Simon, Anderson Attempt to Win First Atp Title Since 2015 Atp Ranking Points and Prize Money Fedex Atp Head2heads
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TATA OPEN MAHARASHTRA: DAY 6 MEDIA NOTES Saturday, 6 January 2018 Balewadi Stadium | Pune, India | 1-6 January 2018 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: $501,345 | Surface: Outdoor Hard ATP World Tour Info Tournament Info ATP PR & Marketing ATPWorldTour.com MaharashtraOpen.com Edward La Cava: [email protected] Twitter: @ATPWorldTour @MaharashtraOpen Press Room: : +91 98692 33393 Facebook: @ATPWorldTour @MaharashtraOpen TV & Radio: TennisTV.com SIMON, ANDERSON ATTEMPT TO WIN FIRST ATP TITLE SINCE 2015 • The championship on Saturday at the Tata Open Maharashtra features unseeded Gilles Simon of France against No. 2 seed Kevin Anderson of South Africa. Both players are making their tournament debut this week and they both lost the opening set in their semi-final match on Friday. • Anderson comes in with a 3-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Simon, winning two of the matches in three sets and the last meeting 62 76 in the 1R of Tokyo last October. They met in doubles in the first round on Tuesday with Herbert/Simon beating Anderson/Erlich 36 63 10-5. • Simon has defeated defending champion Roberto Bautista Agut in the 2R and top seed/World No. 6 Marin Cilic in the semi-finals en route to his first ATP World Tour final since Sept. 27, 2015 Metz (l. to Tsonga). The 33-year-old Frenchman’s last ATP title came in Marseille (d. Monfils) on Feb. 22, 2015. He has a 12-6 record in ATP World Tour singles finals. The last Frenchman to win the Indian tournament title was Jerome Golmard in Chennai in 2000. Simon is also in his first career ATP World Tour doubles final (w/Herbert). The last double champion in India was Xavier Malisse (w/D. Norman) in 2007. • Anderson, who is the tournament leader in aces (60), service games won (37 of 39, 95%) and break points saved (9 of 11, 82%), will improve to No. 10 in the ATP Rankings (from No. 14) if he wins the title. The only previous time he ranked in the Top 10 was on Oct. 12, 2015 at No. 10. Anderson is playing his first tournament with new coach Brad Stine, the former mentor of former World No. 1 Jim Courier. The 31-year-old South African is 3-10 lifetime in career finals and his last ATP World Tour title came at 2015 Winston-Salem (d. Herbert). This is Anderson’s first final since reaching his maiden Grand Slam title match at the US Open (l. to Nadal). ATP RANKING POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY Tata Open Maharashtra Champion Finalist Ranking Points 250 150 Singles Prize Money $89,435 $47,105 Doubles Prize Money $27,170 $14,280 FEDEX ATP HEAD2HEADS: SATURDAY CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH Centre Court Gilles Simon (FRA) vs [2] Kevin Anderson (RSA) Anderson Leads 3-0 13 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Kevin Anderson 6-3 1-6 6-4 15 London / Queen's Club (Great Britain) Grass SF Kevin Anderson 6-3 6-7(6) 6-3 17 Tokyo (Japan) Hard R32 Kevin Anderson 6-2 7-6(6) Simon 2017 Summary QF(2): Marseille (l Tsonga); Lyon (l Berdych) 2017 W-L: 16-25 (10-13 on hard) 2017 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 12 Date of Birth: December 27, 1984 (33) ATP Ranking: 89 Tournament History (Best Result): 4-0 (2018 Finalist) For the latest stats, facts and figures about the ATP World Tour, follow @ATPMediaInfo on Twitter. Tata Open Maharashtra Day 6– Saturday, 6 January 2018 Page 2 of 2 www.ATPWorldTour.com • Tournament History: Veteran Frenchman made debut on Monday with a 64 61 win over Sandgren and followed with 63 76 win over [3]/reigning champion Bautista Agut, then a 62 63 victory over [Q] Ojejda Lara and 16 63 62 win over [1]/two-time champ CIlic. Leads in return games won (16 of 38, 42%) this week. Has held serve 33 of 41 games (80%) • Appearing in first ATP World Tour final since 2015 Metz (l. to Tsonga) and his last title came in 2015 Marseille (d. Monfils). Has a 12-6 record in ATP World Tour finals • Last season reached QFs at Marseille (l. to Tsonga) and Lyon (l. to Berdych) • Advanced to 3R at Australian Open (l. to Raonic) and ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (d. Goffin, l. to Gasquet) • Saved 2 MPs to beat countryman Monfils 06 60 76(0) in ATP Masters 1000 Madrid 1R (l. to Lopez in 2R) • Dropped to No. 74 in ATP Rankings on October 23 -- lowest since No. 86 on April 10, 2006 • Owns 0-12 doubles record with 14-match losing streak dating back to 2016 Tokyo