RAKUTEN JAPAN OPEN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS: DAY 3 MEDIA NOTES Wednesday, October 7, 2015 Ariake Colosseum, Tokyo, Japan | October 5-11, 2015 Draw: S-32, D-16 | Prize Money: $1,397,250 | Surface: Outdoor Hard ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.rakutenopen.com Richard Evans: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour @rakutenopen Edward LaCava: [email protected] facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/rakutenjapanopen Press Room: +81 3 3529 4911 NISHIKORI FACES TALL TASK; ITO SEEKS 2ND TOKYO WIN OVER WAWRINKA DAY 3 PREVIEW: First-round action ends and second-round play begins in Tokyo on Wednesday. No. 7 seed Feliciano Lopez and Joao Sousa meet after each man recently reached a final – the Spaniard at Kuala Lumpur (l. to Ferrer) and the Portuguese at St. Petersburg (l. to Raonic). The only other first-round match is No. 6 seed Marin Cilic against qualifier Donald Young, a meeting between the Top 2 juniors in the world 10 years ago. Young edged Cilic as the 2005 year-end junior No. 1, but the Croat has been the more successful pro, highlighted by his run to the 2014 US Open title. A pair of Japanese players round out the Center Court schedule in search of a quarter-final berth. No. 2 seed Kei Nishikori, a two-time Tokyo champion, faces a tall task in Sam Querrey. The 6-foot-6 American is 3-3 lifetime against Nishikori and has won a set in all six of their prior meetings. The final match of the day pits top seed Stan Wawrinka against Japanese wild card Tatsuma Ito, who defeated the Swiss star last year in Tokyo for the biggest win of his career. EMIRATES ATP RACE TO LONDON UPDATE: Of the Top 20 players in the Emirates ATP Race to London, 18 are competing this week at ATP World Tour 500 events in Tokyo or Beijing. The Top 8 players in the race on Nov. 9 will qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Nov. 15-22. Four men have already secured their spots: Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka. With first-round losses this week by No. 9 Richard Gasquet, No. 10 Kevin Anderson and No. 12 Milos Raonic, it is possible for No. 11 John Isner, No. 13 Marin Cilic and No. 14 Gilles Simon to take over as No. 9 in the race standings. Isner can pass Gasquet by reaching the Beijing final, while Cilic and Simon can do so by winning the Tokyo title. Race Player Points Event 1 Novak Djokovic* 12,830 Beijing 2 Andy Murray* 7,510 --------- 3 Roger Federer* 6,740 --------- 4 Stan Wawrinka*^ 5,505 Tokyo 5 Tomas Berdych 4,100 Beijing 6 Kei Nishikori 3,770 Tokyo 7 Rafael Nadal^ 3,715 Beijing 8 David Ferrer^ 3,300 Beijing 9 Richard Gasquet 2,355 Tokyo 10 Kevin Anderson 2,205 Tokyo 11 John Isner 2,180 Beijing 12 Milos Raonic 2,080 Beijing 13 Marin Cilic 2,055 Tokyo 14 Gilles Simon^ 1,920 Tokyo 15 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 1,900 Beijing 16 David Goffin 1,625 Beijing 17 Feliciano Lopez 1,590 Tokyo 18 Dominic Thiem 1,510 Beijing 19 Bernard Tomic 1,450 Tokyo T20 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 1,410 Beijing T20 Gael Monfils 1,410 --------- * Qualified ^ Gains 45 points with win on Wednesday Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships Day 3 – Wednesday, October 7, 2015 Page 2 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com DAY 3 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play by Court CENTER COURT Joao Sousa (POR) vs [7] Feliciano Lopez (ESP) Lopez Leads 2-0 13 Roland Garros (France) Clay R64 Feliciano Lopez 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-4 15 London / Queen's Club (Great Britain) Grass R32 Feliciano Lopez 6-3 6-4 Sousa 2015 FastFacts F (3): Geneva (l. to Bellucci); Umag (l. to Thiem); St. Petersburg (l. to Raonic); SF: Montpellier (l. to Janowicz); QF: Gstaad (l. to Goffin) YTD W-L: 32-28 (13-14 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 1 Date of Birth: March 30, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 45 Tokyo W-L (Best Result): Main draw debut • No. 1 Portuguese player is making Tokyo debut after posting career-best 32 wins thus far in 2015 • Fell to 0-3 in finals this season and 1-18 lifetime against Top 10 opponents by losing to No. 9 Raonic in St. Petersburg final on Sept. 27 • Reached Geneva final (l. to Bellucci) after saving 4 match points in QF (d. Andujar), and Umag final (l. to Thiem) after saving 1 match point in QF (d. Fognini) • Also saved 3 match points in Gstaad 2R (d. Istomin) before falling to Goffin in QF • Advanced to 3R of Australian Open (l. to No. 6 Murray), matching career-best finish at a Grand Slam (also 2013 US Open 3R) • Lost in Roland Garros 2R (l. to