CHINA OPEN: PREVIEW & DAY 1 MEDIA NOTES Monday, October 5, 2015 National Tennis Center, Beijing, China | October 5-11, 2015 Draw: S-32, D-16 | Prize Money: $3,944,715 | Surface: Outdoor Hard ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.chinaopen.com.cn Martin Dagahs: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour Thomas Troxler: [email protected] facebook.com/ATPWorldTour Press Room: +86 1084373991 CHINA OPEN TALKING POINTS SPOTLIGHT ON BEIJING: The China Open 2015 features an outstanding field with 10 of the Top 20 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, led by World No. 1 and five-time Beijing champion Novak Djokovic, No. 2 seed/2011 winner Tomas Berdych, who met in last year’s final. Djokovic won 60 62. The other seeds are: No. 3/’05 champ Rafael Nadal, No. 4 David Ferrer, No. 5 Milos Raonic, No. 6 John Isner, No. 7 David Goffin and No. 8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Raonic and Goffin are making their debut. Djokovic, Nadal and Berdych are the former champions in the field. DAY 1 PREVIEW: There are seven men’s singles matches on Monday’s schedule, which features three seeds: No. 5 Raonic, No, 7 Goffin and No. 8 Tsonga. In addition, the No. 1 player from China, Ze Zhang, is in action on Lotus Court against qualifier Denis Istomin. The top two doubles seeds are on the schedule with No. 1/defending champions Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau along with No. 2 Marcin Matkowski and Nenad Zimonjic. EMIRATES ATP RACE TO LONDON: Seven of the Top 15 players in the Emirates ATP Race to London for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals are in action in Beijing. Top four have qualified. There are four spots remaining to the season finale and 500 points to the champion at stake. Here are the points leaders going into opening day action: Position Player Points 1-Q Novak Djokovic - Beijing 12,785 2-Q Andy Murray 7,510 3-Q Roger Federer 6,740 4-Q Stan Wawrinka 5,505 5 Tomas Berdych - Beijing 4,000 6 Kei Nishikori 3,770 7 Rafael Nadal – Beijing 3,715 8 David Ferrer – Beijing 3,255 9 Richard Gasquet 2,355 10 Kevin Anderson 2,205 11 John Isner – Beijing 2,180 12 Milos Raonic –Beijing 2,080 13 Marin Cilic 2,055 14 Gilles Simon 1,920 15 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - Beijing 1,900 China Open Day 1 – Monday, October 5, 2015 Page 2 of 9 www.ATPWorldTour.com REIGNING CHAMP/WORLD NO. 1: Djokovic returns to the China Open for the sixth time and the five-time champion is looking to maintain his unbeaten record (24-0). He’s only dropped three sets (to left-handers Verdasco twice, Berrer) in 51 sets played. He has won the title in 2009-10, ’12-14. Djokovic comes in with a 63-5 match record (40-4 on hard) on the season with seven titles: Australian Open, ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Rome, Wimbledon and US Open. This is Djokovic’s first tournament since capturing his 10th Grand Slam title at the US Open on Sept. 13 (d. Federer). This is the 167th week overall he has ranked No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, which is sixth-most. He will surpass No. 5 John McEnroe’s total of 170 on Nov. 2. He will finish No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the fourth time in five years (except ’13). Here are the other players to win at least their first 20 matches in a tournament in the last 40 years: - Rafael Nadal started 31-0 at Roland Garros between 2005 & ‘09. He is now 70-2. - Jimmy Connors went 26-0 at Birmingham, Alabama between 1974 & 1980. - Mats Wilander started 23-0 at Barcelona between 1982 & ’85, finished 27-3. - John McEnroe started 23-0 at Milan between 1979 & ’89, finished 26-2. - John McEnroe started 22-0 at Sydney Indoor between 1980 &’ 92, finished 22-1. NOVAK IN CHINA: Djokovic comes into Beijing having won 28 of his last 29 matches in China, winning consecutive titles in Beijing and Shanghai in 2012-13 and Beijing last year. His 28-match winning streak in China ended last year when he lost to Federer in the semi-finals in Shanghai. Overall, he has won 8 career titles in China (five in Beijing, three in Shanghai). He has never lost in the Beijing Open (24-0) and is 19-3 at the Shanghai ROLEX Masters (since 2009). The only country in which he’s won more titles is the U.S. (11). Here’s a look at his ATP World Tour titles in China: Tournament (Sets) Final Opponent 2014 Beijing (10-0) d. Tomas Berdych 60 62 2013 Shanghai (10-2) d. Juan Martin del Potro 61 36 76 2013 Beijing (10-1) d. Rafael Nadal 63 64 2012 Shanghai (10-1) d. Andy Murray 57 76 63 2012 Beijing (10-1) d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 76 62 2010 Bejing (8-0) d. David Ferrer 62 64 2009 Beijing (10-1) d. Marin Cilic 62 76 2008 Tennis Masters Cup (10-3) d. Nikolay Davydenko 61 75 RAFA RETURNS: Nadal is making his third straight appearance in Beijing and fifth overall. Nadal is 14-3 in Beijing, winning the title in his debut in 2005 (d. Coria) and reaching the final in ’13 (l.. to Djokovic), semi-finals in ’09 (l. to Cilic) and quarter-finals last year (l. to Klizan). Nadal has a 45-15 match record on the season, including 14-7 on hard courts and 26-6 on clay. He has won three ATP World Tour titles (Buenos Aires, Stuttgart, Hamburg) and final at ATP Masters 1000 Madrid. His streak of 10 consecutive years with at least one Grand Slam crown came to an end this season. His best Slam results were QFs at Australian Open and Roland Garros IVO EYES ACES RECORD – Ivo Karlovic, who is making his fourth tournament appearance in Beijing (1-3), is closing in on the all-time ATP World Tour aces record (since 1991), currently held by countryman Goran Ivanisevic, who hit 10,237 aces in his career. Karlovic comes into Beijing trailing by 35 with 10,202. These figures don’t include Davis Cup matches. Karlovic leads the ATP World Tour this season with 1,207 aces, the fourth year he’s surpassed 1,000 in a campaign. China Open Day 1 – Monday, October 5, 2015 Page 3 of 9 www.ATPWorldTour.com FORMER BEIJING CHAMPIONS AND FINALISTS: YEAR WINNER FINALIST Bold = Denotes those in this year’s draw 2014 Novak Djokovic Tomas Berdych 2013 Novak Djokovic Rafael Nadal 2012 Novak Djokovic Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 2011 Tomas Berdych Marin Cilic 2010 Novak Djokovic David Ferrer 2009 Novak Djokovic Marin Cilic 2008 Andy Roddick Dudi Sela 2007 Fernando Gonzalez Tommy Robredo 2006 Marcos Baghdatis Mario Ancic 2005 Rafael Nadal Guillermo Coria 2004 Marat Safin Mikhail Youzhny FORMER BEIJING DOUBLES CHAMPIONS: YEAR WINNER YEAR WINNER 2014 Jean-Julien Rojer & Horia Tecau 2013 Max Mirnyi & Horia Tecau 2008 Stephen Huss & Ross Hutchins 2012 Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan 2007 Rik De Voest & Ashley Fisher 2011 Michael Llodra & Nenad Zimonjic 2006 Mario Ancic & Mahesh Bhupathi 2010 Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan 2005 Justin Gimelstob & Nathan Healey 2009 Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan 2004 Justin Gimelstob & Graydon Oliver WHAT’S AT STAKE? EMIRATES ATP RANKINGS POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY W F SF QF R16 R32 SINGLES RANKINGS POINTS 500 300 180 90 45 0 SINGLES PRIZE MONEY ($) 654,725 295,180 139,820 67,470 34,400 18,920 DOUBLES RANKINGS POINTS 500 300 180 90 0 — DOUBLES PRIZE MONEY ($) 193,420 87,270 41,150 19,890 10,210 — China Open Day 1 – Monday, October 5, 2015 Page 4 of 9 www.ATPWorldTour.com SEEDS TO WATCH THIS WEEK SINGLES: SEED PLAYER RECORD BEST FINISH 1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 24-0 W 2014, ‘13, ‘12, ‘10, ‘09 2. Tomas Berdych (CZE) 11-3 W 2011 3. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 14-3 W 2005 4. David Ferrer (ESP) 6-5 F 2010 5. Milos Raonic (CAN) DEBUT ----- 6. John Isner (USA) 7-3 SF 2010 7. David Goffin (BEL) DEBUT ---- 8. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 8-4 F 2012 QUALIFIERS (4): WILDCARDS (3): OLDEST: Aljaz Bedene (GBR) Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) Ivo Karlovic – 36 yrs, 7 months Simone Bolelli (ITA) Di Wu (CHN) Denis Istomin (UZB) Ze Zhang (CHN) YOUNGEST: John Millman (AUS) Dominic Thiem – 22 yrs, 1 month TOP COUNTRY BREAKDOWN: Spain (4), Italy (3), China (2), Croatia (2), Czech Republic (2), France (2), Italy (2), Serbia (2), U.S. (2) DOUBLES: SEED PLAYER BEST FINISH 1. Jean-Julien Rojer & Horia Tecau 4-0; W 2014 2. Marcin Matkowski & Nenad Zimonjic TEAM DEBUT 3. Simone Bolelli & Fabio Fognini TEAM DEBUT 4. Daniel Nestor & Edouard Roger-Vasselin TEAM DEBUT China Open Day 1 – Monday, October 5, 2015 Page 5 of 9 www.ATPWorldTour.com DAY 1 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play by Court NATIONAL TENNIS STADIUM [8]Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) vs Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT) - First Meeting Tsonga 2015 FastFacts: W: Metz (d Simon); SF: Roland Garros (l Wawrinka); QF: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Canada (l Murray); US Open (l Cilic) YTD W-L: 25-12 (13-5 on hard) YTD Titles: 1/Career Titles: 12 Date of Birth: April 17, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 16 Beijing W-L (Best Result): 8-4 (Runner-up 2012) • No. 3 Frenchman, who reached China Open final in 2012 (l. to Djokovic), won 12th career title in All- French final at Metz in last tournament on Sept.