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Home , Adil Shamasdin, Alexander Waske, Amine Ahouda, Christopher Kas, Colin Fleming, Daniele Bracciali

GRAND PRIX HASSAN II: PREVIEW & DAY 1 MEDIA NOTES Monday, April 4, 2016

Royal Club de Marrakech, Marrakech, | April 4 – 10, 2016 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: €520,070 | Surface: Clay

ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com http://www.gphassan2tennis.com Fabienne Benoit: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour Press Room: +212 524 379 201 facebook.com/ATPWorldTour

GRAND PRIX HASSAN II TALKING POINTS

GRAND PRIX HASSAN II: The spring clay season begins in a new host city for the only African tournament on the ATP World Tour as the Grand Prix Hassan II, inaugurated in 1984 in , takes place at the newly relocated Royal Tennis Club de Marrakech. Leading the way is top seed and 2014 champion Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, No. 2 Joao Sousa, No. 3 Borna Coric, No. 4 , No. 5 , No. 6 Albert Ramos-Vinolas, No. 7 Pablo Carreno Busta and No. 8 Jiri Vesely. Overall six players in the Top 50 Emirates ATP Rankings are in the draw. Garcia- Lopez and Paul-Henri Mathieu (2007) are the former champions in the draw.

DAY 1 PREVIEW: There are six matches (4 singles, 2 doubles) scheduled on opening day at the Grand Prix Hassan II. In the first match on Centre Court Argentine qualifier Maximo Gonzalez meets Daniel Munoz de la Nava for the second time this season on the ATP World Tour, having lost to the Spaniard in his only other main-draw appearance of the year at Sao Paulo. Qualifier Franko Skugor then faces ’s Albert Montanes, the 2007 finalist and oldest player in the singles draw. In the third match of the day , Morocco’s No. 1 and a 2015 quarterfinalist at this event, meets Argentina’s Facundo Bagnis for the first time, while the final match of the day features another Moroccan – wild card , returning to the ATP World Tour for the first time since 2011, to take on Croatian qualifier Nikola Mektic.

GARCIA-LOPEZ TOP SEED: Spaniard Garcia-Lopez, who won the title in 2014, is the top seed in the tournament for the second straight year. The 32-year-old is making his fifth straight tournament appearance and eighth overall (10-6 record). Along with his title, Garcia-Lopez has reached the quarter- finals three times. This season he has compiled a 6-8 match record with his best results the quarter- finals in Chennai and Sofia. He also advanced to the third round at the .

DEFENDING CHAMP OUT: Reigning champion Martin Klizan withdrew from the tournament due to an on-going foot injury. The No. 1 Slovak Republic player won the biggest ATP World Tour title of his career at the 500 level tournament in Rotterdam in February (d. Monfils).

ALMAGRO ON THE MOVE: Former World No. 9 Nicolas Almagro is making his third tournament appearance (also 2005, 2015). Last year he returned for the first time in 10 years to reach the quarter- finals (l. to eventual champion Klizan). In February, he reached the final in Buenos Aires with wins over No. 9 Tsonga (QF) and No. 6 Ferrer (SF) before losing to Thiem in a 3rd set TB.

SPANISH SUCCESS: A Spaniard has hoisted the Casablanca trophy in five of the last seven years, with lifting the trophy in 2010 and Martin Klizan last year. The Spanish winners are Garcia- Lopez (2014), (2013), Pablo Andujar, who won back-to-back titles in 2011-12, and (2009). There are a tournament-high eight Spaniards in the main draw, including three former finalists: Daniel Gimeno-Traver (2015), Albert Ramos-Vinolas (2012) and Albert Montanes (2007).

FLYING THE FLAG: There are three Moroccans in the draw: wild cards , Reda El Amrani and Lamine Ouahab, who reached the quarter-finals in Casablanca last year (l. to Garcia- Lopez). The 31-year-old Ouahab is the No. 1 Moroccan player at No. 315 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, and making his fifth main-draw appearance, while 17-year-old Ahouda is making his ATP World Tour debut. El Amrani, the 27-year-old former world No. 160, is making his first appearance on the ATP World Tour since 2011 (Casablanca, l. 1R to Kavcic). Moroccans won titles in 1997 with current tournament director and in 2002.

