Schwartzman and Verdasco Vie for Glory in Rio Open Final
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RIO OPEN PRESENTED BY CLARO: DAY 7 MEDIA NOTES Sunday, 25 February 2018 Jockey Club Brasileiro | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 19-25 February 2018 Draw: S-32, D-16 | Prize Money: $1,695,825 | Surface: Outdoor Clay ATP World Tour Info Tournament Info ATP PR & Marketing ATPWorldTour.com RioOpen.com Maria Garcia-Planas: [email protected] Twitter: @ATPWorldTour @RioOpenOficial Press Room: [email protected] Facebook: @ATPWorldTour @RioOpenOficial TV & Radio: TennisTV.com SCHWARTZMAN AND VERDASCO VIE FOR GLORY IN RIO OPEN FINAL • One of two first-time Rio de Janeiro finalists will claim the singles trophy on Sunday, as Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman, the No. 6 seed, will meet 8th-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in a battle to claim a coveted ATP World Tour 500 title. The combatants have met once before, with Schwartzman grasping a straight-set win over Verdasco on clay in the first round at Nice in 2016. Notably, Verdasco and Schwartzman are guaranteed a third meeting directly after their second – they will play each other in the first round at Acapulco next week. • Schwartzman has bettered his quarter-final appearance at last year’s Rio Open by two rounds, as he has reached his fourth ATP World Tour final, and is one win away from claiming his second career singles title to go with his victory over Grigor Dimitrov in the final of Istanbul in 2016. The Argentine has not dropped a set en route to the title match, starting as the beneficiary of a first-set retirement by Casper Ruud in the opening round, then picking up straight-set wins over Federico Delbonis, Gael Monfils, and first-time ATP World Tour semi-finalist Nicolas Jarry. Schwartzman is extremely close to his first ATP World Tour 500 singles trophy, but win or lose, the 5’7” Argentine is guaranteed to crack the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings for the first time in his career after this week. • Verdasco, meanwhile, will attempt to claim an eighth ATP World Tour singles title, which would also be the second ATP World Tour 500 trophy of his career after his triumph over Robin Soderling at Barcelona in 2010. After three-set wins over Argentines Leonardo Mayer and Nicolas Kicker in the opening rounds, the Spaniard kicked his inaugural Rio campaign into high gear with his third consecutive win over World No. 6 Dominic Thiem by the score of 6-4, 6-0, then clinched another straight-set win over No. 5 seed Fabio Fognini to reach the final. • Moreover, after beating Fognini on Saturday, Verdasco came back out on court and claimed the doubles title with partner David Marrero. Marrero and Verdasco, who entered the main draw as lucky losers, outlasted Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya, 5-7, 7-5, [10-8] in the doubles championship match. The all-Spanish duo, who won the ATP Finals in 2013, claimed their seventh title together, and Verdasco will now try to become the first player to win the singles and doubles at the same event since Alexander Zverev accomplished the feat just over 12 months ago at Montpellier. ATP RANKING POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY Rio Open Presented by Claro Champion Finalist Ranking Points 500 300 Singles Prize Money ($) 365,560 179,215 For the latest stats, facts and figures about the ATP World Tour, follow @ATPMediaInfo on Twitter. Rio Open Presented by Claro Day 7 – Sunday, 25 February 2018 Page 2 of 2 www.ATPWorldTour.com FEDEX ATP HEAD2HEADS: SINGLES FINAL QUADRA CENTRAL [6] Diego Schwartzman (ARG) vs [8] Fernando Verdasco (ESP) Schwartzman Leads 1-0 16 Nice (France) Clay R32 Diego Schwartzman 7-6(5) 6-1 Schwartzman Summary: 2018 Highlights: F (1): Rio de Janeiro; QF (1): Buenos Aires (l. Bedene) YTD W-L: 9-4 YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 1 Date of Birth: 16 August 1992 (25) ATP Ranking: 23 Rio de Janeiro W-L (Best Result): 7-3 (2018 Finalist) • Tournament Note: Defeated compatriot Delbonis in 2R to reach QF for 2nd straight year, then beat Monfils to reach 1st SF of 2018; eliminated 1st-time ATP World Tour semi-finalist Jarry to reach 4th career ATP World Tour final. • Owns 1 career singles title from Istanbul in 2016 (def. Dimitrov in F, 6-7 7-6 6-0); reached 2 other finals, both at Antwerp in 2016 (l. to Gasquet) and 2017 (l. to Tsonga). • Reached 1st QF of season in Buenos Aires (l. to Bedene). • Beat Lajovic 11-9 in 5th en route to 2nd Grand Slam 4R at Australian Open (l. to No. 1 Nadal in 4 sets). • Suffered opening losses in Brisbane (l. to Dolgopolov in 1R) and Sydney (l. to F. Lopez in 2R