GRAND PRIX HASSAN II: DAY 4 MEDIA NOTES Thursday, April 7, 2016 Royal Tennis Club de Marrakech, Marrakech, Morocco | April 4 – 10, 2016 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: €520,070 | Surface: Clay ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com http://www.gphassan2tennis.com Fabienne Benoit: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour Press Room: +212 524 379 201 facebook.com/ATPWorldTour SEEDS GARCIA-LOPEZ, DELBONIS, CARRENO BUSTA, VESELY IN 2R ACTION DAY 4 PREVIEW: The remaining four 2R matches are on Thursday’s schedule at the Grand Prix Hassan II, with top seed and 2014 champion Guillermo Garcia-Lopez leading the way. He is joined by No. 4 Federico Delbonis, No. 7 Pablo Carreno Busta and No. 8 Jiri Vesely. In the opening match on Centre Court, qualifier Nikola Mektic meets Vesely for the first time. The 27- year-old Croat is trying to reach his first career ATP World Tour quarter-final. Vesely, a semi-finalist in Casablanca last year, is attempting to advance to his first quarter-final since Shenzhen last September. In the next match on, Carreno Busta and Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan square off for the first time. The 24-year-old Spaniard, who reached the quarter-finals in Casablanca two years ago, is aiming for his third ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season. He advanced to his maiden final in Sao Paulo in February. Istomin has not won back-to-back matches this season and his last quarter-final came in St. Petersburg last September. In the third match on, Garcia-Lopez looks to even his head-to-head record against countryman Nicolas Almagro, who has won the last three meetings and owns a 3-2 head-to-head record on the ATP World Tour. In the last match on, Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker and Delbonis battle it out for the first time. De Bakker is trying to reach his first ATP World Tour quarter-final since July 2014 in Atlanta. Delbonis is looking to maintain his perfect record (7-0) in opening round matches this season and advance to his third quarter-final in 2016. DAY 4 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play CENTRE COURT [Q] Nikola Mektic (CRO) vs [8] Jiri Vesely (CZE) First Meeting Mektic FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 1-0 (1-0 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: December 24, 1988 Emirates ATP Ranking: 312 Tournament W-L (Best Result-Year): 1-0 (2R-2016) • The 27-year-old qualifier made his tournament debut on Monday, defeating local wild card Reda El Amrani 75 63. It was his second career ATP World Tour match win, first since Bucharest last year (d. Istomin). Trying to reach his maiden ATP World Tour quarter-final • Reached main draw with qualifying wins over two French opponents: qualifying top seed De Schepper in Q1 and Maxime Chazal in Q2 • Playing his first ATP World Tour match since April 2015 (Bucharest, 1R d. Istomin, 2R l. to Gimeno- Traver); arrives with 2-4 career win-loss record at ATP World Tour level • In doubles, reached a career-high ranking of No. 115 this week after Challenger final appearances at Bergamo ITA, Wroclaw POL and Quimper FRA (all w/Sancic) Grand Prix Hassan II Day 4 – Thursday, April 7, 2016 Page 2 of 4 www.ATPWorldTour.com Vesely FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 2-7 (1-7 on hard, 1-0 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 1 Date of Birth: July 10, 1993 Emirates ATP Ranking: 55 Tournament W-L (Best Result-Year): 4-2 (SF-2015) • The 22-year-old Czech Republic native opened on Tuesday with a 61 63 win over Spaniard Inigo Cervantes. Last year reached SF (l. to Gimeno-Traver) • Posted only 1 singles win in 1st 3 months of season, beating countryman Rosol in Rotterdam 1R • As defending champion, lost to eventual champion Bautista Agut in Auckland 1R • Fell to 0-3 lifetime at Australian Open with 5-set loss to Olivo in 1R [7] Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) vs Denis Istomin (UZB) First Meeting Carreno Busta 2016 FastFacts: F: Sao Paulo (l Cuevas); QF: Quito (l Bellucci) YTD W-L: 8-8 (7-4 on clay, 1-4 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: July 12, 1991 Emirates ATP Ranking: 52 Tournament W-L (Best Result-Year): 4-3 (QF-2014) • The 24-year-old Spaniard is making his fourth straight tournament appearance (4-3) and his best result is QF in 2014 (l. to Granollers). Opened on Wednesday with a 62 63 win over Russian Evgeny Donskoy • In February, beat 4 countrymen en route to 1st ATP World Tour final at São Paulo (l. to Cuevas) • Beat Dutra Silva and Cervantes to reach Quito QF (l. to Bellucci in 3 sets) • Fell to friend Nadal in 1R at Doha and Rio de Janeiro • Won 1st ATP doubles title at Quito w/Duran (d. Bellucci/Demoliner) • Also reached