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Millennium : DAY 4 MEDIA NOTES Thursday, April 28, 2016

Clube de Ténis do Estoril, Estoril, | April 25-May 1, 2016 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: €463,520 | Surface: Clay

ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.MillenniumEstorilOpen.com Edward La Cava: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour @EstorilOpen Press Room: +351 21 284 1816 facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/MillenniumEstorilOpen

TOP SEED SIMON, NO. 4 SOUSA, NO. 7 MAYER ATTEMPT TO REACH QUARTERS

 DAY 4 PREVIEW: Second round action concludes on Thursday at the Millennium Estoril Open as top seed , No. 4 seed and Portugal’s top player Joao Sousa and No. 7 seed attempt to reach the quarter-finals.

In the first match on Estadio Millennium, Japanese No. 2 looks for his first win against Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, who has won five previous Futures meetings and one Challenger match, all in between 2010-14. Daniel is attempting to reach his second career ATP World Tour quarter- final, the first since Vina del Mar in February 2014 as a qualifier. Carreno Busta is trying to advance to his fourth ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season. In February, he reached his maiden ATP World Tour final in Sao Paulo (l. to Cuevas).

In the second match on, another Spaniard, Nicolas Almagro, squares off with Sousa for the first time. Almagro is trying to even his match record this season (8-9) and advance to his second quarter-final of the year. In February, he was runner-up in Buenos Aires (l. to Thiem). Sousa comes in ranked No. 34, just one spot off his career-high set on Nov. 9 last year. The 27-year-old Portuguese native is looking to advance to his first quarter-final of the season. He has an overall match record of 5-12 (1-3 on clay).

In the third match on, Simon and countryman Paul-Henri Mathieu meet for the fifth time. Mathieu has won three of the previous four meetings, including their only clay match in the 2R at Roland Garros in 2007. Simon, one of five Frenchmen in the Top 25 Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 18, comes in with an 11-8 match record on the season (3-1 on clay). His best result is the quarter-finals at ATP Masters 1000 Miami (l. to Goffin). Mathieu is aiming to reach his third ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season, the second this month after a quarter-final showing in Marrakech. The 34-year-old Frenchman is 8-7 this season (3-3 on clay).

In the final match on, Mayer and Lorenzi meet for the first time on the ATP World Tour although they met twice in South American clay court Challenger finals in 2012 with each player winning once. Lorenzi won the Medellin, Colombia title in three sets before Mayer avenged the loss the following week in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Mayer is attempting to reach his second ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season, the first since the opening week in . Lorenzi is eyeing his fourth quarter-final of the year, the second in as many weeks (Bucharest). The 34-year-old Italian has a 12-7 record on clay this season.

DAY 4 FEDEX ATP 2 HEADS – In Order of Play

ESTADIO MILLENNIUM

Taro Daniel (JPN) vs Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) First ATP Meeting Other meetings: 10 Spain F35 (Spain) Hard R32 Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4 6-3 11 Spain F3 (Spain) Clay QF Pablo Carreno Busta 6-2 6-0 11 Spain F6 (Spain) Clay R32 Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3 6-0 13 Spain F2 (Spain) Clay F Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3 5-7 6-1 13 Spain F7 (Spain) Carpet QF Pablo Carreno Busta 6-2 4-6 6-4 14 CH (Spain) Clay F Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4 6-1 Millennium Estoril Open Day 4 – Thursday, April 28, 2016 Page 2 of 4 www.ATPWorldTour.com

Daniel 2016 FastFacts: YTD W-L: 4-9 (3-5 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: January 27, 1993 Emirates ATP Ranking: 90 Estoril W-L (Best Result): 1-0 (2016 2R)

• Tournament Note: Japanese No. 2 opened on Tuesday with a 75 61 win over Canadian qualifier • Looking to reach second career ATP World Tour QF, first since 2014 Vina del Mar (l. to Almagro) as qualifier • Earned 1st ATP Masters 1000 win at Monte-Carlo as Q (d. Mannarino, l. to Thiem in 2R) • Also qualified at Rio de Janeiro (l. to Cervantes in 1R) • Defeated Istomin to reach Montpellier 2R (l. to Baghdatis) • Achieved career-high No. 85 in Emirates ATP Rankings on April 18

