OPEN 13: DAY 6 MEDIA NOTES Saturday, February 20, 2016
Palais des Sports, Marseille, France | February 15 – 21, 2016 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: €632,840 | Surface: Indoor Hard
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PAIRE AND KYRGIOS POST TOP-10 WINS TO FACE CILIC, BERDYCH IN SEMIS
DAY 6 PREVIEW: A new Open 13 champion will be crowned on Sunday, with both of Saturday’s semi- finalists pitching a former finalist against a player through to the final four after collecting a top-10 scalp in the quarters.
Benoit Paire claimed the fifth top-10 win of his career (now 5-18) against top seed Stan Wawrinka to book his place in the semi-finals. The No.8 seed, whose previous best performance in Marseille was a second-round appearance in 2015 (l. to Wawrinka), is the last remaining Frenchman in either draw. He will face No. 4 seed Marin Cilic, the 2011 semi-finalist (l. to Soderling) and 2014 US Open champion, playing in Marseille for the first time in five years. The Croatian is playing his first semi-final of 2016 and first since winning the Moscow title last October (d. Bautista Agut). Italy’s Damiano Torella will umpire the match.
In the second semi-final, No. 2 seed Tomas Berdych will meet unseeded Nick Kyrgios for the second time in their careers and in 2016, after Berdych won their third-round encounter at the Australian Open. Egypt’s Adel Mour will umpire the match. Like Cilic, Berdych is playing in Marseille for the first time since reaching the final (2013, l. to Tsonga). The Czech is playing his second semi-final of 2016 (Doha, l. to eventual champion and world No. 1 Djokovic). Like Paire, debutant Kyrgios collected his fifth career top- 10 win by beating No. 3 seed and world No. 10 Gasquet in the quarters (now 5-11). The 20-year-old also reached the semi-finals in the doubles draw w/Gabashvili, losing to Erlich & Fleming on Friday. The Israeli-British duo will face No. 2 seeds Pavic & Venus in Sunday’s final.
SATURDAY FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – Order of Play by Court
Court Central
[8] Benoit Paire (FRA) vs [4] Marin Cilic (CRO) Paire Leads 1-0 13 Chennai (India) Hard QF Benoit Paire 6-4 1-6 7-5
Paire FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: SF: Chennai (l Wawrinka) YTD W-L: 6-5 (6-5 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 1 Date of Birth: May 8, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 21 (as of 2/8/16) Marseille W-L (Best Result-Year): 4-3 (SF 2016)
The 26-year-old is playing here for the fourth time and has surpassed his best result (2R 2015, l. to Wawrinka) after 1R win over Bolelli 64 75 and 2R win over Millot 63 16 63 before beating No. 1 seed Wawrinka 64 16 75 in QF. Open 13 Day 6 – Saturday, February 20, 2016 Page 2 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com
Opened season by reaching SF at Chennai (l. to eventual champion Wawrinka), fell in 2R at Auckland (l. to Rosol) and Montpellier (l. to Mathieu), fell in 1R at Australian Open (l. to Rubin) and Rotterdam (l. to Dodig) Aiming to reach first final since Tokyo, October 2015 (SF d. Nishikori, F l. to Wawrinka) In 2015, Frenchman rose nearly 100 places to end at career-high No. 19 after injury-plagued 2014 season when he finished at No. 118 Became 1st player since Darcis in 2007 to win a Futures, Challenger and ATP World Tour title in same season Won 1st ATP World Tour title without dropping a set at Båstad in July (d. Goffin in 2R and Robredo in final)
Cilic FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: QF (2): Brisbane (l Thiem), Rotterdam (l Kohlschreiber) YTD W-L: 7-4 (7-4 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 14 Date of Birth: September 28, 1988 Emirates ATP Ranking: 12 Marseille W-L (Best Result-Year): 6-2 (F 2011)
The 27-year-old reached the final on his last appearance here in 2011 (l. to Soderling). Making third appearance (6-2 record); fell in 1R in 2008 (l. to Youzhny) Reached SF with 2R win over Haase 46 63 75 and QF win over Kuznetsov 63 64 (1R bye) Hoping to win first SF since winning Moscow title in October 2015 (d. Bautista Agut) Opened the season with QF appearance at Brisbane (l. to Thiem), reached 3R at Australian Open (l. to Bautista Agut), 1R exit at Montpellier (l. to Zverev) and QF run at Rotterdam (l. to Kohlschreiber) In 2015, Croat finished in Top 20 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 5th time Won an ATP title for 8th straight season, repeating as champion at Moscow (d. Bautista Agut) Posted 31-13 record after starting season 4-6 On an 11-match losing streak vs. Top 10 opponents since winning 2014 US Open title (19-58 overall) Played only 1 tournament in 1st 3 months due to right shoulder injury (ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells)
