HALL OF FAME TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS: PREVIEW & DAY 1 MEDIA NOTES Monday, July 11, 2016
International Tennis Hall of Fame, Newport, RI, USA | July 11-17, 2016 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: $515,025 | Surface: Grass
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HALL OF FAME TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS TALKING POINTS
TOURNAMENT PREVIEW: This is the 40th anniversary of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, which concludes the six-week grass court circuit. It is also the first North American tournament since Houston in April. This year’s field is led by Steve Johnson, who is the top seed at an ATP World Tour tournament for the first time in his career. Now ranked a career-high No. 25 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Johnson is one of the leading grass-court players this season, having compiled a 10-3 record. After a slow start (6-13), he turned things around at the Queen’s Club in London where he posted his first career Top 10 win over No. 10 Richard Gasquet en route to the quarter-finals. He then followed by winning his maiden ATP World Tour singles title in Nottingham, defeating the Top 2 seeds Kevin Anderson and Pablo Cuevas along the way. He then posted his best Grand Slam result at Wimbledon, reaching the Round of 16 and falling to Roger Federer on Centre Court.
No. 2 seed Ivo Karlovic is hoping to break through and capture his first title in Newport after losing third-set tiebreaks in the final to Lleyton Hewitt in 2014 and Rajeev Ram in 2015. The 37-year-old Croat has a 10-5 record in Newport. He is coming off a 2R result at Wimbledon. Karlovic was bothered by a knee injury in the first three months of the season, starting 0-6. Since late-April, he has compiled an 8-7 record, with semi-finals in Istanbul and ‘s- Hertogenbosch. Ram, the lone former champion in the field (2009, 2015), has a 16-5 career record in Newport. The 32-year-old Carmel, Ind. resident enters with a 9-13 record on the season with his best result a runner-up at Delray Beach in February. Ram is coming off his second career Grand Slam doubles semi-final showing at Wimbledon with Raven Klaasen.
Former World No. 8 and 2006 Wimbledon semi-finalist Marcos Baghdatis is making his Newport debut. The 31-year-old Cypriot is the No. 4 seed. This season, Baghdatis reached the final in Dubai and grass-court quarter-finals at Halle and Nottingham. Gilles Muller is making his first Newport visit since 2012. The 33-year-old left-hander from Luxembourg looks to continue his fine grass-court form and end his winless mark in Newport (0-3). He lost in the 1R in 2006, 2008 and 2012. Last month, he fell to Nicolas Mahut in his fourth career ATP World Tour final at ’s-Hertogenbosch and followed with a quarter-final at London/Queen’s Club, where he saved 10 match points in his 2R win over John Isner. He also advanced to the semi-finals in Nottingham and 2R at Wimbledon. He has a 10-4 record on grass this season.
Wild card Mackenzie “Mackie” McDonald is playing his first ATP World Tour match as a professional this week. The 21-year-old from Piedmont, Calif. captured the NCAA singles and doubles titles to cap his collegiate career at UCLA, turning pro following his junior season. He is the first player in 15 years to win both collegiate titles. He was a three-time NCAA All-American in singles and twice the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year. While playing as an amateur, he reached the semi-finals at three ATP Challenger Tour events in the United States: Winnetka, IL in 2014; Tiburon, CA in 2015; and Champaign, IL in 2015. He is ranked No. 419. Hall of Fame Tennis Championships Day 1 – Monday, July 11, 2016 Page 2 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com
Nearby Providence resident Jared Donaldson, 19, is making his second main draw appearance in Newport. Last year, Donaldson defeated Austin Krajicek in his first-round match before losing to John-Patrick Smith. The young American climbed in the Emirates ATP Rankings from No. 260 at the end of 2014 to a career-high No. 133 last November. This season, Donaldson has put together an 8-7 record on the ATP Challenger Tour and 0-3 on the ATP World Tour.
