddick has now saved match points in two matches in this streak, against Nalbandian in the semifinal here, and against Fish in the TMS Cincinnati final as described above.

• In his 18 straight match wins described above, Roddick has lost just six sets.

• Roddick is the second American man to reach a Grand Slam final this year, after Agassi reached the final (and won) at the Australian Open.

• Having reached two previous Grand Slam semifinals this year, at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and having only won one set in either appearance, it was third time lucky for Roddick. At the Australian Open, he lost to eventual runner-up Rainer Schuettler in the semifinals as described above, and at Wimbledon he lost to eventual champion Roger Federer 76 63 63.

• The last man to have reached three Grand Slam semifinals (or beyond) in a year was Pete Sampras in 2000, who was a semifinalist at the Australian Open, champion at Wimbledon and runner-up at the US Open. Two men have reached two Grand Slam semifinals this year, Andre Agassi at the Australian Open and here, Juan Carlos Ferrero at Roland Garros and here, in addition to Roddick’s three.

• This is Roddick’s fourth US Open. In the past two years here, he has fallen at the quarterfinal stage to the eventual champion, in 2001 to Lleyton Hewitt 67 63 64 36 64, and last year to Pete Sampras 63 62 64.

• By reaching this year’s final, Roddick has now restored his record of having his best Grand Slam performance here at Flushing Meadows. Until the start of 2003, Roddick’s best Grand Slam performances had all come at Flushing Meadows, where he had reached the quarterfinals twice as described above, but had never been beyond the third round of any other Grand Slam.

• Although Roddick has never previously faced today’s opponent Ferrero, he has an excellent 18-2 career win-loss record against Spaniards. One of the two losses came at the US Open in 2000, when Roddick, making his Grand Slam debut, fell to Albert Costa 63 67 61 64 in the first round.

• Roddick has faced a Spanish opponent eight times this year ahead of this match, losing only once (to Albert Portas at TMS Monte Carlo 76 63 in the first round).

• Roddick’s swift 1 hour 24 minute quarterfinal victory over Schalken here was in stark contrast to his 46 76 46 64 2119 quarterfinal defeat of Younes El Aynaoui at this year’s Australian Open, which he won in exactly five hours, producing the longest fifth set (in number of games) in men’s singles in all-time Grand Slam history. In total number of games played (83) it was the joint-longest men’s singles match in a Grand Slam tournament since the introduction of the tiebreak (tying with Philippoussis v Schalken at 2000 Wimbledon).

• Roddick’s other Grand Slam quarterfinal win of the year was a 64 62 64 defeat of Jonas Bjorkman at Wimbledon, achieved in 1 hour 33 minutes. Roddick therefore spent more time on court against El Aynaoui in their Australian Open quarterfinal (5 hours) than he did in his Wimbledon and US Open quarterfinals combined (2 hours 57 minutes total).

• Roddick is bidding to become the second man to win both the boys’ and men’s singles titles here. Roddick was the US Open junior boys' champion three years ago, defeating Robby Ginepri 61 63 in the 2000 final. The same year, he made his senior debut as a wild card, losing in the opening round to Albert Costa 63 67 61 64. To date, Stefan Edberg is the only male to win boys’ and men’s singles titles here, winning the boys’ title in 1983 and the men’s title in 1991 and 1992.

• With 40 hard court wins for the year through the round of 16 here, Roddick leads the tour for victories on the surface this season. Six of the top seven men on the 2003 hard court wins list reached the round of 16 here.

2003 hard court leaders*

Hard court
win-loss
Andy Roddick 40-7
Roger Federer 32-9
Paradorn Srichaphan 30-12
Andre Agassi 29-4
Rainer Schuettler 29-10
James Blake 27-13
Lleyton Hewitt 26-8
* through completion of the 2003 US Open semifinals
Players in bold still active in the tournament

• Roddick has lost just one of 27 hard court matches played since the start of the summer hard court circuit (through the round of 16 at the US Open), that loss being to eventual champion Tim Henman in the semifinals at Washington, 16 63 76. Roddick won the title a week before that at Indianapolis, defeating Paradorn Srichaphan 76 64 in the final.

• Before the start of the US Open, Roddick had a tour-best 34 hard court match wins (and seven losses). In the past 13 years, only one player has entered the US Open leading the tour in hard court match wins and gone on to win the tournament. Pete Sampras achieved this feat in 1993. On three other occasions, the tour’s hard court wins leader entering the US Open has been runner-up. [More details can be found on pages 10-11 of the Preview.]

• Roddick also led the tour for hard court wins for the season coming into the 2002 US Open. He had a 30-9 win-loss record on the surface before arriving at last year’s event.

• The last man to turn multiple titles during the summer hard court season into complete US Open success was Patrick Rafter, who in 1998 won at Toronto, Cincinnati and Long Island then successfully defended his US Open crown. [More details on Page 11 – 12 of the Preview]

• Interestingly, Roddick’s coach Brad Gilbert won three hard court tournaments coming into the US Open in 1989. Gilbert won titles at Stratton, Livingston and Cincinnati, but lost in the first round here.

