MONTE-CARLO ROLEX MASTERS: DAY 7 MEDIA NOTES Saturday, April 16, 2016 Monte-Carlo Country Club, Monte-Carlo, Monaco | April 10-17, 2016 Draw: S-56, D-24 | Prize Money: €3,748,925 | Surface: Outdoor Clay ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.MonteCarloTennisMasters.com Nanette Duxin: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour @MCRolexMasters Florent Girod: [email protected] facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/MonteCarloRolexMasters Stephanie Natal: [email protected] instagram.com/ATPWorldTour instagram.com/MonteCarloRolexMastersOfficial Press Room: +33 4 93 41 79 58 NADAL-MURRAY MEET FOR 23RD TIME, MONFILS-TSONGA FIRST ON CLAY SEMI-FINALS PREVIEW: The semi-finals of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Saturday feature No. 2 Andy Murray against No. 5 Rafael Nadal and No. 8 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga against No. 13 Gael Monfils in an all-French match-up. This is the first time since 1988 two Frenchmen have reached the semi-finals in Monte-Carlo (Yannick Noah l. to Lendl, Thierry Tulasne l. to Martin Jaite). The last French finalist and winner here was Cedric Pioline in 2000 (d. Hrbaty). In the first match on Court Rainier III, No. 4 seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares meet No. 2 Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo. Murray and Soares, who are No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings after winning titles in Sydney and the Australian Open in January, come in with a 16-3 match record on the season. Dodig and Melo are appearing in their first semi-final this year. Murray, who became No. 1 in the individual Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings on Apr. 4, is trying to stay on top. Melo is No. 2 and if he wins the match (w/Dodig), the Brazilian will regain No. 1 on Monday. In the first singles match, Nadal and Murray meet for the 23rd time (Nadal leads 16-6) and the eighth time on clay (Nadal leads 6-1). This is their third meeting in this round in Monte-Carlo and the Spaniard won the previous two in 2009 and 2011. Nadal is appearing in the semi-finals for the 11th time in 12 years (except 2014) and he is 9-1 in SF matches. Last year he lost to Djokovic in SF. He has a tournament-best 56-4 career record with a tourney record eight straight titles from 2005 to 2012. The 29- year-old Spaniard is also trying to reach his 100th career ATP World Tour level final (67-32) and 42nd in an ATP Masters 1000 event (27-14). Murray is making his third semi-final appearance here (2009, 2011) and he’s trying to reach his third career clay court final (2-0). Last year he won back-to-back clay titles in Munich (d. Kohlschreiber) and ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (d. Nadal). He is 11-5 in Masters 1000 finals. In the next match on, friends Monfils and Tsonga square off for the seventh time on the ATP World Tour, the first on clay. Tsonga has a 4-2 head-to-head advantage (all on hard courts) but Monfils won the last meeting in the 3R at ATP Masters 1000 Miami last year. Monfils is making his second straight semi-final showing in Monte-Carlo and he’s trying to advance to his third career ATP Masters 1000 final. He was runner-up in Paris-Bercy in 2009-10. Monfils has not dropped a set in four matches, holding serve 31 of 35 games, while leading the tournament in return games won (53%). Tsonga is appearing in the semi-finals here for the first time since 2013 and the 30-year-old Frenchman (turns 31 on Sunday) is trying to advance to his first career clay court final on the ATP World Tour. DOUBLE-DIGIT SEEDS: Monfils is trying to become the first double-digit seed to reach the Monte- Carlo final since No. 11 Nadal won the title in 2005. Here is a look at the double digit seeds to reach the semi-finals since Nadal’s title: Year Seed Player Monte-Carlo SF Result 2016 No. 13 Gael Monfils vs. No. 8 Tsonga 2015 No. 14 Gael Monfils lost to to Berdych 2010 No. 11 David Ferrer lost to Nadal 2009 No. 13 Stan Wawrinka lost to Djokovic 2007 No. 16 J.C. Ferrero lost to Federer 2007 No. 10 Tomas Berdych lost to Nadal Fernando 2006 No. 12 lost to Federer Gonzalez 2005 No. 11 Rafael Nadal def. Gasquet in SF, def. Coria in Final Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters Day 7 – Saturday, April 16, 2016 Page 2 of 8 www.ATPWorldTour.com BIG FOUR DOMINANCE: The ‘Big Four’ of Djokovic, Murray, Federer and Nadal have won 