CHINA OPEN: DAY 2 MEDIA NOTES Tuesday, October 6, 2015
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CHINA OPEN: DAY 2 MEDIA NOTES Tuesday, October 6, 2015 National Tennis Center, Beijing, China | October 5-11, 2015 Draw: S-32, D-16 | Prize Money: $3,944,715 | Surface: Outdoor Hard ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.chinaopen.com.cn Martin Dagahs: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour Thomas Troxler: [email protected] facebook.com/ATPWorldTour Press Room: +86 1084373991 FORMER CHINA OPEN CHAMPS DJOKOVIC, NADAL HEADLINE DAY TWO DAY 2 PREVIEW: There are seven men’s singles matches on Tuesday’s schedule, headlined by World No. 1 and five-time champion Novak Djokovic and 2005 winner Rafael Nadal on National Tennis Stadium. In addition, No. 4 David Ferrer, fresh off his 25th career ATP World Tour title in Kuala Lumpur, is in action on Lotus Court. In the first men’s match on Stadium, Chinese wild card Di Wu takes on Nadal. In the following match, Djokovic brings a 3-0 career head-to-head record against Italian qualifier Simone Bolelli, who won the Australian Open doubles title (w/Fognini). In the evening session, three-time ATP World Tour winner this season Dominic Thiem, looks for his second win against No. 6 seed/top American John Isner. EMIRATES ATP RACE TO LONDON: Seven of the Top 15 players in the Emirates ATP Race to London for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals are in action in Beijing. Top four have qualified. There are four spots remaining to the season finale and 500 points to the champion at stake. Here are the points leaders going into Tuesday’s action: Position Player Points 1-Q Novak Djokovic -Beijing 12,785 2-Q Andy Murray 7,510 3-Q Roger Federer 6,740 4-Q Stan Wawrinka 5,505 5 Tomas Berdych - Beijing 4,100 6 Kei Nishikori 3,770 7 Rafael Nadal – Beijing 3,715 8 David Ferrer – Beijing 3,255 9 Richard Gasquet 2,355 10 Kevin Anderson 2,205 11 John Isner – Beijing 2,180 12 Milos Raonic –Beijing 2,080 13 Marin Cilic 2,055 14 Gilles Simon 1,920 15 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - Beijing 1,900 REIGNING CHAMP/WORLD NO. 1: Djokovic returns to the China Open for the sixth time and the five-time champion is looking to maintain his unbeaten record (24-0). He’s only dropped three sets (to left-handers Verdasco twice, Berrer) in 51 sets played. He has won the title in 2009-10, ’12-14. Djokovic comes in with a 63-5 match record (40-4 on hard) on the season with seven titles: Australian Open, ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Rome, Wimbledon and US Open. This is Djokovic’s first tournament since capturing his 10th Grand Slam title at the US Open on Sept. 13 (d. Federer). This is the 167th week overall he has ranked No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, which is sixth-most. He will surpass No. 5 John McEnroe’s total of 170 on Nov. 2. He will finish No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the fourth time in five years (except ’13). Here are the other players to win at least their first 20 matches in a tournament in the last 40 years: China Open Day 2 – Tuesday, October 6, 2015 Page 2 of 7 www.ATPWorldTour.com - Rafael Nadal started 31-0 at Roland Garros between 2005 & ‘09. He is now 70-2. - Jimmy Connors went 26-0 at Birmingham, Alabama between 1974 & 1980. - Mats Wilander started 23-0 at Barcelona between 1982 & ’85, finished 27-3. - John McEnroe started 23-0 at Milan between 1979 & ’89, finished 26-2. - John McEnroe started 22-0 at Sydney Indoor between 1980 &’ 92, finished 22-1. NOVAK IN CHINA: Djokovic comes into Beijing having won 28 of his last 29 matches in China, winning consecutive titles in Beijing and Shanghai in 2012-13 and Beijing last year. His 28-match winning streak in China ended last year when he lost to Federer in the semi-finals in Shanghai. Overall, he has won 8 career titles in China (five in Beijing, three in Shanghai). He has never lost in the Beijing Open (24-0) and is 19-3 at the Shanghai ROLEX Masters (since 2009). The only country in which he’s won more titles is the U.S. (11). Here’s a look at his ATP World Tour titles in China: Tournament (Sets) Final Opponent 2014 Beijing (10-0) d. Tomas Berdych 60 62 2013 Shanghai (10-2) d. Juan Martin del Potro 61 36 76 2013 Beijing (10-1) d. Rafael Nadal 63 64 2012 Shanghai (10-1) d. Andy Murray 57 76 63 2012 Beijing (10-1) d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 76 62 2010 Bejing (8-0) d. David Ferrer 62 64 2009 Beijing (10-1) d. Marin Cilic 62 76 2008 