IF STOCKHOLM OPEN: DAY 2 MEDIA NOTES Tuesday, October 20, 2015 Kungliga Tennishallen, Stockholm, Sweden | October 19-25, 2015 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: €537,050 | Surface: Indoor Hard ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.stockholmopen.se Maria Garcia-Planas: [email protected] Twitter: @ATPWorldTour @IfSthlmOpen Press Room: Facebook: facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/ifstockholmopen +46 73 4336806 NIEMINEN BEGINS FINALE; BACK-TO-BACK FINALIST DIMITROV RETURNS DAY 2 PREVIEW: Nine first-round matches are on tap at the If Stockholm Open on Tuesday, highlighted by the return of 2013 champion and 2014 runner-up Grigor Dimitrov. The 24-year-old Bulgarian is 26th in the Emirates ATP Rankings, the lowest he’s been since he entered the 2013 If Stockholm Open at No. 28. Dimitrov went on to defeat World No. 3 David Ferrer for the title, then repeated his run to the championship match in 2014 (l. to No. 7 Tomas Berdych). Just 11-11 since May 7, Dimitrov has yet to reach an ATP World Tour final this season. He opens his campaign against former junior rival Filip Krajinovic in the last match on Tuesday’s schedule. The winner of Dimitrov vs. Krajinovic will face either Finnish wild card Jarkko Nieminen or Daniel Muñoz-de la Nava, who also meet on Tuesday. With Mikael Ymer’s loss on Monday, Nieminen is the lone Scandinavian player left in what happens to be the last tournament of his career. The 34- year-old left-hander is retiring at the conclusion of the If Stockholm Open, where he reached the singles final in 2001, 2006 and 2011, as well as the doubles final with Johan Brunström of Sweden in 2010. Nieminen and Brunström are in the doubles draw again this week and due to play No. 4 seeds Jonathan Marray and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi on Wednesday or Thursday. Jarkko Nieminen Career Highlights o 3 Grand Slam QFs: 2005 US Open, 2006 Wimbledon, 2008 Australian Open o Earned 400th singles win on Mar. 8, 2015 (d. Balleret in Davis Cup) o Winningest player in Finland’s 88-year Davis Cup history (59-26) o 2 singles and 5 doubles titles on ATP World Tour o Career-High No. 13 on July 10, 2006 o 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympian o 2001, 2006 and 2011 Stockholm singles finalist o 1999 US Open junior champion INFOSYS ATP SCORES & STATS: No. 8 seed Gilles Muller, who meets qualifier Mischa Zverev on Tuesday, is ranked fourth among all players this season in break points saved. The 32-year-old left-hander has saved 72% of the break points he’s faced coming into the If Stockholm Open. Please note that all percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number and all ties favor the player who has competed in more ATP World Tour matches this season. For full Infosys ATP Scores & Stats leaderboards of all 10 categories, please visit ATPWorldTour.com. Rank Player Pct. Points Won Total Points Matches 1 Ivo Karlovic 80 144 180 56 2 Milos Raonic 78 138 177 47 3 John Isner 74 151 203 61 4 Gilles Muller 72 206 288 51 5 Novak Djokovic 70 226 325 77 If Stockholm Open Day 2 – Tuesday, October 20, 2015 Page 2 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com EMIRATES ATP RACE TO LONDON UPDATE: With three weeks 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. As of Tuesday, 945 race points separate No. 8 David Ferrer from No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. In Stockholm, No. 10 Richard Gasquet could gain as many as 250 race points, while No. 15 Gilles Simon could add 160 by winning the title. Also taking place this week are an ATP World Tour 500 event in Vienna and an ATP World Tour 250 event in Moscow. A maximum of 1,500 race points are on the line after the If Stockholm Open 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 2R QF SF F W 1 Novak Djokovic* 14,285 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 2 Andy Murray* 7,870 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 3 Roger Federer* 6,750 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 4 Stan Wawrinka* 6,140 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 5 Rafael Nadal* 4,330 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 6 Tomas Berdych* 4,280 Stockholm 4,280 4,280 4,280 4,340 4,440 7 Kei Nishikori 3,945 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 8 David Ferrer 3,445 Vienna 3,490 