Andy Roddick vs. Taylor Dent - First Meeting

Roddick Quick Facts
Tournament Highlights: Excellent 10-1 career record in Memphis, including title in 2002 (d. J. Blake)... Made Memphis debut in 2001, defeating Anthony Dupuis before falling in next round to Tommy Haas... This week has defeated Cecil Mamiit, Hyung-Taik Lee (saved 3 match points), Robby Ginepri to reach SF, and Vahaly to reach F.

2003 in Review: Opened year with 2nd RD loss to H. Lee in Sydney...Followed up with career-best Grand Slam showing by reaching SF at Australian Open, coming back from two-sets-to-love down vs. Youzhny in 4th RD and winning record-breaking 5-hour battle vs. El Aynaoui in QF, 21-19 in fifth set, before falling to Schuettler in SF... Wrist injury suffered during El Aynaoui match forced him to pull out of U.S. Davis Cup tie vs. Croatia, which U.S. lost, 4-1.

Miscellaneous: Finished 2002 at No. 10 in the world, at age 20 the youngest American to finish in Top 10 since Michael Chang in 1992... Has won five career titles, all on U.S. soil (2001 Atlanta, Houston, Washington D.C.; 2002 Memphis, Houston)... Finished No. 2 in service games won in 2002 (88%) and No. 3 in aces (658) and first serve points won (79%), while surpassing $1 million in yearly earnings for first time... Coached by Tarik Benhabiles... Reached career-high No. 5 ATP Entry Ranking earlier this month, currently stands sixth, as well as No. 4 in the ATP Champions Race 2003.

Dent Quick Facts
Tournament Highlights: Career 5-1 record in Memphis... Made tournament debut last year, defeating Robby Ginepri in 1st RD before falling to eventual runner-up James Blake... This week, has posted wins over Mark Philippoussis, No. 5 Jan-Michael Gambill, Vladimir Voltchkov, and Vince Spadea, winning all four tie-breaks played along the way, including 17-15 marathon in first-set vs. Philippoussis.

2003 in Review: Had lost all three matches played in 2003 prior to this week, including 1st RD at Waikoloa Challenger (to R. Kendrick), Davis Cup dead-rubber (to M. Ancic) and San Jose 1st RD (to H. Lee)

Miscellaneous: The 21-year-old resident of Huntington Beach, CA, is the son of former Aussie great Phil Dent, who reached Australian Open final in 1974 (l. to Connors)... Won his first career title last year at Newport (d. Ancic, Morrison, Popp, Ginerpri, J. Blake in final) and finished 20-17 in 2002 at No. 56 in Champions Race 2002... Also reached 3rd RD at Australian Open and Wimbledon (d. Mirnyi, Gambill)... Coached by father throughout early career, now working with Brad Stine.

Phenom Finals
Despite being only 20, and 21 respectively, Andy Roddick and Taylor Dent have combined to reach 10 finals and to date have won 6 of them. Here's a look:

Roddick:
Tournament/Year Result
Atlanta 2001 Winner
Houston 2001 Winner
Washington 2001 Winner
Memphis 2002 Winner
Delray Beach 2002 Finalist
Houston 2002 Winner
Toronto 2002 Finalist
Memphis 2003 ???

Dent:
Tournament/Year Result
Newport 2002 Winner
Memphis 2003 ???

All American Finals
For the second straight year an All-American final in Memphis, the first all-countryman final on the ATP circuit this year. All-American finals in Memphis since 1983:
Year Final
2003 A. Roddick vs. T. Dent
2002 A. Roddick d. J. Blake
1996 P. Sampras d. T. Martin
1994 T. Martin d. B. Gilbert
1993 J. Courier d. T. Martin
1989 B. Gilbert d. J. Kriek
1983 J. Connors d. G. Mayer

New Generation of All-American Finals
This year's Memphis event will mark the 16th all-American final since 1997, and this will be just the fifth time the final will not include Andre Agassi or Pete Sampras:
Year All-American Finals Final not Including Agassi or Sampras
2003 1 Memphis - Roddick vs. Dent
2002 5 Memphis - Roddick d. Blake; Newport - Dent d. Blake
2001 3 -----
2000 1 Los Angeles - Chang d. Gambill
1999 4 -----
1998 2 Orlando - Courier d. Chang
1997 0
Note: In 1995-96 there were a total of 16 all-American finals and only one ('96 Philadelphia - d. Courier d. Woodruff) did not include Agassi or Sampras.

DOUBLES PREVIEW
Knowles-Nestor to Take on Bryan Brothers
Top seeds Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor advanced to their third final of the year with a 6-4, 7-6(3) victory over James Blake and Justin Gimelstob. Knowles and Nestor, who finished as the No. 1 doubles team in 2002 after winning six titles together, reached the final in Doha (l. to Damm/Suk) and at the Australian Open (l. to Llodra-Santoro) earlier this year.

They will meet Bob and Mike Bryan in the final after No. 2 seeds defeated Davide Sanguinetti and Sargis Sargsian 6-3, 6-4 to reach their third consecutive Memphis title. The American brothers captured their first career title in Memphis in 2001, and lost to Brian MacPhie and Nenad Zimonjic in last year's final.

The Bryan brothers won their last meeting with Knowles and Nestor in the final in Basel in October, having lost to them the week before in the semifinals at the Tennis Masters Madrid.

The Americans also won their meeting in the 2002 finals at the Tennis Masters Toronto and Scottsdale, as well as the quarterfinals of the US Open, while Knowles and Nestor won their semifinal meeting at Wimbledon. Knowles has won 24 career titles, Nestor 26, Bob Bryan nine and Mike 11.