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Home , 2003 ATP Tour, 2005 World Team Cup, 2008 ATP Tour, 2015 Rio Open, Andreas Vinciguerra, Artem Sitak

SKISTAR : PREVIEW & DAY 1 MEDIA NOTES Monday, July 20, 2015

Båstad Tennisstadion, Båstad, | July 20 – 26, 2015 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: €494,301 | Surface: Clay

ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com http://men.swedishopen.org Martin Dagahs: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour @swedish_open #swedishopen Press Room: +46 725 836 065 facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/swedishopen

SKISTAR SWEDISH OPEN TALKING POINTS

 Skistar Swedish Open: The top four seeds in the 28-player field are all ranked in the Top 30, led by World No. 14 , who is making his Bastad debut. The others are: No. 2 , who is a former two-time winner (2006, ’08), reigning champion/No. 3 , and No. 4 Juan , who was runner-up in 2009. The other seeds are: No. 5/’13 runner-up , No. 6 , No. 7 Jeremy Chardy and No. 8 . The other former champion in the field is 2010 winner (’07, ’12 finalist) Nicolas Almagro. He opens against Verdasco in the 1R.

 Day 1 Preview: There are two singles scheduled on Monday at the Skistar Swedish Open. Leading off is a first-time meeting between Swedish and Frenchmen Benoit Paire. The 25-year-old Eriksson is appearing in just his third career tour-level match (1-1 record), he has played mainly Futures with a career record of 142-112 (27-15 in 2015) with three titles. Following is a first-time meeting on the ATP World Tour between Swedish wild card and Brazilian Joao Souza. The 23-year-old Lindell has a career record of 170-91 in Futures (13-6 in 2015) with 8 titles and 22-13 in Challengers (8-8 in 2015). Qualifying wraps up on Monday.

 Goffin Top Seed: Goffin is the top seed in an ATP World Tour tournament for the first time in his career. The 24-year-old Belgian is ranked a career-high No. 14 and this season he reached the final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch (l. to Mahut), SFs in and QFs in and ATP Masters 1000 . Over the weekend he helped into the semi-finals with a singles win vs. Canada.

 The Reigning Champ: Last year Cuevas came in ranked No. 111 and he defeated Joao Sousa 62 61 in the final to capture his maiden ATP World Tour title. He also won the Umag title two weeks later. This is the Uruguayan’s third appearance (7-1 record) in Bastad and he was a quarter-finalist in his 2010 debut. In February, Cuevas captured his third career title in Sao Paulo (d. Vanni) and in May was runner-up in Istanbul (l. to Federer). He has a 19-15 match record on the season (16-8 on clay) and is ranked No. 25 after reaching a career-high No. 21 on Mar. 23.

 Tommy Back Again: No. 2 seed Tommy Robredo is making his 15th appearance in Bastad. The 33-year-old Spaniard won the title in 2006 and ’08 and reached the semi-finals five other times. He has lost his opening round match the last two years since reaching the quarter-finals in 2012. He has a 28-12 career record, the most match wins of any player in the field.

 Teenagers on the Rise: Two of the teenagers in the Top 200 Emirates ATP are in the draw, led by 18-year-old German , who is ranked No. 123, and 19-year-old Swede , who is ranked No. 133. Zverev reached a career-high No. 74 last month and he has compiled a 7-9 match record on the season, including 5-4 on grass. Ymer, who came into Bastad No. 1032 two years ago and No. 310 last year (reaching 2R). He qualified in all four tournaments this season. Ymer, who is the top Swede in the Emirates ATP Rankings, has a 4-7 record this season. SkiStar Swedish Open Day 1 – Monday, July 20, 2015 Page 2 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com

 Colombians Top Seeds: The top seeds in the doubles draw are Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and . They are No. 13 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings. They have won titles in Sao Paulo and this season.

FORMER SKISTAR SWEDISH OPEN CHAMPIONS AND FINALISTS (Since 2000):

YEAR WINNER FINALIST SCORE Bold = Denotes 2014 Pablo Cuevas Joao Sousa 6-2, 6-1 those in this year’s draw 2013 Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 6-1 2012 Nicolas Almagro 6-2, 6-2

2011 Robin Soderling David Ferrer 6-2, 6-2

2010 Nicolas Almagro Robin Soderling 7-5, 3-6, 6-2

2009 Robin Soderling Juan Monaco 6-3, 7-6(4)

2008 Tommy Robredo Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-1

2007 David Ferrer Nicolas Almagro 6-1, 6-2

2006 Tommy Robredo 6-2, 6-1

2005 Tomas Berdych 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 2004 Gaston Gaudio 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(4)

2003 Mariano Zabaleta Nicolas Lapentti 6-3, 6-4 2002 Carlos Moya 6-3, 2-6, 7-5

2001 7-5, 6-3

2000 6-1, 7-6(6)

FORMER SKISTAR SWEDISH OPEN DOUBLES CHAMPIONS (Since 2000):

YEAR WINNER YEAR WINNER 2014 Johan Brunstrom & 2006 Jonas Bjorkman & 2013 Nicholas Monroe & 2005 Jonas Bjorkman & 2012 & Horia Tecau 2004 & Jonas Bjorkman 2011 Robert Lindstedt & Horia Tecau 2003 & 2010 Robert Lindstedt & Horia Tecau 2002 Jonas Bjorkman & 2009 Jaroslav Levinsky & Filip Polasek 2001 & 2008 Jonas Bjorkman & Robin Soderling 2000 & Mikael Tillstrom 2007 Simon Aspelin &

