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Home , Andrey Golubev, Andrey Rublev, Benjamin Becker, Denis Istomin, Mikhail Kukushkin, Teymuraz Gabashvili

ST. PETERSBURG OPEN: DAY 3 MEDIA NOTES Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Sibur Arena, St. Petersburg, | September 21-27, 2015 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: $1,030,000 | Surface: Indoor Hard

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RISING STARS RUBLEV, THIEM, KOKKINAKIS IN ACTION ON WEDNESDAY

 DAY 3 PREVIEW: The first round concludes and second round commences at St. Petersburg on Wednesday with some of the brightest stars on the ATP World Tour in action. Following a bye, No. 3 seed plays for a place in the quarter-finals against fellow Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer. Thiem, 22, has defeated Haider-Maurer, 28, twice in the last two months. In first- round matches, 17-year-old Russian and 19-year-old Australian make their tournament debuts on Centre Court. Kokkinakis meets Marcel Granollers, then Rublev seeks revenge against after the Italian team defeated the 4-1 in a World Group Play-off tie Sept. 18-20. In total, eight singles players on Wednesday’s order of play competed in Davis Cup matches this past weekend.

Player Davis Cup Location Team Result Player Results (GER) Santo Domingo, DOM GER d. DOM 4-1 d. Cid 64 76(4) d. Manafov 64 62 62 Ricardas Berankis (LTU) Vilnius, LTU UKR d. LTU 4-1 l. to Marchenko/Molchanov (w/Grigelis) l. to Marchenko 75 62 62 l. to Gabashvili 76(2) 61 63 Simone Bolelli (ITA) Irkutsk, RUS ITA d. RUS 4-1 d. Donskoy/Kravchuk (w/Fognini) d. Bolelli 76(2) 61 63 (RUS) Irkutsk, RUS ITA d. RUS 4-1 l. to Fognini 76(4) 63 76(5) d. Johnson 61 36 76(5) 67(3) 75 (UZB) , UZB USA d. UZB 3-1 l. to Johnson/Querrey (w/Dustov) l. to Sock 62 26 64 64 l. to A. Murray 63 60 63 Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) Glasgow, GBR GBR d. AUS 3-2 d. Evans 75 64 Andrey Rublev (RUS) Irkutsk, RUS ITA d. RUS 4-1 l. to Fognini 76(8) 62 62 l. to Gerasimov 06 16 62 62 64 Joao Sousa (POR) Viana do Castelo, POR POR d. BLR 3-2 d. Betov/Mirnyi (w/Elias) d. Ignatik 61 61 64

 RUSSIA’S RUBLEV RISING: At 17, Andrey Rublev is the youngest player in the Top 200 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. The World No. 178 has already won more tour-level matches before the age of 18 than every teenager ranked ahead of him, including 38th-ranked Borna Coric (7 wins as a 17-year-old). Rublev’s eight pre-18 wins are also more than each member of the Top 5 posted.

Rank Player 18th Birthday W-L Before 18 1 May 22, 2005 4-7 (.364) 2 August 8, 1999 7-14 (.333) 3 May 15, 2005 0-1 (.000) 4 Mar. 28, 2003 0-0 5 Tomas Berdych Sept. 17, 2003 1-1 (.500) 178 Andrey Rublev Oct. 20, 2015 8-11 (.421)

St. Petersburg Open Day 3 – Wednesday, September 23, 2015 Page 2 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com

 THIEM AMONG WORLD’S BEST: Entering the 2015 season, Dominic Thiem had yet to win an ATP World Tour singles championship. The 22-year-old Austrian makes his St. Petersburg Open debut on Wednesday with three titles to his name, putting him in elite company this year:

Player Age Titles 2015 Championships Novak Djokovic 28 7 Aus. Open, Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Rome, Wimbledon, US Open Roger Federer 34 5 Brisbane, Dubai, , Halle, Cincinnati Andy Murray 28 4 Munich, Madrid, London/Queen’s Club, Montreal 33 3 , Rio de Janeiro, Acapulco 29 3 Buenos Aires, Stuttgart, Hamburg 25 3 Memphis, , Washington Dominic Thiem 22 3 Nice, Umag, Gstaad Stan Wawrinka 30 3 Chennai, Rotterdam, Roland Garros

 QUALIFYING KING KOKKINAKIS: World No. 70 Thanasi Kokkinakis is one spot below his career-high ranking and 80 places above his 2014 year-end ranking. He’s risen up the Emirates ATP Rankings by qualifying for six events this season, tied for second-most on the ATP World Tour. The 19-year-old Aussie has the highest winning percentages of the Top 4 qualifiers in 2015.

