MEDIA NOTES
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ATP CUP TALKING POINTS - SATURDAY 11 JANUARY 2020
• Host Australia meets Spain after Serbia takes on Russia in the inaugural ATP Cup semi-finals on Saturday.
• Sydney native Alex de Minaur saved eight match points in Australia’s quarter-final win over Great Britain. The 2019 Sydney International champion hit winners on four match points before falling to Daniel Evans in singles. He returned in doubles and saved four more alongside Nick Kyrgios to clinch the tie 18-16 in a match tiebreak.
• De Minaur is scheduled to face Rafael Nadal for the third time. The 20-year-old Aussie suffered identical 6-1 6-2 6-4 losses to Nadal in the third round at 2018 Wimbledon and the 2019 Australian Open. De Minaur bids to become the youngest player to defeat Nadal while he is World No. 1 since Kyrgios, 19, at 2014 Wimbledon.
• Nadal, who fell to David Goffin on Friday, has not suffered consecutive losses since October 2016. The left- handed Spaniard lost to Grigor Dimitrov in the 2016 Beijing quarter-finals and Viktor Troicki in his opener at 2016 Shanghai five days later. Nadal has never suffered back-to-back losses in 206 weeks as the World No. 1.
• Kyrgios and World No. 10 Roberto Bautista Agut are undefeated at the ATP Cup entering their match-up. Kyrgios is 3-0 in singles and 1-0 in doubles, while Bautista Agut has swept four matches and eight sets in singles. The 29th-ranked Kyrgios seeks his second Top-10 win at the ATP Cup and the 22nd of his career.
• Kyrgios’ 56 aces in singles at the ATP Cup are the most among the 53 players who’ve competed in singles. Those free points are benefitting more than himself and his team. Every ace served at the ATP Cup equals a $100 donation from the ATP Tour and Tennis Australia to the Australian Red Cross bushfire disaster relief and recovery efforts. Through eight days of play, 1,226 aces have been served and $122,600 will be donated.
• In a tweet on 2 January, Kyrgios pledged to personally donate $200 for every ace that he hits. Kyrgios’ personal donation is up to $11,800, which includes three aces from his dramatic doubles win in Thursday’s quarter-finals.
• Neither Australia nor Spain has lost an ATP Cup doubles match. Pablo Carreno Busta is 4-0 for Team Spain.
• During the first semi-final, World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev seeks his third straight head-to-head win over No. 2 Novak Djokovic. If Medvedev repeats his Monte-Carlo and Cincinnati wins, he will be the sixth player to sweep the Serbian three times in a row and the first since Nadal at Roland Garros, Montreal and the US Open in 2013.
• Medvedev is one of 41 active players to have met Djokovic at least five times (2-3). All 41 have losing records.
• Djokovic vs. Medvedev is the first match between Top-5 singles players at the ATP Cup. Another will occur in the final if Team Spain advances. Four of the Top 5 players competed across Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.
• Serbian No. 2 Dusan Lajovic is 2-0 against Russian No. 2 Karen Khachanov with two 6-3 6-2 wins on clay.
• Khachanov, Medvedev and Djokovic are each 4-0 in singles matches at the ATP Cup. Following singles, Khachanov and Medvedev (1-1 in doubles) are scheduled to meet Djokovic and Troicki (1-0 in doubles).
• Three of the four captains in the semi-finals are former World No. 1s: Lleyton Hewitt of Australia (singles), Marat Safin of Russia (singles) and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia (doubles). The odd man out is Spanish captain Francisco Roig, who earned career-high rankings of No. 60 in singles and No. 23 in doubles during the 1990s.