• If he wins today, Roddick will take sole possession of the lead for the most titles won in 2003. Having also won titles at St Polten (clay) and at Queen’s (grass) earlier in the season, Roddick at present jointly leads the tour for titles won so far in 2003. He and Roger Federer, who lost in the round of 16, both have five. Ferrero has won three titles so far in 2003.
Title leaders in 2003
Player Total Titles Clay Grass Hard Carpet
Andy Roddick 5 1 1 3 --
Roger Federer 5 1 2 2 --
Andre Agassi 4 1 -- 3 --
Guillermo Coria 4 4 -- -- --
Juan Carlos Ferrero 3 3 -- -- --
Top of Page

2003 US OPEN
DAY 13 MEN’S NOTES
6 September 2003
Semifinals

Show court matches

ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM: No. 1 Andre Agassi (USA) v No. 3 Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP)
No. 4 Andy Roddick (USA) v No. 13 David Nalbandian (ARG)

The semifinalists at a glance…

Player Nation Age Best US Open
performance Best Grand Slam
Performance Hard court
titles Total titles
(1) Andre Agassi USA 33 W 1994, 1999 W Wimbledon 1992;
US Open 1994, 1999;
Aus Open 1995, 2000, 2001, 2003; Roland Garros 1999 44 58
(3) Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP 23 SF 2003 W Roland Garros 2003 2 10
(13) David Nalbandian ARG 21 SF 2003 R Wimbledon 2002 0 2
(4) Andy Roddick USA 21 SF 2003 SF Aus Open 2003
Wimbledon 2003,
US Open 2003 5 10

Entry Ranking Update
The battle for the No. 1 position on the ATP Entry Ranking is now a three-way contest following the completion of the 2003 US Open quarterfinals.

If Juan Carlos Ferrero wins his semifinal match against Andre Agassi, he will claim the No. 1 spot whatever the outcome of Sunday’s final. However, if the Spaniard loses his semifinal, he has still collected enough ATP Entry Ranking points to be No. 1 at the end of the tournament, unless either Agassi or Andy Roddick wins the title.

If Ferrero has a semifinal exit and Agassi wins the title, Agassi will stay No. 1. If Ferrero loses in the semis and Roddick wins the title, Roddick will be No. 1, taking over from Agassi.


Champion Race Update
By reaching the semifinals, Andy Roddick and Juan Carlos Ferrero have now qualified for the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Houston, to be played 8-16 November.

They now stand in first and second place respectively on the ATP Champions Race, Ferrero moving ahead of Wimbledon champion Roger Federer after defeating Lleyton Hewitt in the quarterfinals. Federer lost in the round of 16 to David Nalbandian on Thursday.

The top seven finishers in the ATP Champions Race qualify for a place in Houston. The eighth place goes to a Grand Slam champion in 2003 who finishes between 8th and 20th in the ATP Champions Race. If no player fits this classification, the eighth place goes to the player finishing eighth in the ATP Champions Race.

ATP Champions Race at 5 September

Pos. Player Points
1. Andy Roddick 697
2. Juan Carlos Ferrero 664
3. Roger Federer 629
4. Andre Agassi 605
5. Guillermo Coria 589
6. Rainer Schuettler 477
7. Carlos Moya 398
8. David Nalbandian 358
9. Lleyton Hewitt 290
10. Mark Philippoussis 276

(Players in bold are through to the US Open semis)
Note: Add 50 points to the semifinal points total for reaching the US Open final


ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM

NO. 1 ANDRE AGASSI (USA) v NO. 3 JUAN CARLOS FERRERO (ESP)

Head-to-head: Ferrero leads 2-1
2002 Roland Garros Clay (O) QF Ferrero 63 57 75 63
2002 TMS Madrid Hard (I) QF Agassi 63 62
2002 Tennis Masters Cup Hard (I) RR Ferrero 75 26 76

This is a match-up between the two Grand Slam tournament champions remaining in the draw (of the nine who started). Ferrero has won two of their three previous encounters, including their most recent, on indoor hard court at the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai in 2002. Ferrero needed five match points to defeat Agassi in that match, the American finally double-faulting to lose the match in a third-set tiebreak.

Today marks the fourth semifinal between an American and a Spaniard in a Grand Slam tournament in the Open Era. Spain leads the series 2-1 to date.

Grand Slam event Semifinal
1997 Australian Open Carlos Moya (ESP) d. Michael Chang (USA) 75 62 64
1995 Roland Garros Michael Chang (USA) d. Sergi Bruguera (ESP) 64 76 76
1994 Roland Garros Sergi Bruguera (ESP) d. Jim Courier (USA) 63 57 63 63


Agassi v Ferrero

33 Age 23
1 Entry Ranking 3
58 Titles 10
201-44 Career Grand Slam Record 48-13
Champion
1995/00/01/03
Aus Open
1999 Roland Garros
1992 Wimbledon
1994/99 US Open Best Grand Slam Result Champion
2003 Roland Garros
67-15 US Open Record 12-4
782-238 Career Record 222-92
508-130 Career Record – Hard 80-49
44-7 2003 Record 55-12
29-3 2003 Record – Hard 20-7
23-19 Career Five-Set Record 12-8
5 Comebacks from 0-2 down 1
168-138 Career Tie-break Record 75-64
12-5 2003 Tie-break Record 13-11
9:39 Total Time on Court 12:57

Road to the Semifinals
Agassi Time Time Ferrero
d. Alex Corretja 61 62 62 1:25 1st Round 2:13 d. (Q) Jan Vacek 62 46 63 62
d. Andreas Vinciguerra 76 61 64 1:51 2nd Round 2:25 d. Jurgen Melzer 16 76 62 64
d. No. 28 Yevgeny Kafelnikov 63 76 64 1:55 3rd Round 2:09 d. No. 33 Juan Ignacio Chela 75 75 61
d. Taylor Dent 67 64 75 ret. 2:23 Round of 16 3:23 d. Todd Martin 62 64 36 57 63
d. No. 5 Guillermo Coria 64 63 75 2:05 Quarterfinals 2:47 d. No. 6 Lleyton Hewitt 46 63 76 61


• Agassi defeated No. 5 seed Guillermo Coria 64 63 75 in the quarterfinals to advance to a ninth US Open semifinal and second in a row here.