Nick Kyrgios (AUS) vs [2] Tomas Berdych (CZE) Berdych Leads 1-0 16 Australian Open Hard R32 Tomas Berdych 6-3 6-4 1-6 6-4
Kyrgios FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 5-1 (5-1 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: April 27, 1995 Emirates ATP Ranking: 41 Marseille W-L (Best Result-Year): 3-0 (SF 2016)
The 20-year-old has reached SF on his tournament debut with a 64 64 1R win over Pospisil before beating doubles partner Gabashvili 64 64 in 2R and No. 3 seed Gasquet 60 64 in QF Playing second tournament of the season and first since Australian Open, where he reached 3R (l. to No. 6 Berdych) Missed Rotterdam with an elbow injury First QF since Tokyo 2015 (l. to Paire); through to first SF since Kuala Lumpur 2015 (l. to F Lopez) Aiming to reach first hard-court final and second career final (first Estoril 2015, l. to Gasquet) Win-loss record against Top 10: 5-11 (beat No. 10 Gasquet in QF) In 2015, Aussie rose in year-end rankings for 3rd straight season, finishing at No. 30 after peaking at No. 25 on June 8 Reached 2nd-career Grand Slam QF at Australian Open (also 2014 Wimbledon) Advanced to 1st career final at Estoril (l. to Gasquet) and 2nd SF at Kuala Lumpur (l. to F. Lopez) Saved 2 MPs to beat No. 2 Federer in ATP Masters 1000 Madrid 2R (l. to Isner in 3R) Open 13 Day 6 – Saturday, February 20, 2016 Page 3 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com
Berdych FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: SF: Doha (l Djokovic); QF: (l Federer) YTD W-L: 9-2 (9-2 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 12 Date of Birth: September 17, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 8 Marseille W-L (Best Result-Year): 7-5 (F 2013)
The 30-year-old returns for sixth time and first time since reaching 2013 F (l. to Tsonga) Booked his place in SF with 63 36 75 win over wild card Alexander Zverev in 2R, 63 64 win over No. 6 seed Goffin in SF (1R bye) Opened season with SF appearance at Doha (l. to eventual champion Djokovic) before QF appearance at Australian Open (l. to No. 3 Federer) Aiming to reach first final since winning Stockholm, October 2015 (d. Sock) In 2015, Czech finished at No. 6 or No. 7 in Emirates ATP Rankings for 6th straight season Achieved career-high of No. 4 on May 18 after reaching ATP Masters 1000 Rome QF (l. to No. 2 Federer) Captured 11th and 12th titles of career at Shenzhen (d. Garcia-Lopez) and Stockholm (d. Sock) Reached QF or better at 15 of 22 events in 2015 and won 2 or more matches at 18 of 22 Has played in 50 straight majors and 50 straight ATP Masters 1000 events
FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS: POTENTIAL SINGLES FINALS
[8] Benoit Paire (FRA) vs Nick Kyrgios (AUS) Paire Leads 2-0 14 Australian Open Hard R64 Benoit Paire 6-7(5) 6-7(5) 6-4 6-2 6-2 15 Tokyo (Japan) Hard QF Benoit Paire 3-6 6-4 6-1
[8] Benoit Paire (FRA) vs [2] Tomas Berdych (CZE) Berdych Leads 2-0 12 Tokyo (Japan) Hard R32 Tomas Berdych 6-1 7-6(6) 15 Roland Garros Clay R32 Tomas Berdych 6-1 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4
[4] Marin Cilic (CRO) vs Nick Kyrgios (AUS) Cilic Leads 1-0 13 Roland Garros Clay R64 Marin Cilic 6-4 6-2 6-2
[4] Marin Cilic (CRO) vs [2] Tomas Berdych (CZE) Berdych Leads 6-4 09 CRO vs CZE WG SF Clay RR Tomas Berdych 6-3 6-3 3-6 4-6 6-3 09 ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai Hard R64 Tomas Berdych 7-6(8) 3-6 6-4 11 Marseille (France) Hard QF Marin Cilic 6-3 6-4 11 Beijing (China) Hard F Tomas Berdych 3-6 6-4 6-1 12 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo Clay R32 Tomas Berdych 7-6(3) 6-1 13 London / Queen’s Club (Great Britain) Grass QF Marin Cilic 7-5 7-6(4) 14 Rotterdam (Netherlands) Hard F Tomas Berdych 6-4 6-2 14 Wimbledon Grass R32 Marin Cilic 7-6(5) 6-4 7-6(6) 14 US Open Hard QF Marin Cilic 6-2 6-4 7-6(4) 14 ATP World Tour Finals (Great Britain) Hard RR Tomas Berdych 6-3 6-1