2007 IN REVIEW

The No. 1 player from Slovak Republic increased his consecutive Grand Slam tournaments played streak to 44 (going into 2008), best among active players (Wayne Ferreira holds all-time record with 56)...Struggled with on and off right elbow problems most of year before undergoing arthroscopic surgery on Sept. 4 to remove a bone spur...Last tournament played was US Open (1st RD)...Finished with his fewest match wins (10) since his rookie season in 1996...In January, advanced to 3rd RD at Australian Open (l. to Ancic), his best Grand Slam result of year...Did not win back-to-back matches again in same tournament until late April when he advanced to QF in Casablanca (l. to Montanes), his best finish...In August, advanced to 3rd RD at AMS Montreal with wins over Kohlschreiber and No. 7 Robredo (l. to Hewitt), his lone Top 10 win of year (1-2)...Compiled marks of 6-12 on hard, 4-7 on clay and 0-2 on grass.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

1996 – Reached six Challenger finals and compiled a 37-15 match record, winning Pilzen (d. Cortes) and Mallorca (d. Dier)…Made Davis Cup debut vs. Poland…Made biggest ranking jump (287 places) and youngest player in Top 100… 1997 – One of two teenagers (No. 42 Haas) to finish in year-end Top 50… Won Kosice Challenger (d. Lapentti) and followed with first ATP SF in St. Poelten, posting first Top 10 victory over No. 3 Kafelnikov…Reached his first ATP final in Palermo (l. to Berasategui)… Reached first ATP doubles final in Umag (w/Kucera)… 1998 – Won first ATP title in San Marino (d. Puerta) and captured Kosice Challenger title (d. Meligeni)… 1999 – Captured his second career ATP title in Prague (d. Dosedel) and advanced to his first Grand Slam SF at Roland Garros where he posted wins over No. 1 Kafelnikov (2nd) and No. 9 Rios (QF) before falling in four sets to eventual winner Agassi… 2000 – Despite not winning a title for first time in three years, won a career-best 44 matches and reached three finals, including his first ATP Masters Series in Monte Carlo where he defeated Di Pasquale, Kafelnikov, Clement, Corretja and Gaudio before losing to local favorite Pioline… Led his country to its first ATP World Team Championship title by winning three of four singles matches (d. Sampras, Haas, Kafelnikov)…Turned in a 4th RD showing at US Open (d. Kafelnikov, l. to Krajicek)…Runner-up in St. Petersburg (l. to Safin) and Brighton (l. to Henman)…Compiled a 10-6 record against year-end Top 10, including four wins over Kafelnikov… In doubles, finished No. 16 and won first title at AMS Roma (w/Damm)… Finalist at Miami (w/Damm), Hong Kong (w/Prinosil) and Basel (w/Federer)… Earned a career-high $1,195,760… 2001 – Opened season with 9-1 match record, capturing his third career ATP title in Auckland (d. Clavet), his first on hard courts… Followed with QF at Australian Open, defeating No. 2 seed Safin in 4th RD (l. to Rafter)… Reached SF in Dubai and in Tashkent before helping Slovak Republic back in to Davis Cup World Group by winning both singles matches against Chile’s Massu and Rios in five sets (after losing first two sets)… Finished season with SF in Moscow, defeating Safin in 2nd RD… In limited doubles play, won second career ATP title in Tashkent (w/Boutter)… 2002 – Finished out of Top 50 for first time since 1996…Reached 4th RD at Australian Open and 3rd RD at US Open…Also won Challenger title in Biella (d. Acasuso), reached final in Zagreb (l. to Horna)…2003 – Finished in Top 100 for eighth straight year after reaching his eighth career ATP final in Auckland (l. to Kuerten)… Advanced to SF in Casablanca (l. to Boutter) and Umag (l. to Volandri)… In September, ended US Open champion Roddick’s 19-match winning streak in Davis Cup World Group Play-off tie in Bratislava (Slovak Republic eventually lost tie 3-2)…In doubles, reached four SF with as many partners…Went 1-1 in Davis Cup play (1-0 in singles)…2004 – Compiled his best season by capturing three ATP titles in four finals and finishing a year-end best No. 14… Began first two months with a 17-2 record, including back-to-back titles in Adelaide (d. Llodra) and Auckland (d. Nadal)… His 11-match winning streak ended with 3rd RD exit at Australian Open (l. to Grosjean)… Claimed title in Marseille (d. Soderling)…Reached final on clay in Casablanca in late May (l. to Ventura)… Turned in a personal-best 3rd RD showing at Wimbledon…Posted his lone Top 10 win (1-6) of