• Agassi has lost just one set en route to the semifinals, losing the first set of his round of 16 match against Taylor Dent before the younger American was forced to retire with a lower right hamstring strain. Agassi won 67 64 75 ret. Compatriot Andy Roddick has also reached the semifinals for the loss of just one set.

• Agassi’s round of 16 match was the only one to be completed by end of play on Tuesday night, the remaining round of 16 matches being completed on Wednesday and Thursday after nearly three full days of rain delays.

• Agassi’s third round encounter with Kafelnikov was played over two days, the only one of Saturday’s rain-interrupted matches to do so. It was suspended on Saturday, after two previous rain breaks, with Agassi leading by a set and trailing 0-1 0-15 in the second set. The match was completed on Sunday.

• Looking ahead, if Agassi wins today, he will face either compatriot Andy Roddick or David Nalbandian in the final. Agassi leads Roddick 4-1 in their head to head, but has never played Nalbandian.

• Agassi is playing in his 24th Grand Slam semifinal in the 53rd major of his career.

• Agassi’s record in Grand Slam tournament semifinals is 14-9 overall and 5-3 at the US Open, where he has won five of his last six semifinal matches. The only US Open semifinal match that Agassi has lost in his last six was to Michael Chang in 1996, falling 63 62 62.

Agassi in US Open semifinals
Year Opponent Agassi’s result
1988 Ivan Lendl lost 46 62 63 64
1989 Ivan Lendl lost 76 61 36 61
1990 Boris Becker won 67 63 62 63
1994 Todd Martin won 63 46 62 63
1995 Boris Becker won 76 76 46 64
1996 Michael Chang lost 63 62 62
1999 Yevgeny Kafelnikov won 16 63 63 63
2002 Lleyton Hewitt won 64 76 67 62
2003 Juan Carlos Ferrero ???

• Agassi is playing his 18th consecutive US Open, having made his debut as a wild card in 1986. This is the most appearances by any man in the draw.

• Agassi reached his fifth US Open final last year, losing to Pete Sampras 63 64 57 64 in the 34th and last meeting between the great rivals. Agassi won the US Open title in 1994 (defeating Michael Stich 61 76 75 in the final) and again in 1999 (defeating Todd Martin 64 67 67 63 62).

• At age 33 years, 131 days (on the day of the US Open final), Agassi is the seventh-oldest US Open men’s singles semifinalist of the Open Era. Of the six men who were older than Agassi, only Ken Rosewall won the US Open title, doing so in 1970 at age 35 years, 315 days.

Year Player Age* Semifinal result / Final result
1974 Ken Rosewall 39 years, 310 days d. John Newcombe 67 64 76 63/
lost to Jimmy Connors 61 60 61
1991 Jimmy Connors 39 years, 6 days lost to Jim Courier 63 63 62
1973 Ken Rosewall 38 years, 311 days lost to John Newcombe 64 76 63
1970 Ken Rosewall 35 years, 315 days d. John Newcombe 63 64 63/
d. Tony Roche 26 64 76 63
1987 Jimmy Connors 35 years, 12 days lost to Ivan Lendl 64 62 62
1968 Ken Rosewall 33 years, 311 days lost to Tom Okker 86 64 68 61
2003 Andre Agassi 33 years, 131 days ???
1985 Jimmy Connors 33 years, 6 days lost to Ivan Lendl 62 63 75
2002 Andre Agassi 32 years, 132 days d. Lleyton Hewitt 64 76 67 62
lost to Pete Sampras 63 64 57 64
1984 Jimmy Connors 32 years, 7 days lost to John McEnroe 64 46 75 46 63
1990 John McEnroe 31 years, 205 days lost to Pete Sampras 62 64 36 63
1991 Ivan Lendl 31 years, 185 days lost to Stefan Edberg 63 63 64
1969 Rod Laver 31 years, 31 days d. Arthur Ashe 86 63 1412
d. Tony Roche 79 61 62 62
2002 Pete Sampras 31 years, 27 days d. Sjeng Schalken 76 76 62
d. Andre Agassi 63 64 57 64
* ages are at the last day of the tournament

• Agassi’s defeat of Dent in the round of 16 was his 200th Grand Slam match victory. Agassi remains in fourth place for the most Grand Slam match wins in the Open Era, but if he were to win two more matches and capture the 2003 US Open title, Agassi would equal Pete Sampras in third place.

Top Open Era Grand Slam performances
Overall US Open
Jimmy Connors 233-49 98-17
Ivan Lendl 222-49 73-13
Pete Sampras 203-38 71-9
Andre Agassi 201-44 67-15

• Agassi has never lost to a Spaniard at the US Open, having played four previous matches against the nation through his first round defeat of Alex Corretja here, which was in fact his easiest victory over a Spaniard at Flushing Meadows.
Agassi v Spaniards at the US Open
Year Player Agassi’s result
1992 Francisco Roig Won 61 63 62 in 2nd rd
1992 Carlos Costa Won 64 63 62 in R16
1995 Alex Corretja Won 57 63 57 60 62 in 2nd rd
2003 Alex Corretja Won 61 62 62 in 1st rd
2003 Juan Carlos Ferrero ???

