[JakeBarkings]

Courtesy of ITF Grand Slam Media:

2009 AUSTRALIAN OPEN
DAY 4 MEN’S NOTESThursday 22 JanuarySecond Round Top Half



Featured matches
No. 1 Rafael Nadal (ESP) v Roko Karanusic (CRO)
No. 4 Andy Murray (GBR) v Marcel Granollers (ESP)
No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) v Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)
No. 6 Gilles Simon (FRA) v Chris Guccione (AUS)
No. 9 James Blake (USA) v (Q) Sebastien De Chaunac (FRA)
No. 12 Gael Monfils (FRA) v Stefan Koubek (AUT)
No. 13 Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) v Guillermo Canas (ARG)
No. 14 Fernando Verdasco (ESP) v Arnaud Clement (FRA)
No. 24 Richard Gasquet (FRA) v (WC) Denis Istomin (UZB)

On court today…

• Four of the 5 Croatians in the men’s draw. Croatia has a 100% record in this tournament so far, but is guaranteed to lose one of its line-up when No. 25 Ivo Karlovic takes on countryman Mario Ancic on Court 2 today. Ivan Ljubicic, Roko Karanusic and Karlovic and Ancic are bidding to join Marin Cilic into the 3rd round.

• Five 30-somethings – Stefan Koubek, Sebastien De Chaunac, Guillermo Canas, Arnaud Clement and Tommy Haas – bid for a place in the 3rd round. Collectively they have 152 Grand Slam experiences behind them.

• Great Britain’s Andy Murray is the only player on court today who is undefeated so far this year, and has already beaten Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer ahead of the 2009 Australian Open. He plays Spaniard Marcel Granollers in the night match on Rod Laver.

• It’s a good day for French fans with 6 of their men in action today. No. 5 seed and last year’s runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga leads the French campaign for its first Aussie Open champion since 1928.

• Dudi Sela could become the first Israeli to reach the 3rd round of a Slam since 1994 should he defeat Victor Hanescu out on Court 13 today.

NO. 1 RAFAEL NADAL (ESP) v ROKO KARANUSIC (CRO)

Head-to-head: first meeting
NADALvKARANUSIC
22Age26
1ATP Ranking92
31Titles0
81-14Career Grand Slam Record4-10
15-4Australian Open Record1-3
338-78Career Record12-36
148-51Career Record - Hard7-19
3-12009 Record1-1
3-12009 Record - Hard1-1
10-3Career Five-Set Record1-2
3Comebacks from 0-2 Down0
81-57Career Tiebreak Record9-14
0-02009 Tiebreak Record0-0

• NADAL is playing his 5th Australian Open. Since reaching the round of 16 on his debut in 2004, he has improved one round further on every subsequent appearance to reach the semifinals last year (l. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 62 63 62). He missed the 2006 tournament with a left foot injury.

• Nadal defeated Christophe Rochus 60 62 62 in his first round match on Tuesday. The last time he lost in the 2nd round of a Slam was over 3 years ago at 2005 Wimbledon.

• As world No. 1, Nadal is top seed for a second Slam. He acquired the top ranking on 18 August 2008 following the Beijing Olympic Tennis Event where he won gold, and played his first Slam as the world No. 1 at the 2008 US Open.

• Nadal began the 2009 season by playing the Abu Dhabi exhibition event (losing to Andy Murray), and the following week competed at Doha where he fell in the quarterfinals to Gael Monfils 64 64. He won the Doha doubles title with Marc Lopez.

• Nadal captured 8 titles in 2008, including his first two on grass at Queen’s and Wimbledon. He became the first ever player to win the Roland Garros-Queen’s-Wimbledon triple crown, after winning his 4th straight title at Roland Garros, at Queen’s becoming the first Spaniard to win a grass court title since 1972, and ending Federer’s five-year reign at Wimbledon in the longest final in Wimbledon history.

• Although hard court is Nadal’s least successful surface overall, he improved his performance on the surface in 2008, compiling a tour-leading 46-10 hardcourt record. As well as his Olympic title, he won on hard court at AMS Toronto and reached the final at AMS Miami, as well as five other semifinals on hard court.