Johnson and Muller are among the top grass-court players on the ATP World Tour in 2016. 1 Andy Murray 12-0 2T Milos Raonic 10-2 2T Roger Federer 10-3 2T Steve Johnson 10-3 2T Gilles Muller 10-4
DAY 1 PREVIEW: Main draw play begins in Newport on Monday with four singles matches on Stadium. No. 7 seed Dudi Sela opens the action against Lukas Lacko, who qualified and advanced to the third round at Wimbledon. No. 5 seed Vasek Pospisil, a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon in 2015, follows against Marco Chiudinelli. Two-time Newport champion Rajeev Ram begins his title defense against wild card Mackenzie McDonald, who swept singles and doubles titles for UCLA at the NCAA Championships this spring. Play concludes with Rhode Island’s own Jared Donaldson challenging No. 8 seed Donald Young.
EMIRATES ATP RANKING POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY
Hall of Fame Tennis Championships W F SF QF R16 R32 Singles Ranking Points 250 150 90 45 20* 0 Singles Prize Money ($) 91,630 48,260 26,140 14,890 8,775 5,200 Doubles Ranking Points 250 150 90 45 0 --- Doubles Prize Money ($) 27,840 14,630 7,930 4,540 2,660 --- * Singles players who receive first-round byes and lose in the second round earn 0 points.
WHO TO WATCH THIS WEEK
SINGLES
SEED PLAYER W-L BEST FINISH 1 Steve Johnson (USA) 3-2 2014 Quarter-finalist 2 Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 10-5 2014-15 Runner-up 3 Gilles Muller (LUX) 0-3 2006, 2008, 2012 Round of 32 4 Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) 0-0 2016 Debut 5 Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 1-2 2013 Round of 16 6 Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 4-3 2015 Quarter-finalist 7 Dudi Sela (ISR) 4-3 2012, 2014 Quarter-finalist 8 Donald Young (USA) 2-4 2008, 2011 Round of 16
Hall of Fame Tennis Championships Day 1 – Monday, July 11, 2016 Page 3 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com
QUALIFIERS (4) OLDEST PLAYER YOUNGEST PLAYER TBD on Monday Ivo Karlovic (CRO) Stefan Kozlov (USA) 37 years, 4 months 18 years, 5 months WILD CARDS (3) James Duckworth (AUS) TOP COUNTRY BREAKDOWN Stefan Kozlov (USA) United States (9), Australia (4) Mackenzie McDonald (USA)
DOUBLES
SEED TEAM W-L BEST FINISH Butorac: 2-4 Butorac: 2007, 2009 Quarter-finalist 1 Eric Butorac/Scott Lipsky Lipsky: 10-7 Lipsky: 2012 Champion Groth: 1-1 Groth: 2014 Quarter-finalist 2 Sam Groth/Chris Guccione Guccione: 9-4 Guccione: 2010, 2014 Champion K. Skupski: 0-2 K. Skupski: 2011, 2014 Round of 16 3 Ken Skupski/Neal Skupski N. Skupski: 0-1 N. Skupski: 2014 Round of 16 Raja: 2-1 Raja: 2015 Semi-finalist 4 Purav Raja/Divij Sharan Sharan: 3-2 Sharan: 2013 Semi-finalist
PAST FINALISTS (since 2006)
SINGLES
YEAR CHAMPION RUNNER-UP SCORE 2015 Rajeev Ram (USA) Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 7-6(5), 5-7, 7-6(2) 2014 Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(3) 2013 Nicolas Mahut (FRA) Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 2012 John Isner (USA) Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) 7-6(1), 6-4 2011 John Isner (USA) Olivier Rochus (BEL) 6-3, 7-6(6) 2010 Mardy Fish (USA) Olivier Rochus (BEL) 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 2009 Rajeev Ram (USA) Sam Querrey (USA) 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-3 2008 Fabrice Santoro (FRA) Prakash Amritraj (IND) 6-3, 7-5
