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Home , Dmitry Tursunov, Donald Young (tennis), Fernando Verdasco, Frances Tiafoe, Marcos Baghdatis, Sam Querrey

FAYEZ SAROFIM & CO. U.S. MEN’S CLAY COURT CHAMPIONSHIP: DAY 4 MEDIA NOTES Thursday, April 7, 2016 River Oaks Country Club, Houston, Texas, | April 4 – 10, 2016 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: $577,860 | Surface: Clay

ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com http://www.mensclaycourt.com/ Joshua Rey: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour @mensclaycourt Press Room: +1 713-874-6356 facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/mensclaycourt

REIGNING CHAMPION SOCK, LOPEZ, BAGHDATIS EYE QUARTER-FINALS

DAY 4 PREVIEW: The remaining four second round singles matches are on Thursday’s schedule at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship with reigning champion , No. 3 seed Feliciano Lopez and No. 7 in action.

In the opening match on Center Court, No. 4 seeds and take on of Australia and Andre Sa of Brazil in a doubles quarter-final match. Querrey and Johnson have a 29-24 career match record together since first teaming up in 2012 Los Angeles (SF). They have reached ATP World Tour finals in 2014 (l. to Pospisil/Sock) and Memphis in February (l. to Fyrstenberg/Gonzalez). They also teamed together in a World Group playoff tie last year in Uzbekistan, winning in straight sets. Guccione and Sa are 15-14 together and this is the one year anniversary since they first teamed up here (l. to Lindstedt/Melzer in 1R). They are 1-1 in ATP World Tour finals, winning in Nottingham last June (d. Cuevas/Marrero) and reaching the Shenzhen final in September (l. to Erlich/Fleming).This is a first-time meeting.

In the first singles match of the day, Lukas Lacko of takes on Lopez for the second time. The Spaniard won the previous meeting 63 76 in 2012 Kuala Lumpur 1R. Lacko is making his first River Oaks appearance and he’s trying to reach his first ATP World Tour quarter-final since 2014 Shenzhen (l. to eventual champ Murray). Lopez is appearing in Houston for the fourth time (4-3 record) and his best result is the semi-finals in 2012 (l. to Isner).

In the next match on, Sock and Aussie qualifier meet for the first time. Last year Sock defeated countryman Sam Querrey 76(9) 76(2) to earn his maiden ATP World Tour singles crown. It was the first all-American final in Houston since 2003 (Agassi d. Roddick). Sock came in unseeded and ranked No. 46 before winning 10 straight sets (lost the opening set 1R to Souza. He finished a year-end best No. 26. This season he reached the Auckland final (ret. vs. Bautista Agut) and afterwards reached a career-high No. 22 on January 18. The 24-year-old Barton is trying to reach his first career ATP World Tour quarter-final. Both of his previous match wins came over Americans, Steve Johnson in Auckland 1R in January and on Tuesday.

In the evening session, top seeds and five-time tournament winners Bob and take on the duo of and . The Bryans survived a 1R battle on Tuesday, saving two match points in their 36 61 11-9 win over and . The Bryans are trying to win their first title since last August at ATP Masters 1000 Montreal. Opelka and Paul won their first career ATP World Tour doubles match over Monroe/N. Skupski on Monday.

In the final match on Center Court, former World Top 10s and Baghdatis square off for the third time. The Cypriot won both previous hard court meetings in straight sets in 2010 Washington and 2015 Tokyo. Baghdatis, who registered the first double bagel win on the ATP World Tour this season (d. Schwartzman), is trying to reach his first quarter-final in Houston. Verdasco, the 2014 champion at River Oaks, has a 9-2 career record in Houston.

On Court 3, an all-American encounter takes place between Donald Young and , who won the last meeting in three sets in the 2R of Delray Beach in February. They also met 12 other times at the Futures, Challenger or Tour qualifying level and Young prevailed eight times. The winner will advance to their second quarter-final of the season.

Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship Day 4 – Thursday, April 7, 2016 Page 2 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com

DAY 4 FEDEX ATP 2 HEADS – In Order of Play by Court

CENTER COURT

Lukas Lacko (SVK) vs [3] Feliciano Lopez (ESP) Lopez Leads 1-0 12 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) Hard R32 Feliciano Lopez 6-3 7-6(3)

Lacko 2016 FastFacts: YTD W-L: 1-1 (1-0 on clay, 0-1 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: November 3, 1987 Emirates ATP Ranking: 114 Houston W-L (Best Result-Year): 1-0 (2R- 2016)

• The 28-year-old Slovakian made his River Oaks debut on Tuesday, posting a 61 75 win over Russian . It was also his first ATP World Tour match win of season • Prior to this week, lost to Baghdatis in Montpellier 1R – his only other tour-level match of season • Fell in qualifying at Doha, and Rotterdam • Posted 6-4 record on ATP Challenger Tour, highlighted by run to SF at Manila, PHI (l. to Youzhny)

Lopez 2016 FastFacts: SF: Dubai (l Baghdatis); QF: Quito (l Ramos-Vinolas) YTD W-L: 8-7 (7-6 on hard, 1-1 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 4 Date of Birth: September 20, 1981 Emirates ATP Ranking: 24 Houston W-L (Best Result - Year): 4-3 (SF-2012)

• The 34-year-old native is making his fourth River Oaks appearance (4-3 record) and his best result is semi-finals in his 2012 debut (l. to Isner). Last year fell in quarter-finals (l. to Querrey) • Earned 2nd win vs. World No. 1 when Djokovic retired with eye problem in Dubai QF (l. to Baghdatis in SF). Also defeated Garcia-Lopez for 400th career singles win in Dubai 1R on Feb. 22 • Beat Bautista Agut 76 67 64 in 3h16m to reach 4R at ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l. to No. 1 Djokovic) • Appeared in 56th straight main draw at Aust. Open (d. Pella in 5 sets, l. to Isner in 3R) • Retired down 75 43 in Quito QF vs. Ramos-Viñolas due to fatigue • Captured 2nd doubles title of career at Doha w/M. Lopez (d. J. Murray/Soares and Peya/Petzschner) • Held 2 MPs in Dubai doubles final w/M. Lopez before falling 14-12 in Match TB to Bolelli/Seppi

[4] Jack Sock (USA) vs [Q] Matthew Barton (AUS) First Meeting

Sock 2016 FastFacts: F: Auckland (l Bautista Agut) YTD W-L: 7-6 (7-4 on hard, 0-1 on clay, 0-1 on grass) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 1 Date of Birth: September 24, 1992 Emirates ATP Ranking: 25 Houston W-L (Best Result-Year): 8-2 (Winner- 2015)

• The 23-year-old American is making his fourth Houston appearance (8-2 record) and last year came in ranked No. 46 and won 10 straight sets (lost opening set in 1R to Souza). Beat countryman Querrey 76 76 in first all-American final in Houston since 2003 (Agassi d. Roddick) • Opened season by retiring with illness in Auckland final when he trailed Bautista Agut 61 1-0. Beat frequent doubles partner Pospisil, No. 12 Anderson and No. 8 Ferrer en route to final, snapping 9-match losing streak vs. Top 10 opponents • Achieved career-high No. 22 in Emirates ATP Rankings on January 18 Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship Day 4 – Thursday, April 7, 2016 Page 3 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com

• Played and won 1st 5-set match of career in Australian Open 1R (d. Fritz, l. to Rosol in 2R) • Suffered 1st Davis Cup loss of career to Tomic (USA d. AUS 3-1 in 1R) • Withdrew from Buenos Aires due to illness

Barton 2016 FastFacts: YTD W-L: 2-1 (1-1 on hard, 1-0 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: December 18, 1991 Emirates ATP Ranking: 270 Houston W-L (Best Result-Year): 1-0 (2R-2016)

• The 24-year-old Sydney native qualified and defeated wild card Frances Tiafoe 63 64 on Tuesday to earn his second career ATP World Tour match win • In second week of season in Auckland, qualified and beat Steve Johnson (l. to No. 8 Ferrer 62 64) • Since then has been playing mostly on ATP Challenger Tour although in his last tournament he won U.S. Futures #11 without dropping a set in where he beat Laaksonen in final (picked up 27 Emirates ATP Ranking pts.) • On Challenger circuit, reached QF on home soil in Launceston (l. to Golubev) and followed with 2R at New Delhi and SF at Kyoto (l. to Sugita). Lost in 1R qualifying at ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l. to Harrison) and 1R at Drummondville Challenger in Canada (l. to Evans) • Has a 35-28 career record in Challengers (0-1 on clay) with lone title coming at West Lakes, AUS in Feb. 2013 (d. Ward). Also has 98-59 career record in Futures with four titles (24-18 on clay, no titles)

