INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'italia: DAY 2 MEDIA NOTES Monday, May 9, 2016
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INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA: DAY 2 MEDIA NOTES Monday, May 9, 2016 Foro Italico, Rome, Italy | May 8-15, 2016 Draw: S-56, D-24 | Prize Money: €3,748,925 | Surface: Clay ATP World Tour Info Tournament Info ATP PR & Marketing www.ATPWorldTour.com www.internazionalibnlditalia.com Edward La Cava: [email protected] Twitter: @ATPWorldTour Twitter: @InteBNLdItalia / #IBI16 Fabienne Benoit: [email protected] Facebook: ATP World Tour Facebook: Internazionali BNL d’Italia Press Room: TBD SEEDS RAONIC, GASQUET, THIEM, MONFILS, FIVE ITALIANS IN ACTION DAY 2 PREVIEW: There are 12 singles matches on Monday’s schedule at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia with No. 10 seed Milos Raonic, No. 11 Richard Gasquet, No. 13 Dominic Thiem and No. 14 Gael Monfils leading the way. In addition, five Italians, including the top two of Fabio Fognini and Andreas Seppi, are in action. Leading off on Center Court is Raonic against wild card Marco Cecchinato in a second-time meeting. Last month, Raonic won 63 75 in the first round at ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo. The 25-year-old Canadian is the only player this season to reach the quarter-finals or better in all four ATP Masters 1000 tournaments. He is off to a 23-5 start this season and back in the Top 10 Emirates ATP Rankings for the second week in a row for the first time since last October. The No. 119th-ranked Cecchinato is facing his first Top 10 opponent in his career. In the fhird match on, Fognini brings a 4-2 career record (3-1 on clay) against Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Fognini is making his ninth tournament appearance (5-8 record) and his best result is the 3R last year. Garcia-Lopez looks to even his season match record (12-13). His best showing in Rome is also the 3R in 2010 and last year. In the evening session, Next Generation teenage star Alexander Zverev and Grigor Dimitrov square off for the third time (tied 1-1), the first on clay. Zverev won the last meeting in the 2R at ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells in March. The 19-year-old German, who is making his Rome debut, enters with a 16-11 match record on the season. Dimitrov, a semi-finalist in Rome two years ago, is ranked No. 35 this week, the first time he’s been out of the Top 30 Emirates ATP Rankings since Aug. 5, 2013 at No. 31. On Grandstand, Frenchmen Gasquet and Julien Benneteau meet for the fourth time on the ATP World Tour, the first on clay. Gasquet won all three previous meetings, winning six of seven sets. In the next match on, another Next Generation member, 21-year-old Nick Kyrgios, takes on wild card Salvatore Caruso, who is playing in his first career ATP World Tour main draw. Kyrgios has reached the quarter-finals or better in five of seven tournaments this season and he is looking for his 20th match win of the year (19-6). In the final match on is Thomaz Bellucci and Monfils, who owns a 3-0 record against the Brazilian. Monfils has rallied to win their last two meetings after dropping the opening set. Monfils, a semi-finalist in Rome in his 2006 debut, is playing here for the first time since 2012. On Pietrangeli, the third match on features Seppi and Canadian No. 2 Vasek Pospisil. They have split their previous four hard court meetings. Seppi is playing in his first tournament since ATP Masters 1000 Miami in March. In the next match on, No. 1 Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov and Thiem meet for the third time (tied 1-1), the first on clay. The 22-year-old Thiem is aiming for his 30th match win of the season (29-9). Last year he didn’t win his 30th match until the 1R at the US Open in late August. Internazionali BNL d’Italia Day 2 – Monday, May 9, 2016 Page 2 of 8 www.ATPWorldTour.com DAY 2 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS: In Order of Play by Court CENTER COURT [10] Milos Raonic (CAN) vs [WC] Marco Cecchinato (ITA) Raonic Leads 1-0 16 ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo Clay R64 Milos Raonic 6-3 7-5 Raonic 2016 FastFacts: W: Brisbane (d Federer); F: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Djokovic); SF: Australian Open (l Murray); QF(3): ATP Masters 1000 Miami (l Kyrgios); ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Murray); ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (l Djokovic) YTD W-L: 23-5 (6-2 on clay) YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 8 Date