Grand Prix Hassan II Day 1 – Monday, April 4, 2016 Page 2 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com

TITLE WATCH: Two former champions – Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (2014) and Paul-Henri Mathieu (2007) – take their place in this week’s draw. Only two players have won multiple titles in Morocco: Spain’s Pablo Andujar (2011-12) and Guillermo Perez-Roldan of Argentina (1992-93).

SINGLES HONOR ROLL (since 2006): BOLD - Players in singles draw

YEAR WINNER FINALIST SCORE

2015 Martin Klizan Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-2, 6-2 2014 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez Marcel 5-7, 6-4, 6-3

2013 Tommy Robredo 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-3 2012 Pablo Andujar Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1, 7-6(5)

2011 Pablo Andujar 6-1, 6-2 2010 Stan Wawrinka Victor Hanescu 6-2, 6-3

2009 Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-4, 7-5

2008 7-5, 6-2

2007 Paul-Henri Mathieu Albert Montanes 6-1, 6-1

2006 Nicolas Massu 6-1, 6-4

DOUBLES WATCH: While all four seeded teams are making their debuts in Morocco, there are two former champions in the field: (2010 and 2011 champion, both w/Tecau) and partner are the top seeds, while (2009 champion and 2007 finalist, both w/Kubot) and are the No. 4 seeds. There are three other former finalists in the draw – (2010 w/ Qureshi, 2015 w/Mergea) is teaming up with and (2011 w/Zelenay) is teaming up with .

DOUBLES HONOR ROLL (since 2006): BOLD - Players in doubles draw

YEAR CHAMPION RUNNER-UP 2015 / Rohan Bopanna / 2014 Jean-Julien Rojer / Horia Tecau Tomasz Bedanrek / Lukas Dlouhy 2013 / Filip Polasek / 2012 Dustin Brown / Daniele Bracciali / 2011 Robert Lindstedt / Horia Tecau Colin Fleming / 2010 Robert Lindstedt / Horia Tecau Rohan Bopanna / Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 2009 Lukasz Kubot / Oliver Marach / Paul Hanley 2008 Albert Montanes / Santiago Ventura / 2007 / David Skoch Lukasz Kubot / Oliver Marach 2006 Julian Knowle / Jurgen Melzer /

Grand Prix Hassan II Day 1 – Monday, April 4, 2016 Page 3 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com

SEEDS TO WATCH THIS WEEK

SINGLES:

SEED PLAYER RECORD BEST FINISH

1. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 10-6 Winner 2014 2. Joao Sousa (POR) 1-1 R16 2014 3. Borna Coric (CRO) 0-0 DEBUT 4. Federico Delbonis (ARG) 3-2 SF 2014 5. Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) 2-3 QF 2009 6. Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) 5-3 F 2012 7. Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) 3-3 QF 2014 8. Jiri Vesely (CZE) 3-2 SF 2015

 WILDCARDS (3):  YOUNGEST: Amine Ahouda (MAR) Amine Ahouda (MAR) – 17 years, 2 months Reda El Amrani (MAR) Lamine Ouahab (MAR)  OLDEST: Albert Montanes (ESP) – 35 years, 4 months  QUALIFIERS (4): Lorenzo Giustino (ITA)  TOP COUNTRY BREAKDOWN: Maximo Gonzalez (ARG) Spain (8), Argentina,Croatia, Morocco (3 each) Nikola Mektic (CRO) Countries in total: 13 Franko Skugor (CRO)

DOUBLES:

SEED PLAYERS BEST FINISH 1. Dominic Inglot / Robert Lindstedt DEBUT 2. Marc Lopez / DEBUT 3. Mate Pavic / DEBUT 4. Oliver Marach / Fabrice Martin DEBUT

EMIRATES ATP RANKING POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY

W F SF QF R16 R28 SINGLES RANKING POINTS 250 150 90 45 20 0 SINGLES PRIZE MONEY (€) 82,450 43,430 23,525 13,400 7,900 4,680 DOUBLES RANKING POINTS 250 150 90 45 0 — DOUBLES PRIZE MONEY (€) 25,070 13,170 7,140 4,080 2,390 —

