sign in sign up
<<
Home , 2010 Qatar Open, ATP (treaty), ATP Race, Daniel Nestor, David Nalbandian, Denis Kudla

: PREVIEW & DAY 1 MEDIA NOTES Monday, October 26, 2015

St. Jakobshalle, Basel, | October 26 – November 1, 2015 Draw: S-32, D-16 | Prize Money: €2,022,300 | 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

BASEL TALKING POINTS

 SPOTLIGHT ON SWITZERLAND: Six-time Basel winner will be making his 16th appearance in his hometown tournament (56-9 record). Countryman , who is appearing in the tournament for the 12th time (9-11 record), is the No. 2 seed. No. 3 seed returns to Basel for the second straight year and he is playing back-to-back years for the first time since 2003-04.The other seeds are: No. 4 , No. 5 , No. 6 , No. 7 Marin Cilic and No. 8/last year’s runner-up . Federer is the only former champion in the field. He is 6-5 in finals, reaching the title match in each of the last nine years (6-3).In last year’s final, Federer defeated first-time Basel participant Goffin 62 62

 DAY 1 PREVIEW: World No. 7 Nadal headlines the action on the opening day. The Spaniard, who is coming off a final in Beijing and SF at ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai in his last two tournaments, takes on No. 3 Lukas Rosol. Nadal has won two of the previous three meetings.In the opening match of the day, No. 2 Serb takes on French qualifier for the first time. In the final match on, local wild card plays American for the first time in a main draw. On Court 2, three-time ATP World Tour winner this year takes on Dutch qualifier , who won the previous two meetings.

 EMIRATES ATP RACE TO LONDON: With 14 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: , , Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych.. A maximum of 1,500 race points are on the line in the final two weeks 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 World Tour Masters 1000 Paris (Nov. 2-8).

Race Player Points This Week 1 Novak Djokovic* 14,285 ------2 Andy Murray* 7,870 ------3 Roger Federer* 6,750 Basel 4 Stan Wawrinka* 6,140 Basel 5 Tomas Berdych* 4,440 ------6 Rafael Nadal* 4,330 Basel 7 3,945 ------8 3,945 Valencia 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 2,545 ------10 Richard Gasquet 2,535 Basel 11 Marin Cilic 2,395 Basel 12 Kevin Anderson 2,385 Basel 13 John Isner 2,315 Basel 14 2,170 ------Swiss Indoors Basel Day 1 – Monday, October 26, 2015 Page 2 of 8 www.ATPWorldTour.com

15 2,055 ------16 Feliciano Lopez 1,680 Valencia 17 David Goffin 1,670 Basel 18 1,630 Valencia 19 Dominic Thiem 1,555 Basel 20 Benoit Paire 1,508 Valencia * Qualified  ROGER REIGNING CHAMPION – Federer enters with a 53-9 match record on the season, including nine finals (5-4), second only to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic’s 13 finals (9-4). Among Federer’s five titles, he won for the seventh time in Dubai and ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati where he beat the top 2 players back-to-back (Murray, Djokovic) without getting broken. He also won for the eighth time in Halle. All four of his runner-up losses have come to Djokovic, including at ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells and Rome and events at Wimbledon and US Open. Federer is 56-9 lifetime in Basel and the last time he failed to reach the final in Basel came in 2003 when he lost to Ivan Ljubicic in the 2R. He did not play in Basel in 2004-05 but he’s reached the final every year since 2006 when he won the title for the first time (d. F. Gonzalez). He began with a 14-6 record in Basel but over the last nine years is 42-3.

 ROGER AS TOP SEED – This is the eighth time Federer comes into Basel as the top seed and the previous seven times he reached the final, winning five times. He is 33-2 as the No. 1 seed in Basel. Here is a look at his results:

2014– Winner (d. Goffin) 2012 – Runner-up (l. to del Potro) 2010 – Winner (d. Djokovic) 2009 – Runner-up (l. to Djokovic) 2008 – Winner (d. Nalbandian) 2007 – Winner (d. Nieminen) 2006 – Winner (d. Gonzalez)

 STAN THE MAN – Wawrinka comes in as the No. 2 seed, the highest in his 12th Basel appearance (9-11 record). The 30-year-old Swiss is 4-0 in finals this season, winning his second Grand Slam crown a Roland Garros. Wawrinka’s best results in Basel came in 2006 and ’11 when he advanced to the semi-finals. He brings a 5-1 head-to-head record against big-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic in the 1R.