Player Qualified Qualifying W-L Tour-Level W-L 7 events 24-5 (.827) 6-10 (.375) Thanasi Kokkinakis 6 events 15-1 (.934) 13-17 (.433) 6 events 17-4 (.810) 8-12 (.400) Paul-Henri Mathieu 6 events 19-6 (.760) 7-10 (.412)

St. Petersburg Open Day 3 – Wednesday, September 23, 2015 Page 3 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com

DAY 3 FEDEX ATP 2 HEADS – In Order of Play by Court

Centre Court

Marcel Granollers (ESP) vs Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS)

FedEx Head 2 Head: 1st Meeting on ATP World Tour

Granollers 2015 FastFacts SF: (l. to Seppi) YTD W-L: 13-18 (5-8 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 4 Date of Birth: April 12, 1986 Emirates ATP Ranking: 81 St. Petersburg W-L (Best Result): 0-2 (2009, 2011 & 2015 R32)

• 29-year-old Spaniard posted best tour-level singles result by reaching Zagreb SF (l. to Seppi) • Advanced to 2R of all 4 events: (l. to Simon), Roland Garros (l. to No. 2 Federer), Wimbledon (l. to L. Mayer) and US Open (l. to Tsonga) • Suffered 6-match losing streak from February to April • Earned Top 20 wins in back-to-back events over No. 14 Tsonga in Barcelona 2R and No. 15 Monfils in ATP Masters 1000 Madrid 2R • In doubles, reached ATP Masters 1000 Rome final with M. Lopez (l. to Cuevas/Marrero) • Enters St. Petersburg with records of 5-8 on hard, 6-8 on clay, 2-2 on grass and 0-2 vs. Top 10 opponents

Kokkinakis 2015 FastFacts YTD W-L: 13-17 (10-11 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: April 10, 1996 Emirates ATP Ranking: 70 St. Petersburg W-L (Best Result): Debut in 2015

• 19-year-old Aussie posted 15-1 qualifying record to qualify at 6 ATP World Tour events: Memphis, Delray Beach, Acapulco, Istanbul, ATP Masters 1000 Madrid and ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati • Also qualified at Bordeaux Challenger, winning 7 matches en route to title (d. de Bakker 7-6 in 3rd) • Reached 3R of major for 1st time at Roland Garros (d. Tomic from 2 sets down, l. to No. 1 Djokovic) • Played opening match for in Davis Cup 1R (d. Rosol from 2 sets down), QF (l. to Kukushkin) and SF (l. to A. Murray) • Posted best ATP Masters 1000 result of career by reaching Indian Wells 4R (l. to Tomic) • Advanced to Australian Open 2R (d. Gulbis 8-6 in 5th, l. to Groth in 5 sets). Fell in 1R of Wimbledon (l. to L. Mayer) and US Open (l. to Gasquet in 5 sets) • Enters St. Petersburg with tour-level records of 10-11 on hard, 2-3 on clay, 1-3 on grass and 0-2 vs. Top 10 opponents

Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) vs [Q] Yaraslav Shyla (BLR)

FedEx Head 2 Head: 1st Meeting on ATP World Tour

Other Meetings 15 Samarkand CH () Clay R32 Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-0 6-2 15 Fergana CH (Uzbekistan) Hard R16 Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-7(4) 6-3 6-1

St. Petersburg Open Day 3 – Wednesday, September 23, 2015 Page 4 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com

Gabashvili 2015 FastFacts QF: Houston (l. to Verdasco) YTD W-L: 13-17 (6-11 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: May 23, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 57 St. Petersburg W-L (Best Result): 2-8 (2010 & 2012 R16)

