ARGENTINA OPEN: DAY 7 MEDIA NOTES Sunday, February 14, 2016 Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, Buenos Aires, Argentina | February 8 - 14, 2016 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: $598,865 | Surface: Clay ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.argentinaopenatp.com Edward La Cava: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour @Argentinaopen Maria Garcia-Planas: [email protected] facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/ATPbuenosaires250 Press Room: 5411 4775 8228 VETERAN MEETS NEXT GENERATION IN FINAL FINALS PREVIEW: Spanish veteran and 2011 champion Nicolas Almagro meets 22-year-old Austrian Dominic Thiem in the finals on Sunday at the Argentina Open. The rising star Thiem defeated the former World No. 9 in straight sets in their only previous meeting last month in the second round of the Australian Open. Thiem, advanced to his fifth career ATP World Tour final (3-1 record, all on clay) after saving a match point in his 64 46 76(4) win over Rafael Nadal. With the win he became the first player aged 22-under to beat Nadal on clay since Igor Andreev in Valencia 2005 (47-match win streak snapped). He is one of eight players born in the 1990s to win an ATP World Tour singles title and is tied for third on the list behind Milos Raonic (8) and Grigor Dimitrov (4). Almagro overturned an 0-15 head-to-head mark against countryman David Ferrer to dismiss his countryman 6-4, 7-5 for a spot in the finals. The 30-year-old is appearing in his 22nd career ATP World Tour final (12-9 record, all on clay) and looking to win his first title since 2012 Nice (d. Baker). INFOSYS ATP SCORES & STATS: Tournament statistics entering Sunday’s championship match Statistic Dominic Thiem Nicolas Almagro Aces 22 No.3 24 No. 2 1st-Serve Percentage 69% No. 5 58% 1st-Serve Points Won 75% No. 5 80% No. 2 2nd-Serve Points Won 58% 59% No.4 Service Games Won 85% (45 of 53) (No. 5) 96% (43 of 45) No. 2 Break Points Saved 60% (12 of 20) 83% (10 of 12) No. 1 1st-Serve Return Points Won 34% 36% 2nd-Serve Return Points Won 46% 47% Return Games Won 25% (13 of 51) 25% (11 of 44) Break Points Converted 41% (13 of 32) 37% (11 of 30) EMIRATES ATP RANKING POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY Argentina Open Champion Finalist Singles Ranking Points 250 150 Singles Prize Money $93,120 $49,045 Doubles Ranking Points 250 150 Doubles Prize Money $28,290 $14,870 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS: FINALS COURT CENTRAL GUILLERMO VILAS [5] Dominic Thiem (AUT) vs Nicolas Almagro (ESP) Thiem Leads 1-0 16 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R64 Dominic Thiem 6-3 6-1 6-3 Argentina Open Day 7 – Sunday, February 14, 2016 Page 2 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com Thiem FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: SF: Brisbane (l Federer) YTD W-L: 8-3 (3-0 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 3 Date of Birth: September 3, 1993 Emirates ATP Ranking: 19 Buenos Aires W-L (Best Result): 4-0 (F in 2016) The 22-year-old, who is the youngest player (22) in the Top 20 Emirates ATP Ranking, saved a match point before upsetting defending champion Rafael Nadal 64 46 76(4) in the semi-finals. Reached the semi-finals here for the first time with a 64 62 win over Dusan Lajovic on Friday. He defeated Pablo Carreno Busta 60 36 63 in his tournament debut on Tuesday and followed with a 36 76(7) 63 win over Portuguese qualifier Gastao Elias on Wednesday Is the first player aged 22-under to beat Nadal on clay since Igor Andreev in Valencia 2005 Appearing in his 5th career ATP World Tour final (3-1 record, all on clay) Playing first event since reaching 3R at Australian Open (l. to Goffin) Opened year by reaching SF at Brisbane (d. Cilic in QF, l. to Federer), ret. down 76(2) 22 in 2R at Sydney (l. to Muller) due to blisters In 2015, Austrian improved his year-end Emirates ATP Ranking for 5th straight season and finished as youngest player in Top 20 Achieved career-high No. 18 on August 10 after reaching SF at Kitzbühel Captured 