Grand Prix Hassan II Day 1 – Monday, April 4, 2016 Page 4 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com

DAY 1 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play

CENTRE COURT

[Q] Maximo Gonzalez vs Daniel Muñoz de la Nava Muñoz de la Nava Leads 1-0 16 São Paulo (Brazil) Clay R32 D. Muñoz de la Nava 6-3 4-6 6-2 Other meetings: 07 Belo Horizonte CH (Brazil) Clay R32 D. Muñoz de la Nava 6-1 7-6(1) 08 Szczecin CH (Poland) Clay R32 D. Muñoz de la Nava 7-5 4-6 6-2 09 Viña del Mar Q (Chile) Clay 3R Maximo Gonzalez 7-5 6-7(4) 6-3

Gonzalez FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 0-1 (0-1 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: July 20, 1983 Emirates ATP Ranking: 147 Tournament W-L (Best Result-Year): 0-1 (R32 2015)

 The 32-year-old qualifier is making his second tournament appearance after exiting in the first round on debut in 2015 (l. to Bedene). Beat and Mathias Bourgue to reach main draw  Made 1R appearance at Sao Paulo (l. 1R to Munoz de la Nava), his only other ATP World Tour main draw match in 2016. Fell in qualifying at Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro  In doubles, reached QF at Sao Paulo (w/Sa) and claimed Challenger titles at Mendoza (w/Hernandez-Fernandez) and Buenos Aires (w/Bagnis)

Munoz de la Nava FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 2-6 (1-3 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: January 29, 1982 Emirates ATP Ranking: 75 Tournament W-L (Best Result-Year): Debut

 The 34-year-old is making his main-draw debut after twice missing out in qualifying (2007 l. Q2 to Roger Vasselin, 2011 l. Q2 to Devilder)  Earned 1st tour-level win since 2013 Delray Beach in 1R (d. Lopez 75 in 3rd, l. to Edmund 76 in 3rd)  Also advanced to São Paulo 2R (d. M. Gonzalez in 3 sets, l. to Monteiro in 3 sets)  Achieved career-high No. 68 in Emirates ATP Rankings on February 29. Comes in ranked No. 75  Nearly secured 1st win of career, falling to Troicki in Australian Open 1R after holding 2 MPs  Reached Canberra, AUS Challenger SF (l. to Dodig)

[Q] Franko Skugor (CRO) vs Albert Montañes (ESP) First ATP Meeting Other meeting: 14 Cordenons CH (Italy) Clay QF Albert Montañes 7-5 6-2

Skugor FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 1-1 (0-0 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: September 20, 1987 Emirates ATP Ranking: 151 Tournament W-L (Best Result-Year): Debut

Grand Prix Hassan II Day 1 – Monday, April 4, 2016 Page 5 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com

 The 28-year-old is making his tournament debut  1R win at Dubai (d. Gabashvili; l. 2R to Wawrinka) is only ATP World Tour match win of 2016  Fell in qualifying at Australian Open (l. Q1 to Karatsev) and Quito (l. Q1 to Kovalik)  Last month, produced QF runs at Zhuhai CH (l. to Fabbiano) and Guangzhou (l. to Basilashvili)

Montanes FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 1-2 (1-2 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 6 Date of Birth: November 26, 1980 Emirates ATP Ranking: 123 Tournament W-L (Best Result-Year): 10-8 (F 2007)

 The 35-year-old Spaniard, the oldest player in the singles draw, is making his ninth tournament appearance since his debut in 2003 (l. 1R to El Aynaoui), and first since 2014 (l. 2R to Paire). Reached final in 2007 (l. to Mathieu) and SFs in 2009 (l. to Serra) and 2010 (l. to Andujar)  Playing third ATP World Tour tournament of the year – reached 2R at Quito (l. to Bellucci) and, as qualifier, fell 1R at Buenos Aires (l. to Almagro)  Reached SF at San Luis Potosi CH (l. to Krstin)

