GERRY WEBER OPEN: PREVIEW & DAY 1 MEDIA NOTES Monday, June 13, 2016 Gerry Weber Stadion, Halle/Westfalen, Germany | June 13 – 19, 2016 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: €,1,826,275 | Surface: Grass ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.gerryweber-open.de Martin Dagahs: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour facebook.com/GERRYWEBEROPEN Fabienne Benoit: [email protected] facebook.com/ATPWorldTour Press Room: + 49 5201 895298 GERRY WEBER OPEN TALKING POINTS SPOTLIGHT ON HALLE: The 24th edition of the Gerry Weber Open features an outstanding field, led by Roger Federer, Kei Nishikori, Dominic Thiem and Tomas Berdych, four of the top eight players in the Emirates ATP Rankings. The other seeds are: David Goffin, David Ferrer, Viktor Troicki and Philipp Kohlschreiber. Federer, who owns a tournament record eight titles, is one of three former winners in the field, along with Kohlschreiber (2011) and Berdych (2007). DAY 1 PREVIEW: There are six singles matches on opening day of play, highlighted by No. 2 seed Kei Nishikori, No. 5 David Goffin and No. 6 David Ferrer. In the opening match on Stadion, Lucas Pouille and Nishikori meet for the first time. Pouille is looking for his first career win on grass (0-3) and fourth Top 10 win of the season. Nishikori was a semi-finalist the last two years. In the next match on, #NextGen teenager Borna Coric looks for his first win (0-3) against Goffin, who is making his first appearance in Halle since 2013. In the third match on, qualifiers Ernests Gulbis and Benjamin Becker square off for the third time (tied 1-1), the first on grass. In the final match on, Ferrer looks for his 10th win in as many meetings against last year’s finalist Seppi, who is attempting to earn his 300th career match win on the ATP World Tour. Ferrer is making his debut. On Court 1, a pair of Americans are in action as Denis Kudla takes on qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky and wild card Taylor Fritz meets qualifier Yuichi Sugita. Both are first-time meetings. KING OF GRASS: Federer is making his 14th appearance in Halle in the past 17 years (except 07, ’09, ’11). The Swiss superstar is the most successful grass court player in the Open Era with 15 titles and an .873 match winning percentage (144-21) on the surface. More than one-third of Federer’s 144 career match wins have come in Halle where he is 51-5, winning eight titles in 2003- 06, ’08 and ’13-15. Last year Federer defeated Andreas Seppi 76 64 in the final. He is 8-2 in Halle finals (l. to Hewitt in ’10, Haas in ’12). Federer has won his last 13 matches in Halle since falling to Haas in the 2012 final. Going into this season, Federer has won at least one grass court title in 11 of the past 13 years (except 2010-11). KEI RETURNS: No. 2 seed Nishikori is making his fourth straight showing in Halle and the last two years he reached the semi-finals (l. to Federer in ’14, ret. vs. Seppi with calf injury last year). He has a 24-18 career record on grass. This season the Japanese star is 32-10 with his fourth straight title in Memphis and runner-up efforts at ATP Masters 1000 Miami and Barcelona. He is coming off a 4R at Roland Garros (l. to Gasquet in four sets). THIEM TOP 10 SUCCESS: Thiem, who became the newest member in the Top 10 Emirates ATP Rankings on June 6 after his SF run at Roland Garros, is making his second visit to Halle (0-1). In Stuttgart, the 22-year-old Austrian beat World No. 3 Federer en route to his first grass court final (vs. Kohlschreiber). Going into the Monday rain-delayed final, Thiem has a 44-11 match record on the season with three ATP World Tour titles. Gerry Weber Open Day 1 – Monday, June 13, 2016 Page 2 of 8 www.ATPWorldTour.com GRASS COURT WINNERS: There are eight players in the main draw with at least one ATP World Tour title on grass: Federer (15), Ferrer (2), Karlovic (2), Becker (1), Berdych (1), Kohlschreiber (1), Seppi (1) and Stakhovsky (1). Note: Kohlschreiber-Thiem are in the Stuttgart final on Monday. GRASS COURT TITLE LEADERS: Federer leads the way for most grass court titles won in the Open Era with 15. Here are the active multiple grass court title winners on the ATP World Tour: PLAYER NO. TITLES Roger Federer 15 2003-07, ‘09, ‘12 Wimbledon; 2003-06, ‘08, ‘13-15 Halle Andy Murray 6 2009, ‘11, ‘13, ‘15 Queen’s; 2012 Olympics; 2013 Wimbledon Rafael Nadal 4 2008 Queen’s; 2008, ‘10 Wimbledon; ’15 Stuttgart Nicolas Mahut 3 2013, ’15 ‘s-Hertogenbosch, 2013 Newport (playing in final on Monday) Novak Djokovic 3 2011, ’14-15 Wimbledon David Ferrer 2 2008, ‘12 ‘s-Hertogenbosch Richard Gasquet 2 2005-06 Nottingham Tommy Haas 2 2009, 12 Halle John Isner 2 2011-12 Newport Ivo Karlovic 2 2007-08 Nottingham Feliciano Lopez 2 2013-14 Eastbourne Rajeev Ram 2 2009, ‘15 Newport FORMER HALLE