OPEN 13: DAY 4 MEDIA NOTES Thursday, February 18, 2016 Palais des Sports, Marseille, France | February 15 – 21, 2016 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: €632,840 | Surface: Indoor Hard ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.open13.fr Stephanie Natal: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour @Open13 Press Room: +33 (0)4 91 75 93 19 or 24 facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/Open13 BERDYCH BACK, GASQUET-GULBIS AGAIN, KYRGIOS FACES GABASHVILI DAY 4 PREVIEW: No. 2 seed Tomas Berdych returns to Marseille for the first time since 2013 when he reached the final (l. to Tsonga). The No. 1 player from the Czech Republic has a 5-5 career record in Marseille. He is off to a 7-2 start this season, reaching the semi-finals in Doha (l. to Djokovic) and the quarter-finals at the Australian Open (l. to Federer). Berdych faces the youngest player in the ATP World Tour top 100 –18-year-old wild card Alexander Zverev, at a career-high No. 56 ranking after coming off a quarter-final in Rotterdam (l. to Monfils). A quarter-final against No. 4 seed Marin Cilic awaits either Andrey Kuznetsov or French 19-year-old wild card Quentin Halys, who claimed the second ATP World Tour-level match win of his career over Lucky Loser David Guez in the first round. It is the second showdown with French opposition for Russia’s Kuznetsov, who beat Lucas Pouille to reach the second round. One Frenchman is guaranteed to reach the last eight as qualifier Vincent Millot takes on No. 8 seed Benoit Paire for the right to face top seed Stan Wawninka. The 2014 champion Ernests Gulbis renews acquaintances with No. 3 seed Richard Gasquet for the fifth time (Gasquet leads 3-1), the second time this month and the second time in Marseille. The Latvian’s three Tour-level defeats this season have come against Frenchmen (Australian Open 1R l. to Chardy, Montpellier 2R l. to Gasquet, Rotterdam 1R l. to Monfils). He came out on top when the duo met here in the 2014 semi-finals before winning the title (d. Tsonga) but lost out two weeks ago in Montpellier, where Gasquet went on to win his 13th career ATP World Tour title. The World No. 10 now holds the second-most titles in the Open Era of any Frenchman, behind Yannick Noah’s 23, after surpassing both Tsonga and Gilles Simon, who each have 12. Doubles partners Nick Kyrgios and Teymuraz Gabashvili face off for a last-eight showdown with the winner of Gulbis-Gasquet. Marseille debutant Kyrgios returned to action with a first-round win over Vasek Pospisil after missing Rotterdam with an elbow injury. The 20-year-old opened the season last month by reaching the 3R at the Australian Open (l. to Berdych). He will partner the Russian against Marin Draganja and Julian Knowle in the doubles draw later on Thursday. THURSDAY FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – Order of Play by Court Court Central Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) vs [WC] Quentin Halys (FRA) First Meeting Kuznetsov FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: QF: Doha (l Nadal) YTD W-L: 6-3 (6-3 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: February 22, 1991 Emirates ATP Ranking: 54 Marseille W-L (Best Result-Year): 2-1 (2R 2015-16) Open 13 Day 4 – Thursday, February 18, 2016 Page 2 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com The 24-year-old (turns 25 on Monday) is through to 2R for second year, beating Pouille 76(1) 64, after reaching 2R on 2015 debut (l. to Monfils) Opened season by reaching QF at Doha (l. to Nadal) and 4R at Australian Open, his career-best at a Grand Slam (l. to Monfils) before 1R exit at Rotterdam (l. to Troicki) In 2015, Russian earned career-high 10 wins and finished in Top 100 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 3rd time Reached Moscow QF (l. to Cilic), ending 0-6 start at event (2009-14), but falling to 0-5 lifetime in ATP World Tour QFs Posted 24-6 record on ATP Challenger Tour with back-to-back titles at Manerbio, ITA (d. Muñoz de la Nava) and Como, ITA (d. Brands) Halys FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 2-2 (2-2 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: October 26, 1996 Emirates ATP Ranking: 171 Marseille W-L (Best Result-Year): 1-0 (2R 2016) The 19-year-old won on his tournament debut, beating lucky loser Guez (replaced Monfils) 67(5) 62 63 on Wednesday Claimed first Grand Slam match win at Australian Open (d. Dodig, l. 2R to eventual champion Djokovic) before 1R exit at Montpellier (l. to Gulbis) In 2015, Frenchman played first Grand Slam event at Roland Garros (l. 1R to Nadal) Claimed