KONZUM CROATIA OPEN UMAG: DAY 4 MEDIA NOTES Thursday, July 21, 2016
ATP Stadion, Umag, Croatia | July 18 – 24, 2016 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: €520,070 | Surface: Clay
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TOP 2 SEEDS TAKE TO CENTRE COURT ON THURSDAY
Day 4 Preview: The top two seeds kick off their campaign at the Konzum Croatia Open Umag on Thursday. The top seed Pablo Cuevas begins the day’s action on Center Court with a first-time meeting on the ATP World Tour with Gastao Elias. The 30-year-old Cuevas, who won the title two years ago as a qualifier (d. Robredo) ranked No. 60, is making his fourth tournament appearance (7-2 record). He is putting together his best season on the ATP World Tour, winning back-to-back titles in Rio de Janeiro (d. Pella) and Sao Paulo (d. Carreno Busta) in February. He also reached his first grass court final in Nottingham (l. to Johnson) and in Hamburg (l. to Klizan) last Sunday He is ranked a career-high No. 20. The 25-year-old Elias is playing here on a career-high No. 72 ranking after reaching his first career ATP World Tour semi-final last week at Bastad (l. to Verdasco).
Following is the second meeting between Leonardo Mayer and the No. 2 seed Joao Sousa. The 29- year-old Mayer won their only previous encounter in three sets in the first round at 2014 Oeiras. The 27- year-old Sousa, who reached the final last year (l. to Thiem), achieved a career-high ranking of No. 28 on May 16. He is the highest-ranked Portuguese player in the history of the Emirates ATP Rankings. After a 5-13 start through April, Sousa has compiled an 11-8 match record, highlighted by the semi-finals in Nice (l. to A. Zverev) and quarter-finals at ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (l. to Nadal) and Bastad (l. to Elias).
On Grandstand, No. 6 seed Pablo Carreno Busta faces Teymuraz Gabashvili for the second time (Gabashvili leads 1-0), while Slovaks No. 7 seed Martin Klizan and Andrej Martin meet for the first time on the ATP World Tour.
DAY FOUR FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS: In Order of Play by Court
Centre Court
[1] Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs Gastao Elias (POR) First ATP Meeting Other meetings: 15 Montevideo CH (Uruguay) Clay R16 Pablo Cuevas 4-6 7-5 6-3
Cuevas FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: W(2): Rio de Janeiro (d Pella); Sao Paulo (d Carreno Busta); F(2): Nottingham (l Johnson); Hamburg (l Klizan); QF: Buenos Aires (l Ferrer) YTD W-L: 28-13 (21-7 on clay) YTD Titles: 2 / Career Titles: 5 Date of Birth: January 1, 1986 Emirates ATP Ranking: 20 (Career-high) Umag W-L (Best Result-Year): 7-2 (Winner 2014)
• Tournament Note: The 30-year-old Argentinian captured the title here in 2014 (d. Robredo) and is playing here for the fourth time (7-2 tournament record) • Captured back-to-back titles at Rio de Janeiro (d. Pella) and São Paulo (d. Carreño Busta) • First player to beat only lefties en route to a title (d. Bagnis, Monteiro, Delbonis, No. 5 Nadal and Pella in Rio) • Owns 13-2 record against left-handed players and 15-11 record against right-handed players in 2016 Konzum Croatia Open Umag Day 4 – Thursday, July 21, 2016 Page 2 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com
• Reached 1st grass-court final at Nottingham (d. Baghdatis after saving 1 MP in QF, l. to Johnson) • Advanced to Roland Garros 3R for 2nd straight year (d. Kamke and Halys, l. to No. 8 Berdych) • Beat both Kohlschreiber and Monfils 76 in 3rd to reach ATP Masters 1000 R16 for 1st time in Madrid (l. to Kyrgios) • In doubles w/Granollers, reached Barcelona final (d. Dodig/Melo in 1R, l. to Bryan/Bryan), Australian Open SF (d. Dodig/Melo in 3R, l. to Nestor/Stepanek) and Roland Garros QF (d. Rojer/Tecau in 2R, l. to Kubot/Peya)