• Nadal led Spain to the 2008 Davis Cup final against Argentina in November, but had to withdraw from the line-up due to right knee tendinitis. He has a 10-1 career record in Davis Cup singles.

• Nadal is coached by his uncle Toni.

• KARANUSIC recorded his first Australian Open victory on Tuesday, defeating Florent Serra 63 16 63 36 63 in the opening round for his first ever five-set win. He lost in the first round here in 2004, 2005 and 2008.

• This is Karanusic’s first Australian Open as a direct entrant.

• Karanusic is bidding to advance to the 3rd round of a Slam for the first time. He has had 2nd round exits at 2006 and 2008 Wimbledon, and the 2008 US Open.

• Karanusic broke the Top 100 in July last year after reaching his first career quarterfinal at Umag. He also won two Challengers in 2008 at Belgrade and Kolding (DEN). He reached a career-high ranking of No. 89 on 5 January and plays here just short at No. 92.

• Karanusic began the 2009 season at Chennai but lost in the first round to Andreas Beck.

• This is the first time Karanusic is facing the world No. 1. He has never defeated a lefthander or a Top 10 player.

• • Karanusic is coached by Alan Maric.

NO. 4 ANDY MURRAY (GBR) v MARCEL GRANOLLERS (ESP)

Head-to-head: Murray leads 1-0
2006 Barcelona Clay (O) R64 Murray 46 64 62

MURRAYvGRANOLLERS
21Age22
4ATP Ranking51
9Titles1
27-12Career Grand Slam Record2-5
4-3Australian Open Record1-1
161-65Career Record21-26
118-40Career Record - Hard6-11
6-02009 Record4-2
6-02009 Record - Hard4-2
8-4Career Five-Set Record0-0
3Comebacks from 0-2 Down0
55-31Career Tiebreak Record8-5
0-12009 Tiebreak Record2-0

• MURRAY has advanced to the Australian Open 2nd round for the 2nd time. He defeated Andrei Pavel 62 31 ret. (back injury) in the 1st round.

• Murray had lost in the 1st round twice in his previous 3 appearances here, in 2006 (to Juan Ignacio Chela) and last year (to eventual runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga). His best result here was in 2007, when he lost to Rafael Nadal in the last 16.

• Murray became the first British player to reach a Grand Slam final since Greg Rusedski in 1997 at last year’s US Open, defeating Rafael Nadal in the semifinals before losing to Roger Federer.

• After last year’s US Open, Murray rose to world No. 4, equalling the highest-ever ranking by a British man and as a result, has his highest Grand Slam seeding here.

• Murray started the season in great style by successfully defending his title at Doha, defeating Roger Federer (for the 3rd time in a row) 67 62 62 in the semifinals and Andy Roddick 64 62 in the final. Murray also won the Abu Dhabi exhibition, defeating Federer and Nadal to win the event.

• Murray won 5 titles in 2008 (Doha, Marseille, AMS Cincinnati, AMS Madrid, St Petersburg), the most by any British player in one season. Along with Gilles Simon and Andy Roddick, he was one of 3 players to defeat the Top 3 (Nadal, Federer, Djokovic) in 2008. He ended the season by reaching the semifinals of the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.

• Murray is coached by Miles Maclagan.

• GRANOLLERS defeated Teimuraz Gabashvili 64 76 46 60 in the 1st round to advance to the 2nd round here for the first time.

• Granollers made his Australian Open debut last year, as a qualifier, losing in the 1st round to Evgeny Korolev 75 62 60.

• This is Granollers’s 6th major. This is just the 2nd time that he has advanced to the 2nd round at a Grand Slam event. He reached the 2nd round at 2008 Roland Garros, losing to Eduardo Schwank.

• Granollers began the year at Chennai and reached the semifinals (l. eventual champion Marin Cilic). He then lost to Ernests Gulbis in the 1st round at Auckland.

• Granollers improved his year-end ranking for the 6th consecutive year in 2008, rising to No. 56. He won his first title at Houston on clay in just his 8th tour-level tournament. He defeated James Blake in the final after saving two match points in his semifinal against Wayne Odesnik. He also reached 3 quarterfinals at Acapulco, Warsaw, and Amersfoort.