MEDIA NOTES
ATP CUP - TEAM LINEUPS
Serbia (4-0) Group A Winner Russia (4-0) Group D Winner Novak Djokovic 4-0 Singles, 1-0 Doubles Daniil Medvedev 4-0 Singles, 1-1 Doubles Dusan Lajovic 3-1 Singles Karen Khachanov 4-0 Singles, 1-1 Doubles Viktor Troicki 3-1 Doubles Teymuraz Gabashvili 2-0 Doubles Nikola Cacic 2-1 Doubles Konstantin Kravchuk 2-0 Doubles Nikola Milojevic Ivan Nedelko Nenad Zimonjic (Captain) Marat Safin (Captain)
Australia (4-0) Group F Winner Spain (4-0) Group B Winner Alex de Minaur 2-1 Singles, 1-0 Doubles Rafael Nadal 3-1 Singles, 2-0 Doubles Nick Kyrgios 3-0 Singles, 1-0 Doubles Roberto Bautista Agut 4-0 Singles John Millman 2-0 Singles Pablo Carreno Busta 4-0 Doubles John Peers 3-0 Doubles Feliciano Lopez 2-0 Doubles Chris Guccione 3-0 Doubles Albert Ramos-Vinolas Lleyton Hewitt (Captain) Francisco Roig (Captain)
ATP CUP - SEMI-FINALS
SERBIA vs RUSSIA
Dusan Lajovic (SRB) vs Karen Khachanov (RUS) Lajovic Leads 2-0 16 Kitzbuhel (Austria) Clay QF Dusan Lajovic 6-3 6-2 18 ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (Spain) Clay R64 Dusan Lajovic 6-3 6-2
Lajovic 2019 Summary | Age: 29 | World No. 34 (Career-High No. 23) | 2019 W-L: 21-27 | Career Titles: 1 W (1): Umag (d Balazs) F (1): ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Fognini) • Owns 3-1 record at ATP Cup with wins over Harris (RSA), Jarry (CHI) and Auger-Aliassime (CAN). Lost to Paire (FRA). • Finished as No. 2 Serbian for 3rd time in 2019 (also 2014, 2018). Achieved career-high No. 23 on 29 April. • Won 1st ATP Tour singles title at Umag (d. Balazs) and 2nd doubles title at Chengdu w/Cacic (d. Erlich/F. Martin). • Earned biggest win of career over No. 5 Thiem and did not drop a set en route to 1st ATP Tour final at ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo (l. to Fognini). World No. 48 became lowest-ranked Monte-Carlo finalist since No. 53 Arazi in 2001. • One of 4 Serbians to reach Roland Garros 3R -- most ever in a Grand Slam 3R (l. to A. Zverev in 5 sets).
Khachanov 2019 Summary | Age: 23 | World No. 17 (Career-High No. 8) | 2019 W-L: 30-29 | Career Titles: 4 SF (2): ATP Masters 1000 Montreal (l Medvedev); Beijing (l Thiem) QF (5): ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Nadal); Roland Garros (l Thiem); Halle (l Berrettini); Moscow (l Seppi); Vienna (l Schwartzman) • Owns 4-0 singles record at ATP Cup with wins over Travaglia (ITA), Fritz (USA), Durasovic (NOR) and Pella (ARG). • Finished as No. 2 Russian for 3rd time in 2019 (also 2016-17). Was No. 1 Russian in 2018. • Broke into Top 10 of FedEx ATP Rankings on 10 June and achieved career-high No. 8 on 15 July. • Reached SFs at ATP Masters 1000 Montreal (d. A. Zverev, l. to Medvedev) and Beijing (l. to Thiem). • Defeated Del Potro to reach 1st Grand Slam QF at Roland Garros (l. to Thiem). • Also reached QFs at ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l. to Nadal), Halle (l. to Berrettini), Moscow as defending champion (d. Kohlschreiber after saving 5 MPs, l. to Seppi) and Vienna (l. to Schwartzman). • Fell to Struff in opening match at ATP Masters 1000 Paris as defending champion. Lost 990 ranking points. • Despite that loss, advanced to 2nd ATP Masters 1000 doubles final at Paris w/Rublev (l. to Herbert/Mahut).
