MOSELLE OPEN: DAY 3 MEDIA NOTES Wednesday, September 23, 2015
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MOSELLE OPEN: DAY 3 MEDIA NOTES Wednesday, September 23, 2015 Les Arènes de Metz, Metz, France | September 21-27, 2015 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: €439,405 | Surface: Indoor Hard ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.moselle-open.com Stephanie Natal: [email protected] Twitter: @ATPWorldTour @MoselleOpen Press Room: Facebook: facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/moselleopen + 33 368 001 854 TWO-TIME CHAMPION TSONGA LEADS FRENCH CONTINGENT WEDNESDAY DAY 3 PREVIEW: The first round concludes and second round commences in Metz on Wednesday with Frenchmen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Nicolas Mahut taking to Court Central. Herbert and Mahut, the first All-French US Open doubles champions, are in singles action after winning their doubles opener on Tuesday at the Moselle Open. Like his countrymen, Tsonga arrives in Metz following a successful US Open campaign, reaching the quarter-finals before falling to defending champion Marin Cilic in five sets. Also in action Wednesday are Steve Darcis of Belgium and Federico Delbonis of Argentina, who met on Sunday for a spot in the Davis Cup final. Darcis led the Belgians to a semi-final victory by beating Delbonis in four sets. In all, there are six players on Wednesday’s Metz order of play who competed in Davis Cup matches Sept. 18-20. Player Davis Cup Location Team Result Player Results Dustin Brown (GER) Santo Domingo, DOM GER d. DOM 4-1 l. to Estrella Burgos 64 57 76(3) 76(5) l. to L. Mayer 76(5) 76(1) 46 63 Steve Darcis (BEL) Brussels, BEL BEL d. ARG 3-2 l. to Berlocq/L. Mayer (w/Bemelmans) d. Delbonis 64 26 75 76(3) l. to Goffin 75 76(3) 63 Federico Delbonis (ARG) Brussels, BEL BEL d. ARG 3-2 l. to Darcis 64 26 75 76(3) d. Hernandez-Fernandez 61 63 61 d. Estrella Burgos/Hernandez- Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) Santo Domingo, DOM GER d. DOM 4-1 Fernandez (w/Petzschner) d. Estrella Burgos 64 61 62 Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) Irkutsk, RUS ITA d. RUS 4-1 d. Kravchuk 64 76(3) Fernando Verdasco (ESP) Odense, DEN ESP d. DEN 5-0 d. Kromann/Nielsen (w/Nadal) TSONGA RACING TO FINALS: An arm injury kept 2011 and 2012 Metz champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga off the ATP World Tour for the first 11 weeks of 2015. Yet, despite his late start, Tsonga is in contention for one of eight coveted spots at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, where he reached the final in 2011. Tsonga is 1,355 race points behind No. 8 David Ferrer, with 4,000 race points on the line over the next seven weeks leading into London. Position Singles Player Points 1 Novak Djokovic (Qualified) 12,785 2 Andy Murray (Qualified) 7,510 3 Roger Federer (Qualified) 6,740 4 Stan Wawrinka (Qualified) 5,505 5 Tomas Berdych 3,850 6 Kei Nishikori 3,770 7 Rafael Nadal 3,715 8 David Ferrer 3,005 15 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 1,650 Moselle Open Day 3 – Wednesday, September 23, 2015 Page 2 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com QUALITY QUALIFIERS: Three men have reached an ATP World Tour final as a qualifier since June. All three are French and competing this week in Metz, where they were not required to play in the qualifying draw. Nicolas Mahut and Paul-Henri Mathieu gained direct entry with their improved rankings, while Pierre-Hugues Herbert was granted a main draw wild card. Frenchman Tournament Final Result Ranking Before Ranking After Nicolas Mahut ’s-Hertogenbosch d. Goffin 97 on June 8 60 on June 15 Paul-Henri Mathieu Kitzbühel l. to Kohlschreiber 109 on August 3 78 on August 10 Pierre-Hugues Herbert Winston-Salem l. to Anderson 140 on August 24 92 on August 31 DAY 3 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play by Court COURT CENTRAL John Millman (AUS) vs [5/WC] Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) First Meeting Millman 2015 FastFacts YTD W-L: 2-5 (1-4 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: June 14, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 74 Metz W-L (Best Result): Debut in 2015 • 26-year-old Aussie qualified and reached 2R at Wimbledon (d. No. 19 Robredo, l. to Baghdatis in 5 sets) • Started season by reaching 2R at hometown tournament in Brisbane (l. to Federer in 3 sets) • Fell in Australian Open 1R (l. to L. Mayer), US Open 1R (l. to Stakhovsky) and Roland Garros