season over No. 1 Federer in opening round of AMS Cincinnati (l. to Bjorkman in 2nd RD)… After a 2nd RD loss to Dent at Athens Olympics, played well at US Open by reaching QF (l. to Henman)… In last two months of season, reached QF in Beijing and SF in Moscow…Compiled a career-best 30-12 record on hard courts (9-11 in ‘03) and went 6-6 on clay, 4-5 on carpet and 2-3 on grass…2005 – Led his country to its first Davis Cup final (l. to Croatia 3-2) by compiling a 6-1 singles mark with wins over defending champion Spain, the Netherlands and Argentina... Accounted for both singles wins in loss to Croatia in final, defeating Ancic and Ljubicic in five...Despite being only player in year-end Top 20 not to reach an ATP final, turned in SF results in Los Angeles (l. to Muller); Metz (l. to Monfils) and Basel (l. to Gonzalez)... Also advanced to QF at Australian Open (l. to Safin) and ATP Masters Series in Miami (l. to Ferrer), Rome (l. to Agassi) and Montreal (l. to Rusedski)... Won his hometown Challenger title in Bratislava (d. Bracciali) in last tournament...Went 5-6 vs. Top 10 opponents with wins over Gaudio, Safin, Henman, Coria and Ljubicic... Compiled records of 30-16 on hard, 7-5 on clay, 4-3 on carpet and 2-2 on grass...2006 -- Finished in Top 25 for third consecutive year...Opened with SF finish in Adelaide (l. to Serra) and 4th RD at Australian Open (l. to Davydenko) where all four matches went five sets, including 10-8 in final set over D. Norman in 2nd RD...After going 6-3 in January, won only two matches in next three months, at ATP Masters Series Indian Wells and Monte-Carlo (d. Bracciali both times)... Reached 2nd RD at AMS clay court events in May, including a 1st RD upset over No. 4 Ljubicic at AMS Rome... At Roland Garros, posted consecutive five-set victories over Roitman and Karlovic before falling to No. 14 Hewitt in 3rd RD...Followed by advancing to final at Prostejov Challenger (l. to Hajek)...At back-to-back US Open Series events, lost to eventual champions Haas and Clement in Los Angeles SF and Washington 3rd RD, respectively...Following his first opening round loss at US Open in seven years (l. to Youzhny), advanced to QF in Beijing (l. to Ancic), SF in Vienna (l. to Ljubicic) and closed the season by reaching final at ATP Masters Series Paris (l. to Davydenko)... Went 2-5 vs. Top 10 opponents (d. Ljubicic in Rome, Berdych in Paris)...Compiled marks of 21-17 on hard and 5-7 on clay...2007--The No. 1 player from Slovak Republic increased his consecutive Grand Slam tournaments played streak to 44 (going into 2008), best among active players (Wayne Ferreira holds all-time record with 56)...Struggled with on and off right elbow problems most of year before undergoing arthroscopic surgery on Sept. 4 to remove a bone spur...Last tournament played was US Open (1st RD)...Finished with his fewest match wins (10) since his rookie season in 1996...In January, advanced to 3rd RD at Australian Open (l. to Ancic), his best Grand Slam result of year...Did not win back-to-back matches again in same tournament until late April when he advanced to QF in Casablanca (l. to Montanes), his best finish...In August, advanced to 3rd RD at AMS Montreal with wins over Kohlschreiber and No. 7 Robredo (l. to Hewitt), his lone Top 10 win of year (1-2).

PERSONAL

Nicknamed “Dominator”...Named ATP Newcomer of the Year in 1996...Father, is an architecture engineer... Younger brother is an umpire...Favorite soccer teams are Barcelona, Ajax and Bratislava...Speaks four languages (Slovakian, English, Czech, and German)...Enjoys mountain biking, deep sea fishing, and skiing...Was a competitive skier until age 11 when he decided to pursue tennis full-time...A self-proclaimed movie maniac, he travels with a portable DVD player to watch his favorites...Also collects coins, from New Zealand only...A fitness addict and aspires to someday run the New York City Marathon...Sports idols include Ivan Lendl and Olympians Carl Lewis, Sergei Bubka and skier Alberto Tomba...Received an award from his country’s president after being named Player of the Year in 2000 season...His favorite hobby is to play in two charity ice hockey games at end of season between tennis players from Czech Republic and Slovak Republic...Played in annual street hockey challenge in MontrTal in 2003 vs. NHL players...Has a 31-23 career Davis Cup record (26-12 in singles) in 24 ties since 1996...Fitness trainer is Ivan Gabrovic.