Thiem Vs. Zverev in Singles Final, Top 2 Seeds in Doubles
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OPEN DE NICE CÔTE D’AZUR: DAY 7 MEDIA NOTES Saturday, May 21, 2016 Nice Lawn Tennis Club, Nice, France | May 15-21, 2016 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: €463,520 | Surface: Clay ATP World Tour Info Tournament Info ATP PR & Marketing www.ATPWorldTour.com www.opennicecotedazur.com Nanette Duxin: [email protected] Twitter: @ATPWorldTour Twitter: @OpenNCA Facebook: ATP World Tour Facebook: Open de Nice Côte d’Azur THIEM VS. ZVEREV IN SINGLES FINAL, TOP 2 SEEDS IN DOUBLES FINALS PREVIEW: Defending Nice champion Dominic Thiem had the best year of his career in 2015, posting a personal-best 36 wins on the ATP World Tour. Should he defend his title on Saturday, Thiem will earn his 36th victory of the 2016 season, one shy of World No. 1 Novak Djokovic for most on tour. His opponent, first-time finalist Alexander Zverev, already has a career- high 21 victories this season. With a win over Thiem, Zverev will pass 19th-ranked Nick Kyrgios for the most wins among Next Generation players (Top 200 and born after December 31, 1994). 2016 WINS ON ATP WORLD TOUR 2016 WINS OF NEXT GENERATION 1 Novak Djokovic 37 1T Alexander Zverev 21 2 Dominic Thiem 35 1T Nick Kyrgios 21 3 Kei Nishikori 29 3 Borna Coric 14 4 Rafael Nadal 27 4 Hyeon Chung 8 5 Milos Raonic 24 5 Taylor Fritz 7 Zverev, 19, hopes to become the first teenager to win a title since Marin Cilic at 2008 New Haven and the youngest player to win a title since Kei Nishikori at 2008 Delray Beach. After saving two match points in his quarter-final win over Gilles Simon, Zverev would be the sixth player to win a title this season from match point down. He would also be the third first-time champion of the year, following in the footsteps of Kyrgios at Marseille and Diego Schwartzman at Istanbul. On the other side of the court, Thiem is trying to become the 10th player to repeat as champion through 32 tournaments this season. He has lost zero sets and only 13 games thus far this week, while Zverev has dropped a set in all four of his matches. Factor in Thiem’s first-round bye and the Austrian has played six hours and 38 minutes less than Zverev at the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur. THIEM’S ROAD TO FINAL (IN MINUTES) ZVEREV’S ROAD TO FINAL (IN MINUTES) 1R Bye 1R def. [Q] Edmund 57 75 ret. 111 2R def. L. Mayer 63 60 61 2R def. Granollers 75 67(3) 62 161 QF def. [7] Seppi 63 63 66 QF def. [2] Simon 63 67(6) 76(1) 180 SF def. Mannarino 61 63 62 SF def. [5] Sousa 64 46 62 135 TOTAL TIME ON COURT 189 TOTAL TIME ON COURT 587 In the doubles final, No. 1 seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah meet No. 2 seeds and defending champions Mate Pavic and Michael Venus. Cabal and Farah won titles in February at Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. Pavic and Venus are seeking a tour-best fourth title of 2016 after capturing championships at ATP World Tour 250 events in Auckland, Montpellier and Marseille. Open de Nice Côte d’Azur Day 7 – Saturday, May 21, 2016 Page 2 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com EMIRATES ATP RANKING POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY Open de Nice Côte d’Azur Champion Finalist Singles Ranking Points 250 150 Singles Prize Money €82,450 €43,430 Doubles Ranking Points 250 150 Doubles Prize Money €25,070 €13,170 INFOSYS ATP SCORES & STATS: Tournament statistics entering Saturday’s championship match Statistic [1] Dominic Thiem [8] Alexander Zverev BOLD: Leads Aces 12 19 all players in Nice 1st-Serve Percentage 56% (74 of 133) 60% (245 of 408) 1st-Serve Points Won 84% (62 of 74) 67% (165 of 245) 2nd-Serve Points Won 69% (41 of 59) 54% (88 of 163) NOTE: Thiem Service Games Won 96% (24 of 25) 83% (48 of 58) leads Zverev Break Points Saved 75% (3 of 4) 66% (19 of 29) in 7 of 10 categories. 