BB&T OPEN: PREVIEW & DAY 1 MEDIA NOTES Monday, July 27, 2015

Atlantic Station, Atlanta, Georgia, USA | July 27 – August 2, 2015 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: $659,70 | Surface: Hard

ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.bbtatlantaopen.com Twitter: @ATPWorldTour Twitter: @BBTatlantaopen Greg Sharko: [email protected] facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/BBTAtlOpen Press Room: +1 678 954 4265

BB&T TALKING POINTS

 BB&T Atlanta Open (Atlanta): The first ATP World Tour North American summer hard court tournament is led by top seed and reigning two-time champion . The other seeds are: No. 2 , No. 3 , No. 4 , No. 5 , No. 6 , No. 7 Gilles Muller and No. 8 . The other former singles winner in the draw is 2010-11 champ .

 Day 1 Preview: The tournament opens on Monday with three main draw singles matches and one doubles match. The featured match of the day session on Stadium is a first time meeting between 2012 runner-up Gilles Muller of Luxembourg and local resident , who lives across from the venue. Also in action are Yen-Hsun Lu, , and Alexander Dolgopolov. The final round of qualifying also concludes on Monday.

 Top Seed/Reigning Champ: Former Univ. of Georgia standout John Isner returns to Atlanta for the sixth consecutive year, the fourth year in a row as the top seed. The 30-year-old American has a 16-3 career record in Atlanta, winning the title the last two years (d. Anderson in three TBs in ’13, Sela last year). He also reached the final in 2010-11 (l. to Fish both times) and the semi-finals in ’12. This is the 16th time in Isner’s career (second this year) he is the top seed in an ATP World Tour tournament (34-10 record). Four of his nine career titles have come as the No. 1 seed (final results): - 2015 Newport 1R - 2013 Sydney 2R (after bye) - 2014 Winston-Salem QF (W/O) - 2012 Atlanta SF - 2014 Newport QF - 2012 Newport Winner - 2014 Atlanta Winner - 2012 Nice QF - 2014 Nice QF - 2012 Delray Beach SF - 2014 2R (after bye) - 2012 Memphis QF - 2013 Atlanta Winner - 2011 Newport Winner - 2013 Delray Beach SF

 Fish (& Roddick) Return: Former 2010-11 champion Mardy Fish is playing in his first tournament since March when he lost in the 1R at ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l. to Harrison). The 33-year- old announced last week he will play here, next month’s ATP Masters 1000 event in and plans to play his final tournament at the US Open. The former World No. 7 has a 9-2 career record in Atlanta. He lost in his opening round match the past two appearances in 2012 (ret. vs. Muller) and ’13 (l. to Russell). Fish also playing doubles with long-time friend , who won his last ATP World Tour title here in ’12 (d. Muller). Fish-Roddick have a 19-6 career record together and they last played in Indian Wells in ’12 (l. 1R). They won titles in Houston in 2002 and ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells in ’09 while reaching the final at ATP Masters 1000 Rome in ’11.

 Posp-Sock Climbing: The No. 2 and 3 seeds in the singles draw are last year’s doubles champions Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock, respectively. Pospisil jumped from No. 56 to No. 30 in the Emirates ATP Rankings after reaching his first singles quarter-final at Wimbledon (l. to Murray). The No. 2 Canadian reached a career-high No. 25 in January 2014. Sock is putting together his best season on the ATP World Tour with a 17-8 match record. He won his first ATP World Tour singles title in Houston in April (d. Querrey). He reached a career-best No. 30 on June BB&T Atlanta Open Day 1 – Monday, July 27, 2015 Page 2 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com

15 (ranked No. 31 last week). They come in as defending doubles champions. Last year they teamed together for the first time at Wimbledon and captured the crown (d. Bryans in five sets). They have a 15-4 record together this season with a title at ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells and runner-up in Miami. They also reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros and 3R at Wimbledon. They are No. 8 in the Emirates ATP Doubles team Rankings.