 1,000 ACES CLUB – For the first time going into an ATP World Tour tournament, three players with at least 1,000 aces are in the main draw. The trio of Ivo Karlovic (1,321), John Isner (1,162) and Kevin Anderson (1,003) have surpassed 1,000 aces this season, with Anderson the latest to accomplish the feat in Vienna where he hit 23 in his QF loss to .

 RAFA RETURNS – Nadal is back in Basel for the second consecutive year after reaching the QF last year (l. to Coric). This is the first time he’s played back-to-back years in Basel since 2003-04 when he lost in the 1R both years. Nadal is coming off a strong performance in China where he reached the final in Beijing (l. to Djokovic) and followed with a SF at ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (l. to Tsonga). Nadal has won two career indoor ATP World Tour titles, at ’05 ATP Masters 1000 Madrid and ’13 Sao Paulo (on clay).

 Nestor Eyes Milestone – is closing in on a historic doubles milestone. The 43-year- old Canadian is three match wins away from becoming the first player in the Open Era to register 1,000 career match wins. Nestor is playing with Edouard Roger-Vasselin. Since teaming up with the Frenchman in for the first time, they have compiled a 16-4 match record.

Swiss Indoors Basel Day 1 – Monday, October 26, 2015 Page 3 of 8 www.ATPWorldTour.com

FORMER BASEL CHAMPIONS AND FINALISTS (Since 2004):

YEAR WINNER FINALIST Bold = Denotes those in this year’s draw 2014 Roger Federer David Goffin 2013 Juan Martin del Potro Roger Federer

2012 Juan Martin del Potro Roger Federer

2011 Roger Federer Kei Nishikori 2010 Roger Federer Novak Djokovic

2009 Novak Djokovic Roger Federer 2008 Roger Federer

2007 Roger Federer 2006 Roger Federer Fernando Gonzalez

2005 Fernando Gonzalez

2004 Jiri Novak David Nalbandian

FORMER BASEL DOUBLES CHAMPIONS (Since 2004):

YEAR WINNER YEAR WINNER 2014 & Nenad Zimonjic 2013 & 2008 & 2012 Daniel Nestor & Nenad Zimonjic 2007 & 2011 Michael Llodra & Nenad Zimonjic 2006 Mark Knowles & Daniel Nestor 2010 Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan 2005 Agustin Calleri & Fernando Gonzalez 2009 Daniel Nestor & Nenad Zimonjic 2004 Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan

SEEDS TO WATCH THIS WEEK

SINGLES:

SEED PLAYER RECORD BEST FINISH

1. Roger Federer (SUI) 56-9 W 2014, ‘11, ‘10, ‘08, ‘07, ‘06 2. Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 9-11 SF 2011, ‘06 3. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 2-3 QF 2014 4. Kevin Anderson (RSA) 2-1 QF 2012 5. Richard Gasquet (FRA) 7-4 SF 2012 6. John Isner (USA) 2-2 R16 2010, ‘09 7. Marin Cilic(CRO) 3-2 QF 2009 8. David Goffin (BEL) 4-1 F 2014

Swiss Indoors Basel Day 1 – Monday, October 26, 2015 Page 4 of 8 www.ATPWorldTour.com

 QUALIFIERS (4):  WILDCARDS (2):  OLDEST: Robin Haase (NED) (SUI) Ivo Karlovic (CRO) (POL) Henri Laaksonen (SUI) - 36 yrs, 7 months Dusan Lajovic (SRB) Adrian Mannarino (FRA)  YOUNGEST: Borna Coric (CRO) - 18 yrs, 11 months  TOP COUNTRY BREAKDOWN: Switzerland (4), USA (4), (3) Czech Republic (2), (2), (2), (2)

DOUBLES:

SEED PLAYER BEST FINISH 1. & SF 2014 2. Jean-Julien Rojer & Horia Tecau TEAM DEBUT 3. & R16 2014 4. & Nenad Zimonjic TEAM DEBUT

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

EMIRATES ATP RANKINGS POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY

W F SF QF R16 R32 SINGLES RANKINGS POINTS 500 300 180 90 45 0 SINGLES PRIZE MONEY (€) 381,925 172,200 81,560 39,360 20,065 11,035 DOUBLES RANKINGS POINTS 500 300 180 90 0 — DOUBLES PRIZE MONEY (€) 112,830 50,900 24,000 11,600 5,960 —