1st-Serve Return Points Won 43% (45 of 105) 33% (78 of 236) 2nd-Serve Return Points Won 58% (38 of 66) 53% (69 of 131) Return Games Won 50% (12 of 24) 29% (17 of 59) Break Points Converted 39% (12 of 31) 53% (17 of 32) FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS: SINGLES AND DOUBLES FINALS [1] Dominic Thiem (AUT) vs [8] Alexander Zverev (GER) Thiem Leads 1-0 16 Munich (Germany) Clay SF Dominic Thiem 4-6 6-2 6-3 Thiem 2016 FastFacts W (2): Buenos Aires (d. Almagro); Acapulco (d. Tomic); F: Munich (l. to Kohlschreiber); SF (2): Brisbane (l. to Federer); Rio de Janeiro (l. to Pella); QF: ATP Masters 1000 Rome (l. to Nishikori) YTD W-L: 35-10 (19-5 on clay) YTD Titles: 2 / Career Titles: 5 Date of Birth: September 3, 1993 Emirates ATP Ranking: 15 Nice W-L (Best Result): 9-1 (2015 Champion) • Captured 5th career title -- 1st ATP World Tour 500 – by beating Tomic in Acapulco final • Saved 1 MP in Buenos Aires 2R (d. Elias) and SF (d. No. 5 Nadal 76 in 3rd) en route to title (d. Almagro 76 in 3rd) • Runner-up at Munich (l. to Kohlschreiber 76 in 3rd), snapping 5-match win streak in finals • Rose to career-high No. 13 in Emirates ATP Rankings on March 7 • Defeated No. 2 Federer at Rome for biggest win of career by ranking to reach 2nd ATP Masters 1000 QF • Converted 4 of 44 BPs vs. Djokovic at Miami, Nadal at Monte-Carlo, del Potro at Madrid and Nishikori at Rome • Retired down 76(2) 22 in Sydney 2R against Muller due to blisters • Trying to become the 10th repeat champion of the season (see chart below) REPEAT CHAMPIONS ON ATP WORLD TOUR IN 2016 Stan Wawrinka Chennai (3-peat) Viktor Troicki Sydney Novak Djokovic Australian Open Victor Estrella Burgos Quito Richard Gasquet Montpellier Kei Nishikori Memphis (4-peat) Pablo Cuevas São Paulo Novak Djokovic ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (3-peat) Novak Djokovic ATP Masters 1000 Miami (3-peat) Open de Nice Côte d’Azur Day 7 – Saturday, May 21, 2016 Page 3 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com Zverev 2016 FastFacts SF (2): Montpellier (l. to Mathieu); Munich (l. to Thiem); QF: Rotterdam (l. to Monfils) YTD W-L: 21-12 (11-4 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: April 20, 1997 Emirates ATP Ranking: 48 Nice W-L (Best Result): 4-0 (2016 Finalist) • Reached SFs at Montpellier (d. Vanni in 1R after saving 1 MP, l. to Mathieu) and Munich (l. to Thiem) • Wins over No. 13 Cilic in Montpellier 2R and No. 13 Goffin in Munich QF are biggest of career by ranking • Set career-highs this season in wins (21) and ranking (No. 43 on May 2) • Beat Dimitrov and Simon en route to ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells 4R (l. to No. 5 Nadal after holding 1 MP) • Advanced to Rotterdam QF (d. Simon 76 in 3rd, l. to Monfils) and Barcelona 3R (d. Bellucci, l. to Jaziri) • Appeared in 2nd ATP doubles final with older brother Mischa at Montpellier (l. to Pavic/Venus) • In Davis Cup debut, fell to No. 7 Berdych in 4h, 20m and Rosol in deciding rubber (CZE d. GER 3-2) • Trying to become the 6th player this season to win a title after saving a match point (see chart below) CHAMPIONS WHO SAVED MATCH POINT IN 2016 Roberto Bautista Agut Auckland 1 MP vs. Tsonga in SF Viktor Troicki Sydney 1 MP vs. Dimitrov in final Martin Klizan Rotterdam 5 MPs vs. Bautista Agut in QF and 3 MPs vs. Mahut in SF Dominic Thiem Buenos Aires 1 MP vs. Elias in 2R and 1 MP vs. Nadal in SF Diego Schwartzman Istanbul 1 MP vs. Dzumhur in QF [1] Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL)/Robert Farah (COL) vs First Meeting [2] Mate Pavic (CRO)/Michael Venus (NZL) • Cabal/Farah def Mathieu/Vesely 46 63 10-6 (1R), Monroe/Young 76(4) 64 (QF) and [3] Butorac/Lipsky 62 63 (SF) • Colombians are 21-8 this season and 128-80 lifetime • Own 6-9 record in finals, with 2 titles in each of last 3 seasons and 5 titles on clay • Captured consecutive titles at Buenos Aires (d. Cervantes/Lorenzi) and Rio de Janeiro (d. Carreño Busta/Marrero) • Also advanced to Munich final (d. Knowle/Peya, l. to Kontinen/Peers 10-7 in Match TB) • Earned 3rd straight win over Bryan/Bryan en route to ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo SF (l. to Herbert/Mahut) • Pavic/Venus defeated Marrero/Verdasco 67(6) 76(5) 10-7 in 1R, Duran/Molteni 64 76(4) in QF and Brunstrom/Siljestrom 76(6) 63 in SF • Croat and Kiwi are 17-4 this season and 32-15 lifetime • Own 4-2 record in finals and tied for tour-lead with 3 titles in 2016 (also Bryan/Bryan and Herbert/Mahut) • Captured titles at Auckland (d. Butorac/Lipsky), Montpellier (d. Zverev/Zverev) and Marseille (d. Erlich/Fleming) • Reached Marrakech SF (l. to Duran/M. Gonzalez 10-7 in Match TB) • Fell in 1R at Brisbane (l. to Reid/Smith), Australian Open (l. to Krajicek/Young) and Acapulco (l. to Erlich/Fleming) .