GENERALI OPEN - KITZBÜHEL: DAY 6 MEDIA NOTES Saturday, July 23, 2016 Kitzbühel Tennis Club, Kitzbühel, Austria | July 18-23, 2016 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: €520,070 Surface: Clay ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.generaliopen.com Florent Girod, [email protected] Twitter: @ATPWorldTour Facebook: Generali Open Kitzbühel Press Room: +43 5356 6432011 Facebook: facebook.com/ATPWorldTour FIRST ATP WORLD TOUR TITLE ON THE LINE FOR LORENZI, BASILASHVILI FINAL PREVIEW: The championship of the Generali Open-Kitzbühel features No. 4 seed Paolo Lorenzi of Italy and unseeded Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia in a first-time meeting. The winner will become the fifth first-time winner on the ATP World Tour this season (see below). Lorenzi is appearing in his second career ATP World Tour final. His previous final came in Sao Paulo on Mar. 2, 2014 (l. to Delbonis). At 34 years, 7 months, Lorenzi is trying to become the oldest first-time winner on the ATP World Tour. Victor Estrella Burgos was 34 years, 6 months, when he won in Quito in February 2015. Lorenzi is also trying to become the third-oldest winner on the ATP World Tour this season, only behind Ivo Karlovic (37y,4m, Newport) and Estrella Burgos (35y, 6m, Quito). Basilashvili is the first player from Georgia to reach an ATP World Tour singles final. The 24-year-old is No. 123 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and he’s trying to become the third ATP World Tour winner ranked outside the Top 100 this season. The others are: Florian Mayer (No. 192, Halle) and Juan Monaco (No. 148, Houston). FIRST-TIME ATP WINNERS (4): The winner will become the fifth first-time champion on the ATP World Tour this season. Players trying to win their first ATP World Tour title this season are 4-10 after going 6-10 last season. Here are the first-time winners: Age Tournament Nick Kyrgios 20 Marseille Diego Schwartzman 23 Istanbul Steve Johnson 26 Nottingham Albert Ramos-Vinolas 28 Bastad EMIRATES ATP RANKING POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY Generali Open - Kitzbuhel 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 DAY SIX FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS: [4] Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) vs Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) First Meeting Lorenzi 2016 FastFacts: SF: Quito (l Bellucci); QF (2): Buenos Aires (l Nadal); Bucharest (l Pouille) YTD W-L: 15-15 (15-10 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: December 15, 1981 Emirates ATP Ranking: 48 (Career-high) Kitzbühel W-L (Best Result-Year): 5-1 (In Final 2016) Generali Open - Kitzbühel Day 6 – Saturday, July 23, 2016 Page 2 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com • Tournament Note: The 34-year-old Italian reached the final after 1R bye with wins over Roberto Carballes Baena 62 62 on Wednesday, No. 8 Struff 62 67 75 on Thursday and G. Melzer 76(4) 76(13) on Friday. Has held serve 30 of 36 games this week (83%), saving 15 of 21 break pts. (71%) and leads in return games won (13 of 36, 36%). Two years ago reached QFs in tournament debut (l. to eventual champion Goffin) • Appearing in 2nd career ATP World Tour final. His maiden final came in Sao Paulo in 2014 (l. to Delbonis in 3 sets) • Trying to become the first Italian ATP winner since Fabio Fognini in Vina del Mar in February 2014 • Reached QFs at Buenos Aires (d. Schwartzman, l. to No. 5 Nadal) and Bucharest (d. Daniel, l. to Pouille) • Achieved career-high No. 48 in Emirates ATP Rankings on June 13 • Played in 3rd ATP doubles final at Buenos Aires w/Cervantes (l. to Cabal/Farah) • Won 17th Challenger title at Canberra, AUS (d. Dodig) and 18th at Caltanissetta, ITA (d. Donati after saving 6 MPs) • Also reached Challenger final at Bucaramanga, COL (l. to G. Melzer) • Saved 3 MPs to beat Chiudinelli in Davis Cup 1R opening rubber after 4 hours, 43 minutes (ITA d. SUI 5-0) • Won longest tiebreak in history of Davis Cup World Group, taking 1st set against Chiudinelli 76(14) 30-OVER WINNERS (13): Lorenzi is attempting to become the 14th player 30 & over to win an ATP World Tour title this season: Stan Wawrinka, Chennai 30 yrs., 9 mons. Victor Estrella Burgos, Quito 35 yrs., 6 mons. Stan Wawrinka, Dubai 30 yrs., 11 mons. Pablo Cuevas, Rio de Janeiro 30 yrs., 1 mon. Pablo Cuevas, Sao Paulo 30 yrs., 1 mon. Juan Monaco, Houston 32 yrs., 12 days Fernando Verdasco, Bucharest 32 yrs., 5 mons. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Munich 32 yrs., 6 mons. Nicolas Almagro, Estoril 30 yrs., 8 mons. Stan Wawrinka, Geneva 31 yrs., 1 mon. Nicolas Mahut, ‘s-Hertogenbosch 34 yrs., 4 mons. Florian Mayer, Halle 32 yrs., 4 mons. Ivo Karlovic, Newport 37 yrs., 4 mons. Basilashvili 2016 FastFacts: YTD W-L: 6-4 (4-1 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: February 23, 1992 Emirates ATP Ranking: 123 Kitzbühel W-L (Best Result-Year): 4-0 (in Final 2016) • Tournament Note: The 24-year-old Georgia native is appearing in his first career ATP World Tour final after posting wins over No. 5 seed Rosol 64 76, Sijsling 64 46 62, Pavlasek 57 76 63 and No. 6 seed Lajovic 63 61. Has held serve 41 of 49 games (84%) this season and won 16 of 50 return games (32%) • Comes in on a five-match winning streak after 0-4 start at tour-level. Won pair of Davis Cup matches vs. Zimbabwe and then three in a row this week • Has played in two Grand Slam events, at Aus. Open (l. to No. 3 Federer) and Roland Garros as Q (l. to Edmund) • Lost in qualifying at Dubai, Stuttgart, Halle and Wimbledon • Captured 4th career Challenger title at Guangzhou, CHN (d. Lacko) and 5th at Heilbronn, GER (d. Struff) • Fell in Challenger 1Rs at Canberra, AUS (l. to Whittington); Bergamo, ITA (l. to Gerasimov); Zhuhai, CHN (l. to Bai); Sarasota, USA (ret vs. Andreozzi) and Savannah, USA (l. to Jarry) • Beaten by unranked 18-year-old Sigsgaard in Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group II play (DEN d. GEO 5-0) 1990s WINNERS (8): Basilashvili is trying to add his name to the list of players born in the 1990s to win an ATP World Tour title this season: Milos Raonic, Brisbane 25 yrs., 14 days Federico Delbonis, Marrakech 25 yrs., 6 mons. Nick Kyrgios, Marseille 20 yrs., 9 mons. Diego Schwartzman, Istanbul 23 yrs., 8 mons. Dominic Thiem, Buenos Aires 22 yrs., 5 mons. Dominic Thiem, Nice 22 yrs., 8 mons. Dominic Thiem, Acapulco 22 yrs., 5 mons. Dominic Thiem, Stuttgart 22 yrs., 9 mons. Generali Open - Kitzbühel Day 6 – Saturday, July 23, 2016 Page 3 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com [1] Wesley Koolhof (NED) / Matwe Middelkoop (NED) vs. First Meeting Dennis Novak (AUT) / Dominic Thiem (AUT) • Koolhof/Middelkoop are appearing in their second career ATP World Tour final. In February, they captured the title in Sofia (d. Oswald/Shamaskin). They have won their last two matches in a Match Tie-break • Koolhof is No. 55 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings while Middelkoop is No. 53 • Novak/Thiem are making their ATP World Tour doubles final debut. All three wins en route to the final have come in a Match Tie-break after losing the opening set. They defeated No. 2 seeds Duran/M. Gonzalez in the quarter-finals and No. 3 seeds Erlich/S. Gonzalez in the semi-finals • Novak is No. 851 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings while Thiem is No. 111 .