SWISS INDOORS BASEL: DAY 5 MEDIA NOTES Friday, October 30, 2015
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SWISS INDOORS BASEL: DAY 5 MEDIA NOTES Friday, October 30, 2015 St. Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland | October 26 – November 1, 2015 Draw: S-32, D-16 | Prize Money: €1,575,295 | Surface: Indoor Hard ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.swissindoorsbasel.ch Martin Dagahs: [email protected] Twitter: @ATPWorldTour @_Swiss_Indoors Fabienne Benoit: [email protected] Facebook: facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/swissindoorsbasel Press Room: +41 61 3196993 FEDERER vs. GOFFIN IN 2014 FINAL REMATCH; GASQUET CONTINUES PUSH QUARTER-FINAL PREVIEW: It’s an opportunity that doesn’t come often – the chance to compete against your idol in the sport he inspired you to play. On Friday at St. Jakobshalle, David Goffin gets a third crack at Basel’s own Roger Federer, whose posters were plastered on his bedroom wall as a youngster. Federer defeated Goffin 62 62 in last year’s Basel final after beating the Belgian in a four-set, fourth-round match at 2012 Roland Garros. For Goffin, 24, to upset Federer, 34, he must overcome a series of statistical hurdles (see chart below). In other quarter-final action, World No. 7 Rafael Nadal and World No. 13 Marin Cilic meet for the first time in more than four years. Cilic is 0-10 against Top 10 players since winning the 2014 US Open title. Another Croat, 6- foot-11 Ivo Karlovic, challenges 11th-ranked Richard Gasquet for the right to play Cilic or Nadal in the semi-finals. Gasquet has his back against the wall in Basel, needing a title this week to keep his hopes alive of qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London Nov. 15-22. Rounding out Friday’s schedule is the first tour-level meeting between unseeded Americans Jack Sock and Donald Young. Two players from the United States are through to the Basel quarter-finals for the first time since Federer was a ballboy for Patrick McEnroe and Jared Palmer in 1994. Sock or Young will be the first American semi-finalist at Swiss Indoors Basel since Andy Roddick in 2010. FEDERER-GOFFIN NUMBERS BREAKDOWN Player Number Streak Federer 9 Basel finals (2006-14) 26 Wins vs. Belgians (26-2 overall) 40 Wins vs. non-Top 10 opponents in Basel (53-3 overall) Goffin 2 Matches this week on Court 2 (0 on Centre Court) 9 Losses vs. Top 10 opponents (1-20 overall) 11 Hard-court events played since last SF (2015 Chennai) INFOSYS ATP SCORES & STATS: Coming into Swiss Indoors Basel, No. 3 seed Rafael Nadal ranked third among all players in return games won this season. Please note that statistics do not include Davis Cup matches, percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number, and ties favor the player who has competed in more ATP World Tour matches this season. For complete Infosys ATP Scores & Stats leaderboards of all 10 categories, please visit ATPWorldTour.com. Rank Player Pct. Games Won Total Games Matches 1 David Ferrer 35 253 732 62 2 Novak Djokovic 34 329 958 77 3 Rafael Nadal 32 260 814 68 4 Andy Murray 31 276 889 69 5 Gilles Simon 30 234 775 61 Swiss Indoors Basel Day 5 – Friday, October 30, 2015 Page 2 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com EMIRATES ATP RACE TO LONDON UPDATE: With 10 days remaining in the Emirates ATP Race to London, two spots are still up for grabs at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Nov. 15-22. The Top 8 players in the race on Nov. 9 will compete at the year-end championships. Six players have qualified so far: Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych. David Ferrer and Kei Nishikori are next in line to qualify. Only race No. 9 Richard Gasquet is capable of passing either player. Gasquet must win titles this week at Basel and next week at ATP Masters 1000 Paris for a shot at qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. If and when Gasquet loses another match, Ferrer and Nishikori will secure their spots. Race Player Points Event SF F W 1 Novak Djokovic* 14,285 ------- ------- ------- ------- 2 Andy Murray* 7,870 ------- ------- ------- ------- 3 Roger Federer* 6,840 Basel 6,930 7,050 7,250 4 Stan Wawrinka* 6,140 Basel ------- ------- ------- 5 Tomas Berdych* 4,440 ------- ------- ------- ------- 6 Rafael Nadal* 4,330 Basel 4,330 4,450 4,650 7T David Ferrer 3,945 ------- ------- ------- ------- 7T Kei Nishikori 3,945 ------- ------- ------- ------- 9 Richard Gasquet 2,580 Basel 2,670 2,790 2,990 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 2,545 ------- ------- ------- ------- 11 Marin Cilic 2,395 Basel 2,485 2,605 2,805 12 Kevin Anderson 2,385 Basel ------- ------- ------- 13 John Isner 2,315 Basel ------- ------- ------- 14 Milos Raonic 2,170 ------- ------- ------- ------- 15 Gilles Simon 2,055 ------- ------- ------- ------- 