DAY 1 FEDEX ATP HEAD2HEADS – In Order of Play by Court

CENTER COURT

Viktor Troicki (SRB) vs [Q] Adrian Mannarino (FRA) First Meeting

Troicki 2015 FastFacts: W: Sydney (d Kukushkin); F: Stuttgart (l Nadal); SF: London / Queen's Club (l Murray); QF(2): Zagreb (l Garcia-Lopez); Acapulco (l Anderson) YTD W-L: 33-26 (19-15 on hard) YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 2 Date of Birth: February 10, 1986 Emirates ATP Ranking: 25 Basel W-L (Best Result): 3-4 (SF 2010)

 No. 2 Serb is making his fifth main appearance in Basel, first since 2012 when he lost in 1R (l. to Dimitrov). His best result was SF in 2010 (l. to countryman Djokovic)  In second week of season, won first all-qualifier final in ATP World Tour history to claim 2nd career title at Sydney (d. Kukushkin)  In June, defeated No. 9 Cilic 76 in 3rd to reach Stuttgart final (l. to No. 10 Nadal). Also beat No. 9 Cilic in London/Queen's Club 2R (l. to No. 3 Murray in SF) and No. 9 Raonic in Beijing 1R (l. to Lu in 2R)

Swiss Indoors Basel Day 1 – Monday, October 26, 2015 Page 5 of 8 www.ATPWorldTour.com

 Capped 10-4 grass-court campaign with Wimbledon 4R (l. to Pospisil in 5 sets), matching career-best showing at a Grand Slam (also 2011 Roland Garros, 2012 Wimbledon, 2013 Roland Garros 4R  Reached 3R (l. to No. 7 Berdych), Roland Garros 2R (l. to Bolelli) and US Open 3R (l. to Young in 5 sets)  Suffered 6-match losing streak from Wimbledon to US Open

Mannarino 2015 FastFacts: F(2): Auckland (l Vesely); Bogota (l Tomic); SF: Delray Beach (l Karlovic); QF(3): s-Hertogenbosch (l Mahut); Newport (l Ram); Shenzhen (W/O vs Garcia-Lopez) YTD W-L: 27-27 (20-17 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: June 29, 1988 Emirates ATP Ranking: 40 Basel W-L (Best Result): 0-1 (1R 2013)

 Frenchman is making his second tournament appearance. Two years ago, lost to Federer in 1R  Looking to break three-match 1R losing streak since reaching QF in Shenzhen earlier this month  Reached 1st 2 ATP World Tour finals of career at Auckland (l. to Vesely) and Bogota (l. to Tomic  Also fell to eventual champion in Delray Beach SF (l. to Karlovic), 's-Hertogenbosch QF (l. to Mahut) and Newport QF (l. to Ram)  Reached 4R at back-to-back ATP Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells (l. to No. 4 Murray) and Miami (d. No. 8 Wawrinka, l. to Thiem)  Win over Wawrinka at ATP Masters 1000 Miami was 1st over Top 10 player (1-14 overall)  Achieved career-high ranking of No. 27 on July 27 (comes in ranked No. 40)  Grand Slam results: Australian Open 2R (l. to F. Lopez), Roland Garros 1R (l. to Melzer), Wimbledon 2R (l. to Monfils), US Open 2R (l. to No. 3 Murray after leading 2 sets to 0)

Lukas Rosol (CZE) vs [3] Rafael Nadal (ESP) Nadal Leads 2-1 12 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass R64 Lukas Rosol 6-7(9) 6-4 6-4 2-6 6-4 14 (Qatar) Hard R32 Rafael Nadal 6-2 7-6(7) 14 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass R64 Rafael Nadal 4-6 7-6(6) 6-4 6-4

Rosol 2015 FastFacts: QF(3): Bucharest (l Garcia-Lopez); (l Murray); Vienna (l Monfils) YTD W-L: 19-28 (12-16 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 2 Date of Birth: July 24, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 69 Basel W-L (Best Result): 0-1 (1R 2014)

 No. 3 Czech Republic is making his second straight appearance in Basel. Last year made debut and lost to Karlovic in straight sets  Last week in Vienna beat [Q] Sugita 64 76(2) in 1R and snapped 14-match losing streak vs. Top 10 with 64 36 61 win over No. 10-ranked Tsonga in 2R before losing to Monfils in 3-set QF. Has a 3-18 career record vs. Top 10 opponents (1-5 this year)  Reached 3R at Roland Garros (d. Bautista Agut, l. to Gabashvili), matching career-best showing at a Grand Slam (also 2011 Roland Garros and 2012 Wimbledon 3R)  Advanced to 4R at ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l. to No. 9 Berdych) and QF at Munich (l. to No. 3 Murray in 3 sets)  Failed to win back-to-back main draw matches at 22 other ATP World Tour events, including 2R losses at Australian Open (l. to Sela), Wimbledon (l. to Andujar in 5 sets) and US Open (l. to Kohlschreiber)  Qualified and reached 2R at (l. to No. 9 Wawrinka in 3 sets)  Defeated Bhambri en route to CZE’s 4-1 win over IND in World Group Play-off

