Bnp Paribas Open: Preview & Day 1 Media Notes
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BNP PARIBAS OPEN: PREVIEW & DAY 1 MEDIA NOTES Thursday, March 10, 2016 Indian Wells Tennis Garden, Indian Wells, California, USA | March 10 – 20, 2016 Draw: S-96, D-32 | Prize Money: $7,037,595 | Surface: Outdoor Hard ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.bnpparibasopen.com Nicola Arzani: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour - #MarchMasters @BNPPARIBASOPEN - #BNPPO16 Martin Dagahs: [email protected] facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/BNPPARIBASOPEN Maria Garcia-Planas: [email protected] instagram.com/ATPWorldTour instagram.com/bnpparibasopen Edward La Cava@[email protected] Press Room: +1 760 2008008 BNP PARIBAS OPEN TALKING POINTS SPOTLIGHT ON INDIAN WELLS: The 41st edition of the BNP Paribas Open, the first of nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments this season, gets under way at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Thursday. The star-studded line-up features 43 of the Top 50 players in the Emirates ATP Rankings (17 of the Top 20), with World No. 1 and reigning champion (four times overall) Novak Djokovic leading the way. The other former winner in the field is Rafael Nadal, who captured the title in 2007, ’09, ’13. The tournament was first held in 1976 at nearby Mission Hills in Palm Springs where Jimmy Connors beat countryman Roscoe Tanner in the final. MARCH MASTERS: Since 1991, seven players (10 times) have won back-to-back Indian Wells and Miami titles in the same year. Djokovic is the only player to accomplish the feat three times (2011, ’14-15). Roger Federer won both titles in 2005-06. Here are the players to win both titles in the same year: Year - Novak Djokovic 2011, ’14-15 - Roger Federer 2005-06 - Andre Agassi 2001 - Marcelo Rios 1998 - Pete Sampras 1994 - Michael Chang 1992 - Jim Courier 1991 DAY 1 PREVIEW: The bottom half of the draw takes center stage on Thursday with 16 men’s singles matches on the order of play. Four of the six teenagers in the draw, part of the Next Generation on the ATP World Tour, are in action as Borna Coric (19) is first up on Stadium 1. The next men’s match is American wild cards Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz (both 18). On Stadium 2, Hyeon Chung (19) makes his debut. In the last match on Stadium 1, wild card Juan Martin del Potro, who reached the final in 2013, returns to the desert. For more match information on Thursday’s matches, see page 8. TOP FIVE CHAMPIONS: In 14 of the past 15 years, a Top 5 player has emerged victorious at the BNP Paribas Open with 2010 champion Ivan Ljubicic the only exception. Only three active players have won the title here: Djokovic (2008, ’11, ’14-15), Federer (2004, ‘05, ‘06, ‘12) and Nadal (2007, ‘09, ‘13). One of the three has ranked No. 1 every week since Feb. 2, 2004. DJOKOVIC EYES RECORD: Djokovic is seeking a record fifth BNP Paribas Open title. The 28- year-old Serb and Roger Federer own the tournament record with four titles each. Federer won titles from 2004-06 and in 2012. Last year Djokovic won his fourth title, surpassing Americans Jimmy Connors (1976, ‘81, ‘84) and Michael Chang (1992, ‘96, ‘97). BNP Paribas Open Day 1 – Thursday, March 10, 2016 Page 2 of 16 www.ATPWorldTour.com KEY TO REACHING NO. 1: In the YEAR YEAR-END NO. 1 W-L TITLES last six years (and eight of the last 2015 Novak Djokovic 39-2 6 10), the year-end No. 1 in the 2014 Novak Djokovic *28-4 4 Emirates ATP Rankings has won the most ATP Masters 1000 matches 2013 Rafael Nadal 35-3 5 during that season. Here’s a look at 2012 Novak Djokovic 34-6 3 the year-end No. 1 players and their 2011 Novak Djokovic 33-1 5 ATP Masters 1000 win-loss record 2010 Rafael Nadal 29-5 3 going back to 2006: 2008 Rafael Nadal 32-6 3 2006 Roger Federer 34-3 4 * Note: No. 2 Federer also won 28 ATP Masters 1000 matches BIG FOUR DOMINANCE: The ‘Big Four’ of Djokovic, Murray, Federer and Nadal has won 48 of the last 52 ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, which dates back to Nadal’s triumph at Monte-Carlo in 2010. The only other players to emerge with an ATP Masters 1000 title are: Robin Soderling (2010 Paris), David Ferrer (2012 Paris), Stan Wawrinka (2014 Monte-Carlo) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2014 Toronto). Here is a breakdown of the ATP Masters 1000 titles won by Djokovic (21), Nadal (12), Federer (8) and Murray (7) during that time: PLAYER 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Novak - 5 3 3 4 6 Djokovic Andy 2 2 - 1 - 2 Murray Roger 1 1 3 - 2 1 Federer Rafael 3 1 2 5 1 - Nadal Note: In the past 27 ATP Masters 1000 tournaments at least one member of the Big Four has reached the final. Last time without one of them in a final was 2012 Paris-Bercy: Ferrer d. Janowicz WEEKS AT NO. 1: Djokovic has held No. 1 the fifth-most weeks in the history of the Emirates ATP Rankings (since August 23, 1973). He