ERSTE BANK OPEN: DAY 3 MEDIA NOTES Wednesday, October 21, 2015
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ERSTE BANK OPEN: DAY 3 MEDIA NOTES Wednesday, October 21, 2015 Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria | October 19-25, 2015 Draw: S-32, D-16 | Prize Money: €1,745,040 | Surface: Indoor Hard ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.erstebank-open.com Martin Dagahs: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour facebook.com/ErsteBankOpenVienna Fabienne Benoit: [email protected] facebook.com/ATPWorldTour Press Room: +43 1 98100578 PAST CHAMPIONS TSONGA, HAAS GO HEAD-TO-HEAD ON WEDNESDAY DAY 3 PREVIEW: The first round concludes and second round begins at the Erste Bank Open on Wednesday. Seeking berths in the quarter-finals are 6-foot-11 Ivo Karlovic and 6-foot-10 John Isner, who will bring their big serves against Sergiy Stakhovsky and Ernests Gulbis respectively. While Karlovic and Isner already have a victory in Vienna this week, No. 2 seed Kevin Anderson and No. 4 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga play their opening-round matches on Centre Court. Anderson broke into the Top 10 on Oct. 12, then went on to reach the ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai quarter- finals. But Tsonga defeated him en route to the final and replaced him in this week’s Top 10. On Wednesday, Anderson meets 2010 finalist Andreas Haider-Maurer and Tsonga takes on Tommy Haas in a battle of former champions. Tsonga won the Vienna title in 2011, while Haas captured the championship in 2001 and 2013. Neither player competed at the 2014 Erste Bank Open. FORMER VIENNA FINALISTS IN 2015 DRAW Player Year Final Result David Ferrer* 2014 l. to Murray 57 62 75 Tommy Haas 2013 d. Haase 63 46 64 Jo Wilfried Tsonga 2011 d. del Potro 67(5) 63 64 Andreas Haider-Maurer 2010 l. to J. Melzer 67(10) 76(4) 64 Gael Monfils* 2008 l. to Petzschner 64 64 Tommy Haas 2001 d. Cañas 62 76(6) 64 Tommy Haas 2000 l. to Henman 64 64 64 * Advanced to 2R with 1R win on Tuesday INFOSYS ATP SCORES & STATS: No. 3 seed John Isner and No. 7 seed Ivo Karlovic are both in second-round action at the Erste Bank Open on Wednesday. It comes as no surprise that the two tallest men on the ATP World Tour also possess the two most effective serves. But whose is better: Isner’s or Karlovic’s? According to Infosys ATP Scores & Stats, Karlovic has the edge on Isner in four of six service categories. Please note that all numbers are entering the Erste Bank Open, all percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number, and all ties favor the player who has competed in more matches this season. For full Infosys ATP Scores & Stats leaderboards of all six service and four return categories, please visit ATPWorldTour.com. Infosys ATP Statistic Karlovic Rank Isner Rank Aces 1,294 1 1,130 2 1st Serve 66% 7 70% 2 1st-Serve Points Won 85% 1 80% 3 2nd-Serve Points Won 57% 5 57% 4 Service Games Won 96% 1 94% 2 Break Points Saved 80% 1 74% 3 Erste Bank Open Day 3 – Wednesday, October 21, 2015 Page 2 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com EMIRATES ATP RACE TO LONDON UPDATE: With three weeks remaining in the Emirates ATP Race to London, two spots are 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. As of Wednesday, 990 race points separate No. 8 David Ferrer and No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who could each gain 500 points by winning the Vienna title. ATP World Tour 250 events in Moscow and Stockholm are also under way. A maximum of 1,500 points are at stake after the Erste Bank Open at an ATP World Tour 250 event in Valencia (Oct. 26-Nov. 1); an ATP World Tour 500 event in Basel (Oct. 26-Nov. 1); and ATP Masters 1000 Paris (Nov. 2-8). Race Player Points This Week 2R QF SF F W 1 Novak Djokovic* 14,285 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 2 Andy Murray* 7,870 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 3 Roger Federer* 6,750 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 4 Stan Wawrinka* 6,140 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 5 Rafael Nadal* 4,330 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 6 Tomas Berdych* 4,280 Stockholm ------- 4,280 4,280 4,340 4,440 7 Kei Nishikori 3,945 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 8 David Ferrer 3,490 Vienna ------- 3,535 3,625 3,745 3,945 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 2,500 Vienna 2,545 2,590 2,680 2,800 3,000 10 Richard Gasquet 2,445 Stockholm ------- 2,490 2,535 2,595 2,695 11 Kevin Anderson 2,385 Vienna 2,385 2,385 2,475 2,595 2,795 12 John Isner 2,315 