ASB CLASSIC: DAY 6 MEDIA NOTES Saturday, January 14, 2017 ASB Tennis Arena, Auckland, New Zealand | January 9-14, 2017 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: $450,110 | Surface: Outdoor Hard ATP World Tour Info Tournament Info ATP PR & Marketing www.ATPWorldTour.com www.ASBClassic.co.nz Mark Epps: [email protected] Twitter: @ATPWorldTour Twitter: @ASB_Classic Press Room: +64 219 450 82 Facebook: @ATPWorldTour Facebook: @ASBClassic SOUSA, SOCK BATTLE WITH TITLE ON THE LINE Unseeded Joao Sousa of Portugal and No. 4 seed Jack Sock of the U.S. meet in the championship of the ASB Classic on Saturday. Sousa won the previous meeting in three sets in the 3R at ATP Masters 1000 Madrid last May. Sousa has not dropped a set this week en route to his eighth career ATP World Tour final (2-5). Prior to this week, Sousa was 0-2 in Auckland. The 27-year-old Portuguese native leads the tournament in return games won (40%) and has served well, holding 36 of 39 games (92%). He is trying to win his first ATP World Tour title since 2015 Valencia (d. Bautista Agut). Sock is appearing in his second straight Auckland final (ret. vs. Bautista Agut) and the 24-year-old American is attempting to earn his second career ATP World Tour title. Since winning Houston in 2015, Sock has lost his last four ATP World Tour finals, including three last season. He is trying to become the first American to win the Auckland title since John Isner in 2014 (also in 2010). In the doubles final, No. 4 seeds Marcin Matkowski of Poland and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan take on unseeded Jonathan Erlich of Israel and Scott Lipsky of the U.S. for the first time. All four players are trying to capture their first Auckland title. Lipsky is 0-2 in finals. INFOSYS ATP SCORES & STATS ASB Classic Joao Sousa [4] Jack Sock Aces 10 25 1st-Serve Percentage 63% (140 of 224) 59% (148 of 249) 1st-Serve Points Won 79% (110 of 140) 73% (108 of 148) 2nd-Serve Points Won 57% (48 of 84) 58% (59 of 101) Service Games Won 92% (36 of 39) 87% (34 of 39) Break Points Saved 63% (5 of 8) 58% (7 of 12) 1st-Serve Return Points Won 34% (37 of 110) 29% (53 of 180) 2nd-Serve Return Points Won 58% (54 of 93) 56% (50 of 90) Return Games Won 40% (14 of 35) 28% (11 of 40) Break Points Converted 58% (14 of 24) 31% (11 of 35) BOLD: Leads all players this week EMIRATES ATP RANKING POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY ASB Classic Champion Finalist Ranking Points 250 150 Singles Prize Money $80,250 $42,265 Doubles Prize Money $24,380 $12,820 ASB Classic Day 6 – Saturday, January 14, 2017 Page 2 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com SATURDAY FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS: CHAMPIONSHIP Joao Sousa (POR) vs [4] Jack Sock (USA) Sousa Leads 1-0 16 ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (Spain) Clay R16 Joao Sousa 6-1 6-7(3) 6-2 Sousa 2016 Summary SF: Nice (l. A. Zverev); QF (5): ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (l. Nadal); Bastad (l. Elias); Umag (l. A. Martin); St. Petersburg (l. Bautista Agut); Tokyo (l. Goffin) 2016 W-L: 27-34 (13-21 on hard) 2016 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 2 Date of Birth: March 30, 1989 (27) Emirates ATP Ranking: 44 Auckland W-L (Best Result): 4-2 (2017 Finalist) • Tournament Note: Has not dropped a set en route to final and defeated [5] Ramos-Vinolas 61 75 in 1R and [8] Bagdatis 61 75 in SF. Leads field in 2nd-serve return points (58%) and 40% of return games (14 of 35). Has only been broken three times (36 of 39, 92%), saving five of eight break points (63%) • Appearing in eighth career ATP World Tour final (2-5) and won titles in 2015 Valencia (d. Bautista Agut) and 2013 Kuala Lumpur (d. Benneteau) • Last season finished in Top 50 at No. 43 for third time in four years, highlighted by 1st ATP Masters 1000 QF at Madrid (d. Mahut, Granollers and Sock; l. to No. 5 Nadal) • Snapped 21-match losing streak vs Top 10 players by advancing to Tokyo QF (d. No. 5 Nishikori 34 ret, l. to Goffin) • Achieved career-high No. 28 in Emirates ATP Rankings on May 16 • Defeated No. 20 Anderson en route to Nice SF (l. to A. Zverev in 3 sets), but did not beat any Top 100 players to reach QFs at Båstad (l. to Elias), Umag (l. to An. Martin in 3 sets) and St. Petersburg (l. to Bautista Agut in 3 sets) • Reached 3R at Australian Open (l. to No. 2 Murray in 4 sets), Wimbledon (l. to Vesely) and US Open (l. to Dimitrov) • Fell to Fognini in 2016 Auckland 1R after holding 2 MPs