Facundo Bagnis (ARG) vs [WC] Lamine Ouahab (MAR) First Meeting

Bagnis FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 1-3 (1-3 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: February 27, 1990 Emirates ATP Ranking: 95 Tournament W-L (Best Result-Year): Debut

 The 26-year-old left-hander is making his tournament debut  Qualified at Buenos Aires (l. to Olivo in 1R), Rio de Janeiro (l. to Cuevas in 1R) and São Paulo (l. to Cuevas in 2R)  Won back-to-back Challenger titles at Buenos Aires, ARG (d. De Greef) and Rio de Janeiro, BRA (d. Clezar)  Added 3rd Challenger singles title of season in March at Santiago, CHI (d. Dutra Silva)  Also captured Challenger doubles title at Buenos Aires, ARG w/M. Gonzalez (d. Galdos/Lindell)  Played exclusively on South American clay in 1st 3 months of season

Ouahab FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 0-0 (0-0 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: December 22, 1984 Emirates ATP Ranking: 320 Tournament W-L (Best Result-Year): 4-5 (QF 2015)

• The 31-year-old is making his sixth main-draw appearance after beating two top-100 opponents (1R d. Haase, 2R d. Garcia-Lopez) during a career-best run to the QFs in 2015 (l. to Gimeno-Traver) • No. 1 Moroccan player opened season in March on Futures circuit in Morocco: reached SF in (l. to No. 367 Jahn) before title wins in Beni Mellal (d. Diez) and (d. Hamou) • In 2015, Moroccan posted 10-6 record on Challenger Tour, claiming season-opening title in Casablanca (d. Marti)

Grand Prix Hassan II Day 1 – Monday, April 4, 2016 Page 6 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com

[Q] Nikola Mektic (CRO) vs [WC] Reda El Amrani (MAR) First Meeting

Mektic FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 0-0 (0-0 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: December 24, 1988 Emirates ATP Ranking: 312 Tournament W-L (Best Result-Year): Debut

 The 27-year-old qualifier is making his tournament debut  Reached main draw with qualifying wins over two French opponents: qualifying top seed De Schepper in Q1 and Maxime Chazal in Q2  Playing his first ATP World Tour match since April 2015 (Bucharest, 1R d. Istomin, 2R l. to Gimeno- Traver); arrives with 2-4 career win-loss record at ATP World Tour level  In doubles, reached a career-high ranking of No. 115 this week after Challenger final appearances at Bergamo ITA, Wroclaw POL and Quimper FRA (all w/Sancic)

El Amrani FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 0-0 (0-0 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: May 19, 1988 Emirates ATP Ranking: Unranked Tournament W-L (Best Result-Year): 2-3 (QF 2010)

• The 27-year-old wild card is making his return to professional tennis in Marrakech, having last played in August 2013. • This is his fourth main-draw appearance; fell in 1R 2009 (l. to Montanes), reached QFs 2010 (l. to Wawrinka) and fell in 1R 2011 (ret. against Kavcic) – his last match on ATP World Tour • Arrives with 6-6 career record on ATP World Tour; last win came in Casablanca 2010 (2R, d. Hajek)

OTHER FIRST ROUND FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Draw Order (MDA) vs Nicolas Almagro (ESP) First Meeting

Iñigo Cervantes (ESP) vs [8] Jiri Vesely (CZE) First Meeting

Simone Bolelli (ITA) vs (JPN) First Meeting

Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) vs [6] Albert Ramos-Viñolas (ESP) Mathieu Leads 1-0 16 Doha (Qatar) Hard R32 Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-3 4-6 7-6(7)

[7] Pablo Carreño Busta (ESP) vs (RUS) Carreño Busta Leads 1-0 16 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells Hard R128 Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3 6-4 Other meeting: 12 CH (Morocco) Clay R32 Evgeny Donskoy 7-5 7-6(5)

[Q] Lorenzo Giustino (ITA) vs Denis Istomin (UZB) First Meeting

[WC] Amine Ahouda (MAR) vs (NED) First Meeting

[5] Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) vs Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP) G-Traver Leads 1-0 14 (Germany) Clay R64 Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-2 6-3 Other meeting: 08 Telde CH (Spain) Clay SF Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-3 7-6(3)