Vienna ------- 2,315 2,405 2,525 2,725 13 Marin Cilic 2,190 Moscow ------- 2,190 2,235 2,295 2,395 14 Milos Raonic 2,170 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 15 Gilles Simon 2,055 Stockholm ------- 2,055 2,055 2,115 2,215 16 Feliciano Lopez 1,680 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17 David Goffin 1,670 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 18 Bernard Tomic 1,630 Stockholm ------- 1,630 1,675 1,735 1,835 19 Dominic Thiem 1,555 Vienna ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 20 Fabio Fognini 1,460 Vienna 1,460 1,505 1,595 1,715 1,915 * 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. As is the case in singles, only two spots remain. Six of the Top 11 teams in the race are competing at the Erste Bank Open, including No. 7 Marcin Matkowski/Nenad Zimonjic and No. 8 Rohan Bopanna/Florin Mergea. The race within this race, however, is between No. 1 Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan and No. 2 Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau. With Bob Bryan off this week, Wimbledon champions Rojer and Tecau can take over as No. 1 in the race by winning the Vienna title. Race Team Points QF SF F W 1 Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan* 6,285 ------- ------- ------- ------- 2 Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau* 5,950 6,040 6,130 6,250 6,450 3 Ivan Dodig/Marcelo Melo* 5,140 ------- ------- ------- ------- 4 Jamie Murray/John Peers* 5,125 ------- 5,215 5,335 5,555 5 Simone Bolelli/Fabio Fognini* 4,895 ------- ------- ------- ------- 6 Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut* 4,765 ------- ------- ------- ------- 7 Marcin Matkowski/Nenad Zimonjic 4,110 4,200 4,290 4,410 4,610 8 Rohan Bopanna/Florin Mergea 3,455 3,545 3,635 3,755 3,955 9 Alexander Peya/Bruno Soares 2,830 ------- 2,920 3,040 3,240 10 Vasek Pospisil/Jack Sock 2,820 ------- ------- ------- ------- 11 Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah 2,690 2,735 2,825 2,945 3,145 * Qualified Erste Bank Open Day 3 – Wednesday, October 21, 2015 Page 3 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com DAY 3 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play CENTRE COURT 2R Ernests Gulbis (LAT) vs [3] John Isner (USA) Series Tied 2-2 08 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass R128 Ernests Gulbis 7-5 7-5 6-7(3) 7-6(6) 13 ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo Clay R64 Ernests Gulbis 4-6 6-2 6-3 13 Valencia (Spain) Hard R32 John Isner 7-6(4) 7-6(2) 14 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells Hard QF John Isner 7-6(4) 7-6(3) Gulbis 2015 FastFacts QF (2): Nice (l. to Thiem); ATP Masters 1000 Montréal (l. to Djokovic) YTD W-L: 9-22 (5-12 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 6 Date of Birth: August 30, 1988 Emirates ATP Ranking: 117 Vienna W-L (Best Result): 3-2 (2008, ’12, ’15 2nd Round) • No. 1 Latvian snapped 5-match losing streak by beating Austrian qualifier Miedler 63 26 63 in 1R on Monday • Enjoyed best week of season as a qualifier at ATP Masters 1000 Montréal • In Montréal, saved 2 MPs to beat Thiem in 1R en route to QF (l. to No. 1 Djokovic in 3 sets) • Also reached Nice QF (bye, d. Dolgopolov, l. to Thiem) • Started 1-11 and has suffered 3 losing streaks of 5-or-more matches this season • Lone Grand Slam win of season came at Roland Garros (d. Sijsling, l. to Mahut in 2R) Isner 2015 FastFacts W: Atlanta (d. Baghdatis); F: Washington (l. to Nishikori); SF (2): ATP Masters 1000 Miami (l. to Djokovic); Nice (l. to Thiem); QF (5): Memphis (l. to Querrey); ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (l. to Berdych); London/Queen's Club (l. to Troicki); ATP Masters 1000 Montréal (l. to Chardy); Beijing (l. to Djokovic) YTD W-L: 42-22 (28-13 on hard) YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 10 Date of Birth: April 26, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 13 Vienna W-L (Best Result): 1-1 (2015 2nd Round) • No. 1 American defeated 6-foot-8 French qualifier De Schepper 76(4) 76(5) in 1R on Tuesday • Won 3rd straight Atlanta title (d. Baghdatis) and reached Washington final (l. to No. 5 Nishikori) to improve career ATP World Tour finals record to 10-10 • Eclipsed 40 wins for 2nd time in career (45-21 in 2012) • Started 5-6 before defeating No. 6 Raonic and No. 5 Nishikori en route to ATP Masters 1000 Miami SF (l. to No. 1 Djokovic) • Comes into Vienna ranked No. 2 in aces (1,130), 1st-serve percentage (70%) and service games won (94%), as well as No. 3 in 1st-serve points won (80%) and break points saved (74%) • Reached 3R at Wimbledon (l.