• Granollers’s victory over Blake in the final at 2008 Houston is his only previous meeting with a Top 10 player

• Granollers broke the Top 50 for the first time last week but slipped one spot this week to his current ranking of No. 51.

• Granollers is coached by Marcos Roy.

NO. 5 JO-WILFRIED TSONGA (FRA) v IVAN LJUBICIC (CRO)

Head-to-head: first meeting
TSONGAvLJUBICIC
23Age29
7ATP Ranking55
2Titles8
14-6Career Grand Slam Record36-36
7-2Australian Open Record9-9
51-27Career Record344-229
35-19Career Record - Hard191-117
1-02009 Record1-0
1-02009 Record - Hard1-0
0-0Career Five-Set Record9-16
0Comebacks from 0-2 Down4
25-19Career Tiebreak Record181-175
0-02009 Tiebreak Record2-0

• 2008 runner-up TSONGA defeated Juan Monaco 64 64 60 in the first round.

• Tsonga is playing his 3rd straight Australian Open. He lost in the first round on his debut here in 2007 before reaching the final last year.

• Last year, Tsonga became the 3rd unseeded Australian Open finalist in the last 5 years. He defeated 3 Top 10 players - No. 9 seed Andy Murray in the first round, No. 8 seed Richard Gasquet in the round of 16 and No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal in the semifinals - before losing to Novak Djokovic in the final. Tsonga had not previously reached a tour final.

• As well as reaching the Australian Open final last year, Tsonga won his first career titles at Bangkok and AMS Paris and ended the year with a career-high ranking of No. 6. He missed 3 months of the season after undergoing surgery at the end of May, missing Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the Olympics before returning at the US Open.

• Tsonga reached the quarterfinals at both Brisbane and Sydney before coming here. He was forced to withdraw from his quarterfinal at Sydney with a back injury.

• Tsonga is coached by Eric Winogradsky.

• LJUBICIC

• advanced to the Australian Open 2nd round for the first time in 3 years. He defeated Igor Kunitsyn 46 76 76 57 63 in the first round on Tuesday.

• At last year’s Australian Open, 17th seed Ljubicic lost to qualifier Robin Haase in the first round.

• The last time Ljubicic advanced past the first round here, in 2006, he broke through to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal (l. eventual runner-up Marcos Baghdatis). He went one better one Slam later at 2006 Roland Garros when he reached his only Grand Slam semifinal to date (l. Rafael Nadal).

• This is Ljubicic’s first official tournament of 2009. He did take part in the Kooyong exhibition event last week but lost all 3 of his matches.

• Ljubicic ended 2008 with his lowest year-end ranking for 6 years (at No. 45). He finished runner-up at Zagreb and reached 2 other semifinals, but struggled with back problems during the second half of 2008 and missed 2 months, including the US Open. This is the first time since the 2004 Australian Open that Ljubicic has not been seeded at a Grand Slam.

• Ljubicic was President of the Player Council for two years (2006-2008) and recently served as European player representative on the ATP Board. He and his wife Aida had their first child, Leonardo, in November.

• Ljubicic has been coached by Ricardo Piatti for over 11 years.

NO. 6 GILLES SIMON (FRA) v CHRIS GUCCIONE (AUS)

Head-to-head: first meeting
SIMONvGUCCIONE
24Age23
8ATP Ranking132
5Titles0
13-13Career Grand Slam Record5-12
5-3Australian Open Record2-5
119-86Career Record36-50
58-44Career Record - Hard27-30
3-22009 Record2-1
3-22009 Record - Hard2-1
3-2Career Five-Set Record3-2
0Comebacks from 0-2 Down0
34-32Career Tiebreak Record40-38
2-02009 Tiebreak Record0-1

• SIMON reached the 2nd round at the Australian Open for the 3rd time in 4 appearances by defeating Pablo Andujar 64 61 61 in the 1st round.

• Simon is attempting to match his best performance here and reach the 3rd round for the 3rd time, having done so in 2006 (l. Thomas Johansson) and 2008 (l. Rafael Nadal).

• Simon also reached the 3rd round at last year’s Wimbledon and US Open but has never gone beyond that stage of a major.

