DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS: DAY 2 MEDIA NOTES Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Dubai Duty Free Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates | February 22 – February 27, 2016 Draw: S-32, D-16 | Prize Money: $2,674,445 | Surface: Outdoor Hard
ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com Nicola Arzani: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour @DDFTennis Richard Evans: [email protected] facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/Dubai-Duty-Free-Tennis-Championships-146132218775533
FIRST ROUND CONCLUDES, WAWRINKA, BERDYCH & KYRGIOS IN ACTION
DAY 2 PREVIEW: The first round concludes on Tuesday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships with 10 singles matches scheduled.
Opening play on Centre Court is a first time meeting on the ATP World Tour between the Spanish No. 4 seed Roberto Bautista Agut and Italian Simone Bolelli. The No. 3 Spaniard is off to a career best start, 14-3 record, highlighted by winning titles at Auckland (d. Sock) and Sofia (d. Troicki).
Following No. 3 seed Tomas Berdych makes his 10th appearance here when he faces Joao Sousa. The World No. 7 Berdych is a two-time finalist (2013-14), has reached the semi-finals or better in four of the last five years, owns a 20-9 career record in Dubai. Sousa is looking for just his second career win over a Top 10 opponent (1-19 record).
No. 2 seed Stan Wawrinka plays his first match here in eight years when he faces Sergiy Stakhovsky. The pair is meeting for the second time in a week and fourth overall. Last week the Swiss improved to 2- 1 with his 64 46 76(8) win over the Ukrainian in the second round at Marseille.
The last match of the day on Centre Court is a first time meeting between No. 7 seed Martin Klizan and Nick Kyrgios. Both players are making their tournament debut. The 26-year-old Klizan is playing in his first event since capturing his fourth career ATP World Tour title at Rotterdam (d. Monfils). On Sunday the 20-year-old Kyrgios became the first first-time winner and youngest winner on the ATP World Tour this season at Marseille (d. Cilic).
DAY 2 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play by Court
Centre Court
[4] Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) vs Simone Bolelli (ITA) First ATP Meeting Other meetings: 12 Braunschweig CH (Germany) Clay QF Simone Bolelli 6-3 6-2
Bautista Agut FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: W (2): Auckland (d Sock); Sofia (d Troicki); QF (2): Chennai (l Coric); Rotterdam (l Klizan) YTD W-L: 14-3 (14-3 on hard) YTD Titles: 2 / Career Titles: 4 Date of Birth: April 14, 1988 Emirates ATP Ranking: 18 Dubai (Best Result-Year): 3-3 (2R 2013-15)
The 27-year-old is playing here for the fourth straight year (3-3 record) and has fallen in the 2R each time – 2013 (l. to eventual champion Djokovic), 2014 (l. to Djokovic) and 2015 (l. to Gasquet) The No. 3 Spaniard (behind No. 5 Nadal, No. 8 Ferrer) captured his second title of the year and fourth overall at Sofia (d. Troicki). Has a 14-3 match record, his best career start. Reached QF two weeks ago at Rotterdam (l. to eventual champion Klizan) Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships Day 2 – Tuesday, February 23, 2016 Page 2 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com
In opening month of season, lost in QFs in Chennai (after bye) to Borna Coric in third set TB and followed with third career ATP World Tour title in Auckland (d. No. 10 Tsonga in SF, Sock in F). Then reached personal-best 4R at Australian Open (l. to No. 6 Berdych in five sets) In 2015, Spaniard finished in Top 25 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 2nd straight season and Top 100 for 4th straight Appeared in back-to-back finals at Moscow on October 25 (l. to Cilic) and Valencia on November 1 (l. to Sousa after saving 6 MPs in SF win over Johnson)
Bolelli FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 1-4 (1-4 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: October 8, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 73 Dubai (Best Result-Year): 2-3 (2R 2009, ’15)
