MUTUA MADRID OPEN: PREVIEW & DAY 1 MEDIA NOTES Sunday, May 1, 2016 Caja Magica, Madrid, Spain | May 1-8, 2016 Draw: S-56, D-24 | Prize Money: €5,719,660 | Surface: Outdoor Clay ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.madrid-open.com Maria Garcia-Planas: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour @MutuaMadridOpen #MMOPEN16 Edward La Cava: [email protected] facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/mutuamadridopen Press Room: +34 667885160 instagram.com/ATPWorldTour MUTUA MADRID OPEN TALKING POINTS SPOTLIGHT ON MADRID: The fourth ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season, the Mutua Madrid Open, features every member of the Top 10 in the Emirates ATP Rankings (first time since 2011) and 18 of the Top 20 overall. World No. 1 and 2011 champion Novak Djokovic returns to Madrid for the first time since 2013 when he lost in his opening match (2R) to Grigor Dimitrov. Djokovic is one of four former winners in the field along with reigning champ Andy Murray (also 2008), four-time champion Rafael Nadal (2005, ’10, ’13-14) and three-time titleholder Roger Federer (2006, ’09, ’12). The Big Four have accounted for 10 of the past 11 titles since 2005 with the only exception in 2007 when David Nalbandian was the champion. The second Spanish tournament on the ATP World Tour takes place at the La Caja Mágica. The facility features three main stadiums with a capacity for 12,500, 3,439 and 2,228, respectively. In the case of rain, all three courts have retractable covers that allow play to continue. The tournament was held indoors on hard courts in October from 2002-08. DAY 1 PREVIEW: There are two main draw singles matches on Sunday’s schedule. In the third match on Manolo Santana, wild cards Juan Monaco and Fernando Verdasco battle it out. Monaco holds a 7-4 FedEx ATP Head 2 Head advantage, including 5-2 on clay. Both players have won ATP World Tour titles in the last month with Monaco capturing the Houston title on Apr. 10 and Verdasco winning the Bucharest title last Monday. Verdasco is appearing in his hometown tournament for the 14th consecutive year. In the final match on Arantxa Sanchez, Alexandr Dolgopolov and Steve Johnson square off for the third time (tied 1-1), first on clay. The Ukrainian won the last meeting in the 1R of Acapulco in late February. BIG FOUR DOMINATION: In 51 of the past 55 ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (since ’10 Monte- Carlo), one of the Big Four: Djokovic, Murray, Federer and Nadal have lifted the trophy. During that stretch, Djokovic has won 23 titles, Nadal 13, Federer 8 and Murray 7. The only exceptions came at ’10 Paris-Bercy (Soderling), ‘12 Paris-Bercy (Ferrer) and in 2014 in Monte-Carlo (Wawrinka) and Toronto (Tsonga). The foursome are also among the Top 5 in ATP Masters 1000 titles: T1) Djokovic 28 4) Agassi 17 T1) Nadal 28 T5) Murray 11 3) Federer 24 T5) Sampras 11 Note: In past 30 ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, at least one member of Big Four has reached the final. Last time without a Big Four in final (’12 Paris-Bercy: Ferrer d. Janowicz). Mutua Madrid Open Day 1 – Sunday, May 1, 2016 Page 2 of 9 www.ATPWorldTour.com NOVAK CLOSING IN ON 200: As of May 2, Djokovic is three weeks away from reaching 200 weeks at No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Djokovic will reach the 200 week milestone on May 23. He will become the fifth player in the history of the Emirates ATP Rankings to hold No. 1 at least 200 weeks in his career, joining Federer (302), Pete Sampras (286), Ivan Lendl (270) and Jimmy Connors (268). Djokovic has a 16-6 record in Madrid, winning the title in 2011 and reaching the SFs in 2007 and ’09. He is 28-2 on the season with ATP World Tour-best four titles, including the Australian Open and ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells and Miami. RAFA ON A ROLL: Nadal enters Madrid on a 10-match winning streak after capturing back-to- back titles at ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo (d. Monfils) and Barcelona (d. Nishikori). During the streak, Nadal has lost only two sets, both coming in Monte-Carlo (SF, F). Nadal has a 39-9 career record in Madrid, winning the title four times (2005, ’10, ’13-14) while reaching the final three other times (2009, ’11, ’15). Since 2009, he’s reached the final six of the last seven years (except ’12-3R). The 29-year-old Spaniard enters with a 22-6 match record on the season (14-2 on clay). He is looking to become the all-time clay court titles leader in the Open Era. He is co-leader (w/Vilas): No. T1) Rafael Nadal, Guillermo Vilas 49 3) Thomas Muster 40 4) Bjorn Borg, Manuel Orantes 30 ROGER EYES NO. 2 WINS SPOT: World No. 3 Roger Federer is two match wins away from tying Ivan Lendl on the Open Era career match wins list. Federer has 1,069 wins and Lendl 1,071. Jimmy Connors is the all-time leader with 1,256 wins. Federer enters with a 35-8 career record in Madrid and he is looking to win the