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MEDIA NOTES City ATP Tour PR Tennis Australia PR Sydney Brendan Gilson: [email protected] Harriet Rendle: [email protected] Brisbane Richard Evans: [email protected] Kirsten Lonsdale: [email protected] Perth Mark Epps: [email protected] Victoria Bush: [email protected] ATPCup.com, @ATPCup / ATPTour.com, @ATPTour / TennisTV.com, @TennisTV ATP CUP TALKING POINTS - SATURDAY 4 JANUARY 2020 • World No. 1 Rafael Nadal (ESP), No. 2 Novak Djokovic (SRB) and No. 4 Dominic Thiem (AUT) make their ATP Cup debuts Saturday as the second match of the night session in Perth, Brisbane and Sydney respectively. • Thiem takes on Borna Coric (CRO) at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney. Though Thiem has yet to break into the Top 3 of the FedEx ATP Rankings, he has at least four wins over Nadal, Djokovic and No. 3 Roger Federer. o 4-9 vs Nadal Wins at 2016 Buenos Aires, 2017 Rome, 2018 Madrid and 2019 Barcelona o 4-6 vs Djokovic Wins at 2017 & 2019 Roland Garros, 2018 Monte-Carlo and 2019 Nitto ATP Finals o 5-2 vs Federer Wins at Rome & Stuttgart in 2016 and Indian Wells, Madrid & ATP Finals in 2019 • Only three other players have at least four wins over each member of the Big Three -- 34-year-old Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 32-year-old Andy Murray and 31-year-old Juan Martin del Potro. Thiem is 26 years old and his .433- win percentage against the Big Three is better than Murray’s (.341), Tsonga’s (.291) and Del Potro’s (.274). • Despite Thiem’s emergence, the 2010s were a decade dominated from start to finish by Djokovic and Nadal. 2010-19 Statistics Player Grand Slams Weeks as ATP No. 1 Year-End No. 1 Finishes Novak Djokovic 15 275 2011-12, 2014-15, 2018 Rafael Nadal 13 159 2010, 2013, 2017, 2019 Roger Federer 5 47 ---- Andy Murray 3 41 2016 Others 4 0 ---- • Nadal opens against Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) at RAC Arena in Perth. Meanwhile at Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane, Djokovic meets Kevin Anderson (RSA) in a rematch of his championship win at 2018 Wimbledon. • Both Nadal and Djokovic are scheduled for doubles following their respective singles matches. On Friday, three of the 12 doubles teams on the order of play were changed by captains following the second singles match. Most notably, Bulgarian playing captain Grigor Dimitrov inserted himself into his team’s win over Great Britain. • All three day-session doubles matches are scheduled to feature a Grand Slam men’s doubles champion. o Two-time Grand Slam champion Lukasz Kubot leads Poland against Argentina in Sydney. o In Brisbane, France boasts two Grand Slam winners in Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin. o Former Roland Garros champion Pablo Cuevas partners his younger brother Martin Cuevas in Perth. • The oldest of the 118 players at the ATP Cup is expected to compete on Saturday. Toshihide Matsui, a 41- year-old from Japan, is scheduled to team with Ben McLachlan, 27, against the Cuevas brothers in Perth. • Matsui is currently No. 759 in the FedEx ATP Rankings and No. 177 in the FedEx ATP Doubles Rankings. He is the oldest of the 1,927 ranked singles players and the