Rome Sunday Preview

World No. 3 and four-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal meets No. 13 seed David Ferrer in the first all-Spanish final in tournament history (since 1930).

Nadal is 10-3 lifetime against his countryman (7-1 on clay), winning the past six meetings. This will be the eighth time in the past 10 years (except 2002, ’08) a Spaniard will capture the Rome title.

Nadal, who has lost his serve only once en route to his fifth Rome final, is trying to earn his 17th career ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title and tie leader Andre Agassi. The American won his final ATP Masters 1000 title in 2004 at the age of 34.

The 23-year-old Nadal is 16-6 in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals. This is also Nadal’s 50th career ATP World Tour level final (37-12) and he is 26-2 in clay court finals.

Watch Final Live Online from 2pm GMT / 10am ET

The 28-year-old Ferrer, who has not dropped a set en route to his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title match of his career, is appearing in his 17th ATP World Tour final (8-8).

Watch Finals Promo

WHAT’S AT STAKE
Winner: €434,000 and 1000 South African Airways 1000 ATP Ranking points
Runner-up: €203,000 and 600 South African Airways 1000 ATP Ranking points

FINALS HISTORY
Nadal
* Appearing in his 50th ATP World Tour level final. He is 37-12 in finals
* Appearing in his 23rd ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final. He is 16-6 in finals
Ferrer
* Appearing in his 17th ATP World Tour final. He is 8-8 in finals
* Appearing in his 1st ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final

All-Spanish ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Finals – This is the sixth all-Spanish final in an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament (since 1990), including the second in a row:

2010 Rome: Rafael Nadal vs. David Ferrer
2010 Monte-Carlo: Rafael Nadal d. Fernando Verdasco
2002 Monte-Carlo: Juan Carlos Ferrero d. Carlos Moya
2001 Hamburg: Albert Portas d. Juan Carlos Ferrero
1998 Hamburg: Albert Costa d. Alex Corretja
1996 Hamburg: Roberto Carretero d. Alex Corretja

ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Title Leaders (since 1990) – Nadal is 16-6 lifetime in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals and he’s looking to move into first place with Andre Agassi:

1) Andre Agassi 17
2) Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer 16
4) Pete Sampras 11
5) Thomas Muster 8

Ferrer Looks For 2nd Clay Win – Ferrer is one of 13 players to defeat Nadal on clay during the Mallorcan’s outstanding career. Ferrer, who defeated Nadal in their first meeting in the quarter-finals of Stuttgart in July 2004, is trying to become only the third player to beat Nadal at least twice on clay. Argentine Gaston Gaudio has three wins (in 2003-04-05) while rival Roger Federer has two (in 2007 and ’09). Nadal’s career record on clay is a sparkling 190-16 (.922) with a 26-2 mark in clay court finals.
 
Open Era Clay Court Title Leaders – At age 23, Nadal is already among the all-time clay court title leaders and he’s already more than halfway to the most clay titles in the Open Era:

1) Guillermo Vilas 45
2) Thomas Muster 40
3) Bjorn Borg, Manuel Orantes 30
5) Ivan Lendl, Ilie Nastase 28
7) Rafael Nadal 26
8) Jose-Luis Clerc 21
9) Mats Wilander 20
10) Andres Gomez, Carlos Moya 16

2010 ATP World Tour Match Wins Leaders – Ferrer leads the ATP World Tour in match wins this season while Nadal is fourth. Both players are trying to capture their second ATP World Tour of the year:

1) David Ferrer 29-8 W-L / 1 title
2) Andy Roddick 26-4 / 2
3) Fernando Verdasco 26-7 / 2
4) Rafael Nadal 25-4 / 1
 