• Agassi has a 13-2 win-loss record against Spaniards in all Grand Slam tournaments.

• Agassi is now two match wins away from a ninth Grand Slam title. A third US title would give him sole possession of sixth place for the most all-time Grand Slam titles.

Top Grand Slam titleholders
1. Pete Sampras 14
2. Roy Emerson 12
3. Bjorn Borg 11
Rod Laver 11
5. Bill Tilden 10
6. Fred Perry 8
Ken Rosewall 8
Jimmy Connors 8
Ivan Lendl 8
Andre Agassi 8

• Agassi’s won his eighth Grand Slam title at this year’s Australian Open, where he defeated Sebastien Grosjean 63 62 62 in the quarterfinals, Wayne Ferreira 62 62 63 in the semifinals and Rainer Schuettler 62 62 61 in the final, claiming his fourth Australian Open crown.

• Perhaps surprisingly for the two majors that are now played on the most similar surfaces, it is 15 years since the Australian Open champion went on to win the US Open title in the same year. Mats Wilander achieved this feat in 1988, the first year that the Australian Open and the US Open were both played on hard court (Rebound Ace and Deco Turf II). Wilander also won Roland Garros that year.

• Since 1988 (the year the surfaces of the two events became similar), reaching the final at both the Australian Open and the US Open in the same year is more common: there have been five occurrences of this, although it has not happened since 1996. Then, Michael Chang finished runner-up in both Melbourne and New York.

• This is the first time Agassi has been seeded No. 1 at a Grand Slam event since the 2000 US Open. Then, he was upset in the second round by Arnaud Clement 63 62 64.

• The No. 1 seed has won the US Open title only eight times in 35 meetings. The last top seed to win the title here was Pete Sampras in 1996, when he successfully defended his US Open title. The No. 1 seed has not been successful at a Grand Slam event since Lleyton Hewitt at 2002 Wimbledon. [For more details see page 9 of the Preview.]

• Including the 2003 US Open, Agassi has played a total of 53 Grand Slam tournaments in his career, placing him joint-6th on the all-time Open Era list of Grand Slams played (Wayne Ferreira, who lost in the second round here, has also played 53 majors.) [For more details see page 9 of the Preview.]

• Following the retirements of Pete Sampras and Michael Chang this week, Agassi is now the only active American male Grand Slam champion.

• Agassi has won a total of four titles in 2003, three of these on hard court. In addition to the Australian Open, he won at San Jose (defeating Davide Sanguinetti 63 61 in the final) and TMS Miami (defeating Carlos Moya 63 63 in the final). He also captured the title on clay at Houston (defeating Andy Roddick 36 63 64 in the final).

• If he can capture the 2003 US Open title, Agassi would go into a tie for first place for tour titles won in 2003, currently shared by Andy Roddick and Roger Federer, who own five for the year.

2003 title leaders
Roger Federer 5
Andy Roddick 5
Andre Agassi 4
Guillermo Coria 4
Juan Carlos Ferrero 3
Carlos Moya 3

• Agassi is the tour’s all-time leader in hard court tournament titles, having won 44 tournaments (of 58 total) on hard courts. The active players nearest to Agassi for hard court titles are Thomas Enqvist and Lleyton Hewitt, who have both won 13 tournaments on the surface.

All-time Open Era hard court title leaders
Player Hard Court Titles Last Hard Court Title (active players only)
Andre Agassi 44 2003 TMS Miami
Pete Sampras 36
Ivan Lendl 27
Jimmy Connors 23
Michael Chang 21
John McEnroe 21
Stefan Edberg 20
Boris Becker 16
Jim Courier 16
Brad Gilbert 14
Thomas Enqvist 13 2002 Marseille*
Lleyton Hewitt 13 2003 TMS Indian Wells
Wayne Ferreira 11 2003 Los Angeles
* played on indoor hard court

• Agassi’s last tournament before the US Open was at TMS Montreal, where he lost in the quarterfinals to Rainer Schuettler 26 62 63. He only played one other event on the summer hard court circuit, reaching the semifinals at Washington the week previously before losing to Fernando Gonzalez 36 64 76.

• This is only Agassi’s 12th tournament this year. Although he has a 44-7 record to date, Agassi had more success until now in the first half of the season, when he collected four titles as described above.

• Ferrero scored his third win over 2001 champion Lleyton Hewitt in six career meetings, defeating the Australian 46 63 76 61 in the quarterfinals to advance to his first US Open semifinal. It also extended Ferrero’s winning streak against Aussie opponents to five matches.

• Ferrero’s round of 16 match against Todd Martin started on Tuesday, but was suspended due to rain with Ferrero having won the first set 62. It was not completed until two days later, on Thursday.

• Not only is Ferrero through to his first US Open semifinal, but he is also through to his first Grand Slam tournament semifinal outside of Roland Garros. At the French Open, Ferrero has reached at least the semifinals in all four of his appearances, and has won his last two semifinal matches.