has been No. 1 every week since July 7, 2014 (88 straight weeks as of Mar. 7). Here are the players who have ranked No. 1 for at least 100 weeks: PLAYER WEEKS AT NO. 1 1 Roger Federer 302 2 Pete Sampras 286 3 Ivan Lendl 270 4 Jimmy Connors 268 5 Novak Djokovic 189 (as of March 7) 6 John McEnroe 170 7 Rafael Nadal 141 8 Bjorn Borg 109 9 Andre Agassi 101 BNP Paribas Open Day 1 – Thursday, March 10, 2016 Page 3 of 16 www.ATPWorldTour.com RANKING RISERS: Here is a look at the five players in the Top 50 of the Emirates ATP Rankings who have made the biggest ranking improvements since the end of 2015: PLAYER JUMP 2015 YEAR-END MARCH 7 *Career-high Guido Pella +34 No. 74 No. 40 * Nicolas Mahut +27 No. 71 No. 44 Sam Querrey +23 No. 59 No. 36 Pablo Cuevas +15 No. 40 No. 25 Martin Klizan +15 No. 43 No. 28 NEXT GENERATION: There are eight Next Generation players in the main draw, including six teenagers. This is the most teenagers in the Indian Wells main draw since seven in 2006. Here’s a look at the talented 21 & under group (in age order): Ranking Age Frances Tiafoe (WC) No. 177 18 yrs., 1 month Taylor Fritz (WC) No. 80 18 yrs., 4 months Alexander Zverev No. 58 18 yrs., 10 months Borna Coric No. 47 19 yrs., 3 months Jared Donaldson (WC) No. 158 19 yrs., 4 months Hyeon Chung No. 64 19 yrs., 9 months Nick Kyrgios No. 27 20 yrs., 10 months Kyle Edmund No. 82 21 yrs., 1 month MURRAY JOINS FATHERHOOD: Andy Murray, who reached the Indian Wells final in 2009 (l. to Nadal), is playing his first tournament since becoming a father on Feb. 7 with the birth of his daughter, Sophia. Murray opened the season with his fifth runner-up at the Australian Open (l. to Djokovic). Over the weekend he lifted Great Britain to a 3-1 Davis Cup victory over Japan by clinching the 1st round tie with a five-set win over Kei Nishikori. The top four players in the Emirates ATP Rankings are all fathers: Became Father Titles Won as Father (Overall) 1) Novak Djokovic Oct. 21, 2014 15 (61) 2) Andy Murray Feb. 7, 2016 Indian Wells first tournament 3) Roger Federer July 23, 2009 28 (88) 4) Stan Wawrinka Feb. 12, 2010 12 (13) INFOSYS ATP WORLD TOUR WINS LEADERS: Dominic Thiem, who is ranked a career-high No. 13, leads the ATP World Tour with 20 match wins. Last year the Austrian native won his 20th match in Umag 2R on July 23. Last year he came into Indian Wells with a 3-5 record. Here are this year’s match wins leaders: W-L Titles 1) Dominic Thiem 20-4 2 2) Novak Djokovic 16-1 2 Roberto Bautista Agut 16-4 2 4) Stan Wawrinka 13-2 2 Pablo Cuevas 13-3 2 Viktor Troicki 13-6 1 Bernard Tomic 13-7 0 BNP Paribas Open Day 1 – Thursday, March 10, 2016 Page 4 of 16 www.ATPWorldTour.com DELPO RETURNS: Wild card entry Juan Martin del Potro is making his return to Indian Wells for the first time since 2013. This is the 27-year-old Argentine’s sixth appearance in Indian Wells (16-5 record). He’s reached the quarter-finals or better in four of his previous appearances. He reached the quarters in 2009, ’12, semi-finals in ’11 and final in his last visit in ’13. Last year the former World No. 4 played in two tournaments – Sydney (QF) and Miami (1R) before undergoing left wrist surgery on Jan. 20 and on June 18. He returned to action last month in Delray Beach where he advanced to the semi-finals (l. to eventual champ Querrey). Afterwards he jumped from No. 1,042 to No. 420 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. SEEDS TO WATCH SINGLES: SEED PLAYER RECORD BEST FINISH 1 Novak Djokovic (SRB) 41-6 W 2014-15, ‘11, ‘08 2 Andy Murray (GBR) 24-10 F 2009 3 Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 15-8 QF 2011, ‘08 4 Rafael Nadal (ESP) 44-8 W 2013, ‘09, ‘07 5 Kei Nishikori (JPN) 4-7 4R 2015 6 Tomas Berdych (CZE) 18-11 SF 2013 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 10-7 QF 2013 8 Richard Gasquet (FRA) 13-10 QF 2011 9 John Isner (USA) 18-8 F 2012 10 Marin Cilic (CRO) 6-8 4R 2014 11 Dominic Thiem (AUT) 2-2 3R 2014 12 Milos Raonic (CAN) 11-5 SF 2015 13 Gael Monfils (FRA) 3-7 3R 2006, ‘14 14 Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) 4-3 4R 2014 15 David Goffin (BEL) 1-2 2R 2013 16 Gilles Simon (FRA) 12-9 QF 2012 QUALIFIERS (12): WILDCARDS (5): YOUNGEST: Michael Berrer (GER) Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) Frances Tiafoe – 18y, 1m Bjorn Fratangelo (USA) Jared Donaldson (USA) Ryan Harrison (USA) Taylor Fritz (USA) OLDEST: Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) Mackenzie McDonald (USA) Michael Berrer – 35y, 8m Jozef Kovalik (SVK) Frances Tiafoe (USA) Vincent Millot (FRA) Renzo Olivo (ARG) TOP COUNTRY BREAKDOWN (32): Peter Polansky (CAN) USA (16), France (11), Spain (11), Argentina (8), Russia (5), Noah Rubin (USA) Australia (4), Canada (3), Croatia (3), Czech Republic (3), Alexander Sarkissian (USA) Germany (3), Great Britain (3), Serbia (3) Tim Smyczek (USA) Marco Trungelliti (ARG) BNP Paribas Open Day 1 – Thursday, March 10, 2016 Page 5 of 16 www.ATPWorldTour.com DOUBLES: SEED TEAM