Swiss Indoors Basel Day 1 – Monday, October 26, 2015 Page 6 of 8 www.ATPWorldTour.com

Nadal 2015 FastFacts: W(3): Buenos Aires (d ); Stuttgart (d Troicki); Hamburg (d Fognini); F(2) : ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (l Murray); Beijing (l Djokovic); SF(3): Rio de Janeiro (l Fognini); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Djokovic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Shanghai (l Tsonga); QF(5): Australian Open (l Berdych); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Raonic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (l Wawrinka); Roland Garros (l Djokovic); ATP Masters 1000 Montreal (l Nishikori) YTD W-L: 52-17 (21-9 on hard) YTD Titles: 3 / Career Titles: 67 Date of Birth: June 3, 1986 Emirates ATP Ranking: 7 Basel W-L (Best Result): 2-3 (QF 2014)

 No. 1 Spaniard returns to Basel for fourth time, second year in a row after a QF showing last/ season (d. Bolelli, Herbert, l. to Coric).Prior to that, fell in 1R in both 2003 (l. to F Lopez) and ‘04 (l. to Schuettler)  In last two tournaments, reached final in Beijing (l. to Djokovic) and SF at ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai where he recorded his 300th career ATP Masters 1000 match win over No. 4 Wawrinka in QF. Also beat No. 9 Raonic to snap a 5-match and 11-set losing streaks vs. Top 10 opponents. Beijing run marked 1st hard-court SF and final since 2014 ATP Masters 1000 Miami (10 hard-court events)  Captured titles at Buenos Aires (d. Monaco), Stuttgart (d. Troicki) and Hamburg (d. Fognini), also reaching finals at ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (l. to No. 3 Murray) and Beijing (l. to No. 1 Djokovic)  Denied a 10th Roland Garros title by No. 1 Djokovic in QF, falling to 70-2 lifetime on Parisian clay  Also reached Australian Open QF (l. to No. 7 Berdych), Wimbledon 2R (l. to No. 102 Brown) and US Open 3R (l. to Fognini after leading 2 sets to 0). Failed to win at least 1 Grand Slam title in a season for 1st time since 2004  Has yet to win an ATP Masters 1000 title in 2015 (1+ each year from 2005-2014)  Extended Davis Cup singles win streak to 22 matches with win over ’s Torpegaard in Sept.

[WC] Henri Laaksonen (SUI) vs Donald Young (USA) First ATP Meeting Othe meeting: 15 Geneva Q (Switzerland) Clay -- Donald Young 6-1 6-4

Laaksonen FastFacts: 2015 Highlights: YTD W-L: 3-1 (3-0 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: March 31, 1992 Emirates ATP Ranking: 304 Basel W-L History: 0-2 (1R 2012-13)

 Swiss wild card is looking for his first win in Basel (0-2). In previous two main draw showings, lost in 1R to Mathieu in 2012 and del Potro in ’13. Last year lost in 1R qualifying to Haase  All three of his tour level wins have come in Davis Cup play, including two over in 1R over Bemelmans and Darcis both in five sets. Trailed 0-2 sets vs. Bemelmans and 1-2 sets vs. Darcis. Also won a dead rubber match vs. the in World Group playoff tie in September  Has reached five QFs in Futures events and QF at last month  Playing in fifth main draw in last six weeks. Began with QF in Columbus, then qualified at Tiburon (2R), Fairfield and Las Vegas Challengers (both 1R). Only tournament did not play in main draw was at Sacramento Challenger (lost in last round of qualifying)  His previous ATP World Tour main draw this season came in Gstaad (l. to Sousa in 1R)

Swiss Indoors Basel Day 1 – Monday, October 26, 2015 Page 7 of 8 www.ATPWorldTour.com

Young FastFacts: 2015 Highlights: F: Delray Beach (l Karlovic); SF: Memphis (l Anderson); QF: Auckland (l Vesely) YTD W-L: 20-22 (20-15 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: July 23, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 49 Basel W-L History: 1-2 (2R 2014)