after 1R bye). • In 2017, defeated 2014 champion Cilic en route to 1st Grand Slam QF at US Open (l. to Carreno Busta). • Shortest Grand Slam quarter-finalist since fellow 5-foot-7 South American Yzaga at 1994 US Open. • Last season, advanced to QF-or-better at 11 events, highlighted by 3rd ATP World Tour final of career at Antwerp (l. to Tsonga). • Last year, reached ATP Masters 1000 QFs at Monte-Carlo (l. to Nadal) & Montreal (d. Thiem after saving 4 MPs, l. to Haase). • Earned career-high 39 wins in 2017. Verdasco Summary: 2018 Highlights: F (1): Rio de Janeiro YTD W-L: 7-4 YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 7 Date of Birth: 15 November 1983 (34) ATP Ranking: 40 Rio de Janeiro W-L (Best Result): 4-0 (2018 Finalist) • Tournament Note: In tournament debut, ousted L. Mayer in 1R; followed that up with 2nd straight win over Argentine player, coming back from a set down to beat Kicker in 2R; then claimed 6-4 6-0 win over World No. 6 Thiem in QF (extends head-to-head record with Thiem to 3-0); ousted Fognini in SF in straight sets to reach 1st final of the year. • Has 7 career ATP World Tour singles titles, most recently at Bucharest in 2016 (d. Pouille in F); also has 15 runner- up finishes on Tour, incl. ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo in 2010 (l. to Nadal). • Won doubles title on Saturday partnering Marrero (def. Mektic/Peya); trying to become first player to sweep singles and doubles since A. Zverev at Montpellier last year. • Lost in 2R at Buenos Aires (l. to Pella). • Reached 2R at Doha (l. to eventual finalist Rublev) and Australian Open (d. Bautista Agut, l. to Marterer in 5 sets). • Fell in Sydney 1R to eventual finalist de Minaur. • In 2017, beat Bautista Agut and Monfils en route to Dubai final, where he fell to 0-12 vs World No. 1 (l. to Murray). • Last year, lost SFs to eventual champions at Doha (l. to Djokovic after holding 5 MPs), Bastad (l. to Ferrer) and Stockholm (l. to del Potro). • Last season, reached Roland Garros singles 4R (l. to Nishikori) and doubles SF w/Zimonjic (l. to S. Gonzalez/Young). • Career-high singles ranking of No. 7 obtained on 20 April 2009. • Rose to No. 29 in ATP Rankings on 6 March 2017 -- highest since No. 29 on 7 July 2014. RIO OPEN PRESENTED BY CLARO: DAY 6 MEDIA NOTES Saturday, 24 February 2018 Jockey Club Brasileiro | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 19-25 February 2018 Draw: S-32, D-16 | Prize Money: $1,695,825 | Surface: Outdoor Clay ATP World Tour Info Tournament Info ATP PR & Marketing ATPWorldTour.com RioOpen.com Maria Garcia-Planas: [email protected] Twitter: @ATPWorldTour @RioOpenOficial Press Room: [email protected] Facebook: @ATPWorldTour @RioOpenOficial TV & Radio: TennisTV.com SCHWARTZMAN-JARRY, FOGNINI-VERDASCO FACE OFF FOR FINAL IN RIO • A first-time Rio Open champion is guaranteed to be crowned on Sunday, and Saturday’s semi-final matches will determine which two players get to vie for the title. The first semi-final of the day will see No. 6 seed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina squaring off against Chilean Nicolas Jarry, in their first career meeting. Schwartzman has improved on his quarter-final appearance in 2017 to move into his first semi-final of the year, as the Argentine seeks to win a second ATP World Tour singles title to accompany his trophy from Istanbul in 2016. It is a different level of experience for Jarry, as the 22- year-old just recently made his first career ATP World Tour quarter-final, in Quito earlier this month. He has now reached his first-ever Tour-level semi-final in Rio de Janeiro. • No. 5 seed Fabio Fognini of Italy is the only player left in the field who has previously reached the Rio Open final, and the 2015 runner-up will attempt to make another championship match here when he meets 8th-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. Fognini has been pushed to three sets in all three of his matches, including having to save a match point in his second-round encounter with Tennys Sandgren. Nevertheless, the Italian was able to come back from a one-set deficit in the quarter-finals to defeat Aljaz Bedene for the eighth time in eight meetings, and move into the semi-final. Verdasco’s quarter-final was much more straightforward, as the Spaniard beat No. 2 seed and World No. 6 Dominic Thiem, 6-4, 6-0, to claim his third straight victory over the Austrian, and end Thiem’s eight- match winning streak. Verdasco leads the head-to-head record 3-2, and has won both of their meetings on clay. However, those two prior clay-court encounters took place in 2008 and 2010 respectively, and it was Fognini who won their most recent matchup, at the end of last year in Shanghai.