<<

DUTY FREE CHAMPIONSHIPS: DAY 4 MEDIA NOTES Thursday, February 25, 2016

Dubai Duty Free Stadium, Dubai, | February 22 – February 27, 2016 Draw: S-32, D-16 | Prize Money: $2,674,445 | Surface: Outdoor Hard

ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com Nicola Arzani: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour @DDFTennis Richard Evans: [email protected] facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/Dubai-Duty-Free-Tennis-Championships-146132218775533

SIX SEEDS, KYRGIOS AND BAGHDATIS IN QF ACTION

DAY 4 PREVIEW: Six seeds, a young rising star and a former Top 10 player comprise the quarter-finals on Thursday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The first quarter-final is a rematch of last Saturday’s semi-final at when the 20-year-old Aussie defeated the No. 3 seed Tomas Berdych in straight sets en route to his first career ATP World Tour title. It was just his second tournament of the season and first since , where he reached the third round and fell to Berdych in their first ever meeting. The World No. 7 Berdych is a two-time finalist (2013-14), has reached the semi-finals or better in four of the last five years, owns a 22- 9 career record in Dubai.

Following is a first time meeting between the Spanish No. 4 seed and former World No. 8 . The No. 3 Spaniard is off to a career best start, 16-3 record and is appearing in his fifth ATP World Tour quarter-final of the year. The 30-year-old Baghdatis is appearing in second quarter-final of the year and is looking to reach his first semi-final since last October in (ret. vs. Berdych).

The third quarter-final is the third meeting between the No. 2 seed and No. 8 (Wawrinka leads 2-0). Both players are appearing in their third ATP World Tour quarter- final of the year (1-1 record each). The best result of the year for the Swiss No. 2 was claiming his 12th career title at , fourth overall and third straight (d. Coric). The best result for the top ranked German is the semi-finals at (d. Cilic in QF, l. to Monfils).

Milestone winners and Feliciano Lopez meet for the eighth time in the last quarter- final of the day (Djokovic leads 7-0). On Wednesday the Top seed and World No. 1 Djokovic became the 12th player in the Open Era to record 700 singles victories with his 61 62 win over . He also became the third active player to accomplish the feat, joining (1,067) and (775). On Monday the No. 6 seed Lopez recorded his 400th tour-level win of his career as he defeated countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 61 46 64.

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

Centre Court

Nick Kyrgios (AUS) vs [3] Tomas Berdych (CZE) Series Tied 1-1 16 Australian Open () Hard R32 Tomas Berdych 6-3 6-4 1-6 6-4 16 Marseille () Hard SF Nick Kyrgios 6-4 6-2

Kyrgios FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: W: Marseille (d Cilic) YTD W-L: 8-1 (8-1 in hard) YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 1 Date of Birth: April 27, 1995 Emirates ATP : 33 Dubai (Best Result-Year): 2-0 (QF 2016) Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships Day 4 – Thursday, February 25, 2016 Page 2 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com

 The 20-year-old opened with a 36 63 62 win over No. 7 seed Martin Klizan in his tournament debut on Monday and followed with a 63 62 on Wednesday  Appearing in 7th career ATP World Tour QF (3-3 record) and looking to reach 4th career SF (2-1 mark)  On Sunday captured his 1st career ATP World Tour title at Marseille (d. No. 10 Gasquet in QF, No. 8 Berdych in SF, d. No. 12 Cilic). He did not drop serve all tournament, becoming the first first-time winner to do so in a tour-level event in the Open Era. Also became the first first-time winner and youngest winner on the ATP World Tour this season  It was just his second tournament of the season and first since Australian Open, where he reached 3R (l. to No. 6 Berdych)  Missed Rotterdam with an elbow injury  In 2015, Aussie rose in year-end for 3rd straight season, finishing at No. 30 after peaking at No. 25 on June 8  Reached 2nd career QF at Australian Open (also 2014 Wimbledon)  Advanced to 1st career F at Estoril (l. to Gasquet) and 2nd SF at Kuala Lumpur (l. to F. Lopez)  Saved 2 MPs to beat No. 2 Federer in ATP Masters 1000 2R (l. to Isner in 3R)  Advanced to 1st career final at Estoril (l. to Gasquet) and 2nd SF at Kuala Lumpur (l. to F. Lopez)  Saved 2 MPs to beat No. 2 Federer in ATP Masters 1000 Madrid 2R (l. to Isner in 3R)  Career 6-11 (2-1 in 2016) record vs Top 10 opponents