Tennis Masters Cup (10-3) d. Nikolay Davydenko 61 75 RAFA RETURNS: Nadal is making his third straight appearance in Beijing and fifth overall. Nadal is 14-3 in Beijing, winning the title in his debut in 2005 (d. Coria) and reaching the final in ’13 (l.. to Djokovic), semi-finals in ’09 (l. to Cilic) and quarter-finals last year (l. to Klizan). Nadal has a 45-15 match record on the season, including 14-7 on hard courts and 26-6 on clay. He has won three ATP World Tour titles (Buenos Aires, Stuttgart, Hamburg) and final at ATP Masters 1000 Madrid. His streak of 10 consecutive years with at least one Grand Slam crown came to an end this season. His best Slam results were QFs at Australian Open and Roland Garros. DAY 2 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play by Court NATIONAL TENNIS STADIUM [WC] Di Wu (CHN) vs [3] Rafael Nadal (ESP) First Meeting Wu 2015 FastFacts: YTD W-L: 2-1 YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: September 14, 1991 Emirates ATP Ranking: 230 Beijing W-L (Best Result): 0-3 (1R 2011-13) • Chinese No. 2 is looking for his first China Open match win (0-3). Has lost in 1R in 2011 (l. to Cilic), ’12 (l. to Zhang) and ’13 (l. to Isner). Playing a Top 10 opponent for first time in his career • Last week in Shenzhen lost 60 61 to Chung in 1R to fall to 0-10 in his career in ATP World Tour play • Has a 37-9 match record in Futures this season, winning titles at China #8 and China #5 while reaching finals at China #7 and China #13 • In Challengers, compiled a 10-11 record and advanced to final at Shanghai last month (l. to Bhambri) China Open Day 2 – Tuesday, October 6, 2015 Page 3 of 7 www.ATPWorldTour.com Nadal 2015 FastFacts: W(3): Buenos Aires (d Monaco); Stuttgart (d Troicki); Hamburg (d Fognini); F: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (l Murray); SF(2): Rio de Janeiro (l Fognini); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Djokovic); QF(5): Australian Open (l Berdych); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Raonic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (l Wawrinka); Roland Garros (l Djokovic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Montreal (l Nishikori) YTD W-L: 45-15 (14-7 on hard) YTD Titles: 3/Career Titles: 67 Date of Birth: June 3, 1986 Emirates ATP Ranking: 8 Beijing W-L (Best Result): 14-3 (Champion 2005) • No. 2 Spaniard (behind No. 7 Ferrer) has a 14-3 record at the China Open and won title here in 2005 debut (d. Coria). Also SF in ’09 (l. to Cilic), runner-up in ’13 (l. to Djokovic) and QF last year (l. to Klizan) • A winner of 3 titles this season: Buenos Aires (d. Monaco), Stuttgart (d. Troicki) and Hamburg (d. Fognini) while reaching final at ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (l. to Murray) • Failed to win an ATP Masters 1000 title on clay for 1st time since 2004 (Monte-Carlo SF, Madrid F, Rome QF) • Denied a 10th Roland Garros title by No. 1 Djokovic in QF, falling to 70-2 lifetime in Paris. Also reached Australian Open QF (l. to No. 7 Berdych). Suffered 4th straight pre-QF exit at Wimbledon, falling to No. 102 Brown in 2R. Fell to Fognini in 5 sets in 3R at US Open (after holding two-set lead) • Enters with records of 14-7 on hard, 26-6 on clay, 5-2 on grass and 2-7 against Top 10 opponents [1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs [Q] Simone Bolelli (ITA) Djokovic Leads 3-0 08 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R64 Novak Djokovic 6-1 6-2 6-2 08 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati(USA)Hard R32 Novak Djokovic 7-6(2) 7-6(2) 09 Halle (Germany) Grass R32 Novak Djokovic 7-5 6-2 Djokovic 2015 FastFacts: W(7): Australian Open (d Murray); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (d Federer); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (d Murray); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (d Berdych); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (d Federer); Wimbledon (d Federer); US Open (d Federer); F(4): Dubai (l Federer); Roland Garros (l Wawrinka); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Montreal (l Murray); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati (l Federer); QF: Doha (l Karlovic) YTD W-L: 63-5 (40-4 on hard) YTD Titles: 7/Career Titles: 55 Date of Birth: May 22, 1987 Emirates ATP Ranking: 1 Beijing W-L (Best Result): 24-0 (Champion 2009-10, ’12-14) • The 28-year-old Serb has clinched No. 1 in Emirates ATP Rankings for 4th time in last years (except ’13), winning 3 of 4 Grand Slam titles for second time (2011).