SUNDAY CHAMPIONSHIP HEAD-TO-HEADS

(3) Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. (13) David Ferrer (ESP) Nadal Leads 10-3
04 Stuttgart (Germany) Clay QF David Ferrer 6-3 6-7(3) 7-5
05 ATP Masters Series Miami (U.S.A.) Hard SF Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-3
05 ATP Masters Series Rome (Italy) Clay SF Rafael Nadal 4-6 6-4 7-5
05 Roland Garros (France) Clay QF Rafael Nadal 7-5 6-2 6-0
07 Barcelona (Spain) Clay SF Rafael Nadal 7-5 6-1
07 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R16 David Ferrer 6-7(3) 6-4 7-6(4) 6-2
07 Tennis Masters Cup (China) Hard RR David Ferrer 4-6 6-4 6-3
08 ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo Clay QF Rafael Nadal 6-1 7-5
08 Barcelona (Spain) Clay F Rafael Nadal 6-1 4-6 6-1
09 Barcelona (Spain) Clay F Rafael Nadal 6-2 7-5
09 ATP Masters 1000 Montreal Hard R32 Rafael Nadal 4-3 ret
10 ATP Masters 1000 Miami (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Rafael Nadal 7-6(5) 6-4
10 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo Clay SF Rafael Nadal 6-2 6-3

Ferrer: vs Nadal
Sets Won: 9
Tiebreak Sets Won: 1
Match Wins By Surface:
Clay: 1
Hard: 2

Nadal: vs Ferrer
Sets Won: 23
Tiebreak Sets Won: 3
Match Wins By Surface:
Clay: 7
Hard: 3

Nadal
Age (Birthdate): 23 (June 3, 1986)
Residence: Mallorca, Spain
ATP Ranking (Career-High): No. 3 (No. 1 – August 18, 2008)
2010 W-L Record (on Clay): 25-4 (9-0)
2010 Finals W-L: 1-1
Career Finals W-L: 37-12 (26-2)
Last ATP Final/Last ATP Title: ’10 Monte-Carlo/’10 Monte-Carlo
2010 Tie-Break W-L: 3-4
Rome W-L (Best Result): 26-1 (Winner – 2005-07, ’09)
Coach: Uncle Toni Nadal

Ferrer
Age (Birthdate): 28 (April 2, 1982)
Residence: Valencia, Spain
ATP Ranking (Career-High): No. 17 (No. 4 – Feb. 25, 2008)
2010 W-L Record (on Clay): 29-8 (23-3)
2010 Finals W-L: 1-1
Career Finals W-L: 8-8 (5-6)
Last ATP Final/Last ATP Title: ’10 Acapulco/’10 Acapulco
2010 Tie-Break W-L: 6-3
Rome W-L (Best Result): 12-7 (Final – 2010)
Coach: Javier Piles

NADAL FASTFACTS
Tournament Highlights:
* The four-time champion (2005-07, ‘09) brings a 26-1 career mark into his fifth final…He opened on Wednesday with a 61 63 win over top German Philipp Kohlschreiber and followed with a 63 62 victory over Romanian Victor Hanescu…On Friday, he ousted Swiss No. 2 Stanislas Wawrinka 64 61 and Saturday outlasted Ernests Gulbis 64 36 64 in 2:47 …He lost serve for the first time all week in the second game of the second set…He converted two of 12 break points and saved six of seven on his serve…Leads the tourney in service games won (39 of 40, 98%) and break pts. saved (14 of 15, 93%)
* Last year he defeated No. 3 Novak Djokovic in the final to improve to 7-0 against Top 10 opponents… He became the first player to win four titles in tournament history…Thomas Muster (1990, ’95-96), Martin Mulligan (1963, ’65, ’67) and Jaroslav Drobny (1950-52) are the only three-time winners
* His only loss here came in the opening round (after a bye) two years ago to Juan Carlos Ferrero 75 61
* In 2007, he defeated Fernando Gonzalez 62 62 in the title match and in 2006, prevailed in a fifth set tie-break over No. 1 Federer (saved two match points in 5:05 marathon)…In 2005, defeated Argentine Guillermo Coria in a fifth set tie-break (in five hours, 14 minutes) for his first title

