GARANTI KOZA OPEN: PREVIEW & DAY 1 MEDIA NOTES Monday, February 1, 2016

Arena Armeec Sofia - Sofia, | February 1 –7, 2016 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: €520,070 | Surface: Hard

ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com wwwe.com Florent Girod: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour @SofiaOpen.bg Press Room: +593 979 668111 facebook.com/ATPWorldTour Facebook: Sofiaopen.bg

GARANTI KOZA SOFIA OPEN TALKING POINTS

TOUR RETURNS TO SOFIA – For the first time since 1981, an ATP World Tour level tournament is being held in Sofia. The Garanti Koza Sofia Open will be staged at the Arena Armeec Sofia, Bulgaria’s leading sports and entertainment venue. This year’s tournament features eight of the Top 50 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, led by No. 18 , who is the top seed in an ATP World Tour tournament for the first time in his career. The other seeds are: No. 2 Viktor Troicki, No. 3 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, No. 4 Andreas Seppi, No. 5 Philipp Kohlschreiber, No. 6 Gilles Muller, No. 7 Martin Klizan and No. 8 Adrian Mannarino. There are a total of 20 countries represented in the 28-player draw.

 DAY ONE ACTION – There are three singles matches on Monday’s order of play. In the first main draw match on, No. 2 Lukas Rosol takes a 3-1 head-to-head advantage against top Dutchman . Rosol is coming off a personal-best 3R showing at the (l. to No. 4 Wawrinka). In the next match on, a first-time meeting takes place between No. 1 Indian takes on qualifier Mirza Basic, who qualified for his maiden tournament at the Australian Open (d. Haase, l. to Berdych). In the final match on, No. 7 seed Martin Klizan of Slovakia meets Bulgarian , who is making his ATP World Tour debut. Klizan is looking for his first win (0-3) of the season.

 TOP TWO SEEDS 2016 WINNERS – The top two seeds, Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut and Serb Viktor Troicki come into Sofia after a successful opening month of the season. Both won their third career ATP World Tour title. Bautista Agut is off to a career-best 9-2 start, having won the title in Auckland (d. Sock) and following with a personal-best 4R showing at the Australian Open (l. to No. 6 Berdych in five sets). Bautista Agut didn’t win his ninth match last year until April in Houston. Troicki enters with a 7-2 match record and he defended his title in Sydney (d. Dimitrov, saving match point). The No. 2 Serb then followed with a 3R result at the Australian Open (l. to eventual semi-finalist Raonic).

 WILD CARDS IN DRAW – Two of the three wild cards are Bulgarian players making their ATP World Tour main draw debut. is the No. 2 Bulgarian at No. 287 in the Emirates ATP Rankings while Alexandar Lazov is the No. 4 local player ranked No. 438. The other wild card is Marsel Ilhan, who is the No. 1 Turkish player ranked No. 113. Ilhan reached a career-high No. 77 in March last year.

 ON THE RISE – The youngest player in the field is 19-year-old Korean Hyeon Chung, who finished No. 51 in the Emirates ATP Rankings last year and was named ATP Most Improved Player of the Year. Last season Chung advanced to his first ATP World Tour quarter-final in Shenzhen and won four Challenger titles. He is ranked No. 57 this week.

 A LOOK BACK – The last time an ATP World Tour level tournament was held in Sofia was on Dec. 20, 1981 as American Rick Meyer defeated Leo Palin of Finland, 64 76 76, to win his lone ATP title. The tournament was played on indoor-carpet.

Garanti Koza Sofia Open Day 1 – Monday, February 1, 2016 Page 2 of 4 www.ATPWorldTour.com

SEEDS TO WATCH THIS WEEK

SINGLES

SEED PLAYER 2016 W-L 2016 BEST FINISH

1. Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) 9-2 W - Auckland

2. Viktor Troicki (SRB) 7-2 W - Sydney

3. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 4-3 QF - Chennai

4. Andreas Seppi (ITA) 3-3 3R - Aust. Open

5. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 1-2 2R - Auckland

Gilles Muller (LUX) 5-3 6. SF - Sydney 7. Martin Klizan (SVK) 0-3 1R - 3 Tourn.

8. Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 0-2 1R - Sydney, AO

 WILD CARDS (3): QUALIFIERS (4): No. 113 Marsel Ilhan (TUR) No. 119 Mirza Basic (BIH) No. 287 Dimitar Kuzmanov (BUL) No. 134 Daniel Brands (GER) No. 438 Alexandar Lazov (BUL) No. 214 (ROU) No. 145 (ITA)

 YOUNGEST: Hyeon Chung (KOR) – 19 yrs., 8 mons.

 OLDEST: Gilles Muller (LUX) – 32 yrs., 8 mons.