 Harrison Eyes Turnaround: is making his fifth straight appearance in Atlanta. The 23-year-old American has a 6-4 match record and he reached the semi-finals in 2011 (l. to Fish) and ’13 (l. to Anderson). Harrison is No. 127 with a 5-5 record this season with a semi- final in Acapulco. He also is 12-7 in Challengers with a title in the opening week of the year in Happy Valley, .

 Tiafoe Moving Up: The youngest player in the draw is 17-year-old American who is looking for his first career ATP World Tour win (0-3). The College Park, Md. native has climbed over 1,150 ranking spots from No. 1136 at the end of last year to a career-high No. 284 (last week). He’s compiled a 10-5 record in Challengers, reaching Tallahassee final, and 18-4 in Futures events (1-2 in finals). He earned a wild card into Roland Garros by winning the USTA circuit.

 Eubanks Makes Debut: sophomore and Atlanta resident makes his ATP World Tour main draw debut as a wild card. The 19-year-old, who does not have an Emirates ATP Ranking, takes on Radek Stepanek in the 1R.

 Bryans Back in ATL: The top seeds in the doubles draw are Bob and , who are playing in Atlanta for the first time since 2001. The Bryans have a 5-5 career record in Atlanta and they previously played in 1996 (QF), ’97 (1R), ’98 (QF), 2000 (QF) and ’01 (SF). They have won a record 106 career titles and finished No. 1 in 10 of the past 12 years. This season the Bryans have won three titles (Delray Beach, ATP Masters 1000 Miami, Monte-Carlo) and reached the final at Roland Garros. They are No. 3 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings.

FORMER ATLANTA CHAMPIONS AND FINALISTS:

YEAR WINNER FINALIST Bold = Denotes those in this year’s draw 2014 John Isner 2013 John Isner

2012 Andy Roddick Gilles Muller

2011 Mardy Fish John Isner 2010 Mardy Fish John Isner

FORMER ATLANTA DOUBLES CHAMPIONS:

YEAR WINNER 2014 Vasek Pospisil & Jack Sock 2013 Edouard Roger-Vasselin & 2012 & Ryan Harrison

2011 Alex Bogomolov Jr. & Matthew Ebden

2010 &

BB&T Atlanta Open Day 1 – Monday, July 27, 2015 Page 3 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com

SEEDS TO WATCH THIS WEEK

SINGLES:

SEED PLAYER RECORD BEST FINISH

1. John Isner (USA) 16-3 W 2013-14 2. Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 1-1 QF 2014 3. Jack Sock (USA) 5-3 SF 2014 4. Adrian Mannarino (FRA) DEBUT — 5. Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) DEBUT — 6. Steve Johnson (USA) 1-2 R16 2012 7. Gilles Muller (LUX) 8-3 RUP 2012 8. Benjamin Becker (GER) 3-2 SF 2014

 WILDCARDS (3):  YOUNGEST: Christopher Eubanks (USA) Frances Tiafoe (USA) – 17 years, 6 months Ryan Harrison (USA) Frances Tiafoe (USA)  OLDEST: Radek Stepanek (CZE) – 36 years, 8 months  QUALIFIERS (4): TBC on Monday  TOP COUNTRY BREAKDOWN: USA (9), Germany (2) Countries in total: 15

DOUBLES:

SEED PLAYER BEST FINISH 1. & Mike Bryan 5-5, SF 2001 2. Vasek Pospisil & Jack Sock 4-0; W 2014 3. & TEAM DEBUT 4. Mate Pavic & TEAM DEBUT

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

EMIRATES ATP RANKING POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY

W F SF QF R16 R32 SINGLES RANKING POINTS 250 150 90 45 20 0 SINGLES PRIZE MONEY ($) 106,565 56,125 30,400 17,320 10,205 6,050 DOUBLES RANKING POINTS 250 150 90 45 0 — DOUBLES PRIZE MONEY ($) 32,370 17,020 9,220 5,280 3,090 —

