KREMLIN CUP by BANK of MOSCOW: DAY 2 MEDIA NOTES Tuesday, October 20, 2015
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KREMLIN CUP BY BANK OF MOSCOW: DAY 2 MEDIA NOTES Tuesday, October 20, 2015 Olympic Stadium, Moscow, Russia | October 19-25, 2015 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: $698,325 | Surface: Indoor Hard ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.kremlincup.ru Thomas Troxler: [email protected] Twitter: @ATPWorldTour @kremlincup_ru Press Room: Facebook: facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/kremlincup +7 (495) 688 2166 RUBLEV CELEBRATES 18TH BIRTHDAY TUESDAY ON CENTRE COURT DAY 2 PREVIEW: First-round play continues Tuesday at the Kremlin Cup by Bank of Moscow with a pair of rising stars in action on Centre Court. In the second match of the day, 18-year-old Borna Coric of Croatia takes on Russian wild card Evgeny Donskoy. At No. 39, Coric is the youngest player in the Top 50 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. He’ll be followed on Centre Court by the newest 18-year-old on the ATP World Tour, Moscow native Andrey Rublev. Looking to spoil Rublev’s birthday is 2013 finalist and No. 8 seed Mikhail Kukushkin. Rublev is seeking his first win at the Kremlin Cup after falling in the opening round of 2013 qualifying and the 2014 main draw. He does, however, have a history of success in his hometown. The former World No. 1 junior won an ITF Futures title at the Belokamennaya Tennis Club in May 2014, reached his first ATP Challenger semi-final at Moscow’s Hoff Open in June 2015, and earned his first tour-level singles win right here at Olympic Stadium during a Davis Cup tie on Sept. 14, 2014 (d. Silva). Rublev is fourth among active players with eight tour-level wins before his 18th birthday – one more than both Coric and 17-time Grand Slam singles champion Roger Federer. WINNINGEST ACTIVE PLAYERS BEFORE 18TH BIRTHDAY Player 18th Birthday W-L Ranking Career-High Ranking Rafael Nadal June 3, 2004 31-20 49 1 on Aug. 18, 2008 Lleyton Hewitt Feb. 24, 1999 17-13 91 1 on Nov. 19, 2001 Richard Gasquet June 18, 2004 9-22 106 7 on July 9, 2007 Andrey Rublev Oct. 20, 2015 8-12 179 176 on Sept. 14, 2015 Borna Coric Nov. 14, 2014 7-8 89 33 on July 27, 2015 Roger Federer Aug. 8, 1999 7-14 106 1 on Feb. 2, 2004 INFOSYS ATP SCORES & STATS: Andrey Rublev and Borna Coric are two of four 18-year-olds who are ranked in the Top 200 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. The others are Alexander Zverev of Germany and Quentin Halys of France. While Rublev is the youngest of the quartet, Coric is the most accomplished, having already reached three ATP World Tour semi-finals and defeated a pair of World No. 3s (Rafael Nadal in 2014 Basel QF and Andy Murray in 2015 Dubai QF). Ranking Player Date of Birth 2015 Career Junior High Ranking 39 Borna Coric Nov. 14, 1996 25-25 32-33 1 on Sept. 9, 2013 83 Alexander Zverev Apr. 20, 1997 14-15 18-24 1 on Oct. 28, 2013 179 Andrey Rublev Oct. 20, 1997 7-11 8-12 1 on June 9, 2014 191 Quentin Halys Oct. 26, 1996 0-2 0-2 3 on Mar. 31, 2014 Kremlin Cup by Bank of Moscow Day 2 – Tuesday, October 20, 2015 Page 2 of 4 www.ATPWorldTour.com EMIRATES ATP RACE TO LONDON UPDATE: With three weeks remaining in the Emirates ATP Race to London, two spots are still up for grabs at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Nov. 15-22. The Top 8 players in the race on Nov. 9 will compete at the year-end championships. Six players have qualified so far: Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych. As of Tuesday, 945 race points separate No. 8 David Ferrer from No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. In Moscow, No. 13 Marin Cilic looks to gain 205 race points by repeating as champion. Also taking place this week are an ATP World Tour 500 event in Vienna and an ATP World Tour 250 event in Stockholm. A maximum of 1,500 race points are on the line after the Kremlin Cup at an ATP World Tour 250 event in Valencia (Oct. 26-Nov. 1); an ATP World Tour 500 event in Basel (Oct. 26-Nov. 1); and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris (Nov. 2-8). Race Player Points This Week 2R QF SF F W 1 Novak Djokovic* 14,285 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 2 Andy Murray* 7,870 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 3 Roger Federer* 6,750 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 4 Stan Wawrinka* 6,140 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 5 