MEDIA NOTES
Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs Daniil Medvedev (RUS) Djokovic Leads 3-2 17 Davis Cup 1R (Serbia) Hard RR Novak Djokovic 3-6 6-4 6-1 1-0 ret 17 Eastbourne (Great Britain) Grass SF Novak Djokovic 6-4 6-4 19 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R16 Novak Djokovic 6-4 6-7(5) 6-2 6-3 19 ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo Clay QF Daniil Medvedev 6-3 4-6 6-2 19 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati (U.S.A.) Hard SF Daniil Medvedev 3-6 6-3 6-3
Djokovic 2019 Summary | Age: 32 | World No. 2 (Career-High No. 1) | 2019 W-L: 57-11 | Career Titles: 77 W (5): Australian Open (d Nadal); ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (d Tsitsipas); Wimbledon (d Federer); Tokyo (d Millman); ATP Masters 1000 Paris (d Shapovalov) F (1): ATP Masters 1000 Rome (l Nadal) • Owns 4-0 ATP Cup singles record with wins over Anderson (RSA), Monfils (FRA), Garin (CHI) and Shapovalov (CAN). • Finished as No. 1 Serbian for 15th straight year in 2019. Earned 50+ wins for 12th time (2007-16, 2018-19). • Saved 2 championship points to defeat Federer in longest Wimbledon final on record (4 hours, 55 minutes). • Became 1st Wimbledon champion to save championship point since Bob Falkenburg saved 3 MPs in 1948 final. • Prior to 5th Wimbledon title, captured record 7th Aus. Open title (d. Nadal). Third all-time with 16 Grand Slam titles. • Became 1st player in history to win 3+ straight Grand Slam titles on 3 occasions (2011-12, 2015-16, 2018-19). • Also 1st player to win a Grand Slam final over Nadal in straight sets. Spaniard has reached 27 Grand Slam finals. • Fell to Thiem in Roland Garros SF, ending Slam win streak at 26. Retired vs. Wawrinka in US Open 4R (left shoulder). • Did not drop a set en route to 33rd ATP Masters 1000 title at Madrid (d. Tsitsipas) and 34th at Paris (d. Shapovalov). • Added 12th ATP 500 title at Tokyo (d. Millman). Owns 77 career titles, tied for 5th-most in Open Era with McEnroe. • Now 3rd all-time with 275 weeks as World No. 1, trailing only Federer’s 310 weeks and Sampras’ 286 weeks.
Medvedev 2019 Summary | Age: 23 | World No. 5 (Career-High No. 4) | 2019 W-L: 59-21 | Career Titles: 7 W (4): Sofia (d Fucsovics); ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati (d Goffin); St. Petersburg (d Coric); ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (d Zverev) F (5): Brisbane (l Nishikori); Barcelona (l Thiem); Washington (l Kyrgios); ATP Masters 1000 Montreal (l Nadal); US Open (l Nadal) • Owns 4-0 singles record at ATP Cup with wins over Fognini (ITA), Isner (USA), Ruud (NOR) and Schwartzman (ARG). • Finished as No. 1 Russian for 1st time in 2019. • Led ATP Tour last season with 59 overall wins (59-21), 46 hard-court wins (46-13) and 9 finals appearances (4-5). • Achieved career-high No. 4 on 9 September. Highest-ranked Russian since No. 4 Davydenko on 4 August 2008. • Reached 6 straight finals after Wimbledon with 29-3 run (3-3 in finals). • Captured consecutive ATP Masters 1000 titles at Cincinnati (d. No. 1 Djokovic and Goffin) and Shanghai (d. Tsitsipas and A. Zverev). Also beat No. 1 Djokovic to reach 1st ATP Masters 1000 SF at Monte-Carlo (l. to Lajovic). • Won ATP 250 titles at Sofia (d. Fucsovics) and St. Petersburg (d. Coric) -- all 7 career titles are on hard courts. • Rallied from 2 sets down before falling to Nadal after 4 hours, 51 minutes in 1st Grand Slam final at US Open. • At age 23, became youngest Grand Slam finalist since Djokovic, 23, at 2010 US Open. • Became 1st Russian Grand Slam finalist since Safin at 2005 Australian Open. • Also runner-up at Brisbane (l. to Nishikori), Barcelona (d. Nishikori, l. to Thiem), Washington (l. to Kyrgios) and ATP Masters 1000 Montreal (d. Thiem and Khachanov, l. to Nadal). • Went 0-3 in Nitto ATP Finals debut (l. to Tsitsipas, Nadal after holding 1 MP and A. Zverev).
Novak Djokovic / Viktor Troicki (SRB) vs First Meeting Karen Khachanov / Daniil Medvedev (RUS) • Serbians are 11-10 as a team with win on Monday over Wimbledon finalist Mahut/Roger-Vasselin (FRA). Djokovic won his only doubles title at 2010 London/Queen’s Club w/Erlich. Troicki owns 2 doubles titles including 2017 Sofia with Serbian team captain Zimonjic. Djokovic is No. 157 (Career-High No. 114) and Troicki is No. 713 (Career-High No. 49). • Russians went 1-1 in Group D with win over Bolelli/Lorenzi (ITA). Entered ATP Cup with 0-3 team record on tour. Reached 2014 Roland Garros boys’ doubles QF. Khachanov has gone on to 2 ATP Masters 1000 finals w/Rublev (2018 Miami and 2019 Paris). Khachanov is No. 83 (Career-High No. 64). Medvedev is No. 186 (Career-High No. 170).