eighth-oldest of the 2,247 ranked doubles players. • Matsui played collegiately at BYU-Hawaii (1997-2000). He lists German captain Boris Becker as his tennis idol. MEDIA NOTES ATP CUP - TEAM LINEUPS SYDNEY - GROUP C (BEL, GBR, BUL, MDA) and GROUP E (AUT, CRO, ARG, POL) Belgium Great Britain Bulgaria Moldova David Goffin Daniel Evans Grigor Dimitrov (PC) Radu Albot Steve Darcis (PC) Cameron Norrie Dimitar Kuzmanov Alexander Cozbinov Kimmer Coppejans James Ward Alexandar Lazarov Egor Matvievici Sander Gille Joe Salisbury Adrian Andreev Dmitrii Baskov Joran Vliegen Jamie Murray Alexander Donski Vladimir Albot (C) Tim Henman (C) Austria Croatia Argentina Poland Dominic Thiem Borna Coric Diego Schwartzman Hubert Hurkacz Dennis Novak Marin Cilic Guido Pella Kamil Majchrzak Sebastian Ofner Viktor Galovic Juan Ignacio Londero Kacper Zuk Jurgen Melzer Nikola Mektic Andres Molteni Wojciech Marek Oliver Marach Ivan Dodig Maximo Gonzalez Lukasz Kubot Thomas Muster (C) Luka Kutanjac (C) Gaston Gaudio (C) Marcin Matkowski (C) BRISBANE - GROUP A (SRB, FRA, RSA, CHI) and GROUP F (GER, GRE, CAN, AUS) Serbia France South Africa Chile Novak Djokovic Gael Monfils Kevin Anderson Cristian Garin Dusan Lajovic Benoit Paire Lloyd Harris Nicolas Jarry Nikola Milojevic Gilles Simon (PC) Ruan Roelofse Alejandro Tabilo Viktor Troicki Nicolas Mahut Khololwam Montsi Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera Nikola Cacic Edouard Roger-Vasselin Raven Klaasen Hans Podlipnik-Castillo Nenad Zimonjic (C) Jeff Coetzee (C) Paul Capdeville (C) Germany Greece Canada Australia Alexander Zverev Stefanos Tsitsipas Denis Shapovalov Alex de Minaur Jan-Lennard Struff Michail Pervolarakis Felix Auger-Aliassime Nick Kyrgios Mats Moraing Markos Kalovelonis Steven Diez John Millman Kevin Krawietz Petros Tsitsipas Peter Polansky John Peers Andreas Mies Alexandros Skorilas Adil Shamasdin Chris Guccione Boris Becker (C) Apostolos Tsitsipas (C) Adriano Fuorivia (C) Lleyton Hewitt (C) PERTH - GROUP B (ESP, JPN, GEO, URU) and GROUP D (RUS, ITA, USA, NOR) Spain Japan Georgia Uruguay Rafael Nadal Yoshihito Nishioka Nikoloz Basilashvili Pablo Cuevas Roberto Bautista Agut Go Soeda Aleksandre Metreveli Martin Cuevas Pablo Carreno Busta Toshihide Matsui George Tsivadze Juan Martin Fumeaux Albert Ramos-Vinolas Ben McLachlan Aleksandre Bakshi Franco Roncadelli Feliciano Lopez Satoshi Iwabuchi (C) Zura Tkemaladze Ariel Behar Francisco Roig (C) David Kvernadze (C) Felipe Maccio (C) Russia Italy USA Norway Daniil Medvedev Fabio Fognini John Isner Casper Ruud Karen Khachanov Stefano Travaglia Taylor Fritz Viktor Durasovic Teymuraz Gabashvili Paolo Lorenzi Tommy Paul Lukas Hellum-Lilleengen Ivan Nedelko Alessandro Giannessi Rajeev Ram Herman Hoeyeraal Konstantin Kravchuk Simone Bolelli Austin Krajicek Leyton Rivera Marat Safin (C) Alberto Giraudo (C) David Macpherson (C) Christian Ruud (C) C: Captain, PC: Playing Captain MEDIA NOTES ATP CUP - SYDNEY GROUP E SATURDAY MATCHES ARGENTINA vs POLAND Guido Pella (ARG) vs Kamil Majchrzak (POL) First Meeting Pella 2019 Summary | Age: 29 | World No. 25 (Career-High No. 20) | W-L: 36-25 | Career Titles: 1 W (1): Sao Paulo (d Garin) F (1): Cordoba (l Londero) • Finished as No. 2 Argentine