WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN PREVIEW & DAY 1 MEDIA NOTES Sunday, August 16, 2015 Lindner Family Tennis Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA | August 16 – 23, 2015 Draw: S-56, D-24 | Prize Money: $4,457,065 ($3,826,655 on-site) | Surface: Outdoor Hard ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.cincytennis.com Martin Dagahs: [email protected] Twitter: @ATPWorldTour @CincyTennis #CincyTennis Maria Garcia-Planas: [email protected] Facebook: ATP World Tour facebook.com/cincytennis Richard Evans: [email protected] Press Room: +1 5136510303 (x2250) Edward La Cava: [email protected] CINCINNATI TALKING POINTS SPOTLIGHT ON OHIO: The Western & Southern Open, the seventh ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event of the season, gets under way on Sunday in Cincinnati. The decorated 56-man field features 28 of the Top 30 players in the Emirates ATP Rankings (Aug. 10), including nine of the Top 10 (excluding No. 7 Ferrer, No. 29 Garcia-Lopez). Leading the way are world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who is bidding to equal his record of 31 consecutive ATP Masters match wins in the Rogers Cup final in Montreal today (vs. Andy Murray), and defending champion Roger Federer, looking for a record seventh Cincinnati title. Djokovic is a four-time finalist at the Western & Southern Open (2008, ’09, ’11, ’12), the only ATP Masters 1000 tournament he has never won. Federer (winner in 2005, ’07, ’09-10, ’12, ’14) is one of three former champions in the draw, alongside Murray (2008, ’11) and Rafael Nadal (2013). DAY 1 PREVIEW: The tournament opens with two singles and one doubles match on Sunday’s Order of Play. No. 16 seed Grigor Dimitrov headlines the action as he takes on Czech Republic’s Lukas Rosol, while Dominic Thiem, a three-time champion in 2015 (Nice, Umag, Gstaad), faces off against Slovakia’s Martin Klizan. There are also seven final round qualifying matches, with three teenagers (Hyeon Chung, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Alexander Zverev) and two Americans (Steve Johnson, Denis Kudla) trying to secure a main draw spot. th GOING FOR GOLD: Djokovic, who is making his 11 straight tournament appearance, is hunting an elusive Cincinnati title to complete the Career Golden Masters – wining all nine ATP Masters 1000 titles. If he achieves the feat, he would become the first player to do so. He has fallen in the final here four times: 2008 (l. to Murray), 2009 (l. to Federer), 2011 (l. to Murray) and 2012 (l. to Federer). Here’s the active leading multiple Masters 1000 title winners (with total) prior to the 2015 Rogers Cup final between Djokovic and Murray: Djokovic 8 (24) Miami ’07, ’11-12, ’14-15; Montreal/Toronto ’07, ’11-12; Indian Wells ’08, ’11, ’14-15; Rome ’08, ’11, ’14-15; Paris ’09, ’13-14; Madrid ’11; Shanghai ’12-13; Monte-Carlo ’13, ’15 Federer 8 (23) Hamburg ’02, ’04-05, ’07; Indian Wells ’04-06, ’12; Toronto ’04, ’06, Miami ’05-06; Cincinnati ’05, ’07, ’09-10, ’12, ’14; Madrid ’06, ’09, ’12; Paris ’11; Shanghai ’14 Nadal 7 (27) Monte-Carlo ’05-12; Rome ’05-07, ’09-10, ’12-13; Montreal/Toronto ’05, ’08, ’13; Cincinnati ’13; Madrid ’05, ’10, ’13-14; Indian Wells ’07, ’09 ’13; Hamburg ’08 Murray 5 (10) Cincinnati ’08, ’11; Madrid ’08, ’15; Miami ’09, ’13; Montreal/Toronto ’09, ’10; Shanghai ’10-11 Western & Southern Open Day 1 – Sunday, August 16, 2015 Page 2 of 11 www.ATPWorldTour.com NOVAK TOP SEED: Djokovic began with a 1-3 record in Cincinnati before compiling a 21-7 mark in the last seven years (22-10 career), reaching the final four times. The 27-year-old returned to No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on July 7 2014 after winning Wimbledon and this will be his 160th week (Aug. 17) at No. 1. Djokovic has a 52-3 record this season PLAYER WKS AT No. 1 (29-2 on hard – both before the Rogers Cup final vs Murray), Roger Federer 302 winning a Tour-best six titles. Djokovic is closing in on John Pete Sampras 286 McEnroe’s total of 170 weeks at No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Ivan Lendl 270 Rankings. As of August 17, Djokovic has held No. 1 the sixth- Jimmy Connors 268 John McEnroe 170 most weeks in the history of the rankings (since Aug. 23, 1973): Novak Djokovic 160* BIG FOUR DOMINATION: In the past 49 Masters 1000 tournaments (since 2010 Monte-Carlo and including Sunday’s final in Montreal), the quartet of Nadal, Djokovic, Murray and Federer have accounted for 45 titles. The only exceptions over the last four and a half years came in Paris-Bercy 