CHAMPIONS AND FINALISTS (Since 2000): YEAR WINNER FINALIST SCORE Bold = Denotes those 2015 Roger Federer Andreas Seppi 7-6(1), 6-4 in this year’s draw 2014 Roger Federer Alejandro Falla 7-6(2), 7-6(3) 2013 Roger Federer Mikhail Youzhny 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 2012 Tommy Haas Roger Federer 7-6(5), 6-4 2011 Philipp Kohlschreiber Philipp Petzschner 7-6(5), 2-0 RET 2010 Lleyton Hewitt Roger Federer 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 2009 Tommy Haas Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-1 2008 Roger Federer Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-4 2007 Tomas Berdych Marcos Baghdatis 7-5, 6-4 2006 Roger Federer Tomas Berdych 6-0, 6-7(4), 6-2 2005 Roger Federer Marat Safin 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-4 2004 Roger Federer Mardy Fish 6-0, 6-3 2003 Roger Federer Nicolas Kiefer 6-1, 6-3 2002 Yevgeny Kafelnikov Nicolas Kiefer 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 2001 Thomas Johansson Fabrice Santoro 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2 2000 David Prinosil Richard Krajicek 6-3, 6-2 Gerry Weber Open Day 1 – Monday, June 13, 2016 Page 3 of 8 www.ATPWorldTour.com DOUBLES FIELD: The top seeds in the doubles draw are Bob and Mike Bryan, who are making their Halle debut. They are coming off semi-final showing in Stuttgart (l. to Marach/F. Martin) and a runner-up at Roland Garros (l. to Lopez/Lopez). They are No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Team Rankings with three titles and a 29-10 record together. The No. 2 seeds are Lukasz Kubot and Alexander Peya, who reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros (l. to Bryans). The No. 3 seeds are defeinding champions Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram and the No. 4 seeds are Henri Kontinen and John Peers. Brothers Alexander and Mischa Zverev, who were finalists in Montpellier in February and in Munich last year, received a wild card. Stuttgart finalists Kohlschreiber and Thiem are playing together for the second straight week. FORMER HALLE DOUBLES CHAMPIONS (Since 2000): YEAR WINNER YEAR WINNER 2015 Raven Klaasen & Rajeev Ram 2007 Simon Aspelin & Julian Knowle 2014 Andre Begemann & Julian Knowle 2006 Fabrice Santoro & Nenad Zimonjic 2013 Santiago Gonzalez & Scott Lipsky 2005 Yves Allegro & Roger Federer 2012 Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi & Jean-Julien Rojer 2004 Leander Paes & David Rikl 2011 Rohan Bopanna & Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 2003 Jonas Bjorkman & Todd Woodbridge 2010 Sergiy Stakhovsky & Mikhail Youzhny 2002 David Prinosil & David Rikl 2009 Christopher Kas & Philipp Kohlschreiber 2001 Daniel Nestor & Sandon Stolle 2008 Mikhail Youzhny & Mischa Zverev 2000 Nicklas Kulti & Mikael Tillstrom SEEDS TO WATCH THIS WEEK SINGLES: SEED PLAYER RECORD BEST FINISH 1. Roger Federer (SUI) 51-5 W 2015-13, ‘08, ‘06-03 2. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 5-3 SF 2015-14 3. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 0-1 R32 2015 4. Tomas Berdych (CZE) 16-6 W 2007 5. David Goffin (BEL) 0-1 R32 2013 6. David Ferrer (ESP) 0-0 Debut 7. Viktor Troicki (SRB) 4-4 QF 2011 8. Phillipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 27-10 W 2011 WILD CARDS (3): YOUNGEST: Dustin Brown (GER) Taylor Fritz (USA) – 18 years, 7 months Taylor Fritz (USA) Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) OLDEST: Ivo Karlovic (GER) – 37 years, 3 months QUALIFIERS (4): Benjamin Becker (GER) TOP COUNTRY BREAKDOWN: Ernests Gulbis (LAT) Germany (6), Spain (3), U.S. (3), Croatia (2), Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) Italy (2), Japan (2), Russia (2). Yuichi Sugita (JPN) Gerry Weber Open Day 1 – Monday, June 13, 2016 Page 4 of 8 www.ATPWorldTour.com DOUBLES: SEED PLAYER BEST FINISH 1. Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan TEAM DEBUT 2. Lukasz Kubot & Alexander Peya TEAM DEBUT 3. Raven Klaasen & Rajeev Ram 4-0 W 2015 4. Henri Kontinen & John Peers TEAM DEBUT 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 (€) 386,925 181,720 90,235 45,115 22,860 12,030 DOUBLES RANKING POINTS 500 300 180 90 0 — DOUBLES PRIZE MONEY (€) 114,070 53,900 26,000 13,520 7,080 — . MONDAY FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play by Court STADION Lucas Pouille (FRA) vs [2] Kei Nishikori (JPN) First Meeting Pouille 2016 FastFacts: F: Bucharest (l Verdasco); SF: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (l Murray); QF: Brisbane (l Raonic) YTD W-L: 15-12 (0-3 career on grass) YTD Titles: 0 /Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: February 23, 1994 Emirates ATP Ranking: 29 (Career-high) Halle W-L (Best Result): First Appearance • Tournament Note: The lone Frenchman in the singles draw is making his Halle debut • Beat Gulbis and No.