Carreño Busta 2016 FastFacts F: São Paulo (l. to Cuevas); QF (2): Quito (l. to Bellucci); Marrakech (l. to Delbonis) YTD W-L: 12-11 (11-7 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: July 12, 1991 Emirates ATP Ranking: 50 Estoril W-L (Best Result): 4-1 (2015 Semi-finalist)

• Tournament Note: Opened on Wednesday with 1R win over countryman Verdasco 61 63. Last year defeated Lestienne, Vega Hernandez and Muller to reach 2015 Estoril SF (l. to Kyrgios) • In February, defeated 4 countrymen en route to 1st ATP World Tour singles final at São Paulo (l. to Cuevas) • Also advanced to QFs at Quito (l. to Bellucci in 3 sets) and Marrakech (l. to Delbonis) • Won 1st ATP doubles title at Quito w/Duran (d. Bellucci/Demoliner) • Also reached back-to-back doubles finals w/Marrero at Rio de Janeiro (d. Melo/Soares, l. to Cabal/Farah) and São Paulo (l. to Peralta/Zeballos)

Nicolas Almagro (ESP) vs [4] Joao Sousa (POR) First Meeting

Almagro 2016 FastFacts F: Buenos Aires (l. to Thiem) YTD W-L: 8-9 (7-6 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 12 Date of Birth: August 21, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 71 Estoril W-L (Best Result): 3-1 (2015 Quarter-finalist)

• Tournament Note: Opened with 63 62 win on Monday over wild card 63 62 in 1R. Defeated Robert and L. Mayer en route to 2015 Estoril QF (l. to Gasquet) • Advanced to 1st final since 2014 Houston at Buenos Aires in February (l. to Thiem 76 in 3rd) • Beat No. 9 Tsonga in QF and No. 6 Ferrer in SF to snap 6-match losing streak vs. Top 10 (19-66 overall) • Improved to 1-15 lifetime against fellow Spaniard Ferrer • Reached 2R at (l. to Thiem), Rio de Janeiro (l. to No. 5 Nadal) and Marrakech (l. to Garcia-Lopez) • Held 2 MPs in 1R before falling to Gabashvili 16 76(3) 62

Sousa 2016 FastFacts: YTD W-L: 5-12 (1-3 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 2 Date of Birth: March 30, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 34 Estoril W-L (Best Result): 0-1 (2015 1R)

• Tournament Note: Last year No. 1 Portuguese player lost in 1R to countryman 76 63 • Advanced to Australian Open 3R for 2nd straight season (l. to eventual finalist Murray in 4 sets) • Contributed Portugal’s lone win in 4-1 Group I loss to Austria (d. G. Melzer) • Suffered a 5-match losing streak after beating Giraldo in Australian Open 2R • Fell to No. 1 Djokovic in ATP Masters 1000 Miami 3R, his 19th straight loss vs. Top 10 opponents (1-21 overall) • Lost to Fognini in Auckland 1R after holding 2 MPs Millennium Estoril Open Day 4 – Thursday, April 28, 2016 Page 3 of 4 www.ATPWorldTour.com

[1] Gilles Simon (FRA) vs Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) Mathieu Leads 3-1 07 Roland Garros () Clay R64 Paul-Henri Mathieu 3-6 6-4 6-1 7-6(2) 07 New Haven (U.S.A.) Hard QF Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4 6-3 08 (France) Hard QF Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-3 6-4 12 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass R128 Gilles Simon 6-3 5-4 ret

Simon 2016 FastFacts: QF: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Goffin) YTD W-L: 11-8 (3-1 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 12 Date of Birth: December 27, 1984 Emirates ATP Ranking: 18 Estoril W-L (Best Result): Debut

• Tournament Note: The 31-year-old Frenchman is making his tournament debut. In 2009, ranked No. 8 and was the top seed when the tournament was held in its former location and lost in QFs (l. to Montanes in third set TB) • Advanced to Australian Open 4R for 3rd time (d. Donskoy in 5 sets, l. to No. 1 Djokovic in 5 sets) • Pushed Djokovic to 100 unforced errors over 4 hours, 32 minutes • Reached ATP Masters 1000 Miami QF (d. Monaco, Cilic and Pouille; l. to Goffin) • Helped France to 5-0 sweep of Canada in Davis Cup 1R with straight-set win over Pospisil • As defending champion, held 3 MPs vs. Gabashvili in Marseille 1R before losing 76 in 3rd

