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MEDIA NOTES City ATP Tour PR Tennis Australia PR Sydney Brendan Gilson: [email protected] Harriet Rendle: [email protected] Brisbane Richard Evans: [email protected] Kirsten Lonsdale: [email protected] Perth Mark Epps: [email protected] Victoria Bush: [email protected] ATPCup.com, @ATPCup / ATPTour.com, @ATPTour / TennisTV.com, @TennisTV ATP CUP TALKING POINTS - MONDAY 6 JANUARY 2020 • Three of the Top 4 players in last season’s FedEx ATP Rankings are in action on Monday with World No. 1 Rafael Nadal (ESP), No. 2 Novak Djokovic (SRB) and No. 4 Dominic Thiem (AUT). Nadal and Djokovic opened with straight-set wins while Thiem lost in three sets to Borna Coric (CRO). • Group A qualification scenarios after completion of 1st round of ties of the event’s group stages: - Serbia qualifies as Group winner on Monday if Serbia defeats France and South Africa defeats Chile. - France qualifies as Group Winner on Monday if France defeats Serbia and Chile defeats South Africa. • Group F qualification scenarios after completion of 2nd round of ties of the event’s group stages - Australia have qualified for the Final 8 Sydney as Group F winners after Australia defeated Canada and Germany defeated Greece. Australia will play their Quarter-Final in the Day Session on Thursday 9 January against the Winner of Group C (Belgium, Bulgaria or Great Britain). • No teams from Groups B or E can qualify on Monday. • In Perth, five-time year-end No. 1 Nadal takes on Pablo Cuevas (URU), who is 1-4 against the Spaniard. His lone win over Nadal came in the SFs at 2016 Rio de Janeiro. In that match, the No. 1 Uruguayan fired 11 aces and saved 10 of 12 break points in the 2h, 28m match. • Cuevas is 5-20 vs. Top 10 opponents and he is looking to break a seven-match losing streak vs. Top 10 since his 3R win over No. 6 Thiem at 2018 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells. His biggest career win came over No. 3 Wawrinka in the 3R at 2017 ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo. The only time he faced a No. 1 was against Nadal in 3R at 2017 ATP Masters 1000 Paris, where he lost in three sets. • In Brisbane, Djokovic brings a 15-0 head-to-head record in Tour-level matches against Gael Monfils. Djokovic comes in with a 13-match winning streak against Frenchmen since his loss to Benoit Paire in the 2R at 2018 ATP Masters 1000 Miami. In the last decade, Djokovic compiled a 78-4 record against Frenchmen. Monfils has five career Top 2 wins, his last coming over No. 2 Federer in the 3R at 2015 ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo. • Djokovic Most Wins Without a Loss (min. 8 matches) W-L vs. Gael Monfils 15-0 vs. Milos Raonic 9-0 vs. Jeremy Chardy 13-0 vs. Marcos Baghdatis 8-0 vs. Andreas Seppi 12-0 vs. Fabio Fognini 8-0 vs. Juan Monaco 8-0 • Thiem/Schwartzman Battle: In Sydney, Thiem, who won a career-high five ATP Tour titles last season, takes on good friend Diego Schwartzman. In their last meeting in the Vienna final on Oct. 27, Thiem rallied for a 36 64 63 victory to become the first Austrian winner in Vienna since Jurgen Melzer in 2010. Schwartzman has seven career Top 10 wins and he is looking for his first Top 5 victory (0-19). Thiem is ranked No. 4. MEDIA NOTES ATP CUP - TEAM LINEUPS SYDNEY - GROUP C (BEL, GBR, BUL, MDA) and GROUP E (AUT, CRO, ARG, POL) Belgium Great Britain Bulgaria Moldova David Goffin Daniel Evans Grigor Dimitrov (PC) Radu Albot Steve Darcis (PC) Cameron Norrie Dimitar Kuzmanov Alexander Cozbinov Kimmer Coppejans James Ward Alexandar Lazarov Egor Matvievici Sander Gille Joe Salisbury Adrian Andreev Dmitrii Baskov Joran Vliegen Jamie Murray Alexander Donski Vladimir Albot (C) Tim Henman (C) Austria Croatia Argentina Poland Dominic Thiem Borna Coric Diego Schwartzman Hubert Hurkacz Dennis Novak Marin Cilic Guido Pella Kamil Majchrzak Sebastian Ofner Viktor Galovic Juan Ignacio Londero Kacper Zuk Jurgen Melzer Nikola Mektic Andres Molteni Wojciech Marek Oliver Marach Ivan Dodig Maximo Gonzalez Lukasz Kubot Thomas Muster (C) Luka Kutanjac (C) Gaston Gaudio (C) Marcin Matkowski (C) BRISBANE - GROUP A (SRB, FRA, RSA, CHI) and GROUP F (GER, GRE, CAN, AUS) Serbia France South Africa Chile Novak Djokovic Gael Monfils Kevin Anderson Cristian Garin Dusan Lajovic Benoit Paire Lloyd Harris Nicolas Jarry Nikola Milojevic Gilles Simon (PC) Ruan Roelofse Alejandro Tabilo Viktor Troicki Nicolas Mahut Khololwam Montsi Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera Nikola Cacic Edouard Roger-Vasselin Raven Klaasen Hans Podlipnik-Castillo Nenad Zimonjic (C) Jeff Coetzee (C) Paul Capdeville (C) Germany Greece Canada Australia Alexander Zverev Stefanos Tsitsipas