title for the fourth time. He won the title on hard courts in 2006 and was runner-up in ’07. Since the tournament moved to clay courts, Federer lifted the winner’s trophy in 2009 (d. Nadal) and ’12 (d. Berdych). He also was runner-up in ’10. Last year he lost in the 2R (after bye) in three tie-breaks to Nick Kyrgios. ANDY DEFENDING CHAMP: Andy Murray comes into Madrid defending a clay court title for the first time in his career. The World No. 2 last year won back-to-back clay court titles in Munich (d. Kohlschreiber) and Madrid (d. Nadal). Murray enters Madrid with a 13-4 match record on the season (3-1 on clay) and in his previous clay court tournament at ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo, he reached the SF (l. to Nadal). ANDERSON BACK IN ACTION: Kevin Anderson, who has been sidelined with knee and shoulder injuries this season, is playing in his first tournament since retiring in the 1R in Delray Beach on Feb. 16 (vs. Krajicek) due to a shoulder injury. The 29-year-old South African has a 1-3 match record on the season, reaching the QF in Auckland (1R bye) and retiring in the 1R at the Australian Open due to a knee injury. BAGHDATIS EYES 300 WINS: Marcos Baghdatis is making his first appearance in Madrid since 2013 and the 30-year-old Cypriot is one win away from 300 in his career (299-222). Five of his six career losses in Madrid have come to Spaniards. PERFECT ATTENDANCE: Madrid native Feliciano Lopez is the only player in the tournament’s 15-year history to participate in every singles draw (since 2002). Lopez has an 18-14 career record in his hometown tournament, reaching the QFs four times (2003, ‘07-08 and ’14). Three other players are playing in Madrid for the 14th consecutive year: David Ferrer, Nadal and local resident Fernando Verdasco. Ferrer is a two-time SF, Nadal four-time winner and Verdasco two-time QF. Mutua Madrid Open Day 1 – Sunday, May 1, 2016 Page 3 of 9 www.ATPWorldTour.com IMPRESSIVE DOUBLES FIELD: The doubles draw features nine of the Top 10 teams in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings: 1) Jamie Murray & Bruno Soares 2) Pierre-Hugues Herbert & Nicolas Mahut 3) Treat Huey & Max Mirnyi 4) Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan 5) Daniel Nestor & Radek Stepanek 6) Juan Sebastian Cabal & Robert Farah 7) Feliciano Lopez & Marc Lopez 8) Pablo Cuevas & Marcel Granollers 10) Raven Klaasen & Rajeev Ram FRENCHMEN TOP SEEDS: Top Seeds: The French duo of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut are the top seeds in an ATP Masters 1000 tournament for the first time. They are trying to become the first team to win the first four ATP Masters 1000 tournaments of the season after capturing titles in Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo. They are 15-2 this year and on a 13-match winning streak. In 2014, the Bryans won the first three ATP Masters 1000 events before finishing runner-up in Madrid. BRYANS LOOK FOR SIXTH TITLE: Bob and Mike Bryan are five-time champions in Madrid (2006-07, ’10-11, ’13). The Bryans come into Madrid after winning their 111th career title together in Barcelona. They began the clay court circuit by winning in Houston. They have won a doubles record 35 ATP Masters 1000 titles. SEEDS TO WATCH THIS WEEK SINGLES: SEED PLAYER RECORD BEST FINISH 1 Novak Djokovic (SRB) 16-6 W 2011 2 Andy Murray (GBR) 22-7 W 2015, ‘08 3 Roger Federer (SUI) 35-8 W 2012, ‘09, ‘06 4 Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 13-9 F 2013 5 Rafael Nadal (ESP) 39-9 W 2014, ‘13, ‘10, ‘05 6 Kei Nishikori (JPN) 11-4 F 2014 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 10-8 QF 2013 8 Tomas Berdych (CZE) 19-11 F 2012 9 David Ferrer (ESP) 19-13 SF 2014, ‘10 10 Richard Gasquet (FRA) 5-7 R16 2012, ‘08 11 Milos Raonic (CAN) 5-5 QF 2015 12 David Goffin (BEL) 1-2 R32 2015 13 Gael Monfils (FRA) 10-7 QF 2010, ‘08 14 Dominic Thiem (AUT) 2-0 (W/O in ’14) R16 2014 15 Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) 6-2 SF 2014 16 Gilles Simon (FRA) 12-6 F 2008 Mutua Madrid Open Day 1 – Sunday, May 1, 2016 Page 4 of 9 www.ATPWorldTour.com QUALIFIERS (7): OLDEST: YOUNGEST: TBC on Sunday Ivo Karlovic – 37 y, 2 m Borna Coric – 19 y, 5 m WILDCARDS (4): Nicolas Almagro TOP COUNTRY BREAKDOWN +: Pablo Carreno Busta Spain (9), France (7), Argentina (5), USA (3) Juan Monaco + Does not include qualifiers Fernando Verdasco DOUBLES: SEED TEAM BEST FINISH SEED TEAM BEST FINISH 1 Herbert & Mahut TEAM DEBUT 5 Bryan & Bryan 29-9, W ’13, ’11, 10, ’07,’06 2 J.Murray & Soares TEAM DEBUT 6 Bopanna & Mergea 5-0; W 2015 3 Rojer & Tecau 1-2; R16 2014 7 Peya & Zimonjic TEAM DEBUT 4 Dodig & Melo 0-2; R16 (Bye) 2014-15 8 Pospisil & Sock 1-1, QF 2015 FORMER MADRID SINGLES CHAMPIONS AND FINALISTS: YEAR WINNER FINALIST SCORE Bold = In this 2015 Andy Murray Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2 year’s 2014 Rafael Nadal Kei Nishikori 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 RET draw 2013 Rafael Nadal Stan Wawrinka