FRENCHMEN IN TOP 25: Simon is the No. 4 Frenchman at No. 18 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Here are the Frenchmen in the Top 25: No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga No. 10 No. 14 Gael Monfils No. 18 Gilles Simon No. 21 Benoit Paire

Mathieu 2016 FastFacts: F: Montpellier (l Gasquet); QF: Marrakech (l Coric) YTD W-L: 8-7 (3-3 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 4 Date of Birth: January 12, 1982 Emirates ATP Ranking: 60 Estoril W-L (Best Result): 1-0 (2016 2R)

• Tournament Note: The 34-year-old Frenchman made his tournament debut on Tuesday, defeating Portugal No. 2 Gastao Elias 63 64 • Looking to reach third ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season • Fell short of 1st ATP World Tour title since 2007 with loss in Montpellier final (d. Paire in 2R, l. to No. 10 Gasquet) • On a 5-match losing streak in finals (4-6) and 22-match losing streak vs. Top 10 opponents (10-59) • Beat Ramos-Viñolas and M. Gonzalez to advance to Marrakech QF (l. to Coric in 3 sets) • Saved 1 MP in 63 46 76(7) win over Ramos-Viñolas in Doha 1R (l. to Chardy in 2R) • Fell to 1-9 in Challenger finals with 3-set loss to Rublev in Quimper, FRA championship match

Millennium Estoril Open Day 4 – Thursday, April 28, 2016 Page 4 of 4 www.ATPWorldTour.com

[7] Leonardo Mayer (ARG) vs (ITA) First ATP Meeting Other meetings: 12 Medellin CH (Colombia) Clay F Paolo Lorenzi 7-6(5) 6-7(4) 6-4 12 Guayaquil CH (Ecuador) Clay F Leonardo Mayer 6-2 6-4

L. Mayer 2016 FastFacts QF: Doha (l. to Djokovic) YTD W-L: 8-7 (2-1 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 1 Date of Birth: May 15, 1987 Emirates ATP Ranking: 46 Estoril W-L (Best Result): 1-1 (2016 2R)

• Tournament Note: Opened on Monday with 61 64 win over Portuguese wild card . Last year, following 1R bye, lost to Almagro in 2015 Estoril 2R • Extended Davis Cup win streak to 11 matches by beating Hurkacz and Przysiezny in 1R (ARG d. POL 3-2) • Started season with run to Doha QF (l. to eventual champion Djokovic) • Beat Groth and Troicki en route to ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells 3R (l. to Cilic) • Went 1-5 in 6 matches following Doha 2R win over Andujar • Loss to No. 9 Tsonga in Buenos Aires 2R was 8th straight defeat against a Top 10 opponent (1-24 overall) • Withdrew from Houston and Barcelona due to shoulder tendinitis

Lorenzi 2016 FastFacts: SF: Quito (l Bellucci); QF(2): Buenos Aires (l Nadal); Bucharest (l Pouille) YTD W-L: 12-9 (12-7 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: December 15, 1981 Emirates ATP Ranking: 52 Estoril W-L (Best Result): 1-0 (2016 2R)

• Tournament Note: The 34-year-old Italian made his tournament debut on Tuesday, defeating Elias Ymer 76 63 • Saved 3 MPs to beat Chiudinelli in Davis Cup 1R opening rubber after 4 hours, 43 minutes (ITA d. SUI 5-0) • Won longest tiebreak in history of Davis Cup World Group, taking 1st set against Chiudinelli 76(14) • Advanced to 2nd ATP World Tour singles SF of career at Quito (d. Tomic, l. to Bellucci) • Followed with QF run at Buenos Aires (d. Schwartzman, l. to No. 5 Nadal) • Reached 3rd ATP doubles final at Buenos Aires w/Cervantes (l. to Cabal/Farah) • Captured 17th ATP Challenger Tour singles title at Canberra, AUS (d. Dodig) and reached 31st final at Bucaramanga, COL (l. to G. Melzer)