 TOP COUNTRY BREAKDOWN: Bosnia & Herz., Bulgaria, Czech Republic, , , Netherlands, Serbia, Spain (2 each). Countries in total: 20

DOUBLES

SEED PLAYER 2016 W-L 1. & 4-3 2. Marin Draganja & 0-0 3. & Matwe Middelkoop 0-1 4. & 0-0

EMIRATES ATP RANKING POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY

W F SF QF R16 R32 SINGLES RANKING POINTS 250 150 90 45 20 0 SINGLES PRIZE MONEY (€) 82,450 43,430 23,525 13,400 7,900 4,680 DOUBLES RANKING POINTS 250 150 90 45 0 — DOUBLES PRIZE MONEY (€) 25,070 13,170 7,140 4,080 2,390 — Garanti Koza Sofia Open Day 1 – Monday, February 1, 2016 Page 3 of 4 www.ATPWorldTour.com

DAY 1 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play

Center Court

Robin Haase (NED) vs Lukas Rosol (CZE) Rosol Leads 3-1 12 Stuttgart (Germany) Clay R32 Lukas Rosol 6-4 7-5 13 Winston-Salem (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Robin Haase 6-4 3-6 7-5 14 () Clay SF Lukas Rosol 3-6 6-3 6-2 15 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells Hard R32 Lukas Rosol 6-4 6-7(4) 7-6(3)

Haase FastFacts: 2015 Highlights: SF: s-Hertogenbosch (l Mahut); QF(2): Estoril (l Kyrgios); (l Kohlschreiber) 2016 W-L: 2-3 YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 2 Date of Birth: April 6, 1987 Emirates ATP Ranking: 65

Rosol FastFacts: 2015 Highlights: QF(3): Bucharest (l Garcia-Lopez); Munich (l Murray); Vienna (l Monfils) 2016 W-L: 5-3 YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 2 Date of Birth: July 24, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 46

Yuki Bhambri (IND) vs (Q) Mirza Basic (BIH) First Meeting

Bhambri FastFacts: 2015 Highlights: 2016 W-L: 0-1 YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: July 4, 1992 Emirates ATP Ranking: 100

Basic FastFacts: 2015 Highlights: 2016 W-L: 1-1 YTD Titles: 0 Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: July 12, 1991 Emirates ATP Ranking: 119 (Career-high)

[7] Martin Klizan (SVK) vs [WC] Alexandar Lazov (BUL) First Meeting

Klizan FastFacts: 2015 Highlights: W: Casablanca (d Gimeno-Traver); SF(2): Barcelona (l Nishikori); Metz (l Simon); QF(2): Brisbane (l Dimitrov); Quito (l Estrella Burgos) 2016 W-L: 0-3 YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 3 Date of Birth: July 11, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 44

Garanti Koza Sofia Open Day 1 – Monday, February 1, 2016 Page 4 of 4 www.ATPWorldTour.com

Lazov FastFacts: 2015 Highlights: 2016 W-L: 0-0 YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: July 9, 1990 Emirates ATP Ranking: 438

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

Filip Krajinovic (SRB) vs Marsel Ilhan (TUR) First ATP Meeting Other meeting: 15 Mersin CH () Clay SF Marsel Ilhan 0-6 6-4 6-4

Hyeon Chung (KOR) vs Marius Copil (ROU) First Meeting

Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) vs Adrian Mannarino (FRA) Donskoy Leads 1-0 13 St. Petersburg (Russia) Hard R32 6-1 6-4 Other meetings: 11 Auckland Q (New Zealand) Hard -- Adrian Mannarino 6-3 2-6 7-6(3) 14 Tashkent CH () Hard QF Adrian Mannarino 6-3 4-6 6-2

Ricardas Berankis (LTU) vs Dimitar Kuzmanov (BUL) First Meeting

Malek Jaziri (TUN) vs Gilles Muller (LUX) Muller Leads 1-0 15 Washington (U.S.A.) Hard R64 Gilles Muller 6-3 7-5

Matthew Ebden (AUS) vs (NED) First Meeting

Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) vs (UKR) Tied 1-1 11 ATP Masters 1000 Montreal Hard R64 Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-2 7-5 14 Rotterdam (Netherlands) Hard R32 Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2 7-5

Daniel Brands (GER) vs Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) First ATP Meeting Other meetings: 08 San Remo CH (Italy) Clay R32 Daniel Brands 5-7 7-5 7-6(8) 09 Genova CH (Italy) Clay R16 Daniel Brands 6-4 6-4

Damir Dzumhur (BIH) vs Jiri Vesely (CZE) First ATP Meeting Other meetings: 12 Kosice CH (Slovak Republic) Clay R16 Damir Dzumhur 4-6 7-6(5) 6-0 13 Bratislava CH (Slovakia) Hard R16 Damir Dzumhur 6-3 3-6 6-1