for 1st time in 2019. • Earned career-high 36 wins and achieved career-high No. 20 in ATP Rankings on 19 August. • Did not drop a set en route to 1st ATP Tour title in 5th career final at Sao Paulo (d. Garin). • Let 6-3 4-2 lead against countryman Londero slip away in Cordoba final. • Reached SFs at Buenos Aires (d. Munar after saving 4 MPs, l. to Cecchinato) and Los Cabos (l. to Schwartzman). • Advanced to 1st Grand Slam QF at Wimbledon (d. 2018 finalist Anderson and 2016 finalist Raonic, l. to Bautista Agut) and 1st ATP Masters 1000 QF at Monte-Carlo (l. to Nadal). • Doubles semi-finalist at ATP Masters 1000 Madrid w/J. Sousa (l. to Schwartzman/Thiem) and Roland Garros w/Schwartzman (l. to Krawietz/Mies). • Conceded W/O vs. Cecchinato in Doha 2R (lower back). Withdrew from ATP Masters 1000 Paris (knee). Majchrzak 2019 Summary | Age: 23 | World No. 101 (Career-High No. 83) | W-L: 3-6 | Career Titles: 0 • Finished as No. 2 Pole for 3rd straight year in 2019. Was No. 1 Pole in 2016. • Advanced to US Open 3R as LL with 5-set wins over Jarry and Cuevas (l. to Dimitrov). • Earned 1st ATP Tour win of career at Newport (d. Gray, l. to eventual champion Isner in 2R). • Qualified at Australian Open (ret. vs. Nishikori in 1R due to cramping), Wimbledon (l. to Verdasco in 1R), Atlanta (l. to Ebden in 1R) and Antwerp (l. to Sinner in 1R). • Broke into Top 100 of ATP Rankings on 29 July and achieved career-high No. 83 on 23 September. • Went 32-16 on ATP Challenger Tour with titles at St. Brieuc, FRA (d. Janvier) and Ostrava, CZE (d. Sinner). • Withdrew from Chengdu due to illness. Diego Schwartzman (ARG) vs Hubert Hurkacz (POL) First Meeting Schwartzman 2019 Summary | Age: 27 | World No. 14 (Career-High No. 11) | W-L: 40-26 | Career Titles: 3 W (1): Los Cabos (d Fritz) F (2): Buenos Aires (l Cecchinato); Vienna (l Thiem) • Finished as No. 1 Argentine for 1st time in 2019. • Earned career-high 40 wins, highlighted by 3rd ATP Tour title of career at Los Cabos (d. Fritz). • Saved 1 MP vs. Thiem to reach final in hometown of Buenos Aires (l. to Cecchinato). Fell to Thiem in Vienna final. • Beat No. 6 Nishikori for biggest win of career and to reach 1st ATP Masters 1000 SF at Rome (l. to No. 1 Djokovic). • Equaled biggest win of career by beating No. 6 A. Zverev to reach 3rd Grand Slam QF at US Open (l. to Nadal). • Defeated defending champion Cilic to reach London/Queen’s Club QF (l. to Medvedev). • Advanced to Wimbledon 3R for 1st time (l. to Berrettini after holding 3 MPs). • Reached doubles finals w/Thiem at Buenos Aires (l. to M. Gonzalez/Zeballos) and ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (l. to Rojer/Tecau). Also advanced to Roland Garros doubles SF w/Pella (l. to Krawietz/Mies). • Retired in Rio de Janeiro 1R vs. Cuevas due to right leg injury. MEDIA NOTES Hurkacz 2019 Summary | Age: 22 | World No. 37 (Career-High No. 33) | W-L: 25-24 | Career Titles: 1 W (1): Winston-Salem (d Paire) QF (3): Dubai (l Tsitsipas); ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Federer); Eastbourne (l Fritz) • Finished as No. 1 Pole for 2nd straight year in 2019. • Won 1st title at Winston-Salem (d. Paire). Became 2nd Polish champion of Open Era (Fibak: 15 titles from 1976-82).