Rafa Returns –Nadal is back in Basel for the second consecutive year after reaching the quarter-finals last year (l. to Coric). This is the first time he’s played back-to-back years in Basel since 2003-04 when he lost in the first round both years. Nadal is coming off a strong performance in China where he reached the final in Beijing (l. to Djokovic) and followed with a semi-final at ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (l. to Tsonga). Nadal has won two career indoor ATP World Tour titles, at 2005 ATP Masters 1000 Madrid and 2013 Sao Paulo (on clay).

Nestor Eyes Milestone – Daniel Nestor is closing in on a historic doubles milestone. The 43-year-old Canadian is three match wins away from becoming the first player in the Open Era to register 1,000 career match wins. Nestor is playing with Edouard Roger-Vasselin.  Since teaming up with the Frenchman in Montreal for the first time, they have compiled a 16-4 match record together.

Valencia Open (Valencia) – The Valencia Open, one of three tournaments in Spain, is led by top seed David Ferrer, who is a three-time champion (2008, ’10, ’12).  This is the seventh consecutive year the tournament is being played at the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, one of the most unique places in Valencia. The tournament was played on clay up until 2008. The other seeds are: No. 2 Feliciano Lopez, No. 3 Bernard Tomic, No. 4 Fabio Fognini, No. 5 Benoit Paire, No. 6 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, No. 7 Roberto Bautista Agut and No. 8 Jeremy Chardy. There are three other former champions in the field: Marcel Granollers (2011), Nicolas Almagro (2006-07) and Fernando Verdasco (2004).

Spaniards Lead the Way – There are nine Spaniards in the main draw (not including potential qualifiers). Since the tournament moved to hard courts in 2009, there have been three Spanish winners, Ferrer in 2010 and ’12 and Granollers in 2011. There are two all-Spanish first-round matches: Bautista Agut vs. (WC) Almagro and Garcia-Lopez vs. Verdasco.

Ferrer Top Seed Again – This is the fifth straight year Ferrer is the top seed in Valencia. The 33-year-old Spaniard won the title on clay in 2008 and on hard courts in 2010 (d. Granollers) and 2012 (d. Dolgopolov). He has a 32-7 career record since making his tournament debut in 2003. He also was runner-up in 2005 (l. to Andreev) and in 2013 (l. to Youzhny). He is 5-0 in ATP World Tour finals after winning Vienna (d. Johnson). Earlier this month, he captured his 25^th career title in Kuala Lumpur (d. Lopez). He has won at least one title every year since 2010 (and nine of last 10 years). He is trying to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the fifth time in six years (seventh overall). Last year he was an alternate, playing one match in place of Milos Raonic.

Lopez Looks to Rebound – No. 2 seed Lopez has never won back-to-back matches in 10 previous appearances in Valencia. The 34-year-old Madrid native has a 3-10 career record, reaching the second round in 2004, ’09 and last year. Lopez, who is ranked No. 17 after reaching a career-high No. 12 in March, comes in with a 32-24 match record on the season. His best results are runner-up showings in Quito (l. to Estrella Burgos) and Kuala Lumpur (l. to Ferrer).

Teenager to Watch – Wild card Andrey Rublev, who is the youngest player in the draw at 18 (birthday last Tuesday) and youngest in the Top 200 Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 179. Rublev won his first career ATP World Tour doubles final in Moscow (w/Tursunov). He has a 7-12 record in ATP World Tour level matches this season with two Top 50 wins over Spaniards No. 37 Fernando Verdasco in Barcelona and No. 32 Pablo Andujar in Davis Cup fifth and decisive match. He plays wild card Marcel Granollers, who won the 2011 title. Granollers, who has a 14-6 tournament record, also reached the final in 2010.

Bernie Eyes Top 20 – No. 1 Aussie Bernard Tomic, who reached a career-high No. 18 in the Emirates ATP Rankings last Monday, is trying to finish in the Top 20 for the first time in his young career. Tomic has posted a personal-best 39 match wins and repeated his title in Bogota (d. Mannarino). In the last ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai, he beat No. 8 Ferrer and No. 11 Gasquet en route to the quarter-finals (l. to Djokovic).

Paire Makes Comeback – One of the leading candidates for ATP Comeback Player of the Year is Frenchman Benoit Paire, who has won titles at the Futures, Challenger and ATP World Tour level this year. Last year Paire was bothered by a left knee injury and he finished at No. 118 with his last tournament at the US Open. He has jumped to a career-high No. 23 and in July he won his maiden ATP World Tour title in Bastad, defeating the top three seeds along the way without dropping a set.

Race Movers

Marin Cilic 13 (+1 spot)

Benoit Paire 21 (+2 spots)

Roberto Bautista Agut 24 (+3 spots)

Jack Sock 29 (+3 spots)

Steve Johnson 33 (+14 spots)

Marcos Baghdatis 41 (+8 spots)

Potential Milestones

Basel – Singles

Marco Chiudinelli – 47 wins

Jerzy Janowicz – 95 wins

Ivo Karlovic – 297 wins

Lukas Rosol – 97 wins

Basel – Doubles

Marcin Matkowski – 397 wins

Daniel Nestor – 997 wins

Valencia – Singles

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez – 246 wins

Santiago Giraldo – 147 wins

Valencia – Doubles

Eric Butorac – 249 wins

Mate Pavic – 47 wins