Berdych FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: SF (2): (l Djokovic); Marseille (l Kyrgios); QF: Australian Open (l Federer) YTD W-L: 11-3 (11-3 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 12 Date of Birth: September 17, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 7 Dubai (Best Result-Year): 22-9 (RUP 2013-14)

 The 30-year-old knocked off Italian qualifier 62 62 to reach the QF on Wednesday. Opened with a 61 64 win over Joao Sousa on Tuesday. He is making his 10th appearance here and has a 22-9 tournament record. The two-time finalist – 2013 (d. Federer in SF, l. to Djokovic) and 2014 (l. to Federer), also reached the SF twice – 2011 (l. to eventual champion Djokovic) and 2015 (l. to Djokovic)  Appearing in 4th ATP World Tour QF of the year (2-1 record)  Last week reached 2nd ATP World Tour SF of the year at Marseille (l. to eventual champion Kyrgios)  Opened season with SF appearance at Doha (l. to eventual champion Djokovic) before QF appearance at Australian Open (l. to No. 3 Federer)  In 2015, Czech finished at No. 6 or No. 7 in Emirates ATP Rankings for 6th straight season  Achieved career-high of No. 4 on May 18 after reaching ATP Masters 1000 QF (l. to No. 2 Federer)  Captured 11th and 12th titles of career at Shenzhen (d. Garcia-Lopez) and Stockholm (d. Sock)  Reached QF or better at 15 of 22 events in 2015 and won 2 or more matches at 18 of 22

[4] Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) vs Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) First Meeting

Bautista Agut FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: W (2): Auckland (d Sock); Sofia (d Troicki); QF (2): Chennai (l Coric); Rotterdam (l Klizan) YTD W-L: 16-3 (16-3 on hard) YTD Titles: 2 / Career Titles: 4 Date of Birth: April 14, 1988 Emirates ATP Ranking: 18 Dubai (Best Result-Year): 5-3 (QF 2016)

 The 27-year-old advanced to the QF here for the first time with a 60 61 win over Hyeon Chung on Wednesday. Opened with a 62 64 win over on Tuesday. He is playing here for the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships Day 4 – Thursday, February 25, 2016 Page 3 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com

fourth straight year (5-3 record) and had fallen in the 2R on three previous – 2013 (l. to eventual champion Djokovic), 2014 (l. to Djokovic) and 2015 (l. to Gasquet)  Appearing in his 5th ATP World Tour QF of the year (2-2 mark)  The No. 3 Spaniard (behind No. 5 Nadal, No. 8 Ferrer) captured his second title of the year and fourth overall at Sofia (d. Troicki). Has a 16-3 match record, his best career start. Reached QF two weeks ago at Rotterdam (l. to eventual champion Klizan)  In opening month of season, lost in QFs in Chennai (after bye) to Borna Coric in third set TB and followed with third career ATP World Tour title in Auckland (d. No. 10 Tsonga in SF, Sock in F). Then reached personal-best 4R at Australian Open (l. to No. 6 Berdych in five sets)  In 2015, Spaniard finished in Top 25 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 2nd straight season and Top 100 for 4th straight

Baghdatis FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: QF: Montpellier (l Gasquet) YTD W-L: 5-3 (5-3 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 4 Date of Birth: June 17, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 57 Dubai (Best Result-Year): 6-6 (SF 2010)

 The 30-year-old opened with a 76(2) 62 win over No. 5 seed and followed with a 64 62 win over on Wednesday. He is making his 7th appearance here and has a 6-6 tournament record. Best result was SF in 2010 (l. to eventual champion Djokovic)  Appearing in 2nd ATP World Tour QF of the year. Reached QF at Montpellier (l. to eventual champion Gasquet). It was his first ATP World Tour QF since last October in Stockholm where he advanced to semi-finals (ret. vs. Berdych)  Fell in 2R at Rotterdam (l. to Klizan) and 1R Australian Open (l. to No. 10 Tsonga in 4-sets)  In 2015, Cypriot enjoyed 11th straight finish in Top 100 of Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 46  Fell to 4-8 in career ATP World Tour-level finals at Atlanta (l. to Isner) in August and has not won title since 2010 (d. Gasquet)  Posted 26 tour-level wins, 4 more than 2013-14 combined. Also went 8-4 on ATP Challenger Tour  Retired from 4 matches, including SFs at Nottingham (leg) and Stockholm (right groin)