YEAR-END EMIRATES ATP RANKINGS – Career-high: 201 (April 15, 2013) 2015: 297 2012: 426 2014: 524 2011: 661 2013: 253 2010: 898

[1] B. Bryan (USA) / M. Bryan (USA) vs [WC] R. Opelka (USA) / T. Paul (USA)

* Bryan & Bryan, top seeds and five-time U.S. Clay Courts champions, who have finished No. 1 on the ATP World Tour in 10 of the last 13 years, are making their 14th tournament appearance...They have won five titles (2007, ‘09’-10-11, '14) in their last seven visits (did not play 2008, 2012) and have compiled a 25-2 mark since 2007. Overall they have a 33-8 tournament record...Their best result is a runner-up finish in Delray Beach. They have won 109 titles together and their last title came at ATP Masters 1000 Montreal last August

* Opelka, 18, has teamed with Paul in four Futures events in 2014, reaching SFs in Mexico #8…They also played in Charlottesville (1R) and Knoxville (QF) Challengers last year…Won last year’s Wimbledon boys’ title (d. Fritz in SF, Ymer in F) and runner-up in doubles (w/Santillan)…Also QF at Roland Garros boys’ event (l. to Mmoh)…Has been on the comeback trail after suffering a right foot stress fracture last November…In February, lost in 2R at U.S. Futures #7 and 1R two weeks later at U.S. #9…Played in singles qualifying over the weekend and lost in final round to Aussie Matthew Barton 76 61…Then made ATP World Tour debut as a lucky loser (in place of Brown), falling to Querrey 64 76(4).on Tuesday

* Paul, 18, who won his first ATP World Tour match on Tuesday (d. No. 8 seed Lorenzi 62 63), fell to Hyeon Chung 57 62 62 on Wednesday night…Last year won Roland Garros boys’ title (d. Fritz) and reached final at US Open boys’ event (l. to Fritz)…In January, won back-to-back U.S. Futures #3 & #4 on clay in …Looking for first career ATP World Tour main draw singles win after losing in 1R in Memphis (l. to Becker), Acapulco as a qualifier (l. to Marchenko) and ATP Masters 1000 Miami as a qualifier (l. to Smyczek)…Comes in ranked a career-high No. 200 this week (from 215) and part of ATP World Tour Next Generation group of players (ages 18-21) in the Top 200 Emirates ATP Rankings

Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship Day 4 – Thursday, April 7, 2016 Page 4 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com

Fernando Verdasco (ESP) vs [7] Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) Baghdatis Leads 2-0 10 Washington (U.S.A.) Hard QF Marcos Baghdatis 7-6(3) 6-4 15 Tokyo (Japan) Hard R32 Marcos Baghdatis 7-5 6-1

Verdasco 2016 FastFacts: YTD W-L: 7-5 (5-4 on hard, 2-1 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 6 Date of Birth: November 15, 1983 Emirates ATP Ranking: 77 Houston W-L (Best Result-Year): 9-2 (Winner-2014)

• The 32-year-old Spaniard is making his fourth straight appearance in Houston (9-2 record) and opened on Tuesday night with a 64 63 win over qualifier . Made debut in 2013 and lost in 2R (l. to Ramirez-Hidalgo). Two years ago, won title (d. Almagro) and last year fell in semi-finals (l. to Querrey) • In opening month of season, upset No. 5 Nadal in 4h41m, 5-set Australian Open 1R match, avenging loss to countryman 7 years earlier in 5h14m, 5-set Australian Open SF. Then lost to Sela in 2R • Has played in 51 straight Grand Slam main draws, 3rd-longest active streak (Federer 65, Lopez 56) • Fell to 0-11 lifetime against World No. 1 with 62 62 loss to Djokovic in Doha 2R • Withdrew from doubles in Quito w/Lapentti and singles in both Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro due to neck injury • Fell out of Top 50 on Feb. 8 at No. 57 for first time since June 24, 2013 (at No. 54). Comes in No. 77

Baghdatis 2016 FastFacts: F: Dubai (l Wawrinka); QF: Montpellier (l Gasquet) YTD W-L: 9-5 (8-5 on hard, 1-0 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 4 Date of Birth: June 17, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 39 Houston W-L (Best Result-Year): 2-2 (2R-2006, 2016)