Sock 2016 Summary F (3): Auckland (l. Bautista Agut); Houston (l. Monaco); Stockholm (l. del Potro); QF (3): Washington (l. Karlovic); ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (l Simon); ATP Masters 1000 Paris (l. Isner) 2016 W-L: 37-21 (27-14 on hard) 2016 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 1 Date of Birth: September 24, 1992 (24) Emirates ATP Ranking: 23 Auckland W-L (Best Result): 9-2 (2016-17 Finalist) • Tournament Note: Appearing in final for second straight year and defeated [Q] Harrison 76(5) 46 61 in 2R, Chardy 57 64 63 in QF despite converting 4 of 25 BPs (0 of 16 until 4-4 in 2nd set) and [7] Johnson 64 63 in SF to reach sixth career ATP World Tour final (1-4). Won lone ATP World Tour title in 2015 Houston (d. Querrey). Since then has lost four finals in a row, including three last season. Finished year-end best No. 23 and as No. 2 American in 2016 • Only men’s or women’s tennis player to earn multiple medals at Rio Olympics, winning gold in mixed doubles w/Mattek-Sands (d. Ram/V. Williams) and bronze in men’s doubles w/Johnson (d. Nestor/Pospisil) • Runner-up at Auckland (d. No. 8 Ferrer, ret vs Bautista Agut), Houston (l. to Monaco) and Stockholm (l. to del Potro) • Advanced to Grand Slam 4R for 2nd time at US Open (d. No. 9 Cilic 64 63 63, l. to Tsonga) • Also advanced to 1st 2 ATP Masters 1000 QFs at Shanghai (d. No. 6 Raonic after saving 2 MPs, l. to Simon 76 in 3rd) and Paris (d. No. 8 Thiem in 2R, l. to Isner in 3 sets) • Set career-highs last season in wins (37) and ranking (No. 22 on Jan. 18), becoming No. 1 American on Oct. 17 • ATP Masters 1000 doubles champion w/Isner at Shanghai (d. Lopez/Lopez, Bryan/Bryan and Kontinen/Peers), as well as runner-up w/Pospisil at Indian Wells (l. to Herbert/Mahut) and Rome (l. to Bryan/Bryan) • Won Basel title w/Granollers (d. Lindstedt/Venus) and reached Beijing final w/Tomic (l. to Carreño Busta/Nadal) • Played 33 matches in 33 days from October 3 to November 4 (12-5 singles, 14-2 doubles) • Rallied from 2 sets down to beat Cilic in Davis Cup QF, but lost deciding rubber to Coric (CRO d. USA 3-2) • Retired in Auckland final and withdrew from Buenos Aires due to illness ASB Classic Day 6 – Saturday, January 14, 2017 Page 3 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP [4] Marcin Matkowski (POL)/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs First Meeting Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/Scott Lipsky (USA) • Matkowkski/Qureshi, teaming for first time this week, have posted wins over Harrison/Isner 76(4) 61 in 1R, S. Gonzalez/Marrero 64 36 11-9 in QF and [WC] Daniell/Demoliner 64 64 in SF. Matkowski is playing in Auckland for the first time and Qureshi a second time (1R last year) • No. 34-ranked Matkowski is 17-28 lifetime in ATP World Tour finals and last year he was 1-1, reaching final in Estoril (w/Kubot) and winning his last title in Tokyo (w/Granollers) • No. 40 Qureshi is 11-16 in career ATP World Tour finals and last year his six-year title streak came to an end. His best results were runner-up showings in Marrakech (w/Draganja) and Hamburg (w/Nestor). His last title came at 2015 Newport (w/Marray). He was also 1-1 in ATP Challenger Tour finals • Erlich/Lipsky have yet to drop a set en route to the final, defeating Peralta/Zeballos 62 64 in 1R, [2] Inglot/Mergea 63 76(6) in QF and Monroe/Sitak 64 64 in SF. This is their third career tournament together (2010 Newport SF, 2017 Chennai 1R) • No. 54-ranked Erlich, who is playing in Auckland for the first time, has an 18-18 career record in doubles finals (0-2 last year) and his last ATP World Tour title came at 2015 Shenzhen (w/Fleming) • No. 49 Lipsky is making his eighth Auckland appearance in nine years (except 2010) and comes in with a 10-7 record. He is 15-11 in ATP World Tour finals and this is the American’s third final in Auckland (2009 w/Paes and last year w/Butorac). He was 1-1 in finals last year, reaching the final here and winning in Estoril (both w/Butorac) ASB CLASSIC: DAY 5 MEDIA NOTES Friday, January 13, 2017 ASB Tennis Arena, Auckland, New Zealand | January 9-14, 2017 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: $450,110 | Surface: Outdoor Hard ATP World Tour Info Tournament Info ATP PR & Marketing www.ATPWorldTour.com www.ASBClassic.co.nz Mark Epps: [email protected] Twitter: @ATPWorldTour Twitter: @ASB_Classic Press Room: +64 219 450 82 Facebook: @ATPWorldTour Facebook: @ASBClassic OLYMPIC BRONZE MEDALISTS MEET IN ASB CLASSIC SEMI-FINALS No.