• 30-year-old Russian seeks 100th win of career against Shyla on Wednesday (99-169 overall) • Enjoyed best singles and doubles tour-level result at Houston, reaching singles QF (d. Isner, l. to Verdasco) and winning doubles title with Berankis (d. Bryan/Bryan in QF and Huey/Lipsky in F) • Reached Roland Garros 4R (l. to No. 5 Nishikori), matching best Grand Slam finish of career (also 2010 Roland Garros 4R) • In Washington 2R, upset No. 3 Murray 7-6 in 3rd for 4th Top 10 win of career • Won 22 of 25 matches on ATP Challenger Tour, including 3 titles in Uzbekistan • Fell in Australian Open 1R (l. to Baghdatis) Wimbledon 1R (l. to A. Zverev) and US Open 2R (l. to Seppi) • Played 1st season of Mylan World TeamTennis for Austin Aces and was named league's Male MVP • Enters St. Petersburg with tour-level records of 6-11 on hard, 7-5 on clay, 0-1 on grass and 1-3 vs. Top 10 opponents

Shyla 2015 FastFacts YTD W-L: 0-0 (0-0 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: March 5, 1993 Emirates ATP Ranking: 366 St. Petersburg W-L (Best Result): Debut in 2015

• 22-year-old Belarusian is making ATP World Tour debut against Gabashvili • In St. Petersburg qualifying, defeated Lobkov 36 61 62, Muzaev 46 64 75 and Bublik 63 64 • Prior to St. Petersburg, lost 4 consecutive singles matches at ITF Futures events • On ATP Challenger Tour, won doubles title at Batman in April with Karatsev (d. Pavic/Venus) • Enters St. Petersburg with ATP Challenger Tour singles record of 3-7 • Won 2nd career Futures singles title at F4 in May (d. Ivanov) after reaching final at Kazakhstan F3 (l. to Ismailov) • Also captured 6 Futures doubles titles this season (5 with Vasilevski)

[WC] Andrey Rublev (RUS) vs Simone Bolelli (ITA)

FedEx Head 2 Head: 1st Meeting on ATP World Tour

Rublev 2015 FastFacts YTD W-L: 7-10 (4-5 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: October 20, 1997 Emirates ATP Ranking: 178 St. Petersburg W-L (Best Result): Debut in 2015

• 17-year-old Russian is youngest player in St. Petersburg draw and in Top 200 • Qualified at US Open (l. to Anderson in 4 sets) and Barcelona (d. Verdasco, l. to Fognini) • Also advanced to 2R at Delray Beach (l. to Johnson), ATP Masters 1000 Miami (l. to Isner), Istanbul (l. to Giraldo) and Geneva (l. to No. 10 Cilic in 3 sets) • In Davis Cup play, clinched a World Group Play-off berth for Russia after winning 5th rubber against Denmark (d. Pedersen) and (d. Andujar) • Enters St. Petersburg with records of 4-5 on hard, 3-5 on clay, 0-0 on grass and 0-1 vs. Top 10 opponents

St. Petersburg Open Day 3 – Wednesday, September 23, 2015 Page 5 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com

Bolelli 2015 FastFacts QF (5): Sydney (l. to Troicki); (l. to Monfils); Bucharest (l. to Monfils); Nottingham (l. to Baghdatis); Hamburg (w/o vs Seppi) YTD W-L: 24-21 (12-12 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: October 8, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 63 St. Petersburg W-L (Best Result): 2-2 (2007 & 2012 R16)

• 29-year-old Italian is putting together his best season since 2008 when he won a personal-best 29 matches and finished at No. 41 • Won more matches this season (24) coming into St. Petersburg than past 3 years combined (20) • Reached 5 ATP World Tour QFs in singles: Sydney (l. to eventual champion Troicki), Marseille (d. No. 6 Raonic in 2R, l. to Monfils), Bucharest (l. to Monfils), Nottingham (l. to Baghdatis) and Hamburg (w/o vs Seppi, appendicitis). • Win over Raonic broke a 35-match losing streak against Top 10 opponents (longest in Open Era) • Posted best Grand Slam result by reaching Roland Garros 3R (l. to Ferrer) • Won 1st Grand Slam doubles title with Fognini at Australian Open (d. Herbert/Mahut). Also runner-up at ATP Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells (l. to Sock/Pospisil) and Monte-Carlo (l. to Bryan/Bryan) • Enters St. Petersburg with records of 12-12 on hard, 9-6 on clay, 3-3 on grass and 1-7 vs. Top 10 opponents

[3] Dominic Thiem (AUT) vs Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT)