2010 Highlights:
W: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (d Verdasco); F: Doha (l Davydenko); SF: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Ljubicic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Roddick); QF: Australian Open (l Murray)

2010 in Review:
* The World No. 3 has a 25-4 match record (9-0 on clay, 16-4 on hard courts) and he’s appearing in his third final in six tournaments this season…In his nine clay court matches this year, has lost one set and held serve 72 of 76 games (held 33 of 36 in M.C.)
* He is trying to tie Andre Agassi’s record of 17 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles…He is 16-6 in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals and this is the Mallorcan’s 50th overall tour level final (37-12)…He is 26-2 lifetime in clay court finals with both losses to rival Federer (’07 Hamburg, ’09 Madrid)
* In his last tournament (on Apr. 18) he captured an Open Era record sixth straight title at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo where he dropped 14 games in five matches…He beat countryman Verdasco 60 61 in the final…It was his first ATP World Tour title since Rome in May 2009
* In January he opened the campaign with a runner-up in Doha (l. to Davydenko, held two match points) and followed with a quarter-final at the Australian Open where he retired with a right knee injury (vs. Murray) on Jan. 26…Did not return until Indian Wells in March
* Since returning, he reached back-to-back semi-finals at the first two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells (l. to Ljubicic in third set TB) and Miami (l. to Roddick in three sets), falling to eventual champions in both

ATP World Tour Masters 1000 History:
* The Spaniard has a 174-35 career match record and a 16-6 mark in finals, winning at least two titles in each of the past five years (2005-09)…Won a personal-best four in 2005 and three each in 2007-08-09
* He’s trying to capture his 17th career title and tie Andre Agassi, who won his 17th title at age 34 in 2004
* He’s won at least 20 matches in four different ATP Masters 1000 tournaments – Monte-Carlo (34-1), Indian Wells (26-4), Rome (26-1) and Miami (21-7)
* Has reached the final in eight of the current nine Masters 1000 finals (except Cincinnati)…He also won the former Masters 1000 tournament in Hamburg in 2008 and was runner-up in ‘07

Miscellaneous:
* In 2008, he became the first left-hander to finish No. 1 since John McEnroe in 1984, in addition to becoming first Spaniard as year-end No. 1 in history of ATP Rankings (since 1973)…Spent 46 weeks at No. 1 before Federer regained the top ranking on July 6, ’09 (after capturing Wimbledon title)
* Since 2005 has an outstanding 163-6 match record on clay (190-16 overall in his career, .922)
* His 31-match winning streak came to an end last year in Paris as Robin Soderling won 4th Rd. battle

FERRER FASTFACTS
Tournament Highlights:
* The 28-year-old Spaniard is appearing in the final for the first time in eight appearances (12-7 career record)…His previous best was the semi-finals in 2005 when he lost to Nadal 7-5 in the third set
* This week he broke a four-match opening round losing streak in Rome with a 64 61 victory over Evgeny Korolev on Tuesday night and followed with a 75 62 win over wild card Potito Starace, No. 4 seed Andy Murray 63 64 triumph, 76(4) 36 64 verdict over World No. 2 and ’08 champion Novak Djokovic (in 3:18, longest match of week) and 75 63 over countryman/No. 6 seed Fernando Verdasco.
* He leads the tournament this week in return games won (44%, 20 of 45) and No. 6 in break points converted (65%, 20 of 31)
* In 2005, he reached the semi-finals with wins over No. 18 Thomas Johansson, No. 5 Gaston Gaudio and countryman Alberto Martin before losing to then-No. 7 Nadal 7-5 in third set
* He made his debut in 2003 and defeated No. 1 Andre Agassi in the first round before losing in the next round to Ivan Ljubicic...The following year, posted win over No. 10 Sebastien Grosjean in second round and lost to No. 17 Jiri Novak in third round

2010 Highlights:
W: Acapulco (d Ferrero); F: Buenos Aires (l Ferrero); SF: Johannesburg (l Robert); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Nadal); Barcelona (l Verdasco)