The 30-year-old is playing here for the fourth time (2-3 record). Best result was 2R twice – 2009 (l. to Gasquet) and 2015 (l. to Berdych) Last week fell in 1R at Marseille (l. to Paire) Best result of year was 2R at Australian Open (l. to Tomic), fell in 1R at Doha (l. to Gabashvili) and Sydney (l. to Sarkissian) In 2015, Italian finished in Top 100 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 6th time Won 28 singles matches, 3 more than he did in 2011-14 combined Did not advance past 7 ATP World Tour QFs: Sydney (l. to eventual champion Troicki), Marseille (d. No. 6 Raonic, l. to Monfils), Bucharest (l. to Monfils), Nottingham (l. to Baghdatis), Hamburg (w/o vs Seppi), St. Petersburg (d. No. 5 Berdych, l. to Sousa) and Shenzhen (l. to Robredo)
Joao Sousa (POR) vs [3] Tomas Berdych (CZE) Berdych Leads 1-0 14 ATP Masters 1000 Miami (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Tomas Berdych 6-2 6-4
Sousa FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 2-5 (2-5 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 2 Date of Birth: March 30, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 36 Dubai (Best Result-Year): 1-1 (2R 2015)
Last year, the 26-year-old, reached the 2R (l. to Murray) in his tournament debut Last two events fell in 1R at Marseille (l. to Haase) and Rotterdam (l. to Bautista Agut) Opened the year with a 1R loss at Auckland (l. to Fognini), reached 3R for second straight year at Australian Open (l. to Murray), fell in 1R at Montpellier (l. to Bemelmans) In 2015, Portuguese player ended at career-high ranking of No. 33 -- his 4th-straight finish in Top 100 of Emirates ATP Rankings Snapped 5-match losing streak in finals by winning 2nd ATP World Tour title at Valencia (d. Bautista Agut) Won career-high 38 matches (previous-high 24 in 2014) Career 1-19 (0-1 in 2016) vs Top 10 opponents. Has lost 17 straight since lone win over No. 4 David Ferrer in the QF at 2013 Kuala Lumpur en route to his first career title
Berdych FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: SF (2): Doha (l Djokovic); Marseille (l Kyrgios); QF: Australian Open (l Federer) YTD W-L: 9-3 (9-3 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 12 Date of Birth: September 17, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 7 Dubai (Best Result-Year): 20-9 (RUP 2013-14) Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships Day 2 – Tuesday, February 23, 2016 Page 3 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com
The 30-year-old is making his 10th appearance here and has a 20-9 tournament record. The two- time finalist – 2013 (d. Federer in SF, l. to Djokovic) and 2014 (l. to Federer), also reached the SF twice – 2011 (l. to eventual champion Djokovic) and 2015 (l. to Djokovic) Last week reached 2nd ATP World Tour SF of the year at Marseille (l. to eventual champion Kyrgios) Opened season with SF appearance at Doha (l. to eventual champion Djokovic) before QF appearance at Australian Open (l. to No. 3 Federer) 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
Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) vs [2] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) Wawrinka Leads 2-1 12 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R128 Stan Wawrinka 6-7(6) 7-6(2) 6-4 6-2 15 Marseille (France) Hard QF Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-4 3-6 6-4 16 Marseille (France) Hard R16 Stan Wawrinka 6-4 4-6 7-6(8)
Stakhovsky FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 1-4 (1-4 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 4 Date of Birth: January 6, 1986 Emirates ATP Ranking: 92 Dubai (Best Result-Year): 6-6 (QF 2011, ’15)
The 30-year-old is making his seventh appearance here and has a 6-6 tournament record. Best result was QF twice – 2011 (l. to Federer) and 2015 (l. to Berdych) Last week earned first win of the year at Marseille (d. F. Lopez in 1R, l. to Wawrinka) Opened the year with 1R losses at Doha (l. to No. 6 Berdych), Australian Open (l. to Goffin) and Sofia (l. to Kohlschreiber) In 2015, Ukrainian finished in Top 100 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 7th time in 8 years (all but No. 101 finish in 2012) During 3-week stretch in February 2015, reached Rotterdam QF (l. to No. 6 Raonic), Marseille SF (d. No. 7 Wawrinka, l. to Simon) and Dubai QF (l. to No. 8 Berdych) Only won back-to-back matches at 2 other tournaments, advancing to Nottingham 3R (l. to Istomin) and US Open 3R (l. to Tsonga) Career 3-31 (0-2 in 2016) record vs. Top 10 opponents. Has lost last six since defeating No. 7 Stan Wawrinka at 2015 Marseille. Also has wins over No. 10 Ernests Gulbis at 2014 Wimbledon and No. 3 Roger Federer at 2013 Wimbledon