FedEx Head 2 Head: Thiem Leads 2-0 15 Umag () Clay QF Dominic Thiem 6-7(5) 6-1 3-0 ret 15 Kitzbühel (Austria) Clay R16 Dominic Thiem 1-6 7-6(6) 6-4

Thiem 2015 FastFacts W (3): Nice (d. Mayer); Umag (d. Sousa); Gstaad (d. Goffin); SF: Kitzbühel (l. to Kohlschreiber); QF (3): Marseille (l. to Bautista Agut); ATP Masters 1000 Miami (l. to Murray); Munich (l. to Melzer) YTD W-L: 31-22 (9-10 on hard) YTD Titles: 3 / Career Titles: 3 Date of Birth: September 3, 1993 Emirates ATP Ranking: 21 St. Petersburg W-L (Best Result): Debut in 2015

• 22-year-old Austrian captured 1st 3 ATP World Tour titles of career -- all on clay: Nice (d. L. Mayer 7- 6 in 3rd), Umag (d. Sousa) and Gstaad (d. Goffin) • Has already won career-best 31 matches this season (previous-best 22 in 2014) • Started season 3-6 before reaching 1st ATP Masters 1000 QF at Miami (l. to No. 4 Murray in 3 sets) • Posted best Grand Slam result of season by reaching US Open 3R (l. to Anderson) • Achieved career-high ranking of No. 18 on August 10 • Enters St. Petersburg with records of 9-10 on hard, 20-8 on clay, 2-4 on grass and 0-3 vs. Top 10 opponents

Haider-Maurer 2015 FastFacts SF: Rio de Janeiro (l. to Ferrer); QF(3): Chennai (l. to Goffin); Casablanca (l. to Dzumhur); Umag (l. to Thiem) YTD W-L: 21-21 (8-6 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: March 22, 1987 Emirates ATP Ranking: 61 St. Petersburg W-L (Best Result): 1-0 (2015 R16)

St. Petersburg Open Day 3 – Wednesday, September 23, 2015 Page 6 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com

• 28-year-old Austrian reached 2nd ATP World Tour SF of career at Rio de Janeiro (d. Robredo in 2R, l. to No. 9 Ferrer) • Has won 21 tour-level matches this season after posting only 17 total victories from 2011 to 2014 • Achieved career-high ranking of No. 47 on April 20 • Posted 3-0 Davis Cup record for Austria against Sweden in March and Netherlands in July • Won 9th career ATP Challenger title in August at Meerbusch, Germany (d. Berlocq) • Grand Slam results: Australian Open 2R (l. to Isner), Roland Garros 1R (l. to Schwartzman), Wimbledon 1R (l. to Berankis) and US Open 2R (d. Pospisil in 5 sets, l. to No. 1 Djokovic) • Enters St. Petersburg 2R with tour-level records of 8-6 on hard, 12-11 on clay, 1-4 on grass and 0-3 vs. Top 10 opponents

COURT 1

Ricardas Berankis (LTU) vs (FRA)

FedEx Head 2 Head: 1st Meeting on ATP World Tour

Other Meeting 14 Cherbourg CH () Hard QF Ricardas Berankis 3-6 6-4 6-4

[Q] (MDA) vs [7] Joao Sousa (POR)

FedEx Head 2 Head: Albot Leads 1-0 13 POR at MDA Davis Cup Hard RR Radu Albot 3-6 3-6 6-3 6-4 11-9

Other Meeting 13 Poznan CH (Poland) Clay R32 Joao Sousa 6-1 6-2

Denis Istomin (UZB) vs [8] (KAZ)

FedEx Head 2 Head: Kukushkin Leads 2-1 12 UZB at KAZ Davis Cup Clay RR Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4 6-2 6-7(5) 6-2 14 Eastbourne (Great Britain) Grass R32 Denis Istomin 7-6(6) 6-7(7) 6-3 15 Sydney (Australia) Hard R32 Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3 7-6(1)

Other Meetings 06 Saransk CH (Russia) Clay R16 Denis Istomin 4-6 7-5 6-2 11 Istanbul CH (Turkey) Hard QF Denis Istomin 6-1 6-3

[Q] (KAZ) vs Benjamin Becker (GER)

FedEx Head 2 Head: 1st Meeting on ATP World Tour

Other Meeting 10 Sunrise CH (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Benjamin Becker 6-0 6-2