• Simon began 2009 at the Hopman Cup, winning 2 of his 3 singles matches. He then lost in the 2nd round (after a 1st-round bye) at Sydney to Richard Gasquet.

• Simon had a breakthrough year in 2008, winning 3 titles (Casablanca, Indianapolis and Bucharest) and finishing runner-up at AMS Madrid. He ended the year ranked No. 7, and reached the semifinals on his Tennis Masters Cup debut. As a result, he has his highest seeding at a Grand Slam.

• Simon was 1 of 3 players, along with Andy Murray and Andy Roddick, to defeat the Top 3 players (Nadal, Federer and Djokovic) in 2008.

• Simon is coached by Thierry Tulasne.

• GUCCIONE broke a four-year first round losing streak here when defeating Nicolas Devilder 64 62 64 in the 1st round.

• Guccione is bidding to reach the 3rd round at a Grand Slam for the 1st time. He reached the Australian Open 2nd round on his debut in 2004 and also reached this stage at 2005 Roland Garros, 2007 Wimbledon and the 2008 US Open.

• Guccione was one of 3 Australians to reach the 2nd round, along with wildcards Brydan Klein and Bernard Tomic, who were both in action on Wednesday. The last time that no Australian man reached the 3rd round here was 2002.

• Ahead of the 2009 Australian Open, Guccione competed at Sydney, where he finished runner-up in 2008, and reached the 2nd round (l. Jarkko Nieminen 76 63). He failed to qualify at Brisbane.

• Guccione finished 2008 inside the Top 100 for the first time at No. 81. His best performance of the year was reaching his second career final at Sydney (l. Dmitry Tursunov).

• Guccione has a 2-7 win-loss record against top 10 players, both of his victories in such matches coming at Sydney. He defeated No. 3 Juan Carlos Ferrero in the 1st round there in 2004 and No. 2 Rafael Nadal (by retirement) in the 1st round in 2007.

• Guccione is currently without a coach.

NO. 9 JAMES BLAKE (USA) v (Q) SEBASTIEN DE CHAUNAC (FRA)

Head-to-head: first meeting
BLAKEvDE CHAUNAC
29Age31
10ATP Ranking253
10Titles0
49-27Career Grand Slam Record2-3
18-7Australian Open Record1-1
304-181Career Record6-17
231-111Career Record - Hard5-13
3-12009 Record1-0
3-12009 Record - Hard1-0
4-11Career Five-Set Record2-0
1Comebacks from 0-2 Down1
108-97Career Tiebreak Record4-8
1-22009 Tiebreak Record0-0

• BLAKE defeated lucky loser Frank Dancevic 64 63 75 in the 1st round to maintain his record of never losing in the 1st round here.

• Blake has fallen in the 2nd round here twice in 7 previous appearances, the last time being in 2005. Since then Blake has gone a round further every year, posting his best Australian Open result last year when he lost in the quarterfinals to Roger Federer.

• In reaching the quarterfinals here last year, Blake also equalled his best Grand Slam performance, having previously reached that stage twice at the US Open in 2005-06.

• Blake has won 7 of his 8 previous matches against qualifiers in Grand Slams, his only defeat being at 2005 Roland Garros where he lost to qualifier Stanislas Wawrinka in the 2nd round.

• Blake played for USA with Meghann Shaughessy at the 2009 Hopman Cup, winning 2 of his 3 matches.

• Blake had a very consistent 2008 – he reached the quarterfinals or better 13 times in his 21 tournaments, with his best result a runner-up finish at both Delray Beach and Houston.

• Blake has been coached by Brian Barker since he was 12.

• Qualifier DE CHAUNAC advanced to the 2nd round of the Australian Open for the 1st time by defeating Steve Darcis 26 63 06 62 62.

• In qualifying

• De Chaunac defeated Gary Lugassy (FRA), Alex Bogdanovic (GBR), and No. 9 seed Santiago Ventura (ESP).

• This is De Chaunac’s 4th Grand Slam event. His best performance was reaching the 2nd round at 2002 Roland Garros where as a wildcard he defeated Michael Chang before losing to Sjeng Schalken. He also played here in 2004 and at the 2001 US Open, both as a qualifier.

