OPEN 13 PROVENCE: DAY 7 MEDIA NOTES Sunday, 25 February 2018 Palais des Sports - Marseille, France | 19-25 February 2018 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: €645,485 Surface: Indoor Hard ATP World Tour Info Tournament Info ATP PR & Marketing ATPWorldTour.com Open13.fr Fabienne Benoit: [email protected] Twitter: @ATPWorldTour @Open13 Press Room: [email protected] Facebook: @ATPWorldTour @Open13 TV & Radio: TennisTV.com POUILLE AND KHACHANOV TAKE AIM AT OPEN 13 PROVENCE TITLE • No. 3 seed Lucas Pouille of France and No. 9 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia are the last two men standing in Marseille, and will meet for the Open 13 Provence championship on Sunday. The 24-year-old Frenchman and the 21-year-old Russian will be facing each other for the first time on the ATP World Tour. • It is a second consecutive final in Marseille for Pouille, who beat his compatriot Richard Gasquet in the semi- finals last year before losing in the title match to another Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. One year later, the No. 3 seed has surpassed both Tsonga and Gasquet to become the top-ranked French player on the ATP World Tour, and beat both of those players en route to his fifth singles title in Montpellier two weeks ago. Between Montpellier and Marseille, Pouille is 7-0 in France during February, and hopes to claim one more victory to clinch a second singles title in the last three weeks. This current rich vein of form is a far cry from his start to the year, where he played only one match during January: a loss to qualifier Ruben Bemelmans in the first round of the Australian Open. In Marseille, though, Pouille powered through the field after a first-round bye, outlasting Pierre-Hugues Herbert and No. 8 seed Filip Krajinovic in three-set tussles before easing past qualifier Ilya Ivashka in straight sets to reach the final. • No. 9 seed Khachanov had not been able to advance past the quarter-finals on the ATP World Tour this year, falling in that round at Auckland (to Juan Martin del Potro) and Montpellier (to David Goffin). But after early- round victories here over Bemelmans and Mischa Zverev, the Russian finally reached a semi-final with a win over Julien Benneteau, and then went one further with an upset of No. 4 seed Tomas Berdych – his second win in two meetings with the Czech. Khachanov now finds himself in his first ATP World Tour singles final since he won the Chengdu title in 2016, and he has not dropped a set in the tournament so far. This week, he leads the field in aces (43), first serve points won (82.88%), and service games won (97.22%). • The doubles final will start off the day, as players who have paired up on the main tour quite recently will attempt to clinch their maiden ATP World Tour title as a team. No. 1 seeds Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus will face off against 4th-seeded Marcus Daniell and Dominic Inglot, and although these veterans have 30 doubles titles amongst the four of them, they are all in their first ATP World Tour finals as their current combinations. This is just the sixth event Daniell and Inglot have played as a duo, while this is only the fourth Tour-level tournament top-seeded Klaasen and Venus have contested together. Each team contains a player who has had success here in the very recent past: Inglot reached the final last year partnering Robin Haase, while Venus was the champion two years ago alongside Mate Pavic. ATP RANKING POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY Open 13 Provence Champion Finalist Ranking Points 250 150 Singles Prize Money (€) 115,150 60,645 Doubles Prize Money (€) 34,980 18,390 For the latest stats, facts and figures about the ATP World Tour, follow @ATPMediaInfo on Twitter. Open 13 Provence Day 7 – Sunday, 25 February 2018 Page 2 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com FEDEX ATP HEAD2HEADS: SINGLES AND DOUBLES FINALS COURT CENTRAL [9] Karen Khachanov (RUS) vs [3] Lucas Pouille (FRA) First Meeting Khachanov Summary: 2018 Highlights: F (1): Marseille; QF (2): Auckland (l. to del Potro); Montpellier (l. to Goffin) YTD W-L: 9-4 YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 1 Date of Birth: 21 May 1996 (21) ATP Ranking: 47 Marseille W-L (Best Result): 4-1 (2018 Finalist) • Tournament Note: Defeated qualifier Bemelmans for first main-draw victory in Marseille, then eliminated M. Zverev in 2R and Benneteau in QF; moved into 1st final of the year after beating No. 4 seed Berdych for the 2nd time in 2 meetings; lost to two-time Marseille champion Gilles Simon in the 1R last year. • 1-0 in ATP