Wawrinka FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: W: Chennai (d Coric); QF: Marseille (l Paire) YTD W-L: 8-2 (8-2 on hard) YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 12 Date of Birth: March 28, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 4 Dubai (Best Result-Year): 0-2 (1R 2006, ’08)
The 30-year-old is playing here for the first time since falling in the 1R in 2008 (l. to Hernych). Also fell in 1R in 2006 (l. to Federer) Last week fell in QF at Marseille (l. to Paire) Opened season with fourth title in Chennai and third in succession (2011 d. Malisse, 2014 d. Roger- Vasselin, 2015 d. Bedene, 2016 d. Coric) Claimed 400th match win en route to 4R showing at Australian Open (d. Rosol in 3R, l. to Raonic) In 2015, Swiss finished at No. 4 in Emirates ATP Rankings for 2nd straight season and in Top 10 for 3rd straight season Captured his 2nd Grand Slam title as 30-year-old at Roland Garros to become oldest champion of event since Gomez in 1990 (d. No. 2 Federer in QF, No. 1 Djokovic in final) Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships Day 2 – Tuesday, February 23, 2016 Page 4 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com
Winner of 12 career titles, and owns 8-0 finals record in 2014-16
[7] Martin Klizan (SVK) vs Nick Kyrgios (AUS) First Meeting
Klizan FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: W: Rotterdam (d Monfils); SF: Sofia (l Troicki) YTD W-L: 8-4 (8-4 on hard) YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 4 Date of Birth: July 11, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 25 Dubai (Best Result-Year): Debut
The 26-year-old is making his tournament debut Playing first event since capturing 4th career ATP World Tour title at Rotterdam (d. Monfils). Improved to 4-0 in finals Reached his first ATP World Tour SF of season at Sofia (l. to Troicki) after going 0-3 in opening month of action. Lost in 1R in Doha (l. to Edmund), Sydney (ret. vs. Thompson) and Australian Open (l. to Bautista Agut in five sets) In 2015, Slovak finished in Top 50 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 3rd time Achieved career-high ranking of No. 24 on April 27 after reaching Barcelona SF Won 3rd career ATP World Tour singles title at Casablanca (d. Gimeno-Traver)
Kyrgios FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: W: Marseille (d Cilic) YTD W-L: 7-1 (7-1 in hard) YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 1 Date of Birth: April 27, 1995 Emirates ATP Ranking: 33 Dubai (Best Result-Year): Debut
The 20-year-old is making his tournament debut On Sunday captured his 1st career ATP World Tour title at Marseille (d. No. 10 Gasquet in QF, No. 8 Berdych in SF, d. No. 12 Cilic). He did not drop serve all tournament, becoming the first first-time winner to do so in a tour-level event in the Open Era. It was just his 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 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 F 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)
Court 1
Borna Coric (CRO) vs Jiri Vesely (CZE) First Meeting
[8] Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) vs [WC] Marsel Ilhan (TUR) First ATP Meeting Other meetings: 11 ATP Masters 1000 Paris Q (France) Hard -- Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3 6-2
Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) vs Denis Istomin (UZB) Kukushkin Leads 3-2 12 KAZ vs. UZB WG Play-Off (Kazakhstan) Clay RR Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4 6-2 6-7(5) 6-2 14 Eastbourne (Great Britain) Grass R32 Denis Istomin 7-6(6) 6-7(7) 6-3 15 Sydney (Australia) Hard R32 Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3 7-6(1) 15 St. Petersburg (Russia) Hard R32 Denis Istomin 7-6(4) 2-6 6-2 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships Day 2 – Tuesday, February 23, 2016 Page 5 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com
16 Brisbane (Australia) Hard R32 Mikhail Kukushkin 6-2 7-5 Other meetings: 06 Saransk CH (Russia) Clay R16 Denis Istomin 4-6 7-5 6-2 11 Istanbul CH (Turkey) Hard QF Denis Istomin 6-1 6-3
Court 2
[Q] Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) vs Leonardo Mayer (ARG) First ATP Meeting Other meetings: 12 Dallas 2 CH (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Leonardo Mayer 6-3 6-7(2) 6-4
Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) vs [Q] Franko Skugor (CRO) First ATP Meeting Other meetings: 11 San Jose CH (Costa Rica) Hard QF Franko Skugor 6-4 6-4
Court 3
[WC] Yuki Bhambri (IND) vs Lukas Rosol (CZE) Rosol Leads 1-0 15 IND vs. CZE WG Play-Off (India) Hard RR Lukas Rosol 6-2 6-1 7-5