PRESENTED BY CLARO: DAY 5 MEDIA NOTES Friday, February 19, 2016

Jockey Club Brasileiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | February 15 – 21, 2016 Draw: S-32, D-16 | Prize Money: $1,471,315| Surface: Clay

ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.rioopen.com Edward La Cava: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour @RioOpenOficial Maria Garcia-Planas: [email protected] facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/rioopenoficial Press Room: +55 2131845384

THREE SEEDS IN QUARTER-FINALS, LED BY NADAL, FERRER, THIEM

QUARTER-FINALS PREVIEW: Three seeds remain at the Rio Open presented by Claro as the quarter- finals take place on Friday.

The winner of the first-time meeting between Spanish qualifier Daniel Gimeno-Traver and Argentinian will reach their first ATP World Tour semi-final of the year. The 30-year-old Spaniard is looking to reach his 6th career ATP World Tour semi-final (1-4 record, 1-3 on clay) and first since reaching maiden final last April at Casablanca (l. to Klizan). The 25-year-old Argentine is looking to reach his first career ATP World Tour semi-final in just his second career quarter-final.

Pablo Cuevas and are meeting for the third time on the ATP World Tour with the series tied at 1-all. Both players are playing in the quarter-finals here for the second year in a row and both are looking to reach the semi-finals here for the first time.

Austrian No. 5 seed looks to extend his current 7-match win streak in a first-time meeting with the No. 2 seed and defending champ . The 22-year-old, who is the youngest player in the Top 20 Emirates ATP Ranking, captured his 4th career ATP World Tour title last week at Buenos Aires (d. Nadal in SF, d. Almagro). The 33-year-old Spaniard has a 10-1 tournament record and is attempting to reach the semi-finals here for the third consecutive year.

Ukrainian has won his last two meetings with the top seed and 2014 champion , who leads 5-2. The last time the “King of Clay” defeated the 27-year-old Dolgopolov was here in the 2014 final. Dolgopolov has an 8-36 career record (0-1 in 2016) vs Top 10 opponents. He has lost three straight since his last win last August over No. 6 Tomas Berdych in quarter-finals at ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati.

DAY 5 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play

Quadra Guga Kuerten

[Q] Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP) vs Guido Pella (ARG) First Meeting

Gimeno-Traver FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 2-2 (2-0 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: August 7, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 118 Rio de Janeiro W-L (Best Result-Year): 2-0 (QF 2016)

 The 30-year-old qualifier benefitted from back-to-back retirements to reach the QF – Juan Monaco ret. trailing 52 in the opener and then ret. at 46 31 in the 2R  He is the first qualifier to reach the QF here  Appearing in his 14th career ATP World Tour QF (6-7 record, 5-7 on clay) and first since the QF last year at Istanbul (l. to eventual champion Federer)  Looking to reach 6th career ATP World Tour SF (1-4 record, 1-3 on clay) and first since reaching maiden F last year at Casablanca (l. to Klizan) Rio Open Presented by Claro Day 5 – Friday, February 19, 2016 Page 2 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com

 Playing in his first event since falling in 1R at (l. to Smyczek), also fell in 1R at Chennai (l. to Ramanathan. Fell in qualifying at Buenos Aires (l. to Clezar in Q1) and Rio de Janeiro (l. to Clezar)  In 2015, Spaniard finished in Top 100 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 6th time in 8 years  Posted best results on clay, reaching 1st career final at Casablanca (d. Vesely, l. to Klizan), SF at Bucharest (l. to Vesely) and QF at Istanbul (l. to No. 2 Federer)  Won an ATP Challenger Tour title for 8th straight season, capturing 14th career title at Bucaramanga, COL (d. Elias)

Pella FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 3-3 (2-2 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: May 17, 1990 Emirates ATP Ranking: 71 Rio de Janeiro W-L (Best Result-Year): 2-0 (QF 2016)

 The 25-year-old lost just eight points in the second set of his 64 60 win over on Thursday. He defeated No. 4 seed 76(5) 57 76(8) in the 1R on Monday in his main draw debut, saving three match points  At No. 71, one of five Argentinians ranked in the Top 100 Emirates ATP Rankings (joined by: No. 38 , No. 46 Federico Delbonis, No. 55 Juan Monaco and No. 90 )  Appearing in his 2nd career ATP World Tour QF and first since reaching maiden QF at 2013 Dusseldorf (l. to eventual champion Monaco) as a qualifier  Best result of year was reaching the 2R for the first time at Australian Open (l. to Lopez in 5-sets). Fell in 1R at Buenos Aires (l. to Mayer) and Quito (l. to eventual champion Estrella Burgos)  In 2015, Argentine climbed 82 spots to finish in Top 100 for 2nd time at a year-end high No. 74  Achieved career-high ranking of No. 73 on November 9 after reaching Guayaquil, ECU Challenger SF (l. to Elias)  Won 4 of 10 career Challenger singles titles (tied for most on tour in 2015): San Luis Potosi, MEX (d. McGee); São Paulo, BRA (d. Lindell); Porto Alegre, BRA (d. Schwartzman); and Montevideo, URU (d. Cervantes)  Returned to ATP Challenger Tour Finals (2012 champion), beating Albot and Clezar, then leading Cecchinato 61 10 when he suffered right leg muscle injury (retiring), and withdrew from SF

Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs Federico Delbonis (ARG) Series Tied 1-1 14 Vina del Mar (Chile) Clay R32 Federico Delbonis 6-3 6-4 15 Bastad (Sweden) Clay R16 Pablo Cuevas 6-4 6-7(6) 6-0 Other meetings: 10 Montevideo CH (Uruguay) Clay QF Pablo Cuevas 6-3 6-4

Cuevas FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: QF: Buenos Aires (l Ferrer) YTD W-L: 6-3 (4-1 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 3 Date of Birth: January 1, 1986 Emirates ATP Ranking: 45 Rio de Janeiro W-L (Best Result-Year): 5-2 (QF 2015-16)

 The 30-year-old advanced to the QF for the second year in a row with a 76(5) 63 win over Brazilian wild card on Thursday. Opened with a 62 60 win over Argentinian qualifier on Tuesday. He is making his 3rd appearance and has a 5-2 tournament record. Best result was QF last year (l. to Nadal)  Looking to reach 12th career ATP World Tour SF (4-7 record, 4-6 on clay)  Last week reached first ATP World Tour QF of the year at Buenos Aires (l. to Ferrer). It was his first QF since reaching the SF last July at Bastad (l. to eventual champion Paire)  Playing tournament since falling in the 2R at Australian Open (l. to Kyrgios). Opened season by reaching 2R at Sydney (l. to Dimitrov) Rio Open Presented by Claro Day 5 – Friday, February 19, 2016 Page 3 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com

 In 2015, Uruguayan enjoyed 2nd straight Top 50 finish in comeback from right knee injury  Won 3rd singles title of career at São Paulo (d. Vanni 76 in 3rd). Also reached Istanbul final (d. Dimitrov, l. to No. 2 Federer)  Earned career-high 29 singles wins (previous-best 21 in 2010)  Career 2-7 record vs Top 10 opponents, wins over No. 5 Berdych at 2015 Beijing and No. 8 Roddick at 2011 Miami

Delbonis FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 6-3 (3-1 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 1 Date of Birth: October 5, 1990 Emirates ATP Ranking: 46 Rio de Janeiro W-L (Best Result-Year): 5-2 (QF 2015-16)

 The 25-year-old left hander reached the QF here for the second year in a row with a 63 60 win over on Thursday. He opened with a 75 61 win over No. 6 seed on Tuesday. Also reached 2R last year (l. to Fognini)  Appearing in 14th career ATP World Tour QF (6-7 record, 6-6 on clay) and first since last August at Kitzbuhel (l. to Mathieu)  Looking to reach 7th career ATP World Tour SF (3-3 record, all on clay) and first since last May at Geneva (l. to Sousa)  Last week reached 2R at Buenos Aires (d. Fognini in 1R, l. to Almagro)  Opened year by reaching 2R at Sydney (l. to Gabashvili), followed with first career 3R appearance at Australian Open (l to Simon)  In 2015, Argentine finished outside Top 100 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 3rd time in 6 years due to wrist injuries  Only played 4 matches all season, reaching Sydney QF (d. Stakhovsky and Fognini, l. to Kukushkin) and falling in 1R at ATP Masters 1000 Miami (l. to Pospisil)  Underwent left wrist surgeries on January 20 and June 18 at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, USA

[5] Dominic Thiem (AUT) vs [2] David Ferrer (ESP) First Meeting

Thiem FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: W: Buenos Aires (d Almagro); SF: Brisbane (l Federer) YTD W-L: 12-3 (7-0 on clay) YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 4 Date of Birth: September 3, 1993 Emirates ATP Ranking: 19 Rio de Janeiro W-L (Best Result-Year): 2-0 (QF 2016)

 The 22-year-old, who is the youngest player in the Top 20 Emirates ATP Ranking, defeated Pablo Andujar in his tournament debut on Tuesday and followed with a 75 75 win over Diego Schwartzman on Wednesday  Appearing in 3rd ATP World Tour QF of the year (2-0 record) and looking to reach 9th career SF (5-3 record, 5-1 on clay)  Last week captured 4th career ATP World Tour title at Buenos Aires (d. Nadal in SF, d. Almagro). With win over Nadal became the first player aged 22-under to beat Nadal on clay since in Valencia 2005  Opened year by reaching SF at Brisbane (d. Cilic in QF, l. to Federer), ret. down 76(2) 22 in 2R at Sydney (l. to Muller) due to blisters, fell in 3R at Australian Open (l. to Goffin)  In 2015, Austrian improved his year-end Emirates ATP Ranking for 5th straight season and finished as youngest player in Top 20  Achieved career-high No. 18 on August 10 after reaching SF at Kitzbühel  Captured 1st 3 ATP World Tour titles of career -- all on clay: Nice (d. L. Mayer 76 in 3rd), Umag (d. Sousa) and Gstaad (d. Goffin)  Won career-high 36 matches (previous-best was 22 in 2014) Rio Open Presented by Claro Day 5 – Friday, February 19, 2016 Page 4 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com

