World No. 1 Murray Meets Verdasco for Dubai Championship
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DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 6 MEDIA NOTES Saturday, March 4, 2017 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, Dubai, UAE | February 27-March 4, 2017 Draw: S-32, D-16 | Prize Money: $2,429,150 | Surface: Outdoor Hard ATP World Tour Info Tournament Info ATP PR & Marketing www.ATPWorldTour.com DubaiDutyFreeTennisChampionships.com Richard Evans: Twitter: @ATPWorldTour Twitter: @DDFTennis [email protected] Facebook: @ATPWorldTour Facebook: @DDFTennis Press Room: +971 42945119 WORLD NO. 1 MURRAY MEETS VERDASCO FOR DUBAI CHAMPIONSHIP Andy Murray bids to become the first British champion in the 25-year history of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships when he faces Fernando Verdasco on Saturday. The World No. 1 is through to his seventh final in his last eight tournaments and 14th final in his last 16 tournaments, only missing out on the championship match at the 2016 US Open and 2017 Australian Open. Murray is 12-1 in tour-level matches against Verdasco, but the Spaniard nearly spoiled two of the Brit’s biggest accomplishments. Before Murray captured the 2013 Wimbledon title, he trailed Verdasco by two sets in the quarter-finals. And before Murray secured the No. 1 ranking at 2016 ATP Masters 1000 Paris, he served at 5-5, 15-40 in the third set of his opener against Verdasco. The doubles final features No. 4 seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau against the first-time team of Rohan Bopanna and Marcin Matkowski. Bopanna captured the Dubai title in 2012 with Mahesh Bhupathi, 2014 with Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and 2015 with Daniel Nestor. Bopanna and Nestor saved two match points to defeat Rojer and Tecau in the 2015 Dubai semi-finals. INFOSYS ATP SCORES & STATS Tournament Statistic [1] Andy Murray Fernando Verdasco Aces 26 5 1st-Serve Percentage 59% (152 of 258) 79% (235 of 299) 1st-Serve Points Won 75% (114 of 152) 71% (167 of 235) 2nd-Serve Points Won 64% (68 of 106) 47% (30 of 64) Service Games Won 90% (38 of 42) 80% (41 of 51) Break Points Saved 50% (4 of 8) 62% (16 of 26) 1st-Serve Return Points Won 36% (63 of 174) 40% (78 of 197) 2nd-Serve Return Points Won 57% (73 of 127) 47% (66 of 139) Return Games Won 44% (17 of 39) 35% (18 of 52) Break Points Converted 50% (17 of 34) 47% (18 of 38) BOLD: Leads all 32 players at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships EMIRATES ATP RANKING POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY Tournament Statistic Champion Finalist Ranking Points 500 300 Singles Prize Money $523,330 $256,565 Doubles Prize Money $157,570 $77,140 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships Day 6 – Saturday, March 4, 2017 Page 2 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS: SINGLES AND DOUBLES FINALS [1] Andy Murray (GBR) vs Fernando Verdasco (ESP) Murray Leads 12-1 07 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R64 Andy Murray 7-6(4) 7-5 6-4 07 St. Petersburg (Russia) Carpet F Andy Murray 6-2 6-3 08 Dubai (U.A.E.) Hard R16 Andy Murray 6-3 3-6 7-6(5) 08 St. Petersburg (Russia) Hard SF Andy Murray 6-0 6-3 08 ATP Masters 1000 Paris (France) Hard R16 Andy Murray 6-3 7-6(6) 09 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R16 Fernando Verdasco 2-6 6-1 1-6 6-3 6-4 09 ATP Masters 1000 Miami (U.S.A.) Hard QF Andy Murray 6-1 6-2 09 Valencia (Spain) Hard SF Andy Murray 6-3 2-6 6-3 09 ATP Finals (England) Hard RR Andy Murray 6-4 6-7(4) 7-6(3) 13 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass QF Andy Murray 4-6 3-6 6-1 6-4 7-5 14 Roland Garros (France) Clay R16 Andy Murray 6-4 7-5 7-6(3) 15 London/Queen's Club (Great Britain) Grass R16 Andy Murray 7-5 6-4 16 ATP Masters 1000 Paris (France) Hard R32 Andy Murray 6-3 6-7(5) 7-5 Other Meeting 03 Segovia CH (Spain) Hard R32 Fernando Verdasco 6-1 6-3 Murray 2017 Summary F: Doha (l Djokovic) YTD W-L: 11-2 (11-2 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 44 Date of Birth: May 15, 1987 (29) Emirates ATP Ranking: 1 (Career-High) Dubai W-L (Best Result): 15-4 (2012, 2017 Finalist) • Tournament Note: 2012 Dubai runner-up is bidding to become 1st British champion in 25-year history of event • Appearing in 7th final of his last 8 tournaments (5-1) and 14th final of his last 16 tournaments (9-4) • Owns 8-1 record against Spaniards since start of 2016 season and 20-2 since 2014 Vienna • Saved career-high 7 MPs in 67(4) 76(18) 61 Dubai QF win over Kohlschreiber -- 2nd-set tiebreak tied 5 others for longest tiebreak at a tour-level singles match since ATP started recording tiebreak scores in 1991 • Bidding to become 4th player this season to save MPs en route to a title (Djokovic saved 5 MPs in Doha SF, Muller saved 1 MP in Sydney 1R, and Estrella Burgos saved 3 MPs in Quito 2R and 1 MP in Quito final) • Last player to save 7+ MPs en route to title was Klizan at 2016 Rotterdam (saved 5 MPs in QF and 3 MPs in SF) • Career-long 28-match win streak was snapped by Djokovic in 3-set Doha final • Defeated Berdych in Doha SF for 100th win of career against Top 10 opponents • Five-time finalist fell to M. Zverev in Australian Open 4R, failing to reach QFs in Melbourne for 1st time since 2009 • Together with Djokovic’s 2R loss, 1st time Top 2 seeds did not reach Grand Slam QF since 2004 Roland Garros Verdasco 2017 Summary SF: Doha (l Djokovic) YTD W-L: 8-4 (8-4 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 7 Date of Birth: November 15, 1983 (33) Emirates ATP Ranking: 35 Dubai W-L (Best Result): 7-3 (2017 Finalist) • Tournament Note: Playing in his biggest final since 2012 ATP World Tour 500 event at Acapulco (l. to Ferrer) and seeking his biggest title since 2010 ATP World Tour 500 event at Barcelona (d. Soderling) • Appearing in 1st final since 2016 Bastad (l. to Ramos-Vinolas) and seeking 1st title since 2016 Bucharest (d. Pouille) • Owns 0-11 record against World No. 1 (0-4 vs Federer, 0-4 vs Nadal, 0-3 vs Djokovic) • Defeated Goffin and Karlovic en route to Doha SF (l. to Djokovic after holding 5 MPs) • Also fell to Djokovic in Australian Open 1R • Withdrew from Sydney due to fatigue Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships Day 6 – Saturday, March 4, 2017 Page 3 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com [4] Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)/Horia Tecau (ROU) vs First Meeting Rohan Bopanna (IND)/Marcin Matkowski (POL) • Rojer/Tecau did not drop a set en route to final, including SF win over [1] Kontinen/Peers (saved 3 SPs in 1st set) • Dutchman and Romanian are 7-5 in 2017 and 124-65 overall since joining forces at start of 2014 season • Teamed for 12 titles, including 2015 Wimbledon (d. J. Murray/Peers) and 2015 ATP Finals (d. Bopanna/Mergea) • Rojer has won 21 titles overall with 3 partners (Tecau, Qureshi, Butorac), including 1+ title each year 2010-16 • Tecau has won 29 titles overall with 7 partners, including 2+ titles each year 2010-16 • Doubles Rankings: Rojer 25 (Career-High 3 on Nov. 23, 2015), Tecau 19 (Career-High 2 on Nov. 23, 2015) • Bopanna/Matkowski are teaming for 1st time and saved 1 MP in 1R win over [2] Dodig/Granollers • Bopanna has won 15 titles with 8 partners, most recently 2017 Chennai w/Nedunchezhiyan (d. Raja/Sharan) • Indian is 3-time Dubai champion: 2012 w/Bhupathi (d. Fyrstenberg/Matkowski), 2014 w/Qureshi (d. Nestor/Zimonjic) and 2015 w/Nestor (d. Qureshi/Zimonjic). Saved 2 MPs to beat Rojer/Tecau 46 76(9) 11-9 in 2015 Dubai SF • Matkowski has won 18 titles with 4 partners, most recently 2017 Auckland w/Qureshi (d. Erlich/Lipsky) • Pole lost to Bopanna in 2012 Dubai final (Bhupathi/Bopanna d. Fyrstenberg/Matkowski 64 36 10-5) • Doubles Rankings: Bopanna 24 (Career-High 3 on July 22, 2013), Matkowski 30 (Career-High 7 on July 9, 2012) DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 5 MEDIA NOTES Friday, March 3, 2017 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, Dubai, UAE | February 27-March 4, 2017 Draw: S-32, D-16 | Prize Money: $2,429,150 | Surface: Outdoor Hard ATP World Tour Info Tournament Info ATP PR & Marketing www.ATPWorldTour.com DubaiDutyFreeTennisChampionships.com Richard Evans: Twitter: @ATPWorldTour Twitter: @DDFTennis [email protected] Facebook: @ATPWorldTour Facebook: @DDFTennis Press Room: +971 42945119 POUILLE FACES UPHILL BATTLE AGAINST MURRAY IN SEMI-FINALS Lucas Pouille plays a World No. 1 for the first time Friday in the Dubai semi-finals, though he is all too familiar with his opponent Andy Murray. The seventh-seeded Frenchman faced Murray three times in 2016 before the Brit topped the Emirates ATP Rankings. Murray went 3-0 in matches, 6-0 in sets and 36-10 in games against Pouille, breaking the newly-turned 23-year-old on 13 occasions. Fernando Verdasco and Robin Haase meet in an all-unseeded semi-final on Centre Court. Verdasco leads all 32 players in the field by making 76% of his first serves and winning 41% of his first-serve return points. The Spaniard has also won 36% of his return games, second only to Murray’s 40%.