back-to-back doubles finals w/Marrero at Rio de Janeiro (d. Melo/Soares, l. to Cabal/Farah) and São Paulo (l. to Peralta/Zeballos) • Achieved career-high No. 52 in Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings on Feb. 29 following 12-4 start to season Istomin 2016 FastFacts: YTD W-L: 2-8 (1-8 on hard, 1-0 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 1 Date of Birth: September 7, 1986 Emirates ATP Ranking: 72 Tournament W-L (Best Result-Year): 1-1 (2R-2016) • No. 1 player from Uzbekistan opened on Tuesday, defeating Italian qualifier Lorenzo Giustino 76 64. His previous tournament appearance came in 2012 when he lost in opening match to Andreev (1R bye) • Prior to this week, his only other ATP World Tour match win came at ATP Masters 1000 Miami (d. Coric, l. to No. 2 Murray). The win broke a seven-match 1R losing streak this season • Looking to win back-to-back matches for first time this year after 1R losses at Brisbane, Sydney, Australian Open, Montpellier, Rotterdam, Dubai and Indian Wells Won only 3 sets, falling in 3 sets to Seppi at Sydney, 4 sets to Tomic at Australian Open and 3 sets to Kudla in Indian Wells • Also 0-3 in doubles this season with 1R losses at Sydney, Australian Open and Montpellier • Has a 1-30 career record vs. Top 10 opponents, losing last 20 matches since posting only win over No. 5 Ferrer in 3R at ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells in 2012 Grand Prix Hassan II Day 4 – Thursday, April 7, 2016 Page 3 of 4 www.ATPWorldTour.com [1] Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) vs Nicolas Almagro (ESP) Almagro Leads 3-2 08 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass R64 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3 3-6 5-7 6-1 6-2 08 Bucharest (Romania) Clay R16 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4 7-5 10 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R64 Nicolas Almagro 6-3 7-6(5) 4-6 7-6(4) 13 Bastad (Sweden) Clay R16 Nicolas Almagro 3-6 6-1 6-1 13 Hamburg (Germany) Clay R16 Nicolas Almagro 6-2 6-3 Other meetings: 02 Spain F17 (Spain) Hard R16 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 4-6 6-1 6-4 03 Spain F6 (Spain) Clay R32 Nicolas Almagro 6-3 6-1 03 Spain F13 (Spain) Clay F Nicolas Almagro 6-3 6-4 03 Seville CH (Spain) Clay QF Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 1-6 7-5 6-3 Garcia-Lopez 2016 FastFacts: QF: Chennai (l Wawrinka); Sofia (l Muller) YTD W-L: 6-8 (6-8 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 5 Date of Birth: June 4, 1983 Emirates ATP Ranking: 38 Tournament W-L (Best Result-Year): 10-6 (Winner-2014) • The 32-year-old Spaniard is making his fifth straight tournament appearance and comes in with a 10-6 match record. Two years ago captured title (d. Granollers) and last year lost in opener (after bye) to WC Ouahab. Also reached QFs three times (2010, ’12-13) • Playing in first clay court tournament of season and best results thus far are QFs at Chennai (l. to No. 4 Wawrinka) in opening week and Sofia (l. to Muller) in February • Reached Australian Open 3R for 4th time in career (l. to No. 7 Nishikori in 4 sets) • Made 45th consecutive Grand Slam main draw appearance, tied with Djokovic for 5th-longest active streak Almagro 2016 FastFacts: F: Buenos Aires (l Thiem) YTD W-L: 7-6 (6-3 on clay, 1-3 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 12 Date of Birth: August 21, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 62 Tournament W-L (Best Result-Year): 4-2 (QF-2015) • The 30-year-old Spaniard opened on Tuesday with a 64 63 win over Radu Albot. He is making his third tournament appearance (4-2 record) and last year reached QF (l. to Klizan). Made debut in 2005 and lost in 2R (l. to Puerta) • Trying to reach his second ATP World Tour quarter-final of season, first since February • Advanced to 1st ATP World Tour final since 2014 Houston at Buenos Aires in February (l. to Thiem 76 in 3rd). En route to final, beat No. 9 Tsonga in QF and No. 6 Ferrer in SF to snap 6-match losing streak vs. Top 10 (19-65 overall). Improved to 1-15 lifetime against fellow Spaniard Ferrer • Reached 2R at Australian Open (l. to Thiem) and Rio de Janeiro (l. to No. 5 Nadal) Grand Prix Hassan II Day 4 – Thursday, April 7, 2016 Page 4 of 4 www.ATPWorldTour.com Thiemo de Bakker (NED) vs [4] Federico Delbonis (ARG) First Meeting de Bakker 2016 FastFacts: YTD W-L: 4-7 (3-7 on hard, 1-0 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: September 19, 1988 Emirates ATP Ranking: 105 Tournament W-L (Best Result-Year): 1-0 (2R-2016) • The 27-year-old Dutchman made his tournament debut and first appearance on clay this season on Tuesday, defeating local wild card Amine Ahouda 75 76(2) • Trying to reach first ATP World Tour quarter-final since Atlanta in July 2014 (l.