qualifying (l. to Smith) • Achieved career-high ranking of No. 71 on August 17 • Compiled 20-11 record on ATP Challenger Tour with 2 titles in 4 finals • Enters Metz with tour-level records of 1-4 on hard, 0-0 on clay, 1-1 on grass and 0-1 vs. Top 10 opponents Kohlschreiber 2015 FastFacts W: Kitzbühel (d. Mathieu); F: Munich (l. to Murray); QF (4): Montpellier (l. to Sousa); Barcelona (l. to Ferrer); Stuttgart (l. to Monfils); Umag (l. to Monfils) YTD W-L: 27-20 (8-9 on hard) YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 6 Date of Birth: October 16, 1983 Emirates ATP Ranking: 33 Metz W-L (Best Result): 10-9 (2009 Runner-Up) • 2009 Metz finalist captured 6th career title at Kitzbuhel, snapping Thiem's 10-match win streak in SF before beating qualifier Mathieu in final • 31-year-old led Germany to Davis Cup Play-off win over Dominican Republic by sweeping 9 sets in singles wins over Estrella Burgos and Hernandez-Fernandez and doubles win with Petzschner • Failed to win back-to-back matches at 1st 7 events before Barcelona QF (l. to No. 8 Ferrer) • Followed Barcelona with run to Munich final (l. to No. 2 Murray 7-6 in 3rd) • Reached Stuttgart QF (l. to Monfils) before difficult draws at Halle (l. to No. 2 Federer in 1R) and Wimbledon (l. to No. 1 Djokovic in 1R) • Advanced to Australian Open 2R (l. to Tomic), Roland Garros 2R (l. to Andujar) and US Open 3R (l. to No. 2 Federer) • Enters Metz with records of 8-9 on hard, 17-8 on clay, 2-3 on grass and 0-7 vs. Top 10 opponents Moselle Open Day 3 – Wednesday, September 23, 2015 Page 3 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com [8/WC] Fernando Verdasco (ESP) vs Gilles Muller (LUX) Verdasco Leads 2-0 05 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R128 Fernando Verdasco 6-3 6-0 6-4 12 Roland Garros (France) Clay R64 Fernando Verdasco 6-7(5) 6-3 6-2 6-2 Verdasco 2015 FastFacts SF (2): Quito (l. to F. Lopez); Houston (l. to Querrey) YTD W-L: 23-20 (10-8 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 6 Date of Birth: November 15, 1983 Emirates ATP Ranking: 43 Metz W-L (Best Result): 1-1 (2015 R16) • 31-year-old Spaniard defeated 18-year-old A. Zverev 67(2) 63 63 in 1R on Tuesday • Has exceeded 20 singles wins for 12th straight season and enters with 22-20 match record • In last tournament at US Open, played in 50th consecutive Grand Slam main draw, 3rd among active players behind Federer (64) and F. Lopez (55) • Advanced to 3R of Australian Open (l. to No. 1 Djokovic) and Wimbledon (d. Klizan and Thiem in 5 sets, l. to No. 4 Wawrinka) and 2R at US Open (d. Haas in 5 sets, l. to No. 10 Raonic in 4 sets) • Earned 2nd-straight victory over Nadal in ATP Masters 1000 Miami 3R • Saved 1 match point to beat Gabashvili in Doha 1R and 3 match points to beat Bautista Agut in London/Queen's Club 1R • Enters Metz 2R with records of 10-8 on hard, 9-9 on clay, 4-3 on grass and 2-9 vs. Top 10 opponents Muller 2015 FastFacts SF (3): Sydney (l. to Troicki); s-Hertogenbosch (l. to Goffin); Atlanta (l. to Baghdatis); QF (4): Chennai (l. to Wawrinka); Rotterdam (l. to Wawrinka); Estoril (l. to Carreño Busta); London / Queen's Club (l. to Murray) YTD W-L: 27-19 (19-13 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: May 9, 1983 Emirates ATP Ranking: 45 Metz W-L (Best Result): 6-4 (2011 Semi-finalist) • 32-year-old left-hander defeated Bedene 63 64 in 1R on Monday for career-best 27th win of 2015 • Started season 8-3 with Chennai QF (l. to No. 4 Wawrinka), Sydney SF (l. to Troicki) and Australian Open 4R (d. Isner, l. to No. 1 Djokovic) -- the best finish of his career in Melbourne • Reached QF or better on hard (Atlanta SF), clay (Estoril QF) and grass ('s-Hertogenbosch SF) • Achieved career-high ranking of No. 34 on February 16 • Other Grand Slam results: Roland Garros 2R (l. to No. 1 Djokovic), Wimbledon 1R (l. to Tsonga) and US Open 1R (l. to Bemelmans) • Enters Metz 2R with records of 19-13 on hard, 3-3 on clay, 5-3 on grass and 0-7 vs. Top 10 opponents [WC] Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) vs Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) Herbert Leads 1-0 15 Winston-Salem (U.S.A.) Hard R64 Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-3 6-2 Herbert 2015 FastFacts F: Winston-Salem (l. to Anderson) YTD W-L: 6-4 (5-3 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: March 18, 1991 Emirates ATP Ranking: 103 Metz W-L (Best Result): 0-2 (2013, 2014 & 2015 R32) • With Mahut, became 1st All-French team in history to win US Open doubles title (d.