[8] Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) vs [2] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) Wawrinka Leads 2-0 08 Roland Garros (France) Clay R128 Stan Wawrinka 6-3 6-4 6-3 08 ATP Masters 1000 Madrid ()Hard R32 Stan Wawrinka 3-6 7-5 7-6(5)

Kohlschreiber FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: SF: Rotterdam (l Monfils); QF: Sofia (l Troicki) YTD W-L: 8-4 (8-4 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 6 Date of Birth: October 16, 1983 Emirates ATP Ranking: 28 Dubai (Best Result-Year): 8-6 (SF 2014)

 The 32-year-old opened with a 61 75 win over Marsel Ilhan and followed with a 72 76(5) victory over Borna Cilic on Wednesday. He is playing here for the seventh time and has an 8-6 tournament record. Best result was SF in 2014 (l. to Berdych)  Playing in 3rd ATP World Tour QF of the year (1-1 record).  Reached SF at Rotterdam (d. Cilic in QF, l. to Monfils). Was attempting to reach his 14th career ATP World Tour final (6-7 mark) and first since capturing his 6th career title at Kitzbühel (d. Mathieu) last August  The No. 1 German reached his first ATP World Tour QF of the season at Sofia (l. to Troicki)  In first two tournaments of season, lost in 2R in Auckland (l. to No. 10 Tsonga) and 1R at Australian Open (l. to No. 7 Nishikori) Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships Day 4 – Thursday, February 25, 2016 Page 4 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com

 In 2015, German earned 30+ wins and finished in Top 50 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 9th straight season (2007-15)  Enters 2016 having been ranked in Top 50 each week since October 17, 2011  Rode bike from residence and captured 6th career ATP World Tour title at Kitzbühel, snapping Thiem's 10-match win streak in SF before beating qualifier Mathieu in final  Career 21-74 (0-2 in 2016) vs Top 10 opponents. Has lost last three, last win was over No. 4 Stan Wawrinka at 2015

Wawrinka FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: W: Chennai (d Coric); QF: Marseille (l Paire) YTD W-L: 10-2 (10-2 on hard) YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 12 Date of Birth: March 28, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 4 Dubai (Best Result-Year): 2-2 (QF 2016)

 The 30-year-old was two points defeat as he trailed 4-5, 0/30 on serve in the deciding. But he reeled off four straight points to hold serve and went on to win 57 63 75 over on Tuesday. Followed with a 75 61 win over Croatian qualifier Franko Skugor on Wednesday. He is playing here for the first time since falling in the 1R in 2008 (l. to Hernych). Also fell in 1R in 2006 (l. to Federer)  Last week fell in QF at Marseille (l. to Paire)  Opened season with fourth title in Chennai and third in succession (2011 d. Malisse, 2014 d. Roger- Vasselin, 2015 d. Bedene, 2016 d. Coric)  Claimed 400th match win en route to 4R showing at Australian Open (d. Rosol in 3R, l. to Raonic)  In 2015, Swiss finished at No. 4 in Emirates ATP Rankings for 2nd straight season and in Top 10 for 3rd straight season  Captured his 2nd Grand Slam title as 30-year-old at Roland Garros to become oldest champion of event since Gomez in 1990 (d. No. 2 Federer in QF, No. 1 Djokovic in final)  Winner of 12 career titles, and owns 8-0 finals record in 2014-16

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs [6] Feliciano Lopez (ESP) Djokovic Leads 7-0 07 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R64 Novak Djokovic 6-2 7-5 6-1 07 ATP Masters Series Miami (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Novak Djokovic 6-0 6-3 11 Dubai (U.A.E.) Hard R16 Novak Djokovic 6-3 2-6 6-4 11 () Clay F Novak Djokovic 7-6(4) 6-2 12 ATP Masters 1000 (China) Hard R16 Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-3 15 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard QF Novak Djokovic 6-1 3-6 6-3 7-6(2) 15 ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (China) Hard R16 Novak Djokovic 6-2 6-3