3,535 3,625 3,745 3,945 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 2,500 Vienna 2,545 2,590 2,680 2,800 3,000 10 Richard Gasquet 2,445 Stockholm 2,445 2,490 2,535 2,595 2,695 11 Kevin Anderson 2,385 Vienna 2,385 2,385 2,475 2,595 2,795 12 John Isner 2,315 Vienna 2,315 2,315 2,405 2,525 2,725 13 Marin Cilic 2,190 Moscow 2,190 2,190 2,235 2,295 2,395 14 Milos Raonic 2,170 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 15 Gilles Simon 2,055 Stockholm 2,055 2,055 2,055 2,115 2,215 16 Feliciano Lopez 1,680 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17 David Goffin 1,670 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 18 Bernard Tomic 1,630 Stockholm 1,630 1,630 1,675 1,735 1,835 19 Dominic Thiem 1,555 Vienna 1,555 1,600 1,690 1,810 2,010 20 Fabio Fognini 1,460 Vienna 1,460 1,505 1,595 1,715 1,915 * Qualified DAY 2 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play CENTRE COURT [7] Jack Sock (USA) vs Pablo Carreño Busta (ESP) Sock Leads 1-0 15 Roland Garros (France) Clay R64 Jack Sock 6-7(2) 7-6(4) 6-1 7-6(4) Sock 2015 FastFacts W: Houston (d. Querrey); SF: Newport (l. to Karlovic); QF (2): Washington (l. to Johnson); Beijing (l. to Nadal) YTD W-L: 28-15 (14-9 on hard) YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 1 Date of Birth: September 24, 1992 Emirates ATP Ranking: 32 Stockholm W-L (Best Result): 3-2 (2014 Quarter-finalist) If Stockholm Open Day 2 – Tuesday, October 20, 2015 Page 3 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com • No. 2 American won 1st ATP title in Houston, beating Bautista Agut (2R), Anderson (SF) and Querrey (F) • Defeated Dustov and Istomin in Davis Cup debut, leading USA to 3-1 Play-off win over UZB. Became 1st American since McEnroe in 1978 to win 2 live rubbers in Davis Cup debut • Reached ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells 4R (l. to No. 2 Federer) in return from a 4-month injury layoff (Dec. 16 surgery after tearing pelvic muscle during off-season) • Advanced to Grand Slam 4R for 1st time at Roland Garros (d. No. 11 Dimitrov in 1R, l. to Nadal in 4 sets) • Other Grand Slam results: Wimbledon 1R (l. to Groth) and US Open 2R (ret. vs. Bemelmans with cramps) • Achieved career-high rankings of No. 27 in singles (Sept. 28) and No. 6 in doubles (May 11) • Owns 1-12 record vs. Top 10 with lone win in 2014 ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai 2R over No. 6 Nishikori • In doubles with Pospisil, won titles at ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (d. Bryan/Bryan in QF and Bolelli/Fognini in final) and Beijing (d. Nestor/Roger-Vasselin) Carreño Busta 2015 FastFacts SF: Estoril (l. to Kyrgios); QF (2): Gstaad (l. to Thiem); Winston-Salem (l. to Herbert) YTD W-L: 14-22 (6-8 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: July 12, 1991 Emirates ATP Ranking: 60 Stockholm W-L (Best Result): 1-2 (2013 2nd Round) • No. 10 Spaniard has set new career-high with 14 wins on the season (previous-best 13 in 2014) • Reached Estoril SF (l. to Kyrgios) and QFs at Gstaad (l. to Thiem) and Winston-Salem (l. to Herbert) • Suffered 7-match losing streak from February to April before breakthrough at Estoril • Advanced to 2R at Roland Garros (l. to Sock 76 in 4th) and US Open (l. to Bautista Agut in 5 sets) • Achieved career-high ranking of No. 49 on January 5 • Posted 21-5 ATP Challenger record and improved to 11-1 lifetime in finals with titles at Perugia, ITA (d. Viola) and Poznan, POL (d. Albot) Sam Querrey (USA) vs Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) Querrey Leads 3-0 08 ATP Masters 1000 Paris (France) Hard R64 Sam Querrey 7-5 6-7(5) 3-2 ret 09 San Jose (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Sam Querrey 6-3 5-7 7-6(5) 09 Memphis (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Sam Querrey 6-1 6-2 Querrey 2015 FastFacts F (2): Houston (l. to Sock); Nottingham (l. to Istomin); SF: Memphis (l. to Nishikori) YTD W-L: 20-23 (8-14 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 7 Date of Birth: October 7, 1987 Emirates ATP Ranking: 51 Stockholm W-L (Best Result): Debut • No. 4 American reached finals on clay in Houston (d. No. 12 F. Lopez, l. to Sock 76 76) and grass in Nottingham (d. No. 13 Simon, l. to Istomin 76 76) • Advanced to US Open mixed doubles final w/Mattek-Sands (l. to Paes/Hingis in Match TB) • Also reached US Open men's doubles SF w/Johnson (d.