2007 Fabrice Santoro (FRA) Nicolas Mahut (FRA) 6-4, 6-4
2006 Mark Philippoussis (AUS) Justin Gimelstob (USA) 6-3, 7-5
BOLD: Players in 2016 singles draw
DOUBLES
YEAR CHAMPION RUNNER-UP SCORE 2015 Jonathan Marray/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi Nicholas Monroe/Mate Pavic 4-6, 6-3, [10-8] 2014 Chris Guccione/Lleyton Hewitt Jonathan Erlich/Rajeev Ram 7-5, 6-4 2013 Nicolas Mahut/Edouard Roger-Vasselin Tim Smyczek/Rhyne Williams 6-7(4), 6-2, [10-5] 2012 Santiago Gonzalez/Scott Lipsky Colin Fleming/Ross Hutchins 7-6(3), 6-3 2011 Matthew Ebden/Ryan Harrison Johan Brunstrom/Adil Shamasdin 4-6, 6-3, [10-5] 2010 Carsten Ball/Chris Guccione Santiago Gonzalez/Travis Rettenmaier 6-3, 6-4 2009 Jordan Kerr/Rajeev Ram Michael Kohlmann/Rogier Wassen 6-7, 7-6, [10-6] 2008 Mardy Fish/John Isner Rohan Bopanna/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-4, 7-6(1) 2007 Jordan Kerr/Jim Thomas Nathan Healey/Igor Kunitsyn 6-3, 7-5 2006 Robert Kendrick/Jurgen Melzer Jeff Coetzee/Justin Gimelstob 7-6(3), 6-0
BOLD: Players in 2016 doubles draw Hall of Fame Tennis Championships Day 1 – Monday, July 11, 2016 Page 4 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com
FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS: DAY 1 MAIN DRAW FIRST-ROUND MATCHES
Stadium
[7] Dudi Sela (ISR) vs Lukas Lacko (SVK) Sela Leads 3-1 10 Chennai (India) Hard QF Dudi Sela 7-6(3) 7-5 11 Memphis (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Lukas Lacko 6-7(4) 7-5 6-3 14 Chennai (India) Hard R32 Dudi Sela 6-4 6-2 14 Zagreb (Croatia) Hard R16 Dudi Sela 6-3 6-2 Other Meetings: 13 Tashkent CH (Uzbekistan) Hard SF Dudi Sela 5-7 7-6(4) 6-3 15 Nottingham Q (Great Britain) Grass 3R Dudi Sela 6-3 7-6(1)
Sela 2016 FastFacts QF: Nottingham (l. to Seppi) YTD W-L: 7-12 (4-3 on grass) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: April 4, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 65 Newport W-L (Best Result): 4-3 (2012, 2014 Quarter-finalist)
• Tournament Note: Reached QFs in 2012 (d. Querrey, l. to Hewitt) and 2014 (d. Mannarino, l. to Karlovic) • Reached 1st ATP World Tour QF since 2015 Atlanta at Nottingham (l. to Seppi) • Advanced to Australian Open 3R for 3rd time in career (d. Becker and Verdasco, l. to Kuznetsov) • Defeated Wu for 20th Challenger title at Shenzhen, CHN (2nd all-time to Lu’s 24) • Fell in Challenger finals at Happy Valley, AUS (l. to Fritz) and Karshi, UZB (l. to Tepavac 76 in 3rd) • Captured 1st ATP doubles title in 1st final and with 1st-time partner Cipolla at Istanbul (d. Molteni/Schwartzman) • Upset by No. 612 Nagy in 5 sets to open Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I tie (HUN d. ISR 3-2)
Lacko 2016 FastFacts YTD W-L: 3-4 (2-2 on grass) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: November 3, 1987 Emirates ATP Ranking: 98 Newport W-L (Best Result): 1-1 (2015 Round of 16)
• Tournament Note: In Newport debut last year, defeated Desein in 3 sets before falling to Sock in 3 sets • Qualified at ’s-Hertogenbosch (l. to Mahut in 1R) and Wimbledon (d. Karlovic, l. to Cilic in 3R) • Advanced to Houston 2R (d. Tursunov, l. to Lopez) • Reached Challenger final at Guangzhou, CHN (l. to Basilashvili 75 in 3rd) • Also advanced to Challenger SFs at Manila, PHI (l. to Youzhny) and Seoul, KOR (l. to Lu) • Retired in Bangkok, THA Challenger 2R vs. Glasspool due to heatstroke