• De Chaunac failed to qualify here in 2000, 2002-03 and 2005-07. Overall, De Chaunac has made 25 attempts to qualify for Grand Slams, including here, and this was just his 3rd success.

• This is only De Chaunac’s 18th tour-level tournament since making his debut at the 2001 US Open. He has never won back-to-back matches although he did advance through the first two rounds at 2005 Marseille by virtue of a 2nd round walkover.

• Before playing qualifying here, De Chaunac played the New Caledonia Challenger as a wildcard, losing to Stefan Koubek in the 2nd round.

• De Chaunac played just two tour-level event in 2008, losing in the 1st round at both Doha and Zagreb as a qualifier. He reached 1 semifinal and 2 quarterfinals on the challenger circuit.

• De Chaunac is coached by Pier Gauthier.

NO. 12 GAEL MONFILS (FRA) v STEFAN KOUBEK (AUT)

Head-to-head: Koubek 1-0
2005 New Haven Hard (O) R32 Koubek 46 75 75
MONFILSvKOUBEK
22Age32
13ATP Ranking183
1Titles3
22-13Career Grand Slam Record28-33
4-3Australian Open Record10-8
103-82Career Record206-235
50-43Career Record - Hard90-115
4-12009 Record1-0
4-12009 Record - Hard1-0
5-1Career Five-Set Record10-8
0Comebacks from 0-2 Down3
45-34Career Tiebreak Record88-62
1-12009 Tiebreak Record0-0

• MONFILS made a winning return to Melbourne Park after missing last year’s event with a left wrist and knee tendon injury. He defeated Martin Vassallo Arguello 61 63 75 in the first round on Tuesday.

• Monfils is bidding to match his best performance here and reach the 3rd round, having done so on his last appearance in 2007.

• Monfils’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the semifinals at last year’s Roland Garros. He upset No. 5 seed David Ferrer in the quarterfinals before falling to Roger Federer.

• Monfils began working with Lleyton Hewitt’s former coach Roger Rasheed in July of last year, and has since risen to a career-high ranking of No. 13 this month. He broke the Top 20 for the first time after reaching the final of Vienna in October, his 6th career final, and in 2008 won a personal best 30 matches. He was plagued by wrist, knee and shoulder injuries in 2008, his shoulder causing him to miss Wimbledon.

• Monfils reached the semifinals at Doha two weeks ago, defeating Rafael Nadal 64 64 in the quarterfinals before falling to Andy Roddick 76 36 63.

• Monfils is one of 7 former Australian Open boys’ champions to start in the men’s draw. He won the title in 2004, and the same year, picked up the Roland Garros and Wimbledon boys’ titles.

• Lefthander KOUBEK defeated Mikhail Youzhny 63 62 62 in the first round.

• This is Koubek’s first Grand Slam since he reached the 3rd round at last year’s Australian Open. He missed 2008 Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open due to a disc problem in his lower back which required surgery.

• Koubek reached the quarterfinals here in 2002, which is his best Grand Slam performance to date.

• Koubek dropped to his lowest ever year-end ranking last year, No. 201, due to his back injury. He won just four matches at tour-level and reached the final of the East London Challenger (RSA) in January-February of last year, before his injury put him out of action for 6 months.

• Koubek played one event ahead of the 2009 Australian Open, reaching the quarterfinals of the New Caledonia Challenger.

• Koubek is coached by Thomas Strengberger.

NO. 13 FERNANDO GONZALEZ (CHI) v GUILLERMO CANAS (ARG)

Head-to-head: Canas leads 2-0
2002 AMS Hamburg Clay (O) R32 Canas 26 76(0) 60
2008 AMS Miami Hard (O) R32 Canas 76(6) 75
GONZALEZvCANAS
28Age31
14ATP Ranking77
10Titles7
55-31Career Grand Slam Record40-29
15-8Australian Open Record11-7
311-168Career Record248-182
139-86Career Record - Hard98-73
1-02009 Record1-0
1-02009 Record - Hard1-0
13-12Career Five-Set Record12-11
4Comebacks from 0-2 Down1
135-87Career Tiebreak Record82-76
0-02009 Tiebreak Record0-0

• 2007 runner-up GONZALEZ defeated Lleyton Hewitt 57 62 62 36 63 in the first round. He is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the 3rd straight year.