Djokovic FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: W (2): Doha (d Nadal); Australian Open (d Murray) YTD W-L: 14-0 (14-0 on hard) YTD Titles: 2 / Career Titles: 61 Date of Birth: May 22, 1987 Emirates ATP Ranking: 1 Dubai (Best Result-Year): 36-5 (Winner 2009-11, ’13)

 The 28-year-old, World No 1, captured his 700th career win with a 61 62 win over Tunisian wild card Malek Jaziri on Wednesday. Needed just 66 minutes to sweep aside 61 62 in the opening round on Monday. He is making his 10th consecutive appearance here and has 36-5 tournament record. The four-time champion - 2009 (d. Ferrer), 2010 (d. Youzhny), 2011 (d. Federer) and 2013 (d. Berdych) has only fallen once before the SF here and that was in reaching the QF in his tournament debut in 2007 (l. to eventual champion Federer)  Became the 12th player in the Open Era to record 700 singles wins with 2R win over Jaziri at Dubai. Also became the third active player to accomplish the feat, joining Roger Federer (1,067) and Rafael Nadal (775). Coach is also a member of the 700 wins club (713) Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships Day 4 – Thursday, February 25, 2016 Page 5 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com

 Appearing in first event since capturing 11th career Grand Slam title and 6th at Australian Open (d. Simon in 4R in 5-sets, d. Nishikori in QF, Federer in SF and Murray)  Opened year by capturing 60th career title at Doha (d. Berdych in SF, d. Nadal)  In 2015, Serb ended year as World No. 1 in Emirates ATP Rankings for 4th time in 5 years. Enters 2016 having been ranked No. 1 for 78 straight weeks, longest stretch since Federer's 237 straight weeks in 2004-08  Qualified for Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for 9th consecutive year, winning 4th title in a row and 5th overall. Became 1st player to win title in 4 consecutive years  Captured career-high 11 titles and reached single-season record 15 straight finals to end year, most since Federer's 17 straight finals in 2005-06  Won 8th, 9th and 10th Grand Slam singles titles at Australian Open (d. Murray), Wimbledon (d. Federer) and US Open (d. Federer) respectively. Fell short of calendar Grand Slam in Roland Garros final (l. to Wawrinka)  Became 3rd man to play in all 4 major finals in a single year during Open Era (also Laver in 1969 and Federer in 2006, 2007 and 2009)  Enjoyed career-high 29-set win streak during fall, highlighted by titles at and ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai  Also captured titles at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Rome and , setting a single-season record with 6 ATP Masters 1000 championships and passing Federer for 2nd all-time with 26 (Nadal 27)

Lopez FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: QF: Quito (l Ramos-Vinolas) YTD W-L: 5-4 (4-3 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 4 Date of Birth: September 20, 1981 Emirates ATP Ranking: 24 Dubai (Best Result-Year): 16-9 (RUP 2008, ’04)

 The 34-year-old, oldest player in the draw, on Monday recorded his 400th tour-level win of his career as he defeated countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 61 46 64. Followed with 63 76(7) win over Lukas Rosol on Wednesday. He is a two-time runner-up here – 2008 (l. to Roddick) and 2004 (l. to Federer). He is playing here for the 10th time and has a 16-9 tournament record  Last week fell in 1R at Marseille (l. to Stakhovsky)  Reached QF at Quito (l. to Ramos-Vinolas)  Opened the year by reaching the 3R at Australian Open (l. to Isner) and falling in 1R at Doha (l. to Munoz de la Nava)  In 2015, Spaniard finished in Top 20 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 3rd time, as well as 9th straight finish in Top 50 and 14th straight in Top 100  Fell to 4-9 in finals with runner-up finishes at Quito (l. to Estrella Burgos 76 in 3rd) and Kuala Lumpur (l. to No. 8 Ferrer)  Achieved career-high ranking of No. 12 on March 2 soon after Quito final  Career 33-85 record vs Top 10 opponents. Career 1-9 vs World No. 1: 0-2 vs. Djokovic, 1-4 vs Nadal (won at 2010 Queen’s Club) and 0-3 vs. Federer