<<

ABIERTO MEXICANO TELCEL presented by HSBC: DAY 2 MEDIA NOTES Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Acapulco Princess Mundo Imperial, , | February 22 – February 27, 2016 Draw: S-32, D-16 | Prize Money: $1,413,600 | Surface: Outdoor Hard

ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.abiertomexicanodetenis.com Edward La Cava: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour @AbiertoTelcel Greg Sharko: [email protected] facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/AbiertoMexicanoDeTenis Press Room: + 52 744 466 3899

SEVEN SEEDS IN ACTION AS ROUND ONE CONCLUDES ON TUESDAY

DAY 2 PREVIEW: Seven seeds are in action on Tuesday at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel as round one concludes with 10 singles matches scheduled.

The opening match on Cancha Central is the third meeting between No. 3 seed Marin Cilic and qualifier (Cilic leads 2-0). Cilic enters on the heels of reaching his 24th career ATP World Tour final at Marseille (l. to Kyrgios). Harrison, who reached the semi-finals here last year (l. to Ferrer), is looking for his second tour-level win of the year.

Following is a first time meeting between the Top seed and four-time champion and Aussie John Millman. The World No. 8 Ferrer has reached the quarter-finals or better in four of five events played this year. The 26-year-old Millman is making his tournament debut and is looking for his first win over a Top 10 opponent in his third meeting.

The last match of the day on Cancha Central sees the 2014 champion and No. 7 seed facing American . The 24-year-old Dimitrov won their only previous meeting in straight sets in the second round at 2011 Newport.

Other seeds in action are No. 4 , who is making his tournament debut against Damir Dzumhur. No. 5 seed faces , who on Sunday reached his third career tour- level final at Delray Beach (l. to Querrey). The oldest player in the draw and No. 6 seed Ivo Karlovic looks to capture his 300th career tour-level win against Aljaz Bedene. 18-year-old American qualifier , who reached his first career ATP World Tour final at Memphis (l. to Nishikori), meets No. 8 seed Jeremy Chardy of France for the first time.

DAY 2 FEDEX ATP 2 HEADS – In Order of Play by Court

CANCHA CENTRAL

[3] Marin Cilic (CRO) vs [Q] Ryan Harrison (USA) Cilic Leads 2-0 11 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R128 Marin Cilic 6-2 7-5 7-6(6) 14 Delray Beach (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Marin Cilic 6-3 6-4

Cilic FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: F: Marseille (l Kyrgios); QF (2): (l Thiem); Rotterdam (l Kohlschreiber) YTD W-L: 8-5 (8-5 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 14 Date of Birth: September 28, 1988 Emirates ATP Ranking: 12 Acapulco (Best Result-Year): Debut

 The 27-year-old is making his tournament debut  On Sunday reached 24th career ATP World Tour F at Marseille (l.. to Kyrgios). Dropped to 14-10 in tour finals Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC Day 2 – Tuesday, February 23, 2016 Page 2 of 4 www.ATPWorldTour.com

 Opened the season with QF appearance at Brisbane (l. to Thiem), reached 3R at (l. to Bautista Agut), 1R exit at Montpellier (l. to Zverev) and QF run at Rotterdam (l. to Kohlschreiber)  In 2015, Croat finished in Top 20 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 5th time  Won an ATP title for 8th straight season, repeating as champion at Moscow (d. Bautista Agut)  Posted 31-13 record after starting season 4-6  Played only 1 tournament in 1st 3 months due to right shoulder injury (ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells)

Harrison FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 1-2 (1-2 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: May 7, 1992 Emirates ATP Ranking: 127 Acapulco (Best Result-Year): 3-1 (SF 2015)

 The 23-year-old reached the SF here last year (d. Dimitrov in 2R, d. Karlovic in QF, l. to eventual champion Ferrer) as a qualifer in his tournament debut  Best result of the year was 2R at Memphis (l. to eventual champion Nishikori)  Opened year by qualifying for Australian Open (l. to Kuznetsov in 1R), fell in 1R at Maui, USA Challenger (l. to McGee), reached 2R at Dallas, USA Challenger (l. to Smyczek)  In 2015, American rose from No. 190 to No. 113 in year-end Emirates ATP Rankings  Qualified and reached SF at Acapulco (d. Karlovic in QF, l. to No. 9 Ferrer in SF). Fell to 0-7 in ATP World Tour SFs  Posted 23-15 ATP Challenger Tour record, highlighted by 3rd career title at Happy Valley, AUS (d. Baghdatis)

[1] David Ferrer (ESP) vs John Millman (AUS) First Meeting

Ferrer FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: SF (2): Auckland (l Sock); (l Almagro); QF (2): Australian Open (l Murray); (l Thiem) YTD W-L: 10-5 (6-3 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 26 Date of Birth: April 2, 1982 Emirates ATP Ranking: 8 Acapulco (Best Result-Year): 29-5 (Winner 2010-12, ’15)

 The 33-year-old is making his 10th tournament appearance (29-5 record) and is a four-time champion - 2010 (d. Ferrero), 2011 (d. Almagro), 2012 (d. Verdasco) and 2015 (d. Nishikori). Also reached the finals in 2013 (l. to Nadal)  The No. 2 Spaniard (behind No. 5 Nadal) has reached the QF or better in four of five events played this year. In “Golden Swing” reached SF at Buenos Aires (l. to Almagro). Followed with QF appearance at Rio de Janeiro (l. to Thiem)  Opened season by reaching SF at Auckland (l. to Sock) and followed with QF at Australian Open (d. Isner in 4R, l. to Murray). Fell in 1R at Doha (l. to Marchenko)  In 2015, Spaniard posted 6th straight Top 10 finish in Emirates ATP Rankings and 7th overall. Also earned 50+ wins for 6th straight season and 7th overall  Captured 25th title of career in 50th final at Kuala Lumpur (d. Lopez), which he followed with Vienna title (d. Johnson 75 in 3rd)