• In 2007, Gonzalez reached his only Grand Slam final to date here, losing to Roger Federer 76 64 64. Last year he fell in the 3rd round.

• Gonzalez has made quarterfinal appearances at all 4 Slams and is one of 8 current players to have achieved this feat.

• This is Gonzalez’s first tournament of the year, although he did play the exhibition event at Kooyong last week, winning 1 of his 3 matches.

• Gonzalez won two titles in 2008 at Vina del Mar and Munich. He also won the silver medal at the Olympic Tennis Event in Beijing, and having won the bronze medal in Athens in 2004, became the first man to medal in singles at two different Olympic Games since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988.

• Gonzalez split from coach Larry Stefanki at the end of 2008 and is now working with Martin Rodriguez.

• CANAS

• is back at Melbourne Park for the first time in 4 years. He made a winning return by defeating qualifier Dieter Kindlmann 36 75 57 60 75 in the first round in his first tournament of the 2009 season.

• Canas’s defeat of Kindlmann was his first Grand Slam win since the 2007 US Open, and also his first five-set match since 2005 Roland Garros.

• Canas is attempting to win back-to-back matches for the first time since July 2008, when he reached the quarterfinals at Umag.

• Canas produced his best Australian Open results in his last two appearances here, reaching the round of 16 in 2004 and 2005. He missed the 2006 event due to a doping suspension, was not ranked high enough in 2007, and was absent in 2008 with left wrist tendonitis.

• Canas is a three-time quarterfinalist at Roland Garros (2002, 2005, 2007), his best Grand Slam performance to date.

• Canas’s best results in 2008 were two semifinal finishes at Las Vegas and ‘s-Hertogenbosch, and 3 other quarterfinals. He finished the year at No. 78.

• Canas is coached by Gaston Etlis.

NO. 14 FERNANDO VERDASCO (ESP) v ARNAUD CLEMENT (FRA)

Head-to-head: Clement leads 1-0
2006 Marseille Hard (I) R16 Clement 76(5) 63
VERDASCOvCLEMENT
25Age31
15ATP Ranking89
2Titles4
35-22Career Grand Slam Record55-44
5-5Australian Open Record13-10
192-149Career Record282-275
81-74Career Record - Hard157-141
5-12009 Record2-1
5-12009 Record - Hard2-1
7-5Career Five-Set Record10-15
2Comebacks from 0-2 Down3
71-72Career Tiebreak Record122-104
0-02009 Tiebreak Record0-0

• VERDASCO is today aiming for his first ever appearance in the Australian Open 3rd round, having finished in the 2nd round for the past 4 years.

• Verdasco defeated wildcard Adrian Mannarino 60 62 62 in his first round match on Tuesday.

• Verdasco has reached the round of 16 at the other 3 majors, but has yet to appear in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam.

• Verdasco reached his 7th career final at Brisbane two weeks ago, falling to Radek Stepanek 36 63 64.

• Verdasco achieved his highest year-end ranking in 2008 (No. 16) and won a career-high 47 matches during the season. He won his 2nd career title at Umag in July, finished runner-up on grass at Nottingham, and reached three other semifinals. He obtained a career-high ranking of No. 11 on 21 July.

• Verdasco gained notoriety at the 2008 Davis Cup final between Spain and Argentina in Mar del Plata, when he won the fourth rubber against Jose Acasuso from 2-1 down and Spain its third Davis Cup title.

• Verdasco is currently without a coach.

• 31-year-old CLEMENT is bidding to advance to the 3rd round here for the first time since reaching the final in 2001.

• Clement defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky 63 26 46 62 61 in his first round match on Tuesday.

• Clement finished runner-up to Andre Agassi at the 2001 Australian Open, having come back from two-sets down and saved match points against Sebastien Grosjean in the semifinals.

• In 44 previous Grand Slam appearances, Clement has only advanced beyond the round of 16 at a Slam 3 times – here, and in reaching the quarterfinals at the 2000 US Open and 2008 Wimbledon.