• The 30-year-old Cypriot is making his third tournament appearance (2-2 record) and into 2R for second time after opening with 60 60 win over on Tuesday. Also reached 2R in 2006 (d. Witten, ret. vs. Spadea). In last visit two years ago, lost in 1R (l. to A. Gonzalez) • In late February, defeated Troicki, Bautista Agut, Lopez en route to Dubai final (l. to No. 4 Wawrinka) • Fell to 4-9 in ATP World Tour singles finals with 5 straight losses • Extended Davis Cup singles win streak to 36 matches with 4 victories March 2-5, passing Borg for all- time record • Reached Montpellier QF with straight-set wins over Lacko and Daniel (l. to No. 10 Gasquet) • Fell in Australian Open 1R (l. to No. 10 Tsonga) and Rotterdam 2R (d. Goffin 76 in 3rd, l. to Klizan)

COURT 3

Donald Young (USA) vs [WC]Tim Smyczek (USA) Smyczek Leads 1-0 16 Delray Beach (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Tim Smyczek 1-6 7-6(2) 6-2 Other meetings (Young Leads 8-4): 07 U.S.A. F6 (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Donald Young 6-1 6-4 08 Sacramento CH (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Donald Young 6-1 6-4 08 Calabas CH (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Donald Young 6-3 6-4 09 Carson CH (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Donald Young 6-3 6-0 09 Winnetka CH (U.S.A.) Hard QF Tim Smyczek 6-2 7-6(3) 10 Honolulu CH (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Donald Young 6-2 4-6 6-2 10 Carson CH (U.S.A.) Hard QF Donald Young 6-1 6-7(4) 6-2 10 Winnetka CH (U.S.A.) Hard SF Tim Smyczek 6-4 6-2 13 Napa CH (U.S.A.) Hard SF Donald Young 6-3 6-2 13 Sacramento CH (U.S.A.) Hard F Donald Young 7-5 6-3 13 Tiburon CH (U.S.A.) Hard QF Tim Smyczek 6-4 4-6 6-4 14 Acapulco Q (Mexico) Clay -- Tim Smyczek 6-2 3-0 ret

Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship Day 4 – Thursday, April 7, 2016 Page 5 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com

Young 2016 FastFacts: QF: Memphis (l Berankis) YTD W-L: 5-7 (4-7 on hard, 1-0 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: July 23, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 85 Houston W-L (Best Result-Year): 4-5 (QF-2014)

• The 26-year-old American enters with a 4-5 career record in Houston and opened on Tuesday with a 64 63 win over No. 6 seed Steve Johnson. His best result is QF in 2014 (d. Harrison, , l. to eventual champ Verdasco) • Won 1st match in 4 of 5 events to start 2016 season: Auckland, Memphis, Delray Beach and Acapulco but lost in 1R at ATP Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami (both to Seppi) • Fell in 4 sets to Giraldo in Australian Open 1R and to Seppi in 3 sets in 1R at Indian Wells • Won Australian Open doubles 1R match w/Krajicek over Pavic/Venus, who have captured 3 titles in ‘16

Smyczek 2016 FastFacts: QF: Delray Beach (l Querrey) YTD W-L: 6-5 (5-5 on hard, 1-0 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: December 30, 1987 Emirates ATP Ranking: 125 Houston W-L (Best Result-Year): 2-3 (2R-2013, 2016)

• The 28-year-old Wisconsin native, making his fourth main draw appearance at River Oaks, opened on Tuesday with a 46 76 64 win over Argentine qualifier Nicolas Kicker.to improve his season record to 6-5. Made debut here in 2011 as a qualifier (l. to Sweeting in 1R) and 2R in 2013 (d. Ouanna, l. to Monaco) • In his last tournament at ATP Masters 1000 Miami, reached 3R with wins over fellow qualifier Tommy Paul 64 57 75 and fellow Tampa resident No. 13-ranked Isner 62 26 76(5) for biggest career win • In February, advanced to 2nd ATP World Tour QF of career at Delray Beach as WC (d. Fritz and Young, l. to eventual champion Querrey) • Qualified at Australian Open for 2nd straight year and reached 2R (d. Gimeno-Traver, l. to Troicki)