Swiss Indoors Basel: Preview & Day 1 Media Notes
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SWISS INDOORS BASEL: PREVIEW & DAY 1 MEDIA NOTES Monday, October 26, 2015 St. Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland | 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: mdagahs@atpworldtour.com Twitter: @ATPWorldTour @_Swiss_Indoors Fabienne Benoit: fbenoit@atpworldtour.com Facebook: facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/swissindoorsbasel Press Room: +41 61 3196993 BASEL TALKING POINTS SPOTLIGHT ON SWITZERLAND: Six-time Basel winner Roger Federer will be making his 16th appearance in his hometown tournament (56-9 record). Countryman Stan Wawrinka, who is appearing in the tournament for the 12th time (9-11 record), is the No. 2 seed. No. 3 seed Rafael Nadal 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 Kevin Anderson, No. 5 Richard Gasquet, No. 6 John Isner, No. 7 Marin Cilic and No. 8/last year’s runner-up David Goffin. 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 Czech Republic No. 3 Lukas Rosol. Nadal has won two of the previous three meetings.In the opening match of the day, No. 2 Serb Viktor Troicki takes on French qualifier Adrian Mannarino for the first time. In the final match on, local wild card Henri Laaksonen plays American Donald Young for the first time in a main draw. On Court 2, three-time ATP World Tour winner this year Dominic Thiem takes on Dutch qualifier Robin Haase, 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: Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, 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 Kei Nishikori 3,945 ------- 8 David Ferrer 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 Milos Raonic 2,170 -------- Swiss Indoors Basel Day 1 – Monday, October 26, 2015 Page 2 of 8 www.ATPWorldTour.com 15 Gilles Simon 2,055 -------- 16 Feliciano Lopez 1,680 Valencia 17 David Goffin 1,670 Basel 18 Bernard Tomic 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 Grand Slam 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 Steve Johnson. 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 – Daniel Nestor 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 Montreal 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 David Nalbandian 2007 Roger Federer Jarkko Nieminen 2006 Roger Federer Fernando Gonzalez 2005 Fernando Gonzalez Marcos Baghdatis 2004 Jiri Novak David Nalbandian FORMER BASEL DOUBLES CHAMPIONS (Since 2004): YEAR WINNER YEAR WINNER 2014 Vasek Pospisil & Nenad Zimonjic 2013 Treat Huey & Dominic Inglot 2008 Mahesh Bhupathi & Mark Knowles 2012 Daniel Nestor & Nenad Zimonjic 2007 Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan 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) Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) Ivo Karlovic (CRO) Jerzy Janowicz (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), Croatia (3) Czech Republic (2), France (2), Serbia (2), Ukraine (2) DOUBLES: SEED PLAYER BEST FINISH 1. Ivan Dodig & Marcelo Melo SF 2014 2. Jean-Julien Rojer & Horia Tecau TEAM DEBUT 3. Jamie Murray & John Peers R16 2014 4. Marcin Matkowski & 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.