ATP - Houston Friday Preview

HOUSTON FRIDAY PREVIEW –  FIVE OF TOP EIGHT SEEDS, FORMER CHAMP KARLOVIC LEAD QF LINE-UP

The quarter-finals of the US Men’s Clay Court Championships at the River Oaks Country Club on Friday feature all four seeds in the top half of the draw. Overall, there are three Americans leading the way and two former champions.

In the opening match on Stadium, Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili and American wild card Ryan Sweeting
square off the first time. Both players are attempting to reach their first career ATP World Tour semi-final. Gabashvili is appearing in his first ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season while Sweeting is making his second career quarter-final showing.  In February, he advanced to the quarters in Delray Beach.

In the second match, qualifier and 2007 champion Ivo Karlovic meets No. 4 seed John Isner for the third time (tied 1-1), the first on clay, in the tallest match-up on the ATP World Tour. The 6’10” Karlovic has only been broken once in five matches thus far and the 32-year-old Croat is appearing in his third ATP World Tour quarter-final on the season. His last semi-final came in February 2010 in Delray Beach where he reached the final. The 6’9” Isner is making his second showing in a quarter-final this year (Auckland in January). His last semi-final came in Beijing in October 2010 (l. to Djokovic).

In the third match, doubles partners No. 3 seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain and Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay face off for the first time. Garcia-Lopez is appearing in his third ATP World Tour quarter-final or better on the season while Cuevas is making his first quarter-final showing. Garcia-Lopez was a semi-finalist in Zagreb in February. Cuevas last reached a semi-final in Moscow in October 2010.

In the evening session, top seed/American Mardy Fish takes on the top player from Japan,No. 6 seed Kei Nishikori for the first time. Fish, who won his lone ATP World Tour clay court title in Houston in 2006, is a career-high No. 11 in this week’s South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings. If he wins the title, he will break the Top 10 for the first time next week. Fish is trying to reach his fourth ATP World Tour semi-final in the past five tournaments while Nishikori is appearing in his first career ATP World Tour quarter-final on clay.

In the final match, top seeds and three-time US Clay Court champions Bob and Mike Bryan look to extend their 14-match winning streak in Houston as they take on Cuevas and Garcia-Lopez in the semi-finals.