2010 (Soderling) and 2012 (Ferrer), Monte-Carlo 2014 (Wawrinka) and Toronto 2014 (Tsonga). BIG FOUR IN CINCINNATI: While Djokovic is awaiting a first Cincinnati crown, Nadal, Federer and Murray have won nine of the past 10 titles here. Federer has won it six times (2005, ’07, ’09, ’10, ’12, ’15) and Murray twice (2008, ’11), while Nadal got his hands on the trophy for the first time in 2013. The only non-Big Four winner during that stretch was Andy Roddick (2006). SEVEN UP: Federer is set to make his 15th appearance at the Western & Southern Open, the second-most in tournament history (Chang - 16). His coach, Stefan Edberg, a two-time champion here, reached the QF or better for 11 years in a row, winning a tournament-record 45 matches. Federer has won 37 of 45 career matches in Cincinnati and is a perfect 6-0 in finals here. The Swiss No. 1 turned 34 on August 8 and is the oldest player in the Top 10 Emirates ATP Rankings. He is one of three players 30 & over in the Top 10: No. 5 Wawrinka (30), No. 7 Ferrer (33). Federer is playing in his first tournament since reaching the Wimbledon final (l. to Djokovic) on July 12. This season he has compiled a 40-7 match record (16-2 on TOURNAMENT TITLES hard), winning four titles (Brisbane, d. Raonic; Dubai, d. Djokovic; Istanbul, d. Cuevas; Halle, d. Seppi), Halle 8 while reaching three other finals (Indian Wells, Rome, Dubai, Wimbledon 7 Wimbledon – all l. to Djokovic). Federer has 86 Basel, Cincinnati, 6 career titles; he has won at least six titles in six Barclays ATP World Tour Finals different tournaments. MURRAY BACK AT NO. 2: On Monday, Murray will return to No. 2 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time since Aug. 12, 2013. It will be the 19th week overall Murray ranks No. 2. He first became No. 2 on Aug. 17, 2009 and was there for four weeks. He regained No. 2 on May 13, 2013 and held that spot for 14 consecutive weeks. Murray is also the second player, after Djokovic, to qualify for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. This is the second time Murray enters Cincinnati at No. 2; in 2013 he fell in the Round of 16 (bye, d. Granollers, l. to Gulbis). CANADA-CINCINNATI TITLE SWEEP: In 2013 Nadal became the fourth player since 1995 to win back-to-back titles in Canada and Cincinnati. Djokovic or Murray could become the fifth: 2013 – Rafael Nadal (Montreal, Cincinnati) – Won U.S. Open 2003 – Andy Roddick (Montreal, Cincinnati) – Won U.S. Open 1998 – Patrick Rafter (Toronto, Cincinnati) – Won U.S. Open 1995 – Andre Agassi (Montreal, Cincinnati) – Runner-up U.S. Open Western & Southern Open Day 1 – Sunday, August 16, 2015 Page 3 of 11 www.ATPWorldTour.com WILD CARDS: The four wild cards are: Jared Donaldson; 2003, ’10 finalist Mardy Fish; Bjorn Fratangelo; and Rajeev Ram. Donaldson (18) and Fratangelo (22), both making their Cincinnati debuts, have improved their Emirates ATP Ranking with success in Challengers, both winning a title. Donaldson is ranked No. 153 and Fratangelo No. 116. Fish is playing in his second-to-last tournament before retiring at the U.S. Open. Last month Ram captured his second career ATP World Tour title in Newport. He lost in the 1R in 2008 in his previous main draw showing. ISNER’S SUMMER SUCCESS: American No. 1 John Isner, who YEAR W/L RESULTS reached the Cincinnati final two years 2015 11-2 W Atlanta, F Washington, QF Montreal ago, has won 11 of 13 matches on the 2014 8-3 W Atlanta, QF Winston-Salem ATP World Tour North American 2013 13-3 W Atlanta, F Washington, Cincinnati summer hard court circuit this season. He has won an ATP World Tour title 2012* 10-2 W Winston-Salem, SF Atlanta, Toronto the last five years. It is the fifth time in 2011* 12-4 W Winston-Salem, F Atlanta, SF Washington the last seven years that Isner has 2010 5-3 F Atlanta won at least 10 matches leading into 2009 11-5 SF Indianapolis, Washington, QF Los Angeles the U.S. Open. Here is a look at his success since ‘09: *Also won grass titles in Newport in 2011-12 RACE TO LONDON: With seven months of RANK PLAYER POINTS the season completed, the world’s best 1 Novak Djokovic (SRB)* 10,195 players have their eyes on the Top 8 in the 2 Andy Murray (GBR)* 6,440 Emirates ATP Race to London and a 3 Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 4,600 coveted spot at the season-ending Barclays 4 Roger Federer (SUI) 4,525 ATP World Tour Finals in London, November 15–22. Two players – Djokovic 5 Kei Nishikori (JPN) 3,755 and Murray – have already booked their 6 Rafael Nadal (ESP) 3,535 place in the season’s curtain closer.