AEGON CHAMPIONSHIPS: PREVIEW & DAY 1 MEDIA NOTES Monday, June 13, 2016 Queen’s Club, London, Great Britain | June 13 – 19, 2016 Draw: S-32, D-16 | Prize Money: €1,928,610 | Surface: Grass ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.lta.org.uk Richard Evans: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour @BritishTennis #AegonChampionships Mark Epps: [email protected] facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/britishtennislta Press: +44 333 011 1087 AEGON CHAMPIONSHIPS TALKING POINTS SPOTLIGHT ON LONDON: The Aegon Championships was voted Tournament of the Year in its category for the third consecutive year by ATP World Tour players in January, winning the award in its debut year as an ATP 500 event. The outstanding field is led by World No. 2 and four-time champion (2009, ’11, ’13, ’15) Andy Murray, No. 5 Stan Wawrinka, No. 9 Milos Raonic and No. 10 Richard Gasquet. The other seeds are: Marin Cilic, Roberto Bautista Agut, John Isner and Gilles Simon. There are three other former champions in the field: Grigor Dimitrov (2014), Cilic (2012) and Sam Querrey (2010). DAY 1 PREVIEW: There are four main draw singles matches and two final round qualifying matches to be completed on Monday. In the opening match on Centre Court, No. 4 Gasquet looks for his second win against American Steve Johnson, who is seeking his first career Top 10 win (0-13). The Frenchman won the previous meeting in straight sets in the 3R at the 2012 US Open. In the next match on, British wild card Daniel Evans and Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu meet for the first time. Both have reached the 3R at the Queen’s Club in the past. In the next match on, 2014 champion Grigor Dimitrov takes on former World No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic, who holds a 3-1 head- to-head series advantage. In the final match on, 2014 finalist Feliciano Lopez looks to even his career record (2-3) against No. 5 seed and 2012 champion Cilic, who has won the last two meetings in 2013-14. In their only previous grass court meeting, Cilic won 46 76 75 here in the 3R in 2013. On Court 1, last year’s finalist Kevin Anderson tries to qualify into the main draw. He leads Jiri Vesely 76 3-3. In a 1R doubles match, Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares take on Benoit Paire and Wawrinka. Murray is No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings. MURRAY EYES FIFTH TITLE: This is Murray’s 11th appearance in 12 years (except 2007) at the Aegon Championships. He has a 25-5 career record, winning all four titles in odd years (2009, ’11, ’13, ‘15). He is 21-1 in odd years (4-4 in even yrs.). He is trying to become the first five-time winner at the Queen’s Club in the Open Era. Three other players have won four titles: John McEnroe (1979, ’81, ’83-84), Lleyton Hewitt (2000-02, ’06) and Andy Roddick (2003-05, ’07). The 29-year-old Brit is coming off an impressive 18-3 record on clay, winning ATP Masters 1000 Rome and reaching the final at ATP Masters 1000 Madrid and Roland Garros. He has a 28-6 match record. Murray is reuniting with former coach Ivan Lendl during the grass court circuit. Lendl helped Murray win both of his Grand Slam titles (in 2012-13) and the Olympic gold medal in 2012. WIMBLEDON COACHES ON SIDELINES: There are two former Wimbledon champions at the Queen’s Club assisting as coaches. Three-time Wimbledon and four-time Queen’s Club champion John McEnroe is helping Milos Raonic during the grass court circuit while 1996 Wimbledon winner Richard Krajicek is assisting Stan Wawrinka. Both players are searching for their first ATP World Tour grass title. Aegon Championships Day 1 – Monday, June 13, 2016 Page 2 of 8 www.ATPWorldTour.com BRITISH CONTINGENT: There are three British wild cards in the tournament – Kyle Edmund, Daniel Evans and James Ward, a semi-finalist in 2011 (l. to Tsonga). They join the top two British duo of Murray and Aljaz Bedene. Four of the five players (except Ward) take on French opponents in the 1R. The British-French match-ups are the first four in the draw. CAREER FEDEX ATP PERFORMANCE ZONE GRASS COURT INDEX LEADERS: Federer has the best career winning percentage on grass (.873, 144-21) and most titles (15) in the Open Era. Here are the active players with at least 50 grass court match wins: W-L Pct. Titles 1) Roger Federer 144-21 .873 15 2) Andy Murray 90-17 .841 6 3) Novak Djokovic 67-15 .817 3 4) Ivo Karlovic 61-32 .656 2 Feliciano Lopez 61-34 .642 2 6) Nicolas Mahut 59-33 .623 3 (in ‘s-Hertogenbosch Final) 7) Rafael Nadal 58-17 .773 4 8) Mikhail Youzhny 56-37 .602 0 9) Tommy Haas 55-30 .647 2 10) Tomas Berdych 53-23 .697 1 11) Richard Gasquet 53-24 .688 2 12) Philipp Kohlschreiber 50-27 .649 1 (in Stuttgart final) PRE-WIMBLEDON PREPARATION: In seven of the last 14 years, the Wimbledon champion came into the tournament having won a title in one of the pre-Wimbledon grass court events: Murray (2013 Queen’s), Nadal (2008 Queen’s), Federer (2003-06 Halle) and Hewitt (2002 Queen’s). In the Open Era, just seven different men have won the Wimbledon title without playing a warm-up event on grass: Stan Smith (1972), Jan Kodes (1973), Bjorn Borg (1976-80), Boris Becker (1989), Andre Agassi (1992), Federer (2007 & 2009), Novak Djokovic (2011 & 2014-15). Borg won all 5 of his Wimbledon titles straight off the clay court season. WHAT’S AT STAKE? EMIRATES ATP RANKING POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY W F SF QF R16 R32 SINGLES RANKING POINTS 500 300 180 90 45 0 SINGLES PRIZE MONEY (€) 410,200 192,650 95,665 47,830 24,235 12,755 DOUBLES RANKING POINTS 500 300 180 90 0 — DOUBLES PRIZE MONEY (€) 120,900 57,130 27,570 14,340 7,510 — Aegon Championships Day 1 – Monday, June 13, 2016 Page 3 of 8 www.ATPWorldTour.com FORMER QUEEN’S CLUB CHAMPIONS AND FINALISTS (Since 2000): Bold indicates in this year’s draw YEAR WINNER FINALIST SCORE 2015 Andy Murray Kevin Anderson (in Qs) 6-3, 6-4 2014 Grigor Dimitrov Feliciano Lopez 6-7(8) 7-6(1) 7-6(6) 2013 Andy Murray Marin Cilic 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 2012 Marin Cilic David Nalbandian 6-7(3), 4-3 DEF 2011 Andy Murray Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 2010 Sam Querrey Mardy Fish 7-6(3), 7-5 2009 Andy Murray James Blake 7-5, 6-4 2008 Rafael Nadal Novak Djokovic 7-6(6), 7-5 2007 Andy Roddick Nicolas Mahut 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-6(2) 2006 Lleyton Hewitt James Blake 6-4, 6-4 2005 Andy Roddick Ivo Karlovic 7-6(7), 7-6(4) 2004 Andy Roddick Sebastien Grosjean 7-6(4), 6-4 2003 Andy Roddick Sebastien Grosjean 6-3, 6-3 2002 Lleyton Hewitt Tim Henman 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 2001 Lleyton Hewitt Tim Henman 7-6(3), 7-6(3) 2000 Lleyton Hewitt Pete Sampras 6-4, 6-4 FORMER QUEEN’S CLUB DOUBLES CHAMPIONS (Since 2000): YEAR WINNER YEAR WINNER 2015 Jean-Julien Rojer & Horia Tecau 2007 Mark Knowles & Daniel Nestor 2014 Alexander Peya & Bruno Soares 2006 Paul Hanley & Kevin Ullyett 2013 Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan 2005 Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan 2012 Max Mirnyi & Daniel Nestor 2004 Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan 2011 Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan 2003 Mark Knowles & Daniel Nestor 2010 Novak Djokovic & Jonathan Erlich 2002 Wayne Black & Kevin Ullyett 2009 Wesley Moodie & Mikhail Youzhny 2001 Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan 2008 Daniel Nestor & Nenad Zimonjic 2000 Mark Woodforde & Todd Woodbridge SEEDS TO WATCH THIS WEEK SINGLES: SEED PLAYER RECORD BEST FINISH 1. Andy Murray (GBR) 25-5 W 2015, ‘ 13, ‘11, ‘09 2. Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 4-3 SF 2014 3. Milos Raonic (CAN) 2-1 QF 2015 4. Richard Gasquet (FRA) 8-5 QF 2008, ‘05 5. Marin Cilic (CRO) 17-7 W 2012 6. Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) 0-1 R32 2015 7. John Isner (USA) 3-2 QF 2015 8. Gilles Simon (FRA) 4-4 SF 2015 Aegon Championships Day 1 – Monday, June 13, 2016 Page 4 of 8 www.ATPWorldTour.com QUALIFIERS: WILDCARDS (3): OLDEST: Adrian Mannarino (FRA) Kyle Edmund (GBR) Feliciano Lopez – 34 y, 8 m Donald Young (USA) Daniel Evans (GBR) Two others determined James Ward (GBR) YOUNGEST: on Monday Nick Kyrgios – 21 y, 1 m TOP COUNTRY BREAKDOWN: France (7), Great Britain (5), Spain (4), USA (4), Australia (2) DOUBLES: SEED PLAYER BEST FINISH 1. Pierre-Hugues Herbert & Nicolas Mahut 4-0; W 2015 2. Jamie Murray & Bruno Soares TEAM DEBUT 3. Jean-Julien Rojer & Horia Tecau TEAM DEBUT 4. Rohan Bopanna & Florin Mergea TEAM DEBUT MONDAY FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play CENTRE COURT [4] Richard Gasquet (FRA) vs Steve Johnson (USA) Gasquet Leads 1-0 12 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Richard Gasquet 7-6(4) 6-2 6-3 Gasquet 2016 FastFacts: W: Montpellier (d Mathieu); QF(2): Marseille (l Kyrgios); Roland Garros (l Murray) YTD W-L: 19-7 (53-24 career on grass) YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 13 Date of Birth: June 18, 1986 Emirates ATP Ranking: 10 Queen’s Club W-L (Best Result): 8-5 (QF - 2005, ’08) • Tournament Note: The 29-year-old Frenchman (turns 30 on Saturday) has an 8-5 match record, reaching quarter-finals in 2005 (l.