Millman FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: QF: Montpellier (l Mathieu) YTD W-L: 6-6 (6-6 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: June 14, 1989 Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC Day 2 – Tuesday, February 23, 2016 Page 3 of 4 www.ATPWorldTour.com

Emirates ATP Ranking: 61 Acapulco (Best Result-Year): Debut

 The 26-year-old is making his tournament debut  Playing here on a career-high ranking of No. 61 and enters with a 6-6 match record in 2016. Last year compiled a 5-9 mark on ATP World Tour  Reached first career ATP World Tour QF at Montpellier (l. to Mathieu), followed with 2R exit at Memphis (l. to Becker) and 1R at Delray Beach (l. to Johnson)  In opening month of season, reached 2R in Chennai (l. to Bautista Agut), 1R in Sydney (l. to Robredo) and personal-best 3R at Australian Open (l. to No. 17 Tomic)  In 2015, Aussie finished in Top 100 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 1st time at No. 92, completing comeback from right shoulder surgery in summer 2013  Achieved career-high of No. 71 on August 17 after winning Aptos, USA Challenger title. One year earlier, was ranked No. 1,101 on August 18, 2014  Compiled 26-13 record on ATP Challenger Tour with titles at Lexington, USA (d. Uchiyama); Aptos, USA (d. Krajicek); and Kobe, JPN (d. Daniel)  Career 0-2 record vs. Top 10 opponents. Lost to – No. 3 at 2013 Brisbane and No. 2 at 2015 Brisbane

[7] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) vs Denis Kudla (USA) Kudla Leads 1-0 11 Newport (U.S.A.) Grass R16 Denis Kudla 6-1 6-4

Dimitrov FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: F: Sydney (l Troicki); SF: Delray Beach (l Ram); QF: Brisbane (l Federer) YTD W-L: 10-4 (10-4 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 4 Date of Birth: May 16, 1991 Emirates ATP Ranking: 26 Acapulco (Best Result-Year): 6-1 (Winner 2014)

 The 24-year-old 2014 champion (d. Murray in SF, d. Anderson) is playing here for the third straight year. He has a 6-1 tournament record and fell in the 2R last year (l. to Harrison)  Last week in first event since reaching 3R at Australian Open (l. to Federer) fell in SF at Delray Beach (l. to Ram)  Reached 7th career ATP World Tour final at Sydney (l. to Troicki, held M.P.). Fell to 4-3 in finals  Opened year by reaching QF at Brisbane (l. to Federer)  In 2015, Bulgarian won 20+ matches and finished in Top 50 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 4th straight season  Enjoyed best stretch from April 13-May 10 with 2 wins over No. 9 Wawrinka en route to ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo QF, Istanbul SF and ATP Masters 1000 Madrid QF

Kudla FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 3-4 (3-4 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: August 17, 1992 Emirates ATP Ranking: 64 Acapulco (Best Result-Year): Debut

 The 23-year-old is making his tournament debut  Last week fell in 1R at Delray Beach (l. to del Potro)  Best result of the year is 2R three times – Brisbane (l. to Thiem), Australian Open (l. to Seppi) and Memphis (l. to Kukushkin)  In 2015, American finished inside Top 100 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 1st time at No. 69  Achieved career-high ranking of No. 65 on October 12 after reaching Sacramento, USA Challenger SF (l. to Donaldson)  As Wimbledon wild card, beat Cuevas, A. Zverev and Giraldo en route to -best 4R (l. to Cilic). Was 1st American to reach 4R since 2012 (Baker and Fish) Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC Day 2 – Tuesday, February 23, 2016 Page 4 of 4 www.ATPWorldTour.com

 During summer, qualified and advanced to 1st career ATP World Tour SF in Atlanta (d. Harrison, Sock and Sela; l. to eventual champ Isner)  Qualified 6 times into ATP World Tour events: Brisbane, Memphis, Atlanta and ATP Masters 1000 events in Monte-Carlo, Montréal and Cincinnati

GRANDSTAND

Damir Dzumhur (BIH) vs [4] Dominic Thiem (AUT) First Meeting

CANCHA 3

[8] Jeremy Chardy (FRA) vs [Q] Taylor Fritz (USA) First Meeting

Aljaz Bedene (GBR) vs [6] Ivo Karlovic (CRO) Bedene Leads 1-0 11 Vienna () Hard R32 Aljaz Bedene 7-6(4) ret

Rajeev Ram (USA) vs [5] Bernard Tomic (AUS) Ram Leads 1-0 16 Delray Beach (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Rajeev Ram 7-6(3) 6-1

CANCHA 2

Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) vs (AUS) First Meeting

CANCHA 1

Steve Johnson (USA) vs (UKR) Johnson Leads 1-0 15 Vienna (Austria) Hard R32 6-3 4-6 6-2

Sam Querrey (USA) vs (ISR) Sela Leads 2-1 09 Los Angeles (U.S.A.) Hard QF 6-3 7-5 12 Newport (U.S.A.) Grass R16 Dudi Sela 5-7 7-6(6) 6-2 14 Atlanta (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Dudi Sela 6-2 6-4