World Tour singles finals: won in only previous career final, at Chengdu in 2016 (def. Ramos-Vinolas in F). • Advanced to QF at Auckland (d. Sugita and Cuevas, l. to Del Potro) and Montpellier (d. Ferrer and Berankis; l. to Goffin). • Also lost to Del Potro in Australian Open 2R. • Fell in the 1R last week at Rotterdam (l. to Kohlschreiber). • In 2017, achieved career-high ATP Ranking 10 times in 2017, peaking at No. 29 on 21 August after advancing to ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati 3R (d. Schwartzman and Fabbiano, l. to Sugita). • Last year, qualified for inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals (d. Donaldson, l. to Medvedev and Coric in RR). • Improved year-end ranking for four straight seasons (2014-2017). Pouille Summary: 2018 Highlights: W (1): Montpellier (d. Gasquet); F (1): Marseille YTD W-L: 7-2 YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 5 Date of Birth: 23 February 1994 (24) ATP Ranking: 16 Marseille W-L (Best Result): 6-3 (2017, 2018 Finalist) • Tournament Note: After 1R bye, overcame Herbert in 3 sets in 2R, then beat No. 8 seed Krajinovic in 3 sets in QF on Pouille’s 24th birthday; ousted [Q] Ivashka in SF the next day, which was Ivashka’s 24th birthday; advanced to the final last year (d. Bedene, Medvedev, Gasquet, l. to Tsonga). • 5-2 in ATP World Tour singles finals in his career. • Captured his fifth career ATP World Tour title earlier this month by claiming the Montpellier crown (d. Gasquet). • Seeking his third title on home soil (2016 Metz, d. Thiem). • Fell to 0-5 lifetime at Australian Open with 5th straight 1R loss at event (l. to Bemelmans). • Lost to Rublev in 1R last week at Rotterdam. • Only player to win titles on 3 surfaces in 2017, highlighted by biggest title of career at Vienna (d. Tsonga). • In 2017, saved 1 MP to beat Struff in 2R en route to 1st grass-court title at Stuttgart (d. Lopez). • Last year, also saved 2 MPs to beat Vesely in 2R en route to 1st clay-court title at Budapest (d. Bedene). • Achieved career-high No. 13 in ATP Rankings on 8 May 2017. DOUBLES FINAL [1] Raven Klaasen (RSA)/Michael Venus (NZL) vs First Meeting [4] Marcus Daniell (NZL)/Dominic Inglot (GBR) For the latest stats, facts and figures about the ATP World Tour, follow @ATPMediaInfo on Twitter. Open 13 Provence Day 7 – Sunday, 25 February 2018 Page 3 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com • Klaasen and Venus have teamed up on the ATP World Tour for the first time in 2018. Prior to this year, they had only played two Futures events in Uzbekistan together in 2011. Their career win-loss record is 5-3. • This is their first ATP World Tour final as a tandem. They made the semi-finals in their first Tour-level event together at Auckland in January, for their previous best result. • Venus won this title in 2016 partnering Mate Pavic (def. Erlich/Fleming). • After Auckland, they fell 1R at both Australian Open (l. to Lipsky/Marrero) and Rotterdam (l. to No. 1 team Kubot/Melo). • They also won one of the two Futures events they contested as a team in Uzbekistan in 2011. • Klaasen has won 13 ATP World Tour doubles titles in his career, including ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events at Shanghai in 2015 (w/Melo) and Indian Wells last year (w/Ram). He also reached the Australian Open final in 2014 (w/Butorac) and the final of the ATP Finals in 2016 (w/Ram). He is currently ranked No. 27, and peaked at No. 9 on 11 July 2016. • Venus won 5 ATP World Tour doubles titles in 2015 and 2016 with Mate Pavic (including Marseille in 2016), and won 2 more titles in 2017 with Ryan Harrison, including Roland Garros. Last year, he qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals with Harrison, reaching the SF. He is currently ranked No. 17, and peaked at a career-high No. 12 in the doubles rankings on 17 July 2017. • Daniell and Inglot started playing together at the end of last year in Basel, where they reached the SF as qualifiers. Their career win-loss record is 8-5. • This is their first ATP World Tour final as a tandem. • Inglot was runner-up here last year partnering Robin Haase. They lost in the final to Benneteau/Mahut, 5-10 in the match tiebreak. • This year, they reached the QF of the Australian Open, pushing eventual champions Marach/Pavic to a final-set tiebreak before succumbing. • They also fell 1R in Brisbane (l. to Kyrgios/Reid), Auckland (l. to Mirnyi/Oswald), and Montpellier (l. to K. Skupski/N. Skupski). • Daniell is currently ranked at a career-high No. 34. He was won 3 ATP World Tour doubles titles and has made 4 additional finals prior to this week.