Denis Shapovalov Alex de Minaur Jan-Lennard Struff Michail Pervolarakis Felix Auger-Aliassime Nick Kyrgios Mats Moraing Markos Kalovelonis Steven Diez John Millman Kevin Krawietz Petros Tsitsipas Peter Polansky John Peers Andreas Mies Alexandros Skorilas Adil Shamasdin Chris Guccione Boris Becker (C) Apostolos Tsitsipas (C) Adriano Fuorivia (C) Lleyton Hewitt (C) PERTH - GROUP B (ESP, JPN, GEO, URU) and GROUP D (RUS, ITA, USA, NOR) Spain Japan Georgia Uruguay Rafael Nadal Yoshihito Nishioka Nikoloz Basilashvili Pablo Cuevas Roberto Bautista Agut Go Soeda Aleksandre Metreveli Martin Cuevas Pablo Carreno Busta Toshihide Matsui George Tsivadze Juan Martin Fumeaux Albert Ramos-Vinolas Ben McLachlan Aleksandre Bakshi Franco Roncadelli Feliciano Lopez Satoshi Iwabuchi (C) Zura Tkemaladze Ariel Behar Francisco Roig (C) David Kvernadze (C) Felipe Maccio (C) Russia Italy USA Norway Daniil Medvedev Fabio Fognini John Isner Casper Ruud Karen Khachanov Stefano Travaglia Taylor Fritz Viktor Durasovic Teymuraz Gabashvili Paolo Lorenzi Tommy Paul Lukas Hellum-Lilleengen Ivan Nedelko Alessandro Giannessi Rajeev Ram Herman Hoeyeraal Konstantin Kravchuk Simone Bolelli Austin Krajicek Leyton Rivera Marat Safin (C) Alberto Giraudo (C) David Macpherson (C) Christian Ruud (C) C: Captain, PC: Playing Captain MEDIA NOTES ATP CUP - SYDNEY GROUP E MONDAY MATCHES CROATIA vs POLAND Marin Cilic (CRO) vs Kacper Zuk (POL) First Meeting Cilic 2019 Summary | Age: 31 | World No. 38 (Career-High No. 3) | W-L: 22-19 | Career Titles: 18 SF (1): Moscow (l Rublev) QF (2): ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (W/O vs Djokovic); Washington (l Medvedev) • Opened on Saturday by hitting 15 aces in 67 64 64 win over Novak to help Croatia to a 3-0 victory over Austria. • Finished as No. 2 Croat for 2nd time (also 2013). Was No. 1 Croat from 2008-12 and 2014-18. • Defeated countryman Karlovic in Moscow 2R to become 50th player in Open Era with 500 wins (l. to Rublev in SF). • Earned 20+ wins for 12th straight season (2008-19), but failed to win a title for 1st time in last 12 seasons. • Rallied from 2 sets down and saved 2 MPs vs. Verdasco to reach Australian Open 4R (l. to Bautista Agut in 5 sets). • Owns 30 wins in 5th sets – tied with Djokovic and Federer for most among active players. • Saved 4 MPs vs. Klizan in 1R en route to ATP Masters 1000 Madrid QF (W/O vs. No. 1 Djokovic -- gastroenteritis). • Also advanced to Washington QF (d. Auger-Aliassime, l. to Medvedev) and US Open 4R (d. Isner, l. to Nadal). • Squandered 1 MP vs. Cuevas in Budapest 2R. • Fell to No. 39 in ATP Rankings on 4 November – lowest since No. 41 on 28 October 2013. • Withdrew from Pune, Rotterdam and Metz due to right knee injury. Zuk 2019 Summary | Age: 20 | World No. 448 (Career-High No. 446) | W-L: 0-0 | Career Titles: 0 • Young Pole is making his ATP Tour tournament debut. Replacing Majchrzak, who lost in three sets to Pella. • Last season played mostly on Futures level, winning titles at Sharm El Sheikh, EGY in March, Troisdorf, GER in May, and Stockholm, SWE in September. Also finalist at another event in Sharm El Sheikh, EGY in November. • Played in 3 Challengers on home soil, losing in 1R in Poznan and Sopot and 2R in Szczecin as a qualifier. Also 1R in Challenger event at Hamburg (as lucky loser). Borna Coric (CRO) vs Hubert Hurkacz (POL) Coric Leads 1-0 19 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (Monaco) Clay R64 Borna Coric 6-4 5-7 7-5 Coric 2019 Summary | Age: 23 | World No. 28 (Career-High No. 12) | W-L: 27-22 | Career Titles: 2 F (1): St. Petersburg (l Medvedev); SF (2): Dubai (l Federer); s-Hertogenbosch (l Mannarino); QF (5): ATP Masters 1000 Miami (l Auger-Aliassime); ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Fognini); Budapest (l Krajinovic); Halle (l Herbert); Zhuhai (l de Minaur) • Posted 9th career Top 5 win over No. 4 Thiem 76 26 63 in 2h, 43m on Saturday in Croatia’s 3-0 victory over Austria. • Finished as No. 1 Croat for 1st time in 2019. • Earned 20+ wins and finished Top 50 for 5th straight season (2015-19). Ended season on 6-match losing streak. • Advanced to 6th career ATP Tour final at St. Petersburg (l. to Medvedev). • Reached SFs at Dubai (l. to Federer) and ’s-Hertogenbosch as WC (d. Garin after saving 1 MP, l. to Mannarino). • Reached ATP Masters 1000 QFs at Miami (l. to Auger-Aliassime) and Monte-Carlo (d. Munar after saving 1 MP in 2R, l. to Fognini). • Advanced to Australian Open 4R for 1st time (l. to Pouille). Entered with 0-4 tournament record. • One of 5 men under 23 to reach Australian Open 4R -- most at a Grand Slam since 2009 Roland Garros (5). • Reached Roland Garros 3R for 4th time in 5 years (l. to Struff 11-9 in 5th).