A Look Ahead…
Championship Sunday at the BMW Tennis Championship

Singles Final

[8] Florian Mayer (GER) vs. [2] Gilles Simon (FRA)

Stadium Court – Not Before 3:00 PM

Overall: Mayer leads, 2-0
at BMW Tennis Championship: Mayer leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: Mayer 6-3, 7-5 at 2006 BMW Tennis Championship (First Round)

Simon, the top remaining seed, entered this week’s tournament ranked No. 21 in the world. The 25-year-old is playing in his ninth career singles final and looking for his seventh career singles title. However, his only outdoor/hard court championship came in 2008 at Indianapolis. The native of France has been ranked in the world’s Top 25 since that same year, thanks in part to wins over the likes of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Simon didn’t play at the 2010 Australian Open due to a knee injury, but seems to have recovered nicely based on his performance at this week’s BMW Tennis Championship. He dispatched upstart Santiago Giraldo (COL) in less than an hour in Saturday’s semifinals. However, one of the things Simon has yet to accomplish is to beat Mayer. The latter took a straight set victory in the round of 32 at this same tournament in 2006, and also defeated Simon 7-6 (3), 6-2 in Stuttgart, Germany that same year. The 26-year-old German is currently ranked No. 53 in the world thanks to a meteoric rise from No. 409 over the last 14 months. During that span he has made six trips to a Challanger final, winning two last year. Mayer has been impressive on his road to the BMW Tennis Championship finals this week, winning a pair of straight set matches and a pair of three setters. One of those was Saturday’s semifinal win over Leonardo Mayer.

How They Got Here:

[8] Florian Mayer (GER) – d. Alejandro Falla (COL) 6-1, 6-1; d. Juan I. Chela (ARG) 6-2, 6-7 (8), 6-4; d. Stefan Koubek (AUT) 6-3, 6-3; d. Leonardo Mayer 7-6, 4-6, 6-3

[2] Gilles Simon (FRA) – d. Richard Gasquet (FRA) 6-4, 6-4; d. Potito Starace (ITA) 4-6, 6-2, 7-5; d. Jan Hajek (CZE) 6-3, retired; d. Santiago Giraldo (COL) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles Final

[1] Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) and Leander Paes (IND) vs. Martin Damm (CZE) and Filip Polasek (SVK)
Stadium Court – 1:00 p.m.

One the world’s top doubles tandems will square off against a newly-formed duo when top-seed Dlouhy-Paes meets Damm-Polasek in the finals of the 2010 BMW Tennis Championship Sunday. Dlouhy-Paes captured the 2009 French Open and 2009 U.S. Open doubles championships. Paes is also the current holder of the 2010 Australian Open Mixed Doubles Championship, successfully teaming with Cara Black. Overall, Paes has won 42 career doubles titles. Together, Dlouhy-Paes haven’t dropped a set in this week’s tournament. Meanwhile, the unseeded doubles team of Damm-Polasek seems to have found their stride after joining forces for the first time in January. They too have won all three of their matches this week in straight sets, including an impressive upset of No. 2 seed Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) and Max Mirnyi (BLR) in the first round. Damm is also a successful veteran doubles player, having won 40 career titles. He teamed with Paes until 2007, winning a pair of titles that year.

How They Got Here:

[1] Dlouhy (CZE) – Paes (IND): d. Rik De Voest (RSA) – Rogier Wassen (NED) 6-0, 6-3; d. Michael Berrer (GER) – Richard Gasquet (FRA) 6-2, 6-4; d. Bobby Reynolds (USA) – Andre Sa (BRA) 6-2, 6-4

Damm (CZE) – Polasek (SVK): d. No. 2 Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) - Max Mirnyi (BLR) 6-4, 6-3; d. Marcos Daniel (BRA) – Andreas Seppi (ITA) 6-3, 6-2; d. Arnaud Clement (FRA) – Sebastien Grosjean (FRA) 6-4, 6-4

Story by Cory Rogers, BMW Tennis Championship Media Staff
March 20, 2010