FAYEZ SAROFIM & CO. U.S. MEN’S CLAY COURT CHAMPIONSHIP: DAY 7 MEDIA NOTES Sunday, April 16, 2017 River Oaks Country Club, Houston, Texas, United States | April 10-16, 2017 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: $535,625 | Surface: Clay ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com http://www.mensclaycourt.com/ Joshua Rey: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour @mensclaycourt Press Room: +1 713-874-6356 facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/mensclaycourt JOHNSON EYES SECOND ATP WORLD TOUR TITLE, BELLUCCI LOOKS FOR FIFTH FINAL PREVIEW: The final of the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship on Sunday features No. 4 seed Steve Johnson and No. 8 seed Thomaz Bellucci. Both players are appearing in their first final in Houston and first ATP World Tour title match in 2017. In their previous meeting in the 2R of the 2016 Australian Open, Johnson defeated Bellucci 63 62 62. Johnson is appearing in his third career ATP World Tour final (1-1). He won his maiden ATP title in Nottingham on grass last June (d. Cuevas) after reaching his first final in Vienna in October 2015 (l. to Ferrer). The 27-year-old Californian has served well to reach the final, winning 91% of service games (32 of 35). This is the ninth time in the 10 years (except 2014) since the U.S. Clay Courts moved to River Oaks, an American will be contesting the final. Johnson will also try to keep Americans perfect in ATP World Tour finals this season (4-0) and he’s looking to become the fourth different American champion, joining Jack Sock (Auckland, Delray Beach), Ryan Harrison (Memphis) and Sam Querrey (Acapulco). Last season Americans were 2-7 in finals on the ATP World Tour. Bellucci has won all four of his matches in three sets to reach his eighth career ATP World Tour final (4-3), the first in the U.S. All four of his titles have come on clay, three in Switzerland and one in Chile. He is facing his fourth American in the tournament (Tiafoe in 1R, Querrey in QF and Escobedo in SF) The 29-year-old Brazilian is the first player to make the final in his Houston debut since Nicolas Almagro in 2013 and the last winner in his debut at River Oaks was Marcel Granollers in 2008. Bellucci is the first Brazilian to reach the U.S. Clay Courts final since Fernando Meligeni won the 1996 title (d. Wilander) when it was held in Pinehurst, N.C.. Both Bellucci and Johnson arrived late into Houston following Davis Cup ties last weekend. Bellucci was 2-0 in singles as Brazil won 5-0 at Ecuador in an Americas tie, while Johnson was part of the winning US doubles team (w/Sock) in a 3-2 World Group quarterfinal loss to Australia in Brisbane. INFOSYS ATP SCORES & STATS: Tournament statistics entering Sunday’s championship match Statistic Steve Johnson Thomaz Bellucci Aces 28 29 1st-Serve Percentage 68% (147 of 217) 57% (201 of 352) 1st-Serve Points Won 80% (118 of 147) 67% (135 of 201) 2nd-Serve Points Won 53% (37 of 70) 59% (89 of 151) Service Games Won 91% (32 of 35) 79% (45 of 57) Break Points Saved 63% (5 of 8) 45% (10 of 22) 1st-Serve Return Points Won 28% (42 of 148) 32% (73 of 226) 2nd-Serve Return Points Won 56% (45 of 80) 52% (71 of 136) Return Games Won 24% (8 of 34) 27% (15 of 56) Break Points Converted 36% (8 of 22) 41% (15 of 37) EMIRATES ATP RANKING POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship Champion Finalist Singles Ranking Points 250 150 Singles Prize Money $95,495 $50,295 Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship Day 7 – Sunday, April 16, 2017 Page 2 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com DAY 7 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – [4] Steve Johnson (USA) vs [8] Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) Johnson Leads 1-0 16 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R64 Steve Johnson 6-3 6-2 6-2 Johnson 2017 Summary SF: Auckland (l Sock); QF(3): Memphis (l Kukushkin); Delray Beach (l Sock); Acapulco (W/O vs Cilic) YTD W-L: 14-7 YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 1 Date of Birth: December 24, 1989 (27) Emirates ATP Ranking: 29 Houston W-L (Best Result-Year): 5-4 Finalist 2017) • Tournament Note: No. 4 American is appearing in his first career ATP World Tour final on clay and after a 1R bye, opened with 76 64 win over Brown and followed with a 62 64 victory over [5] Verdasco and top seed Sock 46 64 63 in SF. Prior