MEDIA NOTES
AUSTRALIA vs SPAIN
Nick Kyrgios (AUS) vs Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) Kyrgios Leads 1-0 15 Tokyo (Japan) Hard R16 Nick Kyrgios 6-4 6-2
Kyrgios 2019 Summary | Age: 24 | World No. 29 (Career-High No. 13) | 2019 W-L: 23-15 | Career Titles: 6 W (2): Acapulco (d A. Zverev); Washington (d Medvedev) • Owns 3-0 singles record at ATP Cup with wins over Struff (GER), S. Tsitsipas (GRE) and Norrie (GBR). • Finished as No. 2 Aussie for 4th time in 2019 (also 2014-15, 2018). Was No. 1 Aussie in 2016-17. • Earned 20+ wins and finished Top 35 for 5th straight season (2015-19). • Won ATP 500 titles at Acapulco (d. A. Zverev) and Washington (d. Medvedev). Owns 6 career titles (3 at ATP 500s). • Saved 3 MPs vs. Nadal in Acapulco 2R and 1 MP vs. Tsitsipas in Washington SF en route to titles. • Fell to No. 72 in FedEx ATP Rankings on 25 February -- lowest since No. 144 on 30 June 2014. • Withdrew from Rotterdam (knee), Houston (knee), Roland Garros (illness), Beijing (collarbone), ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (collarbone), Vienna (collarbone) and ATP Masters 1000 Paris (collarbone).
Bautista Agut 2019 Summary | Age: 31 | World No. 10 (Career-High No. 9) | 2019 W-L: 42-22 | Career Titles: 9 W (1): Doha (d Berdych) SF (3): Munich (l Berrettini); Wimbledon (l Djokovic); Zhuhai (l de Minaur) • Owns 4-0 record at ATP Cup with wins over Metreveli (GEO), Roncadelli (URU), Soeda (JPN) and Coppejans (BEL). • Finished as No. 2 Spaniard for the 2nd time in 2019 (also 2016). Won 40+ matches for 5th time (2014-17, 2019). • After 275 straight weeks in Top 30, broke into Top 10 on 19 August. Achieved career-high No. 9 on 4 November. • Advanced to 1st Grand Slam QF at Australian Open (l. to Tsitsipas) and 1st Grand Slam SF at Wimbledon (l. to No. 1 Djokovic). Entered 2019 with 0-9 record in Grand Slam 4R matches. • Posted 3 wins in 5 sets at Aus. Open (d. 5-time finalist Murray in 1R, Millman in 2R and 2018 finalist Cilic in 4R). • Earned 2nd win of career over No. 1 Djokovic en route to 9th ATP Tour title at Doha (d. Berdych). • Captured a title in January for 4th straight season (2016 Auckland, 2017 Chennai, 2018 Auckland, 2019 Doha). • Defeated No. 1 Djokovic for 3rd time to reach ATP Masters 1000 Miami QF (l. to Isner). • Also reached ATP Masters 1000 QFs at Montreal (l. to Monfils in 3rd-set TB) and Cincinnati (l. to Gasquet).
Alex de Minaur (AUS) vs Rafael Nadal (ESP) Nadal Leads 2-0 18 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass R32 Rafael Nadal 6-1 6-2 6-4 19 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R32 Rafael Nadal 6-1 6-2 6-4 de Minaur 2019 Summary | Age: 20 | World No. 18 (Career-High No. 18) | 2019 W-L: 41-20 | Career Titles: 3 W (3): Sydney (d Seppi); Atlanta (d Fritz); Zhuhai (d Mannarino) F (1): Basel (l Federer) • Owns 2-1 ATP Cup singles record with wins over Zverev (GER) and Shapovalov (CAN). Lost to Evans (GBR). • Bids to become youngest player to beat World No. 1 since Coric, 20, upset then-No. 1 Murray in 2017 Madrid 3R. • Finished as No. 1 Aussie for 2nd straight year in 2019. Achieved career-high No. 18 on 28 October. • Won 1st title in hometown of Sydney at age 19 (d. Seppi). Youngest Sydney champion since Hewitt, 19, in 2001. • Did not face a break point en route to 2nd title at Atlanta (d. Fritz). Became 3rd player to win a title without facing a break point since stats started being kept in 1991 (Haas at 2007 Memphis, Isner at 2017 Newport). • Added 3rd ATP 250 hard-court title of season at Zhuhai (d. Millman, Murray, Coric, Bautista Agut and Mannarino). • Runner-up with 4-1 record for 2nd straight year at Next Gen ATP Finals (l. to Sinner). • Reached 1st ATP 500 final at Basel as WC (l. to 10-time champion Federer). • Defeated No. 7 Nishikori to reach 1st Grand Slam 4R at US Open (l. to Dimitrov). • Snapped 5-match losing streak by reaching Roland Garros 2R (d. Klahn, l. to Carreno Busta). • Withdrew from New York due to illness, as well as ATP Masters 1000 Miami and Barcelona due to hip injury.