1st 3 ATP World Tour titles of career -- all on clay: Nice (d. L. Mayer 76 in 3rd), Umag (d. Sousa) and Gstaad (d. Goffin) Won career-high 36 matches (previous-best was 22 in 2014) Career 2-10 record vs Top 10 opponents (2-6 vs Top 5), prior to win over No. 5 Rafael Nadal had lost 8 against Top 10 foes, previous win was over No. 3 Wawrinka at 2014 Madrid as a qualifier BEST OF THE NEXT GENERATION: Thiem is one of eight players born in the 1990s to win an ATP World Tour singles title. He is tied for third on the list behind Milos Raonic (8) and Grigor Dimitrov (4): Player Birthdate Current Age Titles Ranking 8: San Jose 2011-13 Chennai 2012 Bangkok 2013 Milos Raonic (CAN) Dec. 27, 1990 25 11 Washington 2014 St. Petersburg 2015 Brisbane 2016 4: Stockholm 2013 Acapulco 2014 Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) May 16, 1991 24 27 Bucharest 2014 Queen’s Club 2014 3: Sydney 2013 Bernard Tomic (AUS) Oct. 21, 1992 23 20 Bogotá 2014-15 3: Nice 2015 Dominic Thiem (AUT) Sept. 3, 1993 22 Umag 2015 19 Gstaad 2015 2: Metz 2014 David Goffin (BEL) Dec. 7, 1990 25 16 Kitzbühel 2014 Jack Sock (USA) Sept. 24, 1992 23 1: Houston 2015 23 Jiri Vesely (CZE) July 10, 1993 22 1: Auckland 2015 51 Federico Delbonis (ARG) Oct. 5, 1990 25 1: São Paulo 2014 45 Argentina Open Day 7 – Sunday, February 14, 2016 Page 3 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com Almagro FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 5-2 (4-0 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 12 Date of Birth: August 21, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 72 Buenos Aires W-L (Best Result): 29-9 (Winner in 2011) The 30-year-old overturned a 0-15 head-to-head and knocked off David Ferrer 64 75 to reach the finals. Advanced to the SF for the fourth straight year with a 62 75 win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday. The 2011 champion (d. Chela) defeated Federico Delbonis 63 46 64 to reach the QF on Wednesday. Knocked off qualifier Albert Montanes 63 63 in the 1R on Monday. He is making his 11th appearance here and has a 29-9 tournament record. Also reached the finals in 2012 (l. to Ferrer) and has reached the SF the past three years – 2013 (l. to Wawrinka), 2014 (l. to Ferrer), and 2015 (l. to Monaco) Appearing in his 22nd career ATP World Tour final (12-9 record, all on clay) and first since Kitzbühel (l. to Mathieu) last August. Last title he won was at 2012 Nice (d. Baker) One of 14 Spaniards in Top 100 Emirates ATP Rankings Playing in first event since falling in 2R at Australian Open (l. to Thiem), fell in 1R at Chennai (l. to Pavic) In 2015, Spaniard finished in Top 100 for 10th straight season Earned 16 of 18 wins on clay with SF runs at Buenos Aires (l. to Monaco) and Kitzbühel (l. to Mathieu) Has a career 19-64 record against Top 10 opponents, prior to defeating No.9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in QF and No. 6 David Ferrer in SF, had lost last six. His last win was over No. 1 Nadal at Barcelona in April 2014 [1] Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) / Robert Farah (COL) First Meeting Inigo Cervantes (ESP) / Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) Cabal / Farah defeated Demoliner / Ramos-Vinolas 76(5) 62 in 1R, Lajovic / Thiem 64 67(5) 10-8 on QF and Marrero / Moser 46 63 10-6 in SF The Colombian duo are 111-74 lifetime on the ATP World Tour (4-8 in finals) and appearing in first final of the year Reached 3R at Australian Open (l. to Mannarino / Pouille) World No. 24 Cabal is 4-11 in ATP doubles finals World No. 26 Farah is 4-9 in ATP doubles finals Cervantes / Lorenzi defeated Andujar / Carreno Busta 64 64 in 1R, Kretschmer / Satschko 46 60 10-6 in QF and Delbonis / Molteni 76(5) 75 in SF Are playing together for the second time. Fell in 1R at Quito (l. to Bellucci / Demoliner) last week in debut Both players are appearing in their first ATP World Tour doubles final of the year World No. 217 Cervantes is appearing in his first ATP doubles final World No. 171 Lorenzi is 1-1 in ATP doubles finals – won a 2013 Vina del Mar (w/Starace) .