to this year, best result was 2R in 2014-15. Has held serve 32 of 35 games (91%) and winning 80% of 1st serve pts. • Last week in Davis Cup QF tie in Brisbane (w/Sock), won five-setter over Groth/Peers • Appearing in his third career ATP World Tour final (1-1). Won maiden ATP title on grass in Nottingham last June (d. Cuevas). Reached first ATP final in October 2015 in Vienna (l. to Ferrer) • Will improve from No. 29 to No. 25 (win or lose) in next week’s Emirates ATP Rankings • In first two ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, reached 3R in Indian Wells (bye, d. Anderson in third set TB in 2R, lost to eventual champion Federer in two TBs) and 2R in Miami (bye, l. to Mahut in three sets) • Best result of season is SF in Auckland where he beat Isner 76 in 3rd, then fell to Olympic bronze medal partner and eventual champion Sock • Reached QFs at Memphis (l. to Kukushkin), Delray Beach (l. to Sock) and Acapulco (d. Isner in 1R, w/o vs Cilic). Did not drop a set en route to Memphis doubles final with 1st-time partner Harrison (l. to Baker/Mektic) • Beat Bellier in singles and Bossel/Laaksonen in doubles w/Sock to help USA defeat SUI 5-0 in Davis Cup 1R • Conceded walkover in Acapulco QF vs Cilic due to right foot injury Bellucci 2017 Summary SF: Quito (l Estrella Burgos) YTD W-L: 10-7 YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 4 Date of Birth: December 30, 1987 (29) Emirates ATP Ranking: 65 Houston W-L (Best Result-Year): 4-0 (Finalist 2017) • Tournament Note: In Houston debut, top Brazilian has posted wins over #NextGenATP star Tiafoe 75 16 62 in 1R, [Q] M. Gonzalez 26 76 62 in 2R, [3] Querrey 64 36 63 in QF and [WC} Escobedo 57 64 62 in SF. his week has won 15 of 56 return games (27%) and has been broken 12 times (45 of 57 games held, 79%), saving 10 of 22 BPs (45%). Trying to become first left-hander to win title at River Oaks since Verdasco in 2014 • Appearing in eighth career ATP World Tour final (4-3), first since runner-up in Quito last year (l. to Estrella Burgos). His last title came in Geneva in May 2015 (d. Sousa). Three of his four titles have come on Swiss clay along with 2009 and 2012 Gstaad. His other title came in 2010 Santiago • Will improve from No. 65 to around No. 52 (and to No. 42 if wins title) in next week’s Emirates ATP Rankings • In first two ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, lost to Herbert in three sets in 1R at Indian Wells and 2R in Miami (d. Robert, l. to Isner) with a 2R in between at Irving, USA Challenger (d. Rosol, l. to Bedene) • Prior to Houston, won both Davis Cup matches vs. Ecuador • Snapped 22-match losing streak vs Top 10 opponents by beating No. 5 Nishikori at Rio de Janeiro (l. to Monteiro in 2R) in February • Fell in 1R at Sydney (l. to Mahut), Australian Open (l. to Tomic) and Sao Paulo (l. to Schwartzman) Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship Day 7 – Sunday, April 16, 2017 Page 3 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP [4] Julio Peralta (CHI)/Horacio Zeballos (ARG) vs First Meeting [WC] Dustin Brown (GER)/Frances Tiafoe (USA) The doubles championship on Sunday features the South American duo of No. 4 seeds Julio Peralta of Chile and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina against the wild card duo playing together for the first time of Dustin Brown of Germany and Frances Tiafoe of the U.S. This is the 11th straight year with at least one American in the US Clay Courts doubles final. • Peralta/Zeballos have dropped only one set en route to the final as they rallied to beat top seeds Bryan/Bryan 36 64 10-8 in the semi-finals • Peralta and Zeballos are playing in their fifth ATP World Tour final (3-1) and their second of 2017 (Quito). They won three ATP titles together in 2016 (Sao Paulo, Gstaad, Metz) and have teamed up for seven Challenger titles. • Peralta has a 3-1 career record in ATP World Tour finals, all coming with Zeballos. He also has 10 Challenger titles • Zeballos has a 6-4 career record in ATP World Tour finals and last August he captured his first title in the U.S. in Atlanta (w/Molteni) • Brown/Tiafoe won their first two matches in a Match Tie-Break, defeating No. 2 seeds Cabal/Farah 63 67 10-5 in 1R and Dutra Silva/Shamasdin 46 61 10-5 in QF. In SFs, they beat Anderson/Querrey 64 64 • Brown has a 2-3 career record in ATP World Tour finals and his titles have come in 2010 Metz and 2012 Casablanca.