50 of the past 54 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 (2012 Paris), Stan Wawrinka (2014 Monte-Carlo) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2014 Toronto). Here is a breakdown of the ATP Masters 1000 titles won by Djokovic (23), Nadal (12), Federer (8) and Murray (7) during that time: PLAYER 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Novak - 5 3 3 4 6 2 Djokovic Andy 2 2 -1-2- Murray Roger 1 1 3 - 2 1 - Federer Rafael 3 1 2 5 1 - - Nadal Note: With Nadal or Murray guaranteed in the final, the past 30 ATP Masters 1000 tournaments will have included at least one member of the Big Four in the final. Last time without one of them in a final was 2012 Paris-Bercy: Ferrer d. Janowicz SEMI-FINALS FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play COURT RAINIER III [5] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs [2] Andy Murray (GBR) Nadal Leads 16-6 07 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R16 Rafael Nadal 6-7(3) 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-1 07 ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (Spain) Hard R16 Rafael Nadal 7-6(5) 6-4 08 Hamburg (Germany) Clay R16 Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-2 08 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass QF Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-2 6-4 08 ATP Masters 1000 Toronto (Canada) Hard SF Rafael Nadal 7-6(2) 6-3 08 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard SF Andy Murray 6-2 7-6(5) 4-6 6-4 09 Rotterdam (Netherlands) Hard F Andy Murray 6-3 4-6 6-0 09 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (U.S.A.) Hard F Rafael Nadal 6-1 6-2 09 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (Monaco) Clay SF Rafael Nadal 6-2 7-6(4) 10 Australian Open (Australia) Hard QF Andy Murray 6-3 7-6(2) 3-0 ret 10 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass SF Rafael Nadal 6-4 7-6(6) 6-4 10 ATP Masters 1000 Toronto (Canada) Hard SF Andy Murray 6-3 6-4 10 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals (London) Hard SF Rafael Nadal 7-6(5) 3-6 7-6(6) 11 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (Monaco) Clay SF Rafael Nadal 6-4 2-6 6-1 11 Roland Garros (France) Clay SF Rafael Nadal 6-4 7-5 6-4 11 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass SF Rafael Nadal 5-7 6-2 6-2 6-4 11 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard SF Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-2 3-6 6-2 11 Tokyo (Japan) Hard F Andy Murray 3-6 6-2 6-0 14 ATP Masters 1000 Rome (Italy) Clay QF Rafael Nadal 1-6 6-3 7-5 14 Roland Garros (France) Clay SF Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-2 6-1 15 ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (Spain) Clay F Andy Murray 6-3 6-2 15 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals (London) Hard RR Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-1 Rafael Nadal Andy Murray Sets Won: 42 21 Tiebreak Sets Won: 6 3 Match Wins By Surface: Clay: 6 1 Hard: 7 5 Grass: 3 0 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters Day 7 – Saturday, April 16, 2016 Page 3 of 8 www.ATPWorldTour.com INFOSYS ATP SCORES & STATS: Tournament statistics entering semi-finals: Statistic Nadal Murray Aces 7 9 1st-Serve Percentage 68% 58% 1st-Serve Points Won 70% 67% 2nd-Serve Points Won 56% 51% Service Games Won 83% (24 of 29) 76% (28 of 37) Break Points Saved 78% (18 of 23) 59% (13 of 22) 1st-Serve Return Points Won 36% 39% 2nd-Serve Return Points Won 63% 53% Return Games Won 48% (13 of 27) 44% (16 of 36) Break Points Converted 54% (13 of 24) 57% (16 of 28) Nadal 2016 FastFacts F: Doha (l. to Djokovic); SF (3): Buenos Aires (l. to Thiem); Rio de Janeiro (l. to Cuevas); ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l. to Djokovic) YTD W-L: 15-6 (7-2 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 67 Date of Birth: June 3, 1986 Emirates ATP Ranking: 5 Monte-Carlo W-L (Best Result): 56-4 (2005-12 Champion) • The 29-year-old Spaniard is making his 11th SF appearance at the Monte-Carlo Country Club in 12 years (except ’14-QF) and 9-1 in SF matches with only loss coming to Djokovic last year (56-4 overall). Has not dropped a set in wins over Aljaz Bedene 63 63, No. 12 seed Dominic Thiem 75 63 (saved 15 of 17 BPs) and No. 4 Stan Wawrinka 61 64. Has saved 18 of 23 BPs (78%) this week and won 13 of 27 return games (48%). Has captured a tournament-record eight titles in nine finals (2005 d.