SHANGHAI ROLEX MASTERS: PREVIEW & DAY 1 MEDIA NOTES Sunday, October 9, 2016 Qizhong Tennis Center, Shanghai, China | October 9 – 16, 2016 Draw: S-56, D-24 | Prize Money: $5,452,985 (7,655,640) | Surface: Outdoor Hard ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.shanghairolexmasters.com Nicola Arzani: [email protected] Twitter: @ATPWorldTour Twitter: @SHRolexMasters Mark Epps: [email protected] Facebook: ATP World Tour Facebook: Shanghai Rolex Masters Richard Evans: [email protected] Press Room: +86 13764352249 SHANGHAI TALKING POINTS SPOTLIGHT ON SHANGHAI: The eighth ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season features a star-studded field, which includes 17 of the Top 20 in the Emirates ATP Race to London. This is the eighth year of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament at the Qizhong Tennis Center, which was the site of the Tennis Masters Cup from 2005-08. World No. 1 and three-time champion (2012- 13, 2015) Novak Djokovic and 2010-11 titleholder Andy Murray are the former champions. There are five finalists in the field: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2015), Gilles Simon (2014), Juan Martin del Potro (2013), David Ferrer (2011) and Rafael Nadal (2009). Murray was also runner-up in 2012. EMIRATES ATP RACE TO LONDON UPDATE: The champion next Sunday will receive 1,000 Emirates ATP Ranking points. There are valuable Emirates ATP Race to London points at stake and players will add to their total for each round reached. Players with a bye and lose in opening match (2R) will receive 10 pts. Here is the breakdown: 1R (10), 2R (45), 3R (90), QF (180), SF (360), F (600), W (1000). There are 17 of the Top 20 (except Nishikori, Thiem & Federer) in the draw. Here is the updated Top 20 Emirates ATP Race to London going into finals in Beijing and Tokyo on Sunday (add 200 points with final win): Bold indicates qualified Position Player Points 1 Novak Djokovic 10,240 2 Andy Murray – Beijing Final 8,485 3 Stan Wawrinka 4,970 4 Milos Raonic 4,600 5 Kei Nishikori 4,360 6 Gael Monfils 3,535 7 Rafael Nadal 3,290 8 Dominic Thiem 3,205 9 Tomas Berdych 2,870 10 Marin Cilic 2,580 11 David Goffin – Tokyo Final 2,465 12 Nick Kyrgios – Tokyo Final 2,215 13 Roger Federer 2,130 14 Lucas Pouille 2,016 15 Grigor Dimitrov – Beijing Final 1,900 16 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 1,890 17 Roberto Bautista Agut 1,740 18 Pablo Cuevas 1,680 19 David Ferrer 1,630 20 Alexander Zverev 1,565 Shanghai Rolex Masters Day 1 – Sunday, October 9, 2016 Page 2 of 9 www.ATPWorldTour.com DAY 1 PREVIEW: There are four main draw matches on Sunday’s opening day schedule. In the first main draw match on Stadium, Albert Ramos-Vinolas looks to continue his strong run of form when he faces Fabio Fognini. The Spaniard is coming off a run to the final at the inaugural Chengdu Open two weeks ago (l. to Khachanov) and has great memories from the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, having upset Roger Federer last year for his first Top 10 victory. He is seeking his first win over Fognini, who owns a 6-0 lead in their FedEx ATP Head2Head. Next on Stadium is a match-up of comeback campaigns between 32-year-olds, as Janko Tipsarevic takes on Philipp Kohlschreiber. Tipsarevic, who has returned to action this year following knee and foot issues, has soared from outside the Top 600 of the Emirates ATP Rankings to his current position of World No. 173. He most recently won his first pro title in nearly four years, as a qualifier at the Qingdao Challenger in August, and reached the semi-finals at the ATP World Tour event in Shenzhen. Kohlschreiber is recovering from a stress fracture in his right foot and seeking his first match win since the Rio Olympics. Two of the three Chinese players in the draw open their bids on Sunday, with wild card Di Wu and Zhe Li set to face No. 16 seed Pablo Cuevas and Kevin Anderson, respectively. Two weeks ago, Wu claimed his first ATP World Tour match win in Chengdu (d. Kravchuk). The 25-year-old became the first Chinese to win an ATP Challenger Tour title earlier this year in Maui, USA (d. Edmund). BIG FOUR DOMINANCE: The ‘Big Four’ of Djokovic, Murray, Nadal and Federer have won 54 of the last 59 ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, which dates back to Nadal’s triumph at Monte-Carlo in 2010. The only other players to emerge with an ATP Masters 1000 title are Robin Soderling (2010 Paris), David Ferrer (2011 Paris), Stan Wawrinka (2014 Monte-Carlo) , Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2014 Toronto) and Marin Cilic (2016 