[5] Vasek Pospisil (CAN) vs Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) First ATP Meeting Other Meeting: 13 Guadalajara CH (Mexico) Hard QF Vasek Pospisil 6-4 6-4
Pospisil 2016 FastFacts YTD W-L: 5-17 (1-4 on grass) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: June 23, 1990 Emirates ATP Ranking: 99 Newport W-L (Best Result): 1-2 (2013 Round of 16)
Hall of Fame Tennis Championships Day 1 – Monday, July 11, 2016 Page 5 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com
• Tournament Note: Defeated Kudla in 3 sets before falling to Karlovic in 3 sets at 2013 Newport • Yet to win back-to-back main draw singles matches this season • Snapped 7-match main draw losing streak at Nottingham (1R bye, d. Dzumhur in 2R, l. to Johnson in 3R) • Went 0-6 in sets during Canada’s 5-0 loss to France in Davis Cup 1R (l. to Simon, w/Bester l. to Gasquet/Tsonga) • Fell to frequent doubles partner Sock in Auckland 2R (1st H2H meeting) • Captured 6th ATP World Tour doubles title at Rotterdam w/Mahut (d. Peya/Petzschner) • Reached ATP Masters 1000 finals w/Sock at Indian Wells (l. to Herbert/Mahut) and Rome (l. to Bryan/Bryan)
Chiudinelli 2016 FastFacts YTD W-L: 0-1 (0-0 on grass) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: September 10, 1981 Emirates ATP Ranking: 136 Newport W-L (Best Result): 0-1 (2012 Round of 32)
• Tournament Note: Fell to Mahut 60 76(2) in 2012 Newport 1R • At tour-level events, lost in qualifying at Australian Open, Geneva, Roland Garros, ’s-Hertogenbosch and Wimbledon • Captured 3rd ATP Challenger Tour title at Wroclaw, POL (d. Evans, Basic, Kudryavtsev, Kravchuk and Hernych) • Also reached Challenger final at Manila, PHI (l. to Youzhny) • Held 3 MPs before falling to Lorenzi in Davis Cup 1R opening rubber after 4 hours, 43 minutes (ITA d. SUI 5-0) • Lost longest tiebreak in history of Davis Cup World Group, falling in 1st set against Lorenzi 76(14)
Rajeev Ram (USA) vs [WC] Mackenzie McDonald (USA) First Meeting
Ram 2016 FastFacts F: Delray Beach (l. to Querrey) YTD W-L: 9-13 (0-3 on grass) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 2 Date of Birth: March 18, 1984 Emirates ATP Ranking: 69 Newport W-L (Best Result): 16-5 (2009, 2015 Champion)
• Tournament Note: Two-time champ owns singles records of 16-5 at Newport and 36-81 at all other tour-level events • Defeated Tomic and Dimitrov en route to 3rd ATP World Tour singles final at Delray Beach (l. to Querrey) • Achieved career-high Emirates ATP Rankings of No. 56 in singles on April 18 and No. 28 in doubles on May 16 • Upset Anderson, also a former University of Illinois star, in Australian Open 1R (l. to Robert 75 in 5th) • Earned 1st singles win of career on clay over Zeballos in Quito 1R (l. to Ramos-Viñolas 75 in 3rd) • Enjoyed 1st 2 ATP Masters 1000 wins of career at Indian Wells (d. Rubin, l. to Tomic) and Miami (d. Donskoy) • Conceded walkover to No. 7 Berdych in ATP Masters 1000 Miami 2R due to illness • In doubles w/Klaasen, beat Bryan/Bryan en route to Halle title (d. Kubot/Peya in final), Wimbledon SF (l. to Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin) and Australian Open QF (l. to J. Murray/Soares). • Runners-up w/Klaasen at Miami (d. J. Murray/Soares in 1R, l. to Herbert/Mahut) and Geneva (l. to Johnson/Querrey)