MEDIA NOTES
Nadal 2019 Summary | Age: 33 | World No. 1 (Career-High No. 1) | 2019 W-L: 58-7 | Career Titles: 84 W (4): ATP Masters 1000 Rome (d Djokovic); Roland Garros (d Thiem); ATP Masters 1000 Montreal (d Medvedev); US Open (d Medvedev) F (1): Australian Open (l Djokovic) • Owns 3-1 ATP Cup singles record with wins over Basilashvili (GEO), P. Cuevas (URU) and Nishioka (JPN). • Finished as No. 1 Spaniard for 15th straight year in 2019. Earned 30+ victories for 16th consecutive season. • Clinched year-end No. 1 for 5th time and became oldest year-end No. 1 in FedEx ATP Rankings history at age 33. • Won 12th Roland Garros (d. Thiem) and 4th US Open titles (d. Medvedev). Owns 19 Grand Slam titles (Federer 20). Improved to 24-0 in Roland Garros SFs and finals, 93-2 overall at Roland Garros and 118-2 in best-of-5-sets on clay. • Became 1st men’s or women’s player to win a Grand Slam event 12 times. Margaret Court won Aus. Open 11 times. • Oldest champion at Roland Garros since Gimeno, 34, in 1972 and US Open since Rosewall, 35, in 1970. • Captured ATP Masters 1000 titles at Rome (d. No. 1 Djokovic) and Montreal (d. Medvedev). • Now owns ATP Masters 1000 records for titles (35), finals (51) and wins (384). • Set an Open Era record by winning a title for 16th straight season (2004-19) -- breaking tie with Federer (2001-15). • Ranked in Top 10 for 768 consecutive weeks (25 April 2005 - 13 January 2020) -- 2nd only to Connors (789). • Did not drop a set en route to 5th Australian Open final. Did not win a set for only time in 27 Grand Slam finals (l. to No. 1 Djokovic). Defeated #NextGenATP players de Minaur in 3R, Tiafoe in QF and Tsitsipas in SF. • Five weeks after defeating Federer in Roland Garros SF, lost to him in Wimbledon SF. Owns 24-16 H2H lead. • Reached all 4 Grand Slam SFs in a season for 2nd time in career (also 2008). • Saved 1 MP vs. Medvedev and defeated eventual champion Tsitsipas at Nitto ATP Finals (2-1 in RR). • Conceded walkovers to Federer in Indian Wells SF (right knee) and Shapovalov in Paris SF (abdominal).
Chris Guccione / John Peers (AUS) vs First Meeting Pablo Carreno Busta / Rafael Nadal (ESP) • Aussies were only doubles team to go 3-0 in group play. Guccione owns 5 titles and is playing for 1st time since 2017 Australian Open w/Groth (l. to Kontinen/Peers in QF). Missed 3 years due to Achilles injuries. Peers owns 20 titles including 2017 Australian Open. Guccione is unranked (Career-High No. 38). Peers is No. 25 (Career-High No. 2). • Spaniards are 8-1 as a team including QF-clincher over Belgium. Won 2016 Beijing title together. Carreno Busta owns 3 titles and reached 2016 US Open final w/Garcia-Lopez. Nadal owns 11 titles, winning Indian Wells twice and 2016 Rio Olympics w/M. Lopez. Carreno Busta is No. 111 (Career-High No. 16). Nadal is unranked (Career-High No. 26).