Cincinnati). Here is a breakdown of the ATP Masters 1000 titles won during that time: Djokovic (25), Nadal (13), Federer (8) and Murray (8). WORLD NO. 1/TOP SEED: World No. 1 and three-time champion Djokovic is making his seventh Shanghai appearance in eight years (except ’11) and he comes in with a 24-3 career record. The reigning champion is the top seed in Shanghai for the fourth straight year. He’s won 18 of the last 19 matches in Shanghai with his only loss coming to Federer in the SF in 2014. Djokovic has compiled a 56-6 match record (38-3 on hard) on the season with an ATP World Tour-best seven titles, including crowns at the Australian Open and Roland Garros and ATP Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and Toronto. On Monday, it will mark the 220th week overall he has ranked No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, which is fifth-most (since Aug. 23, 1973). He has held No. 1 every week since July 7, 2014, a streak of 119 consecutive weeks. Djokovic is trying to finish No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the third straight year and fifth time in six years (except ’13). Since 2004 when Federer first finished No. 1, the year-end ranking has been held by three players: Federer five times (2004-07, 2009), Djokovic four times (2011-12, 2014-15) and Nadal three times (2008, 2010, 2013). ATP MASTERS 1000 TITLE LEADERS: Djokovic is the all-time leader with 30 ATP Masters 1000 titles, winning at least three every year since 2011: 1) Novak Djokovic 30 2) Rafael Nadal 28 3) Roger Federer 24 4) Andre Agassi 17 5) Andy Murray 12 Shanghai Rolex Masters Day 1 – Sunday, October 9, 2016 Page 3 of 9 www.ATPWorldTour.com NOVAK DOMINATES IN CHINA: Djokovic comes into Shanghai having won 38 of his last 39 matches in China, winning consecutive titles in Beijing and Shanghai in 2012-13 (and 2015) and Beijing in 2014-15. His 28-match winning streak in China ended in 2014 when he lost to Federer in the semi-finals in Shanghai. Overall, he has won 10 career titles in China (six in Beijing, four in Shanghai, incl. ’08 Tennis Masters Cup). He has never lost in the Beijing Open (29-0) and is 24-3 at the Shanghai ROLEX Masters (since 2009). He also went 4-4 at the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai in 2007-08, winning title in ’08. He has never lost in a final in China (10-0) and here’s a look at his titles: Tournament (Sets) Opponent 2015 Shanghai (10-0) d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 62 64 2015 Beijing (10-0) d. Rafael Nadal 62 62 2014 Beijing (10-0) d. Tomas Berdych 60 62 2013 Shanghai (10-2) d. Juan Martin del Potro 61 36 76 2013 Beijing (10-1) d. Rafael Nadal 63 64 2012 Shanghai (10-1) d. Andy Murray 57 76 63 2012 Beijing (10-1) d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 76 62 2010 Bejing (8-0) d. David Ferrer 62 64 2009 Beijing (10-1) d. Marin Cilic 62 76 2008 Tennis Masters Cup (10-3) d. Nikolay Davydenko 61 75 DEL POTRO IS BACK: The leading candidate for ATP Comeback Player of the Year, Juan Martin del Potro, makes his return to Shanghai for the first time since reaching the final in 2013 (l. to Djokovic in three sets). The 28-year-old Argentine has compiled a 23-13 match record this season and climbed to No. 64 in the Emirates ATP Rankings after reaching the quarter-finals at the US Open (l. to eventual champion Wawrinka). He is No. 66 as of Oct. 3. Prior to that, he earned a silver medal at the Rio Olympics (d. No. 1 Djokovic in 1R, No. 5 Nadal in SF, l. to Murray in four sets). He also helped his country to the Davis Cup final by beating No. 2 Murray in a five-set marathon in the semi-finals last month. The former World No. 4 ranked as low as No. 1,045 on Feb. 8. #NEXTGEN WINNERS IN SHANGHAI: The two #NextGen ATP World Tour winners this season are in Shanghai: No. 12 seed Nick Kyrgios, and 19-year-old German Alexander Zverev, who is making his main draw debut. Both players are on course to finish with their best year-end Emirates ATP World Tour Ranking. Kyrgios, who is the youngest two-time ATP World Tour winner this season, is ranked No. 15. Zverev, who is ranked No. 24, is trying to become the first teenager to finish in the Top 20 since Djokovic and Murray in 2006. FIRST-TIME WINNERS: Kyrgios and Zverev are among the seven (of nine overall) first-time winners on the ATP World Tour this season in the main draw (listed in alpha order): First-Time Winner Tournament Pablo Carreno Busta Winston-Salem Steve Johnson Nottingham Nick Kyrgios Marseille Paolo Lorenzi Kitzbuehel Lucas Pouille Metz Albert Ramos-Vinolas Bastad Alexander Zverev St.