back-to-back ITF Futures titles in France in March (Toulouse d. Guez, Poitiers d. Cox) Made ATP World Tour main draw debut at ATP World Tour Paris Masters 1000 (l. 1R to Granollers) [Q] Vincent Millot (FRA) vs [8] Benoit Paire (FRA) First ATP Meeting Other meeting: 09 France F2 (Spain) Clay QF Vincent Millot 6-4 6-4 Millot FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 1-0 (1-0 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: January 30, 1986 Emirates ATP Ranking: 196 Marseille W-L (Best Result-Year): 1-0 (2R 2016) The 30-year-old qualifier claimed his first main draw win here in 1R, beating Mahut 6-7(1) 62 63, after reaching Q2 three times (2008 l. to Golubev, 2011 l. to Schoorel, 2013 l. to Fabbiano) Playing first ATP World Tour main draw of 2016 after falling in qualifying at Australian Open (l. Q3 to Olivo) and Montpellier (l. Q1 to Khachanov) In 2015, Frenchman finished inside Top 200 for third season (2011, 2014, 2015) Went 0-3 at ATP World Tour level; qualified for ATP World Tour 1R twice, at Wimbledon (l. to Pospisil), Metz (l. to Mannarino) Won second career Challenger title at Granby (d. Bester) Paire FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: SF: Chennai (l Wawrinka) YTD W-L: 4-5 (4-5 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 1 Date of Birth: May 8, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 22 Marseille W-L (Best Result-Year): 2-3 (2R 2015, ’16) Open 13 Day 4 – Thursday, February 18, 2016 Page 3 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com The 26-year-old is playing here for the fourth time and has matched his best result (2R 2015, l. to Wawrinka) after beating Bolelli 64 75 Opened season by reaching SF at Chennai (l. to eventual champion Wawrinka), fell in 2R at Auckland (l. to Rosol) and Montpellier (l. to Mathieu), fell in 1R at Australian Open (l. to Rubin) and Rotterdam (l. to Dodig) In 2015, Frenchman rose nearly 100 places to end at career-high No. 19 after injury-plagued 2014 season when he finished at No. 118 Became 1st player since Darcis in 2007 to win a Futures, Challenger and ATP World Tour title in same season Won 1st ATP World Tour title without dropping a set at Båstad in July (d. Goffin in 2R and Robredo in final) Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) vs Nick Kyrgios (AUS) First Meeting Gabashvili FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: SF: Sydney (l Troicki) YTD W-L: 5-4 (5-4 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: May 23, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 44 Marseille W-L (Best Result-Year): 2-2 (2R 2008, ’16) The 30-year-old marked his return to Marseille for the first time since 2009 (l. 1R to Tursunov) by beating defending champion Simon 36 63 76(7) to reach 2R for the second time (2008, l. to Ancic) Has 1-16 lifetime record in ATP World Tour singles QFs after run to Sydney SF (d. Tomic, l. to Troicki) before 1R exits at Australian Open (l. to Seppi) and Rotterdam (l. to Mahut) Opened year by reaching 2R in Doha (l. to Marchenko) In 2015, Russian finished as No. 1 player from his country and in Top 50 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 1st time Earned 100th tour-level win in St. Petersburg (d. Shyla in 1R), squandered 3 MPs in 2R (l. to Bautista Agut) Captured 1st ATP World Tour doubles title at Houston w/Berankis (d. Bryan/Bryan in QF and Huey/Lipsky in F) Kyrgios FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 3-1 (3-1 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: April 27, 1995 Emirates ATP Ranking: 41 Marseille W-L (Best Result-Year): 1-0 (2R 2016) The 20-year-old marked his tournament debut with a 64 64 1R win over Vasek Pospisil. Playing first tournament since opening the season at 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 final 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) Ernests Gulbis (LAT) vs [3] Richard Gasquet (FRA) Gasquet Leads 3-1 09 ATP Masters 1000 Rome Clay R32 Richard Gasquet 6-2 1-6 6-4 10 ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai Hard R64 Richard Gasquet 6-1 6-4 14 Marseille (France) Hard SF Ernests Gulbis 6-3 6-2 16 Montpellier (France) Hard R16 Richard Gasquet 6-4 6-4 Open 13 Day 4 – Thursday, February 18, 2016 Page 4 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com Gulbis FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 2-3 (2-3 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 6 Date of Birth: August 30, 1988 Emirates ATP Ranking: 75 Marseille W-L (Best Result-Year): 6-3 (Winner 2014) The 27-year-old is making his fifth appearance here, having won the title in 2014 (SF d.