2010 in Review:
* The Valencia resident leads the ATP World Tour with a 29-8 record this season (most wins) and he’s the leader with a 23-3 clay court mark…He’s appearing in his third ATP World Tour final of the year and his first career ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final…He is 8-8 lifetime in ATP finals (5-6 on clay)
* The past two weeks he advanced to the semi-finals at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo (l. to Nadal) and Barcelona last week (l. to Verdasco)
* His best results came in back-to-back weeks in February during Latin American clay court swing, reaching final in Buenos Aires (l. to Ferrero) and winning his eighth ATP World Tour title in Acapulco (d. Ferrero)
* Also reached SF in Johannesburg (l. to Robert); fell early at three other events of year, reaching 2nd Rd. at Australian Open (l. to Baghdatis in five sets) and dropping opening matches at Auckland (after bye, l. to Clement in 2nd Rd.) and Indian Wells (after bye, l. to Blake in 2nd Rd.)
* He recorded his 300th ATP World Tour-level match win in Buenos Aires QF (vs. Andreev)
* In first round Davis Cup tie vs. Switzerland (d. Chiudinelli and Wawrinka)

ATP World Tour Masters 1000 History:
* Has an 85-61 career match record and this is the Spaniard’s first final…He previously reached four semi-finals – 2010 Monte-Carlo, 2005-06 Miami and ’05 Rome

Miscellaneous:
* In 2009, finished Top 20 for fifth straight year at No. 17, reaching SF or better five times during season, including reaching finals at Dubai and Barcelona, falling to Djokovic and Nadal, respectively
* He reached a career-high No. 4 on February 25, 2008 and spent 65 non-consecutive weeks in Top 10 (between January 30, 2006 and November 2, 2008), peaking at No. 4 for eight weeks…Finished a year-end best No. 5 in 2007 and compiled a career-best 61-23 match record, culminating with runner-up at Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai (l. to Federer)…Also reached a Grand Slam-best SF at US Open that year (d. No. 2 Nadal in 4th Rd., l. to Djokovic)
* Has a 24-43 career mark vs. Top 10 opponents (1-5 in finals) and trying to beat a fourth straight Top 10 player for the second time in his career…In 2007 at the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai he beat four straight Top 10s en route to the final (l. to No. 1 Federer)…He broke a nine-match losing streak (vs. Top 10) with his win over No. 5 Murray and followed with wins over No. 10 Tsonga and No. 9 Verdasco

DOUBLES FINAL PREVIEW – BRYANS TAKE ON COUNTRYMEN ISNER-QUERREY IN TITLE MATCH
* No. 2 seeds and Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan take on unseeded John Isner and Sam Querrey in the first all-American final in Rome in the Open Era. The Bryans are appearing in the Rome final for the fourth straight year and fifth time in six years (except ’06). They won their lone Rome title in 2008.
* This is the first all-American final in an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament since Miami in 1992 when Ken Flach and Todd Witsken defeated Kent Kinnear and Sven Salumaa.
* The Bryans are attempting to capture their fourth title of the season in as many finals after repeating at the Australian Open in January, Delray Beach in February and Houston last month. They are 13-12 in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals and they are trying to capture their first ATP Masters 1000 title since Cincinnati in August 2008. They were 0-3 in ATP Masters 1000 finals last season.
* They are second all-time in the Open Era with 59 doubles titles together, two behind this summer’s Hall of Fame inductees Woodbridge-Woodforde. Mike Bryan is appearing in his 101st career tour level final (61-39) and Bob Bryan his 98th (59-38).
* Isner and Querrey are appearing in their second ATP World Tour final together. They won the title in Memphis in February (d. Hutchins-Kerr). Both players are trying to capture their third career ATP World Tour title. Isner won his first title in Newport in 2008 (w/Fish) while Querrey earned his first ATP World Tour title in San Jose in February (w/Fish).
* They have an 18-11 career match record together (4-7 in 2008-09, 14-4 this season).