 Has a career 2-10 record vs Top 10 opponents (2-6 vs Top 5). Prior to win over No. 5 Rafael Nadal at Buenos Aires had lost 8 against Top 10 foes since win over No. 3 Wawrinka at 2014 Madrid as a qualifier

Ferrer FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: SF(2): Auckland (l Sock); Buenos Aires (l Almagro); QF: Australian Open (l Murray) YTD W-L: 10-4 (4-1 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 26 Date of Birth: April 2, 1982 Emirates ATP Ranking: 6 Rio de Janeiro W-L (Best Result-Year): 10-1 (Winner 2015)

 The 33-year-old Spaniard opened with a 63 76(3) win over Chilean wild card Nicolas Jarry on Tuesday and followed with a 46 61 64 victory over countryman Albert Ramos-Vinolas on Thursday. The 2015 champion (d. Fognini) has a 10-1 tournament record and also reached the SF in 2014 (l. to Dolgopolov)  Last week reached 2nd ATP World Tour SF of the year at Buenos Aires (l. to Almagro). Was attempting reach 52nd career ATP World Tour final (26-25, 12-15 on clay)  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)

[3] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) Nadal Leads 5-2 10 ATP Masters 1000 Madrid () Clay R32 Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-3 11 ATP Masters 1000 Miami (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Rafael Nadal 6-1 6-2 12 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-2 13 ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (China) Hard R32 Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-2 14 Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) Clay F Rafael Nadal 6-3 7-6(3) 14 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3 3-6 7-6(5) 15 London / Queen's Club (Great Britain) Grass R32 Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3 6-7(6) 6-4

Nadal FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: F: Doha (l Djokovic); SF: Buenos Aires (l Thiem) YTD W-L: 8-3 (4-1 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 67 Date of Birth: June 3, 1986 Emirates ATP Ranking: 5 Rio de Janeiro W-L (Best Result-Year): 10-1 (Winner 2014)

 The 29-year-old converted 4 of 5 break points to defeat Nicolas Almagro 63 75 to reach the QF on Thursday. Converted 5 of 7 break point chances in his 61 64 win over Pablo Carreno Busta in the 1R on Tuesday. He is playing here for the third straight year. The 2014 (d. Dolgopolov) champion’s only loss here came last year to Fognini in SF. He has a 10-1 tournament record  Last week the top ranked Spaniard reached the SF at Buenos Aires (l. to eventual champion Thiem). Was attempting to reach his 100th career ATP World Tour final 56th on clay (67-32 record, 47-8 on clay). If he reaches the final this week he would be the 6th player in the Open Era to reach 100 career finals. He would join: Jimmy Connors 164 (109-55), Ivan Lendl 145 (94-51), 136 (88-48), John McEnroe 109 (77-32) and Vilas Guillermo 104 (62-42)  Fell in the 1R at Australian Open (l. to Verdasco in 5-sets). It was just the second time in his career that he had lost in the 1R of a major – 2013 Wimbledon (l. to Darcis)  Opened year by reaching final at Doha (l. to Djokovic)  In 2015, Spaniard finished in Top 5 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 11th straight season Rio Open Presented by Claro Day 5 – Friday, February 19, 2016 Page 5 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com

 Captured titles at Buenos Aires (d. Monaco), Stuttgart (d. Troicki) and Hamburg (d. Fognini), while also reaching finals at ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (l. to No. 3 Murray), Beijing (l. to No. 1 Djokovic) and Basel (l. to No. 3 Federer)

Dolgopolov FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: QF: Sydney (l Dimitrov) YTD W-L: 6-3 (3-1 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 2 Date of Birth: November 7, 1988 Emirates ATP Ranking: 33 Rio de Janeiro W-L (Best Result-Year): 6-1 (RUP 2014)

 The 27-year-old opened with a 67(3) 75 62 win over on Tuesday and followed with a 36 60 63 win over Inigo Cervantes on Thursday. He is making his second tournament appearance (6-1 record). Reached final in 2014 (d. Almagro in 1R, Fognini in QF, Ferrer in SF, l. to Nadal)  Appearing in his 2nd ATP World Tour QF of the year (0-1 mark) and looking to reach first SF since last August at ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati (l. to Djokovic)  Last week fell in 1R at Buenos Aires (l. to Schwartzman)  Reached 2R at Australian Open (l. to Federer)  Opened season by reaching QF at Sydney (l. to Dimitrov)  In 2015, Ukrainian finished in Top 50 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 5th time in 6 years (all but 2013)  Earned 20+ wins in each of last 6 seasons (2010-15)  Career 8-36 record (0-1 in 2016) vs Top 10 opponents. Has lost three straight, last win was last year over No. 6 Tomas Berdych in QF at ATP Masters 1000 Cincinatti