Ferrero in Grand Slam tournament semifinals
Event Opponent Ferrero’s result Eventual finish
2000 Roland Garros Gustavo Kuerten Lost 75 46 26 64 63 ---
2001 Roland Garros Gustavo Kuerten Lost 64 64 63 ---
2002 Roland Garros Marat Safin Won 63 62 64 Runner-up
2003 Roland Garros Albert Costa Won 63 76 64 Champion
2003 US Open Andre Agassi ??? ???

• The 2003 Australian Open marked Ferrero’s first appearance in a Grand Slam tournament quarterfinal outside of Roland Garros. As the No. 4 seed, he lost at that stage to Wayne Ferreira 76 76 61.

• This is Ferrero’s fifth US Open. His best result here before this year was a round of 16 finish in 2000, when he defeated Roger Federer 75 76 16 76 in the third round before falling to No. 6 seed and eventual champion Marat Safin 61 62 62.

• After reaching the round of 16 in 2000, Ferrero reached the third round in 2001, losing to Tommy Robredo 76 46 64 46 76, and again in 2002, losing to Fernando Gonzalez 64 64 64.

• By reaching the US Open semifinals, Ferrero has kept intact his record in 2003 of posting his best result at each of the Grand Slam events. At the Australian Open he reached the quarterfinals for the first time, he was champion at Roland Garros for the first time, and at Wimbledon he reached the round of 16 for the first time.

• Ferrero is the third Spaniard to reach the US Open semifinals and is now bidding to become the second Spaniard, after Manuel Orantes in 1975, to reach the final here in the Open Era. Ferrero would be the first Spaniard to reach the US Open final on hard court, the event having been played on clay for three years 1975-77.

Spaniards in US Open semifinals (Open Era)
Year Player SF result Eventual finish
1975 Manuel Orantes Defeated Guillermo Vilas
46 16 62 75 64 Champion - defeated Jimmy Connors 64 63 63 in final
1998 Carlos Moya Lost to Mark Philippoussis
61 64 57 64 ---
2003 Juan Carlos Ferrero v Andre Agassi ??? ---

• In the Open Era, there have been 22 appearances by Spanish men in the Roland Garros semifinals, a far greater number than at any of the other three Grand Slam tournaments. With Ferrero marking the third appearance by a Spaniard in the US Open semis, this event has now edged into second place for Spanish semifinal visits among the four majors. (There have been two appearances by Spaniards in the semifinals of both Wimbledon and the Australian Open).

• If Ferrero wins today, Spain will have its 16th male Grand Slam tournament finalist in the Open Era. Apart from Orantes’ victory at the US Open in 1975, the other six Grand Slam titles won by the nation have all been at Roland Garros, where there has been a Spanish champion six times.

Spanish appearances* in Grand Slam finals (Open Era)
Aus Open
Finalist (Won) Roland Garros
Finalist (Won) Wimbledon
Finalist (Won) US Open
Finalist (Won)
2 (0) 12 (6) 0 (0) 1 (1)
* by player, not by year

• Agassi is the second American Ferrero has faced at this year’s US Open. His defeat of Martin in the round of 16 extended his win-loss record against the nation to 12-4, 2-1 in Grand Slam tournaments.

• Ferrero is seeded No. 3 here, his best seeding at the US Open and his joint-highest seeding at a Grand Slam event (he was also seeded third at 2003 Roland Garros and 2003 Wimbledon).

• If Ferrero wins today, he will have won six consecutive hard court matches for the first time in his career. Two of Ferrero’s ten career titles have come on hard court, at 2002 Hong Kong and 2001 Dubai, and each involved five successive victories on the surface. Ferrero has reached three further finals on hard court: 2000 Dubai, 2002 Tennis Masters Cup-Shanghai and 2003 Sydney.

• Prior to the 2003 US Open, Ferrero played two tournaments during the North American summer hard court circuit. He reached the round of 16 at TMS Montreal, falling to Karol Kucera 63 75, and the second round at TMS Cincinnati, where he fell to Gaston Gaudio 67 76 64.

• Playing in his second Roland Garros final, Ferrero claimed his first Grand Slam title in June by defeating Albert Costa 63 76 64 in the semifinals and Martin Verkerk 61 63 62 in the final. His semifinal victory of Costa avenged his defeat by his fellow Spaniard in the Roland Garros final the year previously.

• Ferrero is one of five men who started in the draw owning one Grand Slam title: the others were Michael Chang (1989 Roland Garros), who lost in the opening round, Albert Costa (2002 Roland Garros), who lost in the second round, plus Carlos Moya (1998 Roland Garros) and Roger Federer (2003 Wimbledon) who both lost in the round of 16.

• Ferrero has won three titles this year, all on clay – TMS Monte Carlo, Valencia and Roland Garros. He began the year with a runner-up finish at Sydney on hard court, holding a match point against Hyung-Taik Lee in the final but falling 46 76 76.

• Until now, his best results on hard court in 2003 were his final appearance at Sydney and his quarterfinal showing at the Australian Open (in each he won four matches).

NO. 4 ANDY RODDICK (USA) v NO. 13 DAVID NALBANDIAN (ARG)

Head-to-head: Roddick leads 2-0
2002 TMS Canada Hard (O) QF Roddick 63 62
2003 TMS Canada Hard (O) FR Roddick 61 63

Today’s clash is Roddick and Nalbandian’s third meeting, both previous ones having also come on hard court and having ended in Roddick victories. This semifinal is also a clash of two former US Open Boys’ champions, Nalbandian winning the junior title in 1998 and Roddick in 2000, and a match-up of the two youngest players remaining in the draw. To date, Stefan Edberg is the only male to win boys’ and men’s singles titles here, winning the boys’ title in 1983 and the men’s title in 1991 and 1992.