of Birth: December 27, 1990 Emirates ATP Ranking: 10 Rome W-L (Best Result): 3-4 (2014 SF) • Tournament Note: The 25-year-old Canadian is making his fifth appearance in six years (DNP last year). Two years ago advanced to SF with wins over Bolelli, No. 13 Tsonga and Chardy before losing to No. 2 Djokovic in three sets. Lost in 1R in first three visits from 2011-13 • Only player this year to reach QFs or better in first four ATP Masters 1000 tournaments and last week advanced to QF in Madrid (l. to eventual champion Djokovic) • Returned to Top 10 Emirates ATP Rankings last week for first time since Oct. 26, 2015 • Won 1st 9 matches of 2016 season, highlighted by 8th career title at Brisbane (d. No. 3 Federer) • Victory over Federer avenged loss to Swiss in 2015 Brisbane final • Upset No. 4 Wawrinka in 5 sets en route to 2nd Grand Slam SF at Aust. Open (l. to No. 2 Murray in 5 sets) • Reached 3rd ATP Masters 1000 final at Indian Wells (d. No. 7 Berdych, Monfils and Goffin; l. to No. 1 Djokovic) • Advanced to ATP Masters 1000 QFs at Miami (l. to Kyrgios) and Monte-Carlo (l. to No. 2 Murray) • Withdrew from Delray Beach, Acapulco and Davis Cup 1R due to muscular tear sustained in Australian Open SF ATP MASTERS 1000 WINS LEADERS: Raonic is second this year in ATP Masters 1000 match wins: W-L Titles 1) Novak Djokovic 17-1 3 2) Milos Raonic 14-4 0 T3) Rafael Nadal 12-3 1 T3) Gael Monfils 12-4 0 5) Kei Nishikori 11-3 0 Cecchinato 2016 FastFacts: QF: Bucharest (l Delbonis) YTD W-L: 3-8 (3-6 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: September 30, 1992 Emirates ATP Ranking: 119 Rome W-L (Best Result): 0-1 (2014 1R) • Tournament Note: The 23-year-old Italian is making his second main draw appearance. Two years ago lost in 1R (l. to Sijsling). Lost in final round of qualifying in 2012-13 and 1R last year • Reached 1st ATP World Tour QF at Bucharest (d. Baghdatis and Dzumhur, l. to Delbonis) • Made successful Davis Cup debut with dead-rubber win over Bossel in 1R (ITA d. SUI 5-0) • Davis Cup win snapped 5-match losing streak to start season and 13-match losing streak to begin career • Qualified at Buenos Aires (l. to Monaco in 1R) • Reached 3R in Aus. Open doubles w/Seppi (d. Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin and Lopez/Lopez, l. to Rojer/Tecau) Internazionali BNL d’Italia Day 2 – Monday, May 9, 2016 Page 3 of 8 www.ATPWorldTour.com Fabio Fognini (ITA) vs Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) Fognini Leads 4-2 (3-1 on clay) 08 Warsaw (Poland) Clay R32 Fabio Fognini 7-5 0-6 6-4 10 Eastbourne (Great Britain) Grass R16 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2 6-2 11 Roland Garros (France) Clay R32 Fabio Fognini 4-6 6-3 6-3 6-1 12 Casablanca (Morocco) Clay R32 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4 3-6 7-5 12 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R64 Fabio Fognini 6-4 6-4 6-2 13 Buenos Aires (Argentina) Clay R32 Fabio Fognini 7-5 6-3 Fognini 2016 FastFacts: SF: Munich (l Kohlschreiber); QF(2): Auckland (l Tsonga); Barcelona (l Nadal) YTD W-L: 9-8 (7-6 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 3 Date of Birth: May 24, 1987 Emirates ATP Ranking: 31 Rome W-L (Best Result): 5-8 (2015 3R) • Tournament Note: The No. 1 Italian is making his ninth main draw appearance and his best result is 3R last year when he defeated Johnson and No. 11 Dimitrov before losing to No. 5 Berdych in a third set tie-break. Prior to that, lost in 2R in 2009, '12 and '13. • Lost to eventual champions in Munich SF (l. to Kohlschreiber) and Barcelona QF (l. to No. 5 Nadal) • Saved 2 MPs in 64 26 76(3) win over Sousa in Auckland 1R (l. to No. 10 Tsonga in QF) • In defense of Australian Open doubles title w/Bolelli, lost to Mannarino/Pouille in 2R • Abdominal muscle strain forced retirement in Rio de Janeiro 2R vs. Gimeno-Traver and withdrawal from São Paulo, ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells and ATP Masters 1000 Miami ITALIANS IN TOP 125: Fognini is one of six Italians in the Top 125 Emirates ATP Rankings: No. 31 Fabio Fognini No. 42 Andreas Seppi No. 53 Paolo Lorenzi No. 110 Thomas Fabbiano No. 113 Simone Bolelli No. 119 Marco Cecchinato Garcia-Lopez 2016 FastFacts: SF: Bucharest (l Verdasco); QF(4): Chennai (l Wawrinka); Sofia (l Muller); Marrakech (l Vesely); Estoril (l Paire) YTD W-L: 12-13 (6-5 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 5 Date of Birth: June 4, 1983 Emirates ATP Ranking: 51 Rome W-L (Best Result): 5-4 (2010, 2015 3R) • Tournament Note: The 32-year-old Spaniard comes in with a 5-4 record in Rome and best result is 3R in 2010 (l.