Western & Southern Open Champions to Be Crowned on Sunday
Sunday, August 19, 2012 at 7:45AM The U.S. Open is less than two weeks away and one of the biggest titles of the year will be won today in Cincinnati for both men and women.
Here are some fun facts:
WOMEN'S FINAL NOTES
- Fifth seed Angelique Kerber will play ninth seed Li Na in the women's final.
- Kerber is the first left handed player to contest the final in Cincinnati since Patty Schnyder won the title in 2005.
- Kerber is looking for her third title of 2012, while Li, a finalist last week in Montreal, is looking for her first title of the season.
- Li holds a 4-1 edge in their head-to-head meetings.
- The women's final will air live on ESPN2.
MEN'S FINAL NOTES
- World No. 1 and top seed Roger Federer will play second seed and World No. 2 Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final.
- Sunday's final will be the first time since the ATP World Tour Rankings began in 1973 that the top two ranked players in the world will meet at the Western & Southern Open.
- It will be the 78th time in ATP history the top two players in the World have played each other. Federer and Djokovic have played just once as the top two players, when Djokovic was No. 1 earlier this year in Rome when he defeated Federer in the semifinals.
- It will be the eighth final featuring the top two seeds in the Open Era at the tournament. The first such meeting since 1999 ([1] Pete Sampras defeat [2] Pat Rafter) and the 26th time since 1927 at the tournament.
- Federer owns a 15-12 edge in the all-time head-to-head against Djokovic, and won their last meeting which came in the Wimbledon semifinals. Federer also won their only previous meeting in Cincinnati, which came in the 2009 final.
- Federer is looking to win a record fifth Cincinnati title. His four titles is tied with George Lott, Bobby Riggs and Mats Wilander for the all-time record. His fifth final is tied for third all-time (William Talbert owns the record with seven).
- Djokovic is through to his fourth Cincinnati final, but is seeking his first title here.
- This marks the 16th consecutive ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Tournament that has been won by one of four players: Federer, Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Andy Murray.
- By winning his semifinal, Federer will maintain his No. 1 ranking going into the US Open. Monday will begin his record 292nd week in the top spot.
- The 31-year-old Federer is bidding to be the fourth oldest Cincinnati champion in the Open Era and the first over-30 winning since Andre Agassi won the 2004 title at the age of 34.
- Djokovic, who won the title last week in Toronto, carries a nine-match winning streak into Sunday's final.
- All-time at the Western & Southern Open, No. 1 seeds are 36-16 in finals, while No. 2 seeds are 10-20.
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