• Clement’s Wimbledon quarterfinal last year was his best result of the 2008 season. He also reached the quarterfinals at ‘s-Hertogenbosch. He had better success in doubles, finishing runner-up here and winning the title at Metz both with Michael Llodra.

• Clement played as a wildcard at Doha two weeks ago, losing to Andy Roddick in the 2nd round.

• Clement is coached by his brother Bruno.

NO. 24 RICHARD GASQUET (FRA) v (WC) DENIS ISTOMIN (UZB)

Head-to-head: first meeting

GASQUETvISTOMIN
22Age22
25ATP Ranking105
5Titles0
29-19Career Grand Slam Record2-2
7-5Australian Open Record2-2
163-106Career Record13-7
75-51Career Record - Hard6-5
1-02009 Record1-0
1-02009 Record - Hard1-0
4-8Career Five-Set Record1-0
1Comebacks from 0-2 Down1
54-58Career Tiebreak Record8-3
1-12009 Tiebreak Record0-0

• GASQUET advanced to the Australian Open 2nd round for the 3rd straight year by defeating Diego Junquiera 67 76 63 64 in the 1st round.

• Gasquet’s best results at Melbourne Park have occurred in the last two years when he reached the round of 16. He lost to Tommy Robredo at that stage in 2007, and last year to compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Gasquet lost in the opening round on his first 3 appearances here.

• Gasquet broke through to his only Grand Slam semifinal at 2007 Wimbledon, when he came back from two sets down to defeat Andy Roddick in the quarters before falling to Roger Federer. His least successful major is his home Slam, Roland Garros.

• Gasquet has received his lowest Grand Slam seeding since the 2006 US Open.

• Gasquet reached the semifinals at both Brisbane and Sydney before arriving at Melbourne. He fell to the eventual champions at both tournaments – Radek Stepanek at Brisbane and David Nalbandian at Sydney.

• Gasquet failed to win a title in 2008 for the first time since 2004, his best result being a runner-up finish to Juan Martin del Potro at Stuttgart and he finished with his lowest year-end ranking for 4 years (No. 24). An injury to his left knee forced him to pull out of Roland Garros, the first time he had missed a Slam since missing the 2005 Australian Open with chicken pox.

• Gasquet is coached by Guillaume Peyre.

• Wildcard ISTOMIN won through to the 2nd round of the Australian Open for the 2nd year in a row, after defeating Vince Spadea 62 75 64 in the 1st round.

• This is the only Grand Slam that Istomin has contested. Last year, also as a wildcard, he lost to Lleyton Hewitt at this stage. In 2006 as a wildcard, he lost to Roger Federer in the 1st round.

• Istomin was 1 of 3 wildcards to win through to the 2nd round, along with Brydan Klein and Bernard Tomic, who played their 2nd round matches on Wednesday.

• Apart from his 3 appearances as a wildcard here, Istomin attempted to qualify at 2006 and 2008 Roland Garros as well as the 2007 Australian Open.

• Istomin started 2009 at Chennai, losing in the 2nd round to Marin Cilic 60 64. Excluding Davis Cup, this is Istomin’s 6th tour-level event. He is bidding to win back-to-back matches at this level for the 1st time.

• Istomin improved his ranking from No. 224 to No. 107 last year, as a result of good play on the Challenger circuit. He won 2 titles in his native Uzbekistan, reached 2 finals, 2 semifinals and 8 quarterfinals.

• Istomin received a wildcard for the Australian Open as he was the highest-ranked Asian player not ranked highly enough for direct acceptance.

• Istomin suffered serious injury in a car accident, breaking a leg, whilst travelling to a Futures event in Uzbekistan in 2001. He spent three months in hospital and did not touch a racket for two years.

• Following his accident, Istomin received assistance from the ITF, in the form of a travel grant from the Grand Slam Development Fund Committee to play five Futures events in Thailand and China in 2004. He had previously featured on the ITF Development Central Asian team that travelled to the South Asian Championships in 1998.

• Istomin is coached by Petr Lebed, Uzbek Davis Cup captain.