McDonald 2016 FastFacts YTD W-L: 0-1 (0-0 on grass) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: April 16, 1995 Emirates ATP Ranking: 419 Newport W-L (Best Result): 0-0 (2016 Debut)
• Swept NCAA titles in singles (d. Torpegaard) and doubles w/Ma. Redlicki (d. Rinderknech/Withrow) • Turned pro after going 22-1 in singles and 19-6 in doubles w/Ma. Redlicki during junior season for UCLA • Named Pac-12 Player of the Year and earned All-American honors in singles and doubles • In only pro matches of season, lost in 1R at Los Angeles, USA Futures (l. to E. King); ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l. to Millot); Wichita, USA Futures (l. to Thompson) and Winnetka, USA Challenger (l. to Soeda)
Hall of Fame Tennis Championships Day 1 – Monday, July 11, 2016 Page 6 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com
Jared Donaldson (USA) vs [8] Donald Young (USA) First ATP Meeting Other Meeting: 16 Savannah CH (U.S.A.) Clay SF Jared Donaldson 6-4 6-3
Donaldson 2016 FastFacts YTD W-L: 0-3 (0-0 on grass) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: October 9, 1996 Emirates ATP Ranking: 145 Newport W-L (Best Result): 1-1 (2015 Round of 16)
• Tournament Note: Defeated Krajicek in 3 sets before falling to Smith in 2015 • Fell to Nishioka in Memphis 1R as Q and ATP Masters 1000 Miami 1R as LL • As WC at ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells, fell to Pospisil in 3 sets after 2 hours, 49 minutes • Lost 3-setter to Basilashvili in final round of Roland Garros qualifying for 2nd straight year • Reached 3rd Challenger final of career at Savannah, USA (d. G. Melzer and Young, l. to Fratangelo) • Withdrew from 3 grass-court Challengers and Wimbledon qualifying due to shoulder injury
Young 2016 FastFacts QF: Memphis (l. to Berankis) YTD W-L: 8-12 (2-2 on grass) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: July 23, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 61 Newport W-L (Best Result): 2-4 (2008, 2011 Round of 16)
• Tournament Note: Reached 2R in 2008 (d. Jun, l. to Peya) and 2011 (d. Capdeville, l. to Kamke) • Won 1 main draw match at Auckland, Memphis, Delray Beach, Acapulco, Houston, Nice as Q, London/Queen’s Club as Q and Wimbledon • Fell in 4 sets to Giraldo in Australian Open 1R • Reached Challenger SF at Savannah, USA (l. to Donaldson) and QF at Tallahassee, USA (l. to Tiafoe) • Held 2 MPs w/Kudla before falling to eventual doubles champions Bryan/Bryan in Houston 1R
FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS: REMAINING FIRST-ROUND MATCHES
Benjamin Becker (GER) vs [WC] Stefan Kozlov (USA) First Meeting
Dennis Novikov (USA) vs Victor Estrella Burgos (DOM) First ATP Meeting Other Meetings: 15 Morelos CH (Mexico) Hard QF Victor Estrella Burgos 6-4 6-7(6) 6-2 15 Monterrey CH (Mexico) Hard QF Victor Estrella Burgos 7-5 6-7(6) 7-6(3)
[WC] James Duckworth (AUS) vs [6] Adrian Mannarino (FRA) First Meeting
John-Patrick Smith (AUS) vs Jordan Thompson (AUS) First ATP Meeting Other Meeting: 16 Surbiton CH (Great Britain) Grass R16 Jordan Thompson 2-6 7-6(5) 6-3