Elias FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: SF: Bastad (l Verdasco); QF: Sao Paulo (l Lajovic) YTD W-L: 7-7 (7-5 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: November 24, 1990 Emirates ATP Ranking: 72 (Career-high) Umag W-L (Best Result-Year): 1-0 (2R 2016)
• Tournament Note: The 25-year-old Portuguese defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 61 62 in his debut on Tuesday • Last week reached 1st career ATP World Tour SF at Bastad (l. to Verdasco) • Playing here on a career-high No. 72 Emirates ATP Ranking • Advanced to 3rd ATP World Tour QF at São Paulo as Q (d. Andujar and Giraldo, l. to Lajovic) • Also qualified at Buenos Aires (l. to Thiem in 2R after holding 1 MP) and Rio de Janeiro (l. to Giraldo in 1R) • Captured Challenger singles titles at Turin, ITA (d. Lopez-Perez) and Mestre, ITA (d. Lorenzi and Zeballos) • Won Challenger doubles title w/Ghem at Rio de Janeiro, BRA (d. Eysseric/Reyes-Varela) and reached final w/Neis at Vicenza, ITA (l. to Golubev/Mektic) • Fell 76 in 5th to Thiem and lost 2-set lead w/Sousa vs. Peya/Thiem in Davis Cup Group I (AUT d. POR 4-1)
Leonardo Mayer (ARG) vs [2] Joao Sousa (POR) Mayer Leads 1-0 14 Oeiras (Portugal) Clay R32 Leonardo Mayer 3-6 6-1 6-2
Mayer 2016 FastFacts: QF(2): Doha (l Djokovic); Estoril (l Almagro) YTD W-L: 11-14 (5-7 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 1 Date of Birth: May 15, 1987 Emirates ATP Ranking: 117 Umag W-L (Best Result-Year): 2-1 (2R 2013, ‘16)
• Tournament Note: The 29-year-old Argentine won 10 of the final 12 games against wild card Nikola Mektic to reach the 2R 75 62 on Monday. Also reached 2R in only other tournament appearance in 2013 (l.to Klizan) • Extended Davis Cup win streak to 11 matches by beating Hurkacz and Przysiezny in 1R (ARG d. POL 3-2) • Reached QFs at Doha (l. to eventual champion Djokovic) and Estoril (l. to eventual champion Almagro) • Beat Groth and Troicki en route to ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells 3R (l. to Cilic) • Loss to No. 9 Tsonga in Buenos Aires 2R was 8th straight defeat against a Top 10 opponent (1-24 overall) • Withdrew from Houston, Barcelona, London/Queen’s Club and Nottingham due to right shoulder tendinitis
Sousa FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: SF: Nice (l Zverev); QF(2): ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (l Nadal); Bastad (l Elias) YTD W-L: 16-21 (10-9 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 2 Date of Birth: March 30, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 32 Umag W-L (Best Result-Year): 4-3 (Runner-up 2015)
• Tournament Note: The 27-year-old Portuguese fell to Dominic Thiem in the final last year • Reached 1st ATP Masters 1000 QF at Madrid (d. Mahut, Granollers and Sock; l. to No. 5 Nadal) • Lost 21st straight match vs. Top 10 opponent in Halle 1R vs. No. 7 Thiem (1-23 overall) • Achieved career-high No. 28 in Emirates ATP Rankings on May 16 • Defeated No. 20 Anderson en route to Nice SF (l. to A. Zverev in 3 sets) • Advanced to 3R at Australian Open (l. to eventual finalist Murray in 4 sets) and Wimbledon (l. to Vesely) • Contributed Portugal’s lone win in 4-1 Davis Cup Group I loss to Austria (d. G. Melzer) Konzum Croatia Open Umag Day 4 – Thursday, July 21, 2016 Page 3 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com
Grandstand
Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) vs [6] Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) Gabashvili Leads 1-0 15 Barcelona (Spain) Clay R64 Teymuraz Gabashvili 7-5 6-4
[7] Martin Klizan (SVK) vs Andrej Martin (SVK) First ATP Meeting Other meetings: 08 Great Britain F16 (Great Britain) Hard R32 Martin Klizan 6-1 6-4 09 Czech Republic F3 (Czech Republic) Clay R16 Martin Klizan 6-2 6-2 11 Bergamo CH (Italy) Hard R32 Martin Klizan 6-4 1-6 7-6(3) 11 Trnava CH (Slovakia) Clay R32 Andrej Martin 6-1 6-2