SkiStar Swedish Open Day 1 – Monday, July 20, 2015 Page 3 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com

SEEDS TO WATCH THIS WEEK

SINGLES:

SEED PLAYER RECORD BEST FINISH

1. David Goffin (BEL) DEBUT — 2. Tommy Robredo (ESP) 28-12 W 2008, ‘06 3. Pablo Cuevas (URU) 7-1 W 2014 4. Juan Monaco (ARG) 9-5 RUP 2009 5. Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 12-7 RUP 2013 6. Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) DEBUT — 7. Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 0-1 1R 2014 8. Jerzy Janowicz (POL) 0-2 2R 2014

 WILDCARDS (3):  YOUNGEST: Markus Eriksson (SWE) Alexander Zverev (GER) – 18 years, 3 months Christian Lindell (SWE) Elias Ymer (SWE)  OLDEST: Tommy Robredo (ESP) – 33 years, 2 months  QUALIFIERS (4): TBC on Monday  TOP COUNTRY BREAKDOWN: (5), (3), Sweden (3), Belgium (2), (2), (2) Countries in total: 13

DOUBLES:

SEED PLAYER BEST FINISH 1. Juan Sebastian Cabal & Robert Farah TEAM DEBUT 2. Jeremy Chardy & Lukasz Kubot TEAM DEBUT 3. Nicholas Monroe & TEAM DEBUT 4. Johan Brunstrom & Robert Lindstedt TEAM DEBUT

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

EMIRATES ATP POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY

W F SF QF R16 R32 SINGLES RANKING POINTS 250 150 90 45 20 0 SINGLES PRIZE MONEY (€) 80,000 42,100 22,800 12,990 7,655 4,535 DOUBLES RANKING POINTS 250 150 90 45 0 — DOUBLES PRIZE MONEY (€) 24,280 12,760 6,920 3,960 2,320 —

SkiStar Swedish Open Day 1 – Monday, July 20, 2015 Page 4 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com

MONDAY FEDEX ATP 2 HEADS – In Order of Play by Court

Centre Court

(WC) Markus Eriksson (SWE) vs Benoit Paire (FRA) First Meeting

Eriksson FastFacts: 2015 Highlights: YTD W-L: 0-0 (0-0 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: November 29, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 538 Bastad W-L (Best Result-Year): 0-2 (1R 2013-14)

Paire FastFacts: 2015 Highlights: YTD W-L: 8-9 (5-5 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: May 8, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 59 Bastad W-L (Best Result-Year): Debut

(WC) Christian Lindell (SWE) vs Joao Souza (BRA) First ATP Meeting Other meetings: 10 Sao Paulo-2 CH (Brazil) Clay R32 Christian Lindell 5-7 6-2 6-3 14 Cali II CH (Colombia) Clay QF Joao Souza 6-2 6-2

Lindell FastFacts: 2015 Highlights: YTD W-L: 0-3 (0-1 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: November 20, 1991 Emirates ATP Ranking: 184 Bastad W-L (Best Result-Year): 1-4 (2R 2014)

Souza FastFacts: 2015 Highlights: SF: Sao Paulo (l Vanni); QF: Rio de Janeiro (l Haider-Maurer) YTD W-L: 7-12 (6-9 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: May 27, 1988 Emirates ATP Ranking: 86 Bastad W-L (Best Result-Year): 1-2 (2R 2012)

SkiStar Swedish Open Day 1 – Monday, July 20, 2015 Page 5 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com

OTHER FIRST ROUND FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Draw Order

Diego Schwartzman (ARG) vs (UZB) First Meeting

(PR) Nicolas Almagro (ESP) vs (5) Fernando Verdasco (ESP) Verdasco Leads 7-4 05 () Clay R64 Fernando Verdasco 7-6(4) 6-0 07 Kitzbuhel () Clay R16 Fernando Verdasco 6-2 7-6(6) 09 Roland Garros (France) Clay R32 Fernando Verdasco 6-2 7-6(4) 7-6(8) 10 Roland Garros (France) Clay R16 Nicolas Almagro 6-1 4-6 6-1 6-4 11 (Germany) Clay SF Nicolas Almagro 6-4 6-1 11 Gstaad () Clay SF Fernando Verdasco 6-7(2) 7-6(2) 6-3 12 Acapulco (Mexico) Clay QF Fernando Verdasco 6-4 7-6(5) 12 ATP Masters 1000 Miami (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Nicolas Almagro 6-3 6-4 13 Bastad (Sweden) Clay QF Fernando Verdasco 6-4 4-6 7-5 14 (U.S.A.) Clay F Fernando Verdasco 6-3 7-6(4) 14 (Spain) Clay R16 Nicolas Almagro 6-3 6-3 Other meetings: 01 Spain F7 (Spain) Clay QF Fernando Verdasco 4-6 7-6(5) 6-3

Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP) vs (BEL) Gimeno-Traver leads 1-0 11 Gstaad (Switzerland) Clay R32 Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-4 5-7 7-5 Other meeting: 07 San Remo CH () Clay QF Steve Darcis 6-3 6-4

Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) vs Elias Ymer (SWE) First Meeting

Ernests Gulbis (LAT) vs Marsel Ilhan (TUR) First Meeting

Luca Vanni (ITA) vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) First Meeting