 No. 4 American is making his third visit to Basel, second in a row. Last year lost in 2R (d. Berlocq, l. to No. 9 Raonic in third set TB). Made in 2011 and fell to in 1R  In February, reached 2nd career ATP World Tour singles final at Delray Beach (l. to Karlovic) and 1st career doubles final at Memphis w/Sitak (l. to Fyrstenberg-Gonzalez)  Posted 1st 2 comebacks from 2 sets down of career en route to US Open 4R, matching best finish at a major from ’11 US Open (d. No. 11 Simon in 1R, d. No. 22 Troicki in 3R, l. to No. 5 Wawrinka)  Also advanced to Memphis SF (l. to Anderson in 3 sets) and Chennai QF (l. to Vesely)  Reached 3R at ATP Masters 1000 Montreal as a qualifier (d. No. 6 Berdych, l. to Gulbis)  Suffered 9-match main draw losing streak from March to August  Only other Grand Slam win came at Australian Open (d. Puetz, l. to No. 8 Raonic in 2R)

COURT 2

Dominic Thiem (AUT) vs [Q] Robin Haase (NED) Haase Leads 2-0 14 Vienna () Hard R32 Robin Haase 6-3 3-6 6-3 15 AUT vs. NED EAGI 2nd Rd. (Austria) Clay RR Robin Haase 6-4 7-6(4) 6-3

OTHER FIRST ROUND FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Draw Order

Roger Federer (SUI) vs Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) Federer Leads 2-0 11 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass R128 Roger Federer 7-6(2) 6-4 6-2 14 SUI vs. KAZ WG QF (Switzerland) Hard RR Roger Federer 6-4 6-4 6-2

Jerzy Janowicz (POL) vs (GER) Kohlschreiber Leads 2-1 12 ATP Masters 1000 Paris (France) Hard R64 Jerzy Janowicz 7-6(5) 6-4 14 ATP Masters 1000 Rome () Clay R64 Philipp Kohlschreiber 4-6 7-6(6) 6-2 15 Stuttgart () Grass R16 Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4 6-4

Andreas Seppi (ITA) vs David Goffin (BEL) Goffin Leads 1-0 15 Beijing (China) Hard R32 David Goffin 6-2 6-3

Kevin Anderson (RSA) vs Borna Coric (CRO) Anderson Leads 1-0 15 Winston-Salem (U.S.A.) Hard QF Kevin Anderson 6-2 7-6(1)

Denis Kudla (USA) vs (USA) Kudla Leads 2-0 12 San Jose (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Denis Kudla 6-4 6-7(6) 6-3 15 Atlanta (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Denis Kudla 7-6(6) 6-3 Other meetings: 10 U.S.A. F30 (U.S.A.) Clay R32 Jack Sock 7-5 6-4 11 U.S.A. F3 (U.S.A.) Clay R16 Jack Sock 6-4 6-2 Swiss Indoors Basel Day 1 – Monday, October 26, 2015 Page 8 of 8 www.ATPWorldTour.com

12 Knoxville CH (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Denis Kudla 6-3 2-6 7-6(5)

Ernests Gulbis (LAT) vs John Isner (USA) Gulbis Leads 3-2 08 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass R128 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 () Hard R32 John Isner 7-6(4) 7-6(2) 14 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (USA) Hard QF John Isner 7-6(4) 7-6(3) 15 Vienna (Austria) Hard R16 Ernests Gulbis 6-4 4-6 6-4

Marin Cilic (CRO) vs Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) Cilic Leads 1-0 10 Basel (Switzerland) Hard R32 Marin Cilic 6-3 6-3

Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) vs (ARG) Mayer Leads 1-0 14 Roland Garros (France) Clay R64 Leonardo Mayer 6-2 4-6 6-4 6-4

Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) vs (BUL) Series Tied 1-1 11 ATP Masters 1000 Miami (U.S.A.) Hard R128 6-2 6-4 14 Bucharest () Clay QF Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 6-4

Richard Gasquet (FRA) vs Jiri Vesely (CZE) First Meeting

Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) vs Dusan Lajovic (SRB) Dolgopolov Leads 1-0 14 ATP Masters 1000 Miami (USA) Hard R32 3-6 6-0 7-6(5)

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) vs Stan Wawrinka (SUI) Wawrinka Leads 5-1 06 Barcelona (Spain) Clay QF Stan Wawrinka 4-6 6-3 6-4 06 Wimbledon (England) Grass R128 Stan Wawrinka 7-6(5) 3-6 6-2 6-7(8)11-9 07 Nottingham (Great Britain) Grass R32 Ivo Karlovic 6-3 7-6(3) 13 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R64 Stan Wawrinka 7-5 7-6(8) 6-4 14 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (U.S.A.) Hard R64 Stan Wawrinka 6-3 7-5 15 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati (USA) Hard R16 Stan Wawrinka 6-7(2) 7-6(5) 7-6(5)