Roddick v Nalbandian

21 Age 21
4 Entry Ranking 13
10 Titles 2
29-11 Career Grand Slam Record 24-8
Semifinalist
2003 Australian Open,
2003 Wimbledon,
2003 US Open Best Grand Slam Result Runner-up
2002 Wimbledon
13-3 US Open Record 7-2
162-56 Career Record 90-52
100-33 Career Record – Hard 31-19
60-13 2003 Record 37-17
39-7 2003 Record – Hard 20-7
3-2 Career Five-Set Record 6-1
1 Comebacks from 0-2 down 0
71-40 Career Tie-break Record 35-20
29-12 2003 Tie-break Record 15-7
9:56 Total Time on Court 15:02

Road to the Semifinals
Roddick Time Time Nalbandian
d. Tim Henman 63 76 63 2:04 1st Round 2:21 d. (Q) Philipp Kohlschreiber 64 76 63
d. Ivan Ljubicic 63 67 63 76 3:03 2nd Round 3:38 d. Jarkko Nieminen 57 63 61 46 76
d. Flavio Saretta 61 63 63 1:26 3rd Round 3:13 d. No. 20 Mark Philippoussis 75 67 63 62
d. Xavier Malisse 64 64 76 1:59 Round of 16 2:52 d. No. 2 Roger Federer 36 76 64 63
d. No. 12 Sjeng Schalken 64 62 63 1:24 Quarterfinals 2:58 d. No. 22 Younes El Aynaoui 76 62 36 75

• Roddick defeated No. 12 seed Sjeng Schalken 64 62 63 in the quarterfinals, to reach the semifinals at his home Grand Slam for the first time. In the two previous years, he has fallen at the quarterfinal stage to the eventual champion, in 2001 to Lleyton Hewitt 67 63 64 36 64, and last year to Pete Sampras 63 62 64.

• Roddick served seven consecutive aces in the first set against Schalken. From 30-all at two games all, Roddick served two aces to go 32 up, served a game of four aces – after breaking Schalken – to go 52 up, and then served another on the first point when leading 54.

• Roddick has now reached his third Grand Slam semifinal of the year, having never reached this stage of a Grand Slam event before the 2003 Australian Open. However Roddick is bidding today for his first Grand Slam final, having lost his two previous Grand Slam semifinals this year.


Roddick’s 2003 Grand Slam semifinal appearances
2003 Slam Semifinal Result Eventual Finish
Australian Open Lost to eventual runner-up Rainer Schuettler 75 26 63 63 --
Wimbledon Lost to eventual champion Roger Federer 76 63 63 --
US Open v David Nalbandian ???? ???

• The last man to have reached three Grand Slam semifinals (or beyond) in a year was Pete Sampras in 2000, who was a semifinalist at the Australian Open, champion at Wimbledon and runner-up at the US Open. Two men have reached two Grand Slam semifinals this year, Andre Agassi at the Australian Open and here, Juan Carlos Ferrero at Roland Garros and here, in addition to Roddick’s three.

• If he wins today, Roddick will restore his record of achieving his stand-alone best Grand Slam performance here at Flushing Meadows. Until the start of 2003, Roddick’s best Grand Slam performances had all come at Flushing Meadows, where he had reached the quarterfinals twice as described above, but had never been beyond the third round of any other Grand Slam.

• If he wins today, Roddick would face either Andre Agassi or Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final. Roddick has a 1-4 win-loss record against Agassi, and has never met Ferrero.

• Against Argentines, Roddick has an 8-3 career record. This improves to a 2-0 record against the nation in Grand Slam play. One of those wins was recorded here last year, when Roddick defeated Juan Ignacio Chela 57 64 64 64 in the round of 16.

• Roddick has faced an Argentine opponent three times this year on the North American summer hard court circuit, winning all three matches, including a 61 63 defeat of today’s opponent Nalbandian in the final at TMS Montreal.

• Roddick recorded the 100th hard court victory of his career against Schalken in the quarterfinals.

• Roddick has only dropped one set en route to the semifinals, to Ivan Ljubicic in the second round. Andre Agassi is the only other semifinalist to have lost just one set so far, to Taylor Dent in the round of 16.

• Roddick’s swift 1 hour 24 minute quarterfinal victory over Schalken was in stark contrast to his 46 76 46 64 2119 quarterfinal defeat of Younes El Aynaoui at this year’s Australian Open, which he won in exactly five hours, producing the longest fifth set (in number of games) in men’s singles in all-time Grand Slam history. In total number of games played (83) it was the joint-longest men’s singles match in a Grand Slam tournament since the introduction of the tiebreak (tying with Philippoussis v Schalken at 2000 Wimbledon).

• Roddick’s other Grand Slam quarterfinal win of the year was a 64 62 64 defeat of Jonas Bjorkman at Wimbledon, achieved in 1 hour 33 minutes. Roddick therefore spent more time on court against El Aynaoui in their Australian Open quarterfinal (5 hours) than he did in his Wimbledon and US Open quarterfinals combined (2 hours 57 minutes total).