BB&T Atlanta Open Day 1 – Monday, July 27, 2015 Page 4 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com

MONDAY FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS

Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) vs Malek Jaziri (TUN) Jaziri Leads 1-0 12 London Olympics (Great Britain) Grass R64 Malek Jaziri 7-6(10) 4-6 6-3

Lu FastFacts: 2015 Highlights: QF(3): Chennai (l Bautista Agut); Delray Beach (l Mannarino); Nottingham (l Dolgopolov) YTD W-L: 13-14 YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: August 14, 1983 Emirates ATP Ranking: 76 Atlanta W-L (Best Result-Year): 4-3 (QF 2011)

Jaziri FastFacts: 2015 Highlights: QF: Bogota (l Mannarino) YTD W-L: 8-15 YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: January 20, 1984 Emirates ATP Ranking: 77 Atlanta W-L (Best Result-Year): Debut

Go Soeda (JPN) vs (UKR) First Meeting

Soeda FastFacts: 2015 Highlights: YTD W-L: 3-9 YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: September 5, 1984 Emirates ATP Ranking: 114 Atlanta W-L (Best Result-Year): 3-1 (SF 2012)

Dolgopolov FastFacts: 2015 Highlights: SF: Nottingham (l Querrey); QF(2): Delray Beach (l Young); Acapulco (l Nishikori) YTD W-L: 20-15 YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 2 Date of Birth: November 7, 1988 Emirates ATP Ranking: 74 Atlanta W-L (Best Result-Year): Debut

(7) Gilles Muller (LUX) vs Donald Young (USA) First Meeting

Muller FastFacts: 2015 Highlights: SF(2): Sydney (l Troicki); s-Hertogenbosch (l Goffin); QF(4): Chennai (l Wawrinka); Rotterdam (l Wawrinka); Estoril (l Carreno Busta); London / Queen's Club (l Murray) YTD W-L: 20-14 YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: May 9, 1983 Emirates ATP Ranking: 52 Atlanta W-L (Best Result-Year): 8-3 (RUP 2012)

BB&T Atlanta Open Day 1 – Monday, July 27, 2015 Page 5 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com

Young FastFacts: 2015 Highlights: F: Delray Beach (l Karlovic); SF: Memphis (l Anderson); QF: Auckland (l Vesely) YTD W-L: 14-15 YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: July 23, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 54 Atlanta W-L (Best Result-Year): 1-4 (2R 2010)

OTHER FIRST ROUND FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Draw Order

(WC) Christopher Eubanks (USA) vs (PR) Radek Stepanek (CZE) First Meeting

Ricardas Berankis (LTU) vs (USA) First ATP Meeting Other meetings: 08 Humacao CH (Puerto Rico) Hard R16 Tim Smyczek 2-6 7-5 6-3 12 San Jose Q (U.S.A.) Hard -- Tim Smyczek 6-3 4-2 ret 12 US Open Q (U.S.A.) Hard -- Tim Smyczek 6-7(4) 7-5 6-4

Lukas Lacko (SVK) vs (6) Steve Johnson (USA) Johnson Leads 1-0 15 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass R128 Steve Johnson 6-3 6-7(5) 4-6 6-1 6-4

Dudi Sela (ISR) vs (PR) Mardy Fish (USA) First ATP Meeting Other meeting: 06 Atlanta CH (U.S.A.) Clay R32 Mardy Fish 6-4 6-2

(SE) (GER) vs (8) Benjamin Becker (GER) First ATP Meeting Other meetings: 13 Ortisei CH (Italy) Hard R16 Benjamin Becker 6-4 4-6 6-4 14 Heilbronn CH (Germany) Hard R16 Michael Berrer 6-4 6-1 14 ATP Masters 1000 Madrid Q (Spain) Clay -- Benjamin Becker 7-5 6-3

Sam Groth (AUS) vs (WC) Frances Tiafoe (USA) First Meeting