No. 3 Murray), Wimbledon 2R (l. to No. 4 Wawrinka) and US Open 1R (l. to Berankis 76 in 5th) F. Lopez 2015 FastFacts F (2): Quito (l. to Estrella Burgos); Kuala Lumpur (l. to Ferrer); SF: Gstaad (l. to Thiem); QF (4): ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l. to Murray); Houston (l. to Querrey); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati (l. to Federer); US Open (l. to Djokovic) YTD W-L: 30-22 (18-10 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 4 Date of Birth: September 20, 1981 Emirates ATP Ranking: 15 Tokyo W-L (Best Result): 7-4 (2002 & 2007 Quarter-finalist) • No. 3 Spaniard returns for 5th time to Tokyo, reaching QFs in 1st 2 appearances (2002 and 2007) • Left-hander advanced to US Open QF for 1st time (d. No. 10 Raonic in 3R, l. to No. 1 Djokovic 76 in 4th) • Has played in 55 consecutive Grand Slam main draws -- 2nd among active players behind Federer’s 64 • Fell to 4-9 in championship matches with runner-up finishes in Quito (l. to Estrella Burgos 7-6 in 3rd) and last week in Kuala Lumpur (l. to No. 8 Ferrer) • Achieved career-high ranking of No. 12 on March 2 • Reached Australian Open 4R (l. to No. 8 Raonic in 5 sets), matching best result in Melbourne (also 2012 4R) • Advanced to QF of ATP Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells (d. No. 5 Nishikori, l. to No. 4 Murray) and Cincinnati (d. No. 8 Nadal, l. to No. 3 Federer) • Upset in Roland Garros 1R (l. to Gabashvili) and Wimbledon 2R (l. to Basilashvili) Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships Day 3 – Wednesday, October 7, 2015 Page 3 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com [6] Marin Cilic (CRO) vs [Q] Donald Young (USA) Cilic Leads 1-0 11 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R128 Marin Cilic 6-3 6-2 6-1 Cilic 2015 FastFacts SF (4): Stuttgart (l. to Troicki); Washington (l. to Nishikori); US Open (l. to Djokovic); Shenzhen (l. to Garcia- Lopez); QF (3): ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l. to Djokovic); Geneva (l. to Giraldo); Wimbledon (l. to Djokovic) YTD W-L: 25-15 (11-6 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 13 Date of Birth: September 28, 1988 Emirates ATP Ranking: 14 Tokyo W-L (Best Result): 1-2 (2007 2nd Round) • No. 1 Croat returns to Tokyo for 1st time since 2 appearances as a teenager in 2006 and 2007 • Still seeking 1st ATP World Tour final this season • Advanced to US Open SF after winning title in 2014 (d. Tsonga, l. to No. 1 Djokovic) • Reached Roland Garros 4R (l. to No. 8 Ferrer) and Wimbledon QF (d. Isner 12-10 in 5th, l. to Djokovic) • Has posted 21-9 record since starting 4-6, most recently reaching Shenzhen SF (l. to Garcia-Lopez) • Played only 1 tournament in 1st 3 months (ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells) due to right shoulder injury • Lost 2014 US Open final rematch to No. 5 Nishikori in Washington SF Young 2015 FastFacts F: Delray Beach (l. to Karlovic); SF: Memphis (l. to Anderson); QF: Auckland (l. to Vesely) YTD W-L: 20-20 (20-13 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: July 23, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 51 Tokyo W-L (Best Result): 1-2 (2014 2nd Round) • No. 5 American is back in Tokyo main draw after qualifying wins over Przysiezny 61 76(1) and Moriya 61 64 • Attempting to become 4th American to reach Tokyo 2R (along with Johnson, Krajicek, Querrey), which would be most at tournament since 2008 • Posted 1st 2 comebacks from 2 sets down of career en route to US Open 4R, matching best finish at a major from ’11 US Open (d. No. 11 Simon in 1R, d. No. 22 Troicki in 3R, l. to No. 5 Wawrinka) • Reached 2nd career singles final at Delray Beach (l. to Karlovic) and 1st career doubles final at Memphis w/Sitak (l. to Fyrstenberg-Gonzalez) • Also advanced to Memphis SF (l. to Anderson in 3 sets) and Chennai QF (l. to Vesely) • Reached 3R at ATP Masters 1000 Montreal as a qualifier (d. No. 6 Berdych, l. to Gulbis) • Suffered 9-match main draw losing streak from March to August • Only other Grand Slam win came at Australian Open (d. Puetz, l. to No. 8 Raonic in 2R) Sam Querrey (USA) vs [2] Kei Nishikori (JPN) Series Tied 3-3 08 Delray Beach (U.S.A.) Hard SF Kei Nishikori 4-6 6-2 7-6(7) 11 London / Queen's Club (Great Britain) Grass R64 Sam Querrey 6-3 6-4 12 ATP Masters 1000 Toronto (Canada) Hard R32 Sam Querrey 6-2 6-3 12 ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (China) Hard R32 Sam Querrey 2-6 6-1 6-4 14 Washington (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Kei Nishikori 6-4 5-7 6-4 15 Memphis (U.S.A.) Hard SF Kei Nishikori 5-7 7-6(5) 7-6(5) Querrey 2015 FastFacts F (2): Houston (l.