• Roddick has only defeated one seed to reach the semifinals here, No. 12 Sjeng Schalken in the quarterfinals, and has spent 9 hours 56 minutes on court. At the Australian Open he faced two seeds and was on court for 13 hours 55 minutes to reach the semifinals, and at Wimbledon he also faced two seeds and spent 8 hours 46 minutes on court.

• Roddick is the youngest man left in the draw here at 21 years and seven days old. The next youngest is today’s opponent Nalbandian, who is 21 years and eight months old.

• Roddick defeated Xavier Malisse 63 64 76 in the round of 16, becoming the second man through to the quarterfinals following the rain delays Monday-Wednesday. Roddick’s round of 16 match against Malisse was the only one completed by close of play on Wednesday, Agassi’s round of 16 match against Taylor Dent having been the only match finished on Tuesday.

• In his first round match here, Roddick defeated Tim Henman, the highest ranked non-seed in the draw, 63 76 63. This win avenged his loss to the Briton in the semifinals at Washington, his only loss on the summer hard court circuit. In the second round, Roddick defeated Ivan Ljubicic 63 67 63 76, turning 21 during the match, which spanned two days, starting at 9.01pm on 29 August and finishing at 12.07am on 30 August (Roddick’s birthday). Roddick defeated Brazil’s Flavio Saretta 61 63 63 in the third round.

• Roddick was the US Open junior boys' champion three years ago, defeating Robby Ginepri 61 63 in the 2000 final. The same year, he made his senior debut as a wild card, losing in the opening round to Albert Costa 63 67 61 64. To date, Stefan Edberg is the only male to win boys’ and men’s singles titles here, winning the boys’ title in 1983 and the men’s title in 1991 and 1992.

• Roddick is now on a 17-match winning streak, the longest of the year so far. The previous best this year was held by both Roger Federer and Guillermo Coria, who each recorded 15 successive victories earlier this season. While Roddick’s and Coria’s winning streaks were compiled on a single surface, hard court and clay respectively, Federer’s took in matches on grass (at Halle and Wimbledon) and clay (Gstaad).

• Roddick compiled his 17-match winning streak by winning back-to-back Masters Series titles at Montreal and Cincinnati, then winning five matches here. In Montreal, Roddick defeated David Nalbandian 61 63 in the final; in Cincinnati, Roddick overcame good friend Mardy Fish 46 76 76, Fish having held two match points on Roddick’s serve at 4-5 in the third set.

• In his 17 straight match wins described above, Roddick has lost just four sets.

• With 39 hard court wins for the year through the round of 16 here, Roddick leads the tour for victories on the surface this season. Six of the top seven men on the 2003 hard court wins list all reached the round of 16 here, but only two have reached the semifinals, Roddick and Agassi.

2003 hard court leaders*

Hard court
win-loss
Andy Roddick 39-7
Roger Federer 32-9
Paradorn Srichaphan 30-12
Andre Agassi 29-3
Rainer Schuettler 29-10
James Blake 27-13
Lleyton Hewitt 26-8
* through completion of the 2003 US Open quarterfinals
Players in bold still active in the tournament

• Roddick has lost just one of 26 hard court matches played since the start of the summer hard court circuit (through the round of 16 at the US Open), that loss being to eventual champion Tim Henman in the semifinals at Washington, 16 63 76. Roddick won the title a week before that at Indianapolis, defeating Paradorn Srichaphan 76 64 in the final.

• Before the start of the US Open, Roddick had a tour-best 34 hard court match wins (and seven losses). But in the past 13 years, only one player has entered the US Open leading the tour in hard court match wins and gone on to win the tournament. Pete Sampras achieved this feat in 1993. On three other occasions, the tour’s hard court wins leader entering the US Open has been runner-up. [More details can be found on pages 10-11 of the Preview.]

• Roddick also led the tour for hard court wins for the season coming into the 2002 US Open. He had a 30-9 win-loss record on the surface before arriving at last year’s event.

• The last man to turn multiple titles during the summer hard court season into complete US Open success was Patrick Rafter, who in 1998 won at Toronto, Cincinnati and Long Island then successfully defended his US Open crown. On the other hand, in the last 15 years, there have been four instances of a player winning multiple summer hard court tournaments only to lose in the first round of the US Open. [More details on pages 11-12 of the Preview.]

• Interestingly, Roddick’s coach Brad Gilbert won three hard court tournaments coming into the US Open in 1989. Gilbert won titles at Stratton, Livingston and Cincinnati, but lost in the first round here.

• Having also won titles at St Polten (clay) and at Queen’s (grass) earlier in the season, Roddick jointly leads the tour for titles won so far in 2003. He and Roger Federer, who lost in the round of 16, both have five.

• Nalbandian defeated Younes El Aynaoui 76 62 36 75 in the quarterfinals to prevent a Roddick v El Aynaoui match-up, which would have been a re-run of their epic Australian Open quarterfinal earlier this year as described above. Nalbandian scored his fifth successive victory over Wimbledon champion Roger Federer 36 76 64 63 in the round of 16 to advance to his first US Open quarterfinal. The entire match was delayed by two days because of the rain: having been scheduled to take place on Tuesday, it was played on Thursday.

• Nalbandian has taken a much tougher route to the semifinals than today’s opponent Roddick, having defeated three seeded players compared to Roddick’s two, and having spent 15 hours 2 minutes on court compared to Roddick’s 9 hours and 56 minutes total. Nalbandian has dropped five sets so far, with Roddick having only dropped one.