Rafael Nadal* 4,330 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 6 Tomas Berdych* 4,280 Stockholm 4,280 4,280 4,280 4,340 4,440 7 Kei Nishikori 3,945 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 8 David Ferrer 3,445 Vienna 3,490 3,535 3,625 3,745 3,945 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 2,500 Vienna 2,545 2,590 2,680 2,800 3,000 10 Richard Gasquet 2,445 Stockholm 2,445 2,490 2,535 2,595 2,695 11 Kevin Anderson 2,385 Vienna 2,385 2,385 2,475 2,595 2,795 12 John Isner 2,315 Vienna 2,315 2,315 2,405 2,525 2,725 13 Marin Cilic 2,190 Moscow 2,190 2,190 2,235 2,295 2,395 14 Milos Raonic 2,170 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 15 Gilles Simon 2,055 Stockholm 2,055 2,055 2,055 2,115 2,215 16 Feliciano Lopez 1,680 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17 David Goffin 1,670 -------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 18 Bernard Tomic 1,630 Stockholm 1,630 1,630 1,675 1,735 1,835 19 Dominic Thiem 1,555 Vienna 1,555 1,600 1,690 1,810 2,010 20 Fabio Fognini 1,460 Vienna 1,460 1,505 1,595 1,715 1,915 * Qualified DAY 2 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play CENTRE COURT [5] Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs [Q] Pere Riba (ESP) Cuevas Leads 3-0 10 Båstad (Sweden) Clay R16 Pablo Cuevas 6-4 6-2 10 Bucharest (Romania) Clay R32 Pablo Cuevas 6-1 6-1 11 Estoril (Portugal) Clay R32 Pablo Cuevas 6-2 6-4 Other Meeting: 08 Montevideo CH (Uruguay) Clay R32 Pablo Cuevas 6-2 6-1 Cuevas 2015 FastFacts W: São Paulo (d. Vanni); F: Istanbul (l. to Federer); SF: Båstad (l. to Paire); QF (4): Rio de Janeiro (l. to Nadal); Buenos Aires (l. to Monaco); Hamburg (l. to Nadal); Beijing (l. to Fognini) YTD W-L: 26-23 (5-10 on hard) YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 3 Date of Birth: January 1, 1986 Emirates ATP Ranking: 38 Moscow W-L (Best Result): 5-2 (2010 Semi-finalist) Kremlin Cup by Bank of Moscow Day 2 – Tuesday, October 20, 2015 Page 3 of 4 www.ATPWorldTour.com • No. 1 player from Uruguay 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) • Has won career-high 26 matches this season (previous-best 21 in 2010) • Advanced to Beijing QF (d. No. 5 Berdych in 1R, l. to Fognini) – 1st hard-court QF since 2014 Kuala Lumpur • Achieved career-high ranking of No. 21 on March 23 • Rio de Janeiro QF loss to Nadal ended at 3:18 am -- second latest finish on ATP World Tour • In doubles with Marrero, won ATP Masters 1000 Rome title (d. Granollers/M. Lopez), reached Nottingham final (l. to Guccione/Sa) and fell in Australian Open QF (l. to Bolelli/Fognini) Riba 2015 FastFacts YTD W-L: 0-1 (0-1 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: April 7, 1988 Emirates ATP Ranking: 221 Moscow W-L (Best Result): 1-2 (2011 2nd Round) • No. 21 Spaniard qualified with wins over Russians Ledovskikh 63 62, Vatutin 62 62 and Kravchuk 63 64 • Seeking 1st ATP World Tour main draw win since 2014 Kitzbühel (d. Brown in 1R, w/o vs. Seppi in 2R) • Did not play this season until Roland Garros, falling in 1R of qualifying (l. to Molchanov) • Owns a 20-15 ATP Challenger record, highlighted by final at Sibiu, ROU (l. to Ungur) • In lone ATP main draw match of 2015, fell to Colombian teenager Daniel Elahi Galan in Bogota 1R [WC] Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) vs [6] Borna Coric (CRO) First Meeting Donskoy 2015 FastFacts YTD W-L: 3-5 (3-4 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: May 9, 1990 Emirates ATP Ranking: 118 Moscow W-L (Best Result): 2-6 (2013-14 2nd Round) • No. 3 Russian qualified at US Open and reached 2R (d. Pouille, l. to No. 9 Cilic) • Also qualified in Chennai during opening week of season (l. to Garcia-Lopez in 1R) • Fell in qualifying at Australian Open, Dubai, Bucharest, Istanbul, Roland Garros and Wimbledon • Helped Russia rally from 0-2 down to defeat Spain 3-2 in Davis Cup Group I play. In doubles w/Kravchuk, defeated M. Lopez/Marrero 64 in 5th. In singles, defeated Robredo 76 in 4th • Has posted a 28-15 Challenger record with title at Segovia, ESP (d. Chiudinelli) and runner-up finishes in Karshi, UZB (ret. vs. Gabashvili) and Astana, KAZ (l. to Kukushkin) Coric 2015 FastFacts SF (2): Dubai (l. to Federer); Nice (l. to L. Mayer); QF (3): Estoril (l. to Garcia-Lopez); Umag (l. to Bautista Agut); Winston-Salem (l. to Anderson) YTD W-L: 25-25 (11-15 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: November 14, 1996 Emirates ATP Ranking: 39 Moscow W-L (Best Result): Debut • No.