16 David Goffin 1,715 Basel 1,805 1,925 2,125 17 Feliciano Lopez 1,680 Valencia ------- ------- ------- 18 Bernard Tomic 1,630 Valencia ------- ------- ------- 19 Dominic Thiem 1,555 Basel ------- ------- ------- 20 Benoit Paire 1,508 Valencia ------- ------- ------- * Qualified EMIRATES ATP DOUBLES RACE TO LONDON UPDATE: The Top 8 teams in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race to London on Nov. 9 will qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Nov. 15-22. Five teams are vying for one vacant spot, with the eighth and final qualifiers to be determined during ATP Masters 1000 Paris next week. In the meantime, No. 2 Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau can overtake No. 1 Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in the race by winning their Basel semi-final on Saturday. Race Team Points Event SF F W 1 Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan* 6,285 ------- ------- ------- ------- 2 Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau* 6,220 Basel 6,220 6,340 6,540 3 Jamie Murray/John Peers* 5,515 Basel 5,515 5,635 5,835 4 Ivan Dodig/Marcelo Melo* 5,140 ------- ------- ------- ------- 5 Simone Bolelli/Fabio Fognini* 4,895 ------- ------- ------- ------- 6 Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut* 4,765 ------- ------- ------- ------- 7 Marcin Matkowski/Nenad Zimonjic* 4,290 Basel 4,380 4,500 4,700 8 Rohan Bopanna/Florin Mergea 3,455 Basel ------- ------- ------- 9 Alexander Peya/Bruno Soares 2,920 Basel 3,010 3,130 3,330 10 Vasek Pospisil/Jack Sock 2,820 ------- ------- ------- ------- 11 Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah 2,735 Basel ------- ------- ------- 12 Daniel Nestor/Edouard Roger-Vasselin 2,530 Basel ------- ------- ------- * Qualified Swiss Indoors Basel Day 5 – Friday, October 30, 2015 Page 3 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com DAY 5 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play [5] Richard Gasquet (FRA) vs Ivo Karlovic (CRO) Gasquet Leads 4-1 05 ATP Masters 1000 Hamburg Clay R64 Richard Gasquet 6-1 1-0 ret 11 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R64 Ivo Karlovic 6-4 6-2 2-6 7-6(4) 13 Moscow (Russia) Hard SF Richard Gasquet 6-4 7-5 14 ATP Masters 1000 Toronto (Canada) Hard R32 Richard Gasquet 5-7 7-6(5) 6-3 15 ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (Spain) Clay R64 Richard Gasquet 6-3 6-4 Gasquet 2015 FastFacts W (2): Montpellier (d. Janowicz); Estoril (d. Kyrgios); SF (2): Wimbledon (l. to Djokovic); Stockholm (l. to Sock); QF (4): Doha (l. to Berdych); Dubai (l. to Federer); ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati (l. to Murray); US Open (l. to Federer) YTD W-L: 40-15 (24-10 on hard) YTD Titles: 2 / Career Titles: 12 Date of Birth: June 18, 1986 Emirates ATP Ranking: 11 Basel W-L (Best Result): 9-4 (2012 Semi-finalist) • No. 2 Frenchman kept London hopes alive with wins vs. Vesely 63 67(2) 64 in 1R and Thiem 76(1) 64 in 2R • On a 7-match win streak vs. Croats since falling to Karlovic at 2011 US Open (12-2 overall) • Improved to 12-12 lifetime in ATP World Tour finals by winning titles at Montpellier (d. Janowicz) and Estoril (d. Kyrgios) • Enjoyed 2nd Wimbledon SF run of career (also 2007) by winning QF over No. 4 Wawrinka 11-9 in 5th (l. to No. 1 Djokovic) • Reached Roland Garros 4R (l. to Djokovic), matching best result in Paris (also 2011-13) • Advanced to US Open QF (d. No. 6 Berdych, l. to No. 2 Federer) and Australian Open 3R (l. to Anderson) • Owns 21-6 record against Frenchmen since 2010 US Open (6 straight wins) • Withdrew from ATP Masters 1000 events at Miami (back), Monte-Carlo (back) and Montreal (illness) Karlovic 2015 FastFacts W: Delray Beach (d. Young); F: Newport (l. to Ram); SF (3): Doha (l. to Ferrer); Halle (l. to Federer); Bogota (l. to Mannarino); QF (5): Acapulco (l. to Harrison); Bucharest (l. to Vesely); ’s-Hertogenbosch (l. to Haase); Kuala Lumpur (l. to Kyrgios); Vienna (l. to Gulbis) YTD W-L: 38-23 (26-16 on hard) YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 6 Date of Birth: February 28, 1979 Emirates ATP Ranking: 23 Basel W-L (Best Result): 9-5 (2007, ’14 Semi-finalist) • No. 2 Croat set ATP aces record for a career on Oct. 8 by blasting 26 aces in Beijing 2R loss to Cuevas • His 10,381 career aces entering Basel QF are most ever and 1,386 in 2015 are 2nd only to Karlovic’s 1,477 in 1996 (statistics since 1991 and not including Davis Cup) • On Sept. 14, the 36-year-old became oldest player in Top 20 of Emirates ATP Rankings since Connors week of Feb. 19, 1990 • Captured 6th career title at Delray Beach (d. Young) to become oldest champion on ATP World Tour since 37-year-old Connors won 1989 Tel Aviv • 1 of only 4 players to defeat Djokovic in 2015 and only man to do it before a final (Doha QF) • Hit 45 aces in Halle QF win over No.