• Nalbandian also survived a fifth-set tiebreak, against Jarkko Nieminen in the second round. The last man to go on to win here after survived a fifth-set tiebreak was Marat Safin in 2000. Safin defeated Sebastien Grosjean in a fifth-set tiebreak in the third round.

• Nalbandian will face Andre Agassi or Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final should he win today. Nalbandian has never met Agassi, and has a 1-0 win-loss record against Ferrero.

• Nalbandian is playing his third successive US Open. He has never previously been beyond the third round here.

• As a qualifier in 2001, Nalbandian advanced to the third round by defeating No. 31 seed Nicolas Escude 46 63 46 63 75 in the second round, losing to No. 7 Yevgeny Kafelnikov 36 64 62 62. Last year, as Wimbledon runner-up and No. 16 seed, Nalbandian was upset in the first round by Sargis Sargsian 61 64 64.

• Nalbandian is attempting to reach his second Grand Slam tournament final today. He won his only previous Grand Slam semifinal, at 2002 Wimbledon against Xavier Malisse 76 64 16 26 62, en route to his runner-up finish, becoming just the second Argentine (after Guillermo Vilas) to reach a Grand Slam tournament final. Playing in his first senior grass court event, Nalbandian was defeated in the final by Lleyton Hewitt 61 63 62.

Argentines in Grand Slam finals (Open Era)
Tournament Player Result
1975 Roland Garros Guillermo Vilas Lost to Bjorn Borg 62 63 64
1977 Australian Open (Jan) Guillermo Vilas Lost to Roscoe Tanner
63 63 63
1977 Roland Garros Guillermo Vilas Defeated Brian Gottfried
60 63 60
1977 US Open Guillermo Vilas Defeated Jimmy Connors 26 63 76 60
1978 Roland Garros Guillermo Vilas Lost to Bjorn Borg 61 61 63
1978 Australian Open Guillermo Vilas Defeated John Marks
64 64 36 63
1979 Australian Open Guillermo Vilas Defeated John Sadri
76 63 62
1982 Roland Garros Guillermo Vilas Lost to Mats Wilander
16 76 60 64
2002 Wimbledon David Nalbandian Lost to Lleyton Hewitt 61 63 62

• Nalbandian has now won two and lost one of his three Grand Slam quarterfinals. In addition to 2002 Wimbledon, he reached the last eight at this year’s Australian Open, defeating Roger Federer 64 36 61 16 63 in the third round then losing his quarterfinal match to eventual runner-up Rainer Schuettler 63 57 61 60.

• Nalbandian is only the second Argentine to have reached the US Open semifinals in the Open Era. The other was the legendary Vilas, who reached the semis three times here and won the title in 1977. The US Open was played on clay 1975-77.
Vilas in US Open semifinals
Year Semifinal result Eventual finish
1975 Lost to Manuel Orantes 46 16 62 75 64 --
1976 Lost to Jimmy Connors 64 62 61 --
1977 Defeated Harold Solomon 62 76 62 Champion
1982 Lost to Jimmy Connors 61 36 62 63 --

• Nalbandian is part of a wider success story in Argentine men’s tennis. The country reached its first Davis Cup semifinal for 12 years in 2002 and has returned to the semis in 2003. Argentina currently boasts nine players inside the top 100 on the ATP Entry Rankings: Guillermo Coria (5), Nalbandian (13), Agustin Calleri (19), Mariano Zabaleta (27), Gaston Gaudio (30), Juan Ignacio Chela (41), Jose Acasuso (75), Mariano Puerta (91) and Franco Squillari (97).

• Nalbandian was the 1998 US Open boys’ champion, defeating Roger Federer 63 75 in the final. To date, Stefan Edberg is the only male to win boys’ and men’s singles titles here, winning the boys’ title in 1983 and the men’s title in 1991 and 1992.

• Nalbandian’s second round win over Nieminen extended his strong win-loss record in five-set matches to 6-1. Nalbandian has now played one five-set match in each Grand Slam event this year, with a 3-1 win-loss record.

Nalbandian’s 2003 five-set matches
Grand Slam Opponent Round Result Eventual Finish
Australian Open Roger Federer Round of 16 Won 64 36 61 16 63 Quarterfinals
Roland Garros Nicolas Coutelot Second Lost 63 63 46 26 61 --
Wimbledon Karol Kucera Third Won 64 57 67 64 62 Round of 16
US Open Jarkko Nieminen Second Won 57 63 61 46 76 ???

• Nalbandian has won 13 of 15 matches played on the summer hard court circuit, including his five matches here. He reached his first final of the year at TMS Montreal, defeating Rainer Schuettler 36 62 62 in the semifinals before losing to today’s opponent Andy Roddick 61 63. The following week, Nalbandian advanced to the quarterfinals at TMS Cincinnati, losing to eventual runner-up Mardy Fish 76 63.

• Apart from TMS Montreal, Nalbandian’s other stand-out hard court result of 2003, before here, came at the Australian Open, where he advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to eventual runner-up Rainer Schuettler as described above.

• Nalbandian also reached the semifinals on clay at TMS Hamburg (losing to Agustin Calleri 64 61), and advanced to the last 16 at this year’s Wimbledon (falling to Tim Henman 62 67 75 63).

• Nalbandian is likely to be part of the Argentine Davis Cup team that travels to Malaga to play Spain in this year’s World Group semifinals on 19-21 September. Nalbandian has a 2-1 career record in Davis Cup singles, 3-0 in doubles.
Top of Page