SF w/Qureshi (l. to Klaasen/Ram) • Helped France to 4-1 win over Japan in Davis Cup 1R (d. Nishioka) Anderson 2017 Summary F(2): Washington (l A. Zverev); US Open (l Nadal); SF(1): Estoril (l Muller); QF(3): Geneva (l Nishikori); ATP Masters 1000 Montreal (l A Zverev); Stockholm (l Verdasco) 2017 W-L: 32-21 (18-13 on hard) 2017 Titles: 0 / Career Titles : 3 Date of Birth: May 18, 1986 (31) ATP Ranking: 14 Tournament History (Best Result): 3-0 (2018 Finalist) • Tournament History: Top South African made his Pune debut with a 76 3-2 ret. win over [Q] Monteiro on Wednesday and followed with a 67 64 62 victory over [7] Kukushkin and 67 76 61 triumph over [4/WC] Paire to reach final. Leads tournament in aces (60) and service games won (95%, 37 of 39) and break pts. saved (82%, 9 of 11) • Has a 3-10 career record in finals and his last ATP World Tour title came at 2015 Winston-Salem (d. Herbert) • Last season finished at No. 14, his fourth Top 20 showing in ATP Rankings in last five years • Reached 1st Grand Slam final at US Open as World No. 32 (l. to No. 1 Nadal), becoming lowest-ranked US Open finalist since inception of rankings in 1973 and Grand Slam finalist since No. 38 Tsonga at 2008 Australian Open • Became 1st South African US Open finalist in Open Era and Grand Slam finalist since Curren at 1984 Aus. Open • Also tallest Grand Slam finalist in Open Era at 6-foot-8, oldest 1st-time Grand Slam finalist at age 31 since Pilic at 1973 Roland Garros, and 1st Grand Slam finalist who played college tennis (Illinois) since T. Martin at 1999 US Open • Saved 1 MP to beat No. 1 seed Thiem in Washington 3R en route to 1st final since 2015 (l. to A. Zverev) • Fell in 4R at Roland Garros (ret vs Cilic due to left thigh injury) and Wimbledon (l. to Querrey in 5 sets) • Avenged loss to Querrey in ATP Masters 1000 Montreal 3R (l. to eventual champion A. Zverev in QF) • Reached Estoril SF (l. to Muller), Geneva QF (l. to Nishikori after holding 3 MPs) and Stockholm QF (l. to Verdasco) • Dropped to No. 80 in ATP Rankings on January 16 -- lowest since No. 87 on August 9, 2010 • Withdrew from Brisbane (hip), Australian Open (hip), London/Queen’s Club Q (leg) and Winston-Salem (right elbow) DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) / Gilles Simon (FRA) vs [2] Robin Haase (NED / Matwe Middelkoop (NED) First Meeting • Both teams lost the opening set of their 1R matches and have won six straight sets since then • Herbert/Simon are playing together for the first time this week and the only set they lost came in the 1R against Anderson/Erlich 36 63 10-5. Also beat [4]/reigning champions Bopanna/Nedunchezhiyan in QFs • Herbert is 11-5 in doubles finals and ranked No. 13 in the ATP doubles rankings • Simon is appearing in his first career ATP World Tour doubles final. He is ranked No. 824 in doubles • Haase/Middelkoop are playing together in their second tournament (2017 US Open, QF) and they have a 7-2 record together. They also played in a 2016 and 2017 Davis Cup tie (1-1). They dropped the opening set in their 1R match vs. Kadhe/Paire (16 75 10-7) and then won their next six sets. • Haase is 2-7 lifetime in ATP World Tour doubles finals and his last title came in 2014 Gstaad • Middlekoop is 4-2 lifetime in ATP World Tour doubles finals (2-2 last year) and his last title came in St. Petersburg last October For the latest stats, facts and figures about the ATP World Tour, follow @ATPMediaInfo on Twitter. TATA OPEN MAHARASHTRA: DAY 5 MEDIA NOTES Friday, 5 January 2018 Balewadi Stadium | Pune, India | 1-6 January 2018 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: $501,345 | Surface: Outdoor Hard ATP World Tour Info Tournament Info ATP PR & Marketing ATPWorldTour.com MaharashtraOpen.com Edward La Cava: [email protected] Twitter: @ATPWorldTour @MaharashtraOpen Press Room: : +91 98692 33393 Facebook: @ATPWorldTour @MaharashtraOpen TV & Radio: TennisTV.com THREE OF TOP FOUR SEEDS HEADLINE SEMI-FINALS IN PUNE • The semi-finals on Friday at the Tata Open Maharashtra are led by three of the top four seeds, with top seed and 2009-2010 champion Marin Cilic taking on unseeded Gilles Simon and No. 2 seed Kevin Anderson playing wild card/ No. 4 seed Benoit Paire. • In the opening match on Centre Court, Cilic plays Simon, who holds a 5-1 head-to-head advantage over the Croat. Simon, who knocked off defending champion Roberto Bautista Agut in the 2R, has not lost a set (6-0) en route to his first ATP World Tour semi-final since October 2016 at ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai.