Spanish Trio, German Teen Return for Second Round
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GERMAN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2016: DAY 4 MEDIA NOTES Thursday, July 14, 2016 Rothenbaum Tennis Arena, Hamburg, Germany | July 11-17, 2016 Draw: S-32, D-16 | Prize Money: €1,388,830 | Surface: Clay ATP World Tour Info Tournament Info ATP PR & Marketing www.ATPWorldTour.com www.German-Open-Hamburg.de Martin Dagahs: [email protected] Twitter: @ATPWorldTour Twitter: @Am_Rothenbaum Fabienne Benoit: [email protected] Facebook: @ATPWorldTour Facebook: @TennisAmRothenbaum Press Room: +49 40 524724141 SPANISH TRIO, GERMAN TEEN RETURN FOR SECOND ROUND DAY 4 PREVIEW: With the two top-ranked players in the bottom half of the draw beaten in the first round of the German Tennis Championships, opportunity knocks for the eight hopefuls eyeing the quarter-finals in Hamburg. Spaniards Daniel Gimeno-Traver and Inigo Cervantes – who beat No. 2 seed Benoit Paire and No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev respectively – join No. 8 seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the second round. World No. 82 Cervantes opens Thursday’s Centre Court action against world No. 83 Stephane Robert, his first ATP World Tour encounter with the Frenchman. Garcia-Lopez will then face Grega Zemlja, back to winning ways on the ATP World Tour for the first time in over three years in the first round after a lengthy battle with mononucleosis that all but wiped out the Slovenian’s 2014 season. Back-to-back Challenger finals in April suggest that the 29- year-old is working his way back to the form that saw him crack the Top 50 in 2013. Third up on Centre Court, No. 7 seed Martin Klizan will take on Germany’s top-ranking junior Louis Wessels, who stunned Canadian qualifier Steven Diez on his ATP World Tour debut in the first round. The 17-year-old wild card, yet to earn an ATP ranking, will again be a heavy underdog against the reigning Rotterdam champion. In the last of the day’s singles matches, Gimeno-Traver meets Russia’s Daniil Medvedev for the second time this season after losing to the 20-year-old at the Bordeaux Challenger in May. Currently at a career-best No. 215 in the Emirates ATP rankings this week, Medvedev will be looking for a repeat win to seal his place in the Top 200 for the first time on Monday. German Tennis Championships 2016 Day 4 – Thursday, July 14, 2016 Page 2 of 4 www.ATPWorldTour.com FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS: DAY 4 SECOND-ROUND SINGLES MATCHES Stephane Robert (FRA) vs Iñigo Cervantes (ESP) First ATP Meeting Other Meeting: 15 Casablanca Q (Morocco) Clay Q2 Stephane Robert 6-4 6-7(3) 7-6(4) Robert 2016 FastFacts YTD W-L: 7-7 (4-4 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: May 17, 1980 Emirates ATP Ranking: 83 Hamburg W-L (Best Result): 1-1 (2016 Round of 16) • Tournament Note: Saved 4 of 5 BPs (all in 1st set) during 76(3) 64 victory over Leonardo Mayer in 1R • Qualified at Australian Open and reached 3R for 2nd time at a major (d. Ram 75 in 5th, l. to Monfils) • Also qualified at Monte-Carlo (l. to Carreño Busta in 1R), Estoril (l. to Garcia-Lopez in 2R), Rome (l. to No. 1 Djokovic in 2R) and Nottingham (l. to Cuevas in 2R) • Received WC and upset No. 20 Anderson in Roland Garros 1R (l. to A. Zverev in 2R) • Returned to Top 100 in Emirates ATP Rankings on May 16 after falling as low as No. 558 on May 25, 2015 • Did not drop a set en route to Challenger title at New Delhi, IND (d. Singh, Mitchell, Popko, Cipolla and Myneni) • Reached Challenger finals at Guadalajara, MEX (l. to Jaziri 76 in 3rd) and Prague, CZE (l. to Pavlasek in 3 sets) Cervantes 2016 FastFacts SF: São Paulo (l. to Carreño Busta) YTD W-L: 11-17 (9-11 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: November 30, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 82 Hamburg W-L (Best Result): 1-1 (2016 Round of 16) • Tournament Note: Fought back from 4-2 down in 1st set to oust No.4 seed Alexander Zverev 75 76(2) in 1R • Beat 2014 champion Delbonis 76(6) 26 64 in 1st ATP World Tour QF at São Paulo (l. to Carreño Busta in 1st SF) • Achieved career-high No. 56 in Emirates ATP Rankings on March 21 • Won ATP Masters 1000 debut at Indian Wells (d. Almagro, l. to Raonic) and qualified at Rome (l. to Kohlschreiber) • Held 4 MPs vs. Troicki in Miami 2R and 1 MP vs. Paire in Monte-Carlo 1R before losing both matches 76 in 3rd • Reached 1st ATP doubles final of career w/Lorenzi at Buenos Aires (l. to Cabal/Farah) • Advanced to Braunschweig, GER Challenger final (d. M. Zverev and Kamke, l. to Bellucci in 3 sets) • Withdrew from Nottingham due to lower back injury [8] Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) vs Grega Zemlja (SLO) Garcia-Lopez Leads 1-0 13 Winston-Salem (U.S.A.) Hard R64 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1 4-6 6-1 Garcia-Lopez 2016 FastFacts SF: Bucharest (l. to Verdasco); QF (5): Chennai (l. to Wawrinka); Sofia (l. to Muller); Marrakech (l. to Vesely); Estoril (l. to Paire); Geneva (l. to Ferrer) YTD W-L: 18-19 (11-8 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 5 Date of Birth: June 4, 1983 Emirates ATP Ranking: 56 Hamburg W-L (Best Result): 6-7 (2009, 2013, 2016 Round of 16) German Tennis Championships 2016 Day 4 – Thursday, July 14, 2016 Page 3 of 4 www.ATPWorldTour.com • Tournament Note: Saved 1 MP against De Schepper in 57 62 76(6) win in 1R (Match time 2hr 32min; also served for match at 5-4 in 3rd set) • Saved 1 MP to beat Pella in Bucharest QF (l. to Verdasco in SF) • Lost in QFs at Chennai (l. to No. 4 Wawrinka), Sofia (l. to Muller), Marrakech (l. to Vesely), Estoril (l. to Paire) and Geneva (l. to Ferrer) • Reached Australian Open 3R (l. to No. 7 Nishikori in 4 sets) and Roland Garros 2R (l. to Thiem) • Made 47th consecutive Grand Slam appearance at Wimbledon, tied with Djokovic for 4th-longest active streak • Fell to fellow Spaniard Ferrer 3 straight weeks in Madrid 1R, Rome 2R and Geneva QF Zemlja 2016 FastFacts YTD W-L: 1-1 (1-0 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: September 29, 1986 Emirates ATP Ranking: 151 Hamburg W-L (Best Result): 1-0 (2016 Round of 16) • Tournament Note: Beat German 17-year-old ATP World Tour debutant Marvin Moeller 61 62 in 63mins to reach 2R • First ATP World Tour main draw since Kuala Lumpur, September 2013 (RET 1R vs Andujar); first ATP match win since June 2013 (London/Queen’s Club, 2R d. Stakhovsky, 3R l. to Berdych) • In 2016, fell in qualifying at Australian Open (l. Q1 to Brands), Roland Garros (l. Q2 to Sijsling), and Wimbledon (l. Q2 to Lamasine); last Grand Slam appearance: 2013 US Open (l. 1R to Federer) • Also fell in qualifying at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l. Q2 to Smyczek) • Reached Gwangju, KOR Challenger F and Nanjing, CHN Challenger F (l. both to Berankis) • Achieved career-high No. 43 in Emirates ATP Rankings on July 15, 2013 – almost three years ago to the day • Diagnosed with mononucleosis in 2013; ranking fell to No. 891 in September 2014 (played eight matches all season) but re-entered Top 200 in September 2015 [7] Martin Klizan (SVK) vs [WC] Louis Wessels (GER) First Meeting Klizan 2016 FastFacts W: Rotterdam (d. Monfils); SF: Sofia (l. to Troicki) YTD W-L: 9-8 (1-1 on clay) YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 4 Date of Birth: July 11, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 47 Hamburg W-L (Best Result): 2-3 (2016 Round of 16) • Tournament Note: Hit back from 3-0 down in final set to beat Sijsling 64 16 63 to reach 2R • Improved to 4-0 in ATP singles finals and captured 1st ATP World Tour 500 title at Rotterdam (d. Monfils) • En route to title, saved 5 MPs in QF win over Bautista Agut and 3 MPs in SF win over Mahut • His 8 MPs saved were most en route to a title since Mantilla saved 9 MPs at 2001 Palermo – all vs. Portas in SF • Advanced to SFs at Sofia (l. to Troicki) and Poprad, SVK Challenger (l. to G. Melzer) • Retired in Sydney 1R (left shoulder), Indian Wells 2R (right foot inflammation) and Roland Garros 1R (neck pain) • Missed 10 weeks following ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells due to right foot inflammation Wessels 2016 FastFacts YTD W-L: 1-0 (1-0 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: August 27, 1998 Emirates ATP Ranking: N/A Hamburg W-L (Best Result): 1-0 (2016 Round of 16) • Tournament Note: German 17-year-old became youngest player to win an ATP match in 2016 by beating [Q] Diez 57 62 61 in 1R (won 10 of last 11 games against the Canadian) • First win at senior level (ATP World Tour, ATP Challenger and ITF Futures); this is his 8th match on senior circuit • Learned he had been given wild card from tournament director Michael Stich last Friday • In May, won Salsomaggiore Terme junior title in Italy. Current junior world No.19 • Born in Bielefeld, Germany, started playing tennis aged 5 years old German Tennis Championships 2016 Day 4 – Thursday, July 14, 2016 Page 4 of 4 www.ATPWorldTour.com [Q] Daniil Medvedev (RUS) vs Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP) First ATP Meeting Other Meeting: 16 Bordeaux CH (France) Clay R16 Daniil Medvedev 6-4 6-2 Medvedev 2016 FastFacts YTD W-L: 2-2 (1-1 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: February 11, 1996 Emirates ATP Ranking: 215 (Career-High) Hamburg W-L (Best Result): 1-0 (2016 Round of 16) • Tournament Note: Earned 2nd ATP win by beating Struff 64 57 64 in 1R on Tuesday • Qualified for 1st ATP World Tour main draw in 8th attempt at Nice, losing in 1R to Pella 76 in 3rd • Also qualified at ’s-Hertogenbosch and earned 1st ATP win over Zeballos (l.