MOSELLE OPEN: DAY 6 MEDIA NOTES Saturday, September 26, 2015 Les Arènes de Metz, Metz, France | September 21-27, 2015 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: €439,405 | Surface: Indoor Hard ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.moselle-open.com Stephanie Natal: [email protected] Twitter: @ATPWorldTour @MoselleOpen Press Room: Facebook: facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/moselleopen + 33 368 001 854 SIMON, TSONGA NEARING ALL-FRENCH FINAL AT MOSELLE OPEN DAY 6 PREVIEW: No. 2 seed Gilles Simon and No. 3 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are one win away from an All-French championship match in Metz and a rematch of the 2013 Moselle Open final (won by Simon). First things first, however, they have semi-finals on Saturday to contest. The 2011 and 2012 Metz champion Tsonga is 7-1 against his semi-final opponent Philipp Kohlschreiber, who received a walkover on Friday when World No. 4 Stan Wawrinka withdrew with a right ankle injury. The 2010 and 2013 Metz champion Simon is 2-0 against his semi-final opponent Martin Klizan, who has spent 6 hours, 3 minutes on court this week. Simon, on the other hand, breezed by Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Gilles Muller in a total of 2 hours, 30 minutes. He did it his way, winning a higher percentage of second-serve points (29/38 for 76%) than first-serve points (48/71 for 68%). DAY 6 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play COURT CENTRAL [6] Martin Klizan (SVK) vs [2] Gilles Simon (FRA) Simon Leads 2-0 13 Rotterdam (Netherlands) Hard QF Gilles Simon 6-7(6) 6-3 3-0 ret 15 Roland Garros (France) Clay R64 Gilles Simon 7-5 6-2 6-3 Klizan 2015 FastFacts W: Casablanca (d. Gimeno-Traver); SF: Barcelona (l. to Nishikori); QF (2): Brisbane (l. to Dimitrov); Quito (l. to Estrella Burgos) YTD W-L: 29-22 (15-9 on hard) YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 3 Date of Birth: July 11, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 35 Metz W-L (Best Result): 3-0 (2015 Semi-finalist) • The 26-year-old Slovakian defeated Mathieu 67(1) 63 32 ret. in 1R, Pospisil 64 76(7) in 2R and Garcia- Lopez 46 63 76(4) in QF • Won 3rd career ATP World Tour singles title at Casablanca in April (d. Gimeno-Traver) and 3rd career doubles title at Rio de Janeiro (w/Oswald) in February (d. Andujar/Marach) • Also reached Barcelona SF (l. to No. 5 Nishikori), Brisbane QF (l. to Dimitrov) and Quito QF (l. to Estrella Burgos) • Went 6-0 in singles to lead his country to Davis Cup Europe/Africa wins over Slovenia and Romania, and narrow 3-2 loss to Poland in World Group Play-off • Grand Slam results: Australian Open 2R (l. to Sousa), Roland Garros 2R (l. to Simon), Wimbledon 1R (l. to Verdasco 13-11 in on 5th) and US Open 2R (l. to Chardy) • Enters SF with records of 15-9 on hard, 14-11 on clay, 0-2 on grass and 0-2 vs. Top 10 opponents. On a 4- match losing streak vs. Top 10 opponents overall since beating No. 2 Nadal in 2014 Beijing QF Moselle Open Day 6 – Saturday, September 26, 2015 Page 2 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com Simon 2015 FastFacts W: Marseille (d. Monfils); SF (2): Rotterdam (l. to Berdych); London / Queen's Club (l. to Anderson); QF (4): Montpellier (l. to Janowicz); Bucharest (l. to Gimeno-Traver); Nottingham (l. to Querrey); Wimbledon (l. to Federer) YTD W-L: 36-19 (19-11 on hard) YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 12 Date of Birth: December 27, 1984 Emirates ATP Ranking: 10 Metz W-L (Best Result): 11-4 (2010 & 2013 Champion) • Two-time Moselle Open champion snapped a 4-match losing streak on tour by beating Roger-Vasselin 64 62 in 2R and Muller 64 64 in QF. Has won 11 straight matches and 17 straight sets in Metz • Reached 2nd Grand Slam QF of career at Wimbledon (d. No. 6 Berdych, l. to No. 2 Federer). Also QF at ’09 Australian Open (l. to Nadal) • Advanced to Roland Garros 4R (l. to eventual champ Wawrinka), matching career-best showing in Paris (also 2011 & 2013) • Won All-French final at Marseille over Monfils 7-6 in 3rd, improving to 12-5 lifetime in ATP World Tour finals • Earned 2nd win in 15 tries vs. Murray in Rotterdam QF (l. to No. 7 Berdych in SF) • Represented France in Davis Cup 1R vs. GER (1-1) and QF vs. GBR (1-1) • Enters SF with records of 19-11 on hard, 7-4 on clay, 10-4 on grass and 3-8 vs. Top 10 opponents [5] Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) vs [3] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) Tsonga Leads 7-1 07 Metz (France) Hard R16 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 5-7 7-6(5) 6-3 09 World Team Championship (Germany) Clay RR Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-7(2) 6-3 6-3 10 ATP Masters 1000 Miami (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2 7-5 11 GER vs. FRA WG QF (Germany) Clay RR Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6(3) 7-6(5) 12 ATP Masters 1000 Miami (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4 7-6(2) 12 ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo Clay R32 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2 6-4 12 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass QF Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6(5) 4-6 7-6(3) 6-2 14 ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo Clay R32 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4 1-6 6-4 Kohlschreiber 2015 FastFacts W: Kitzbühel (d. Mathieu); F: Munich (l. to Murray); QF (4): Montpellier (l. to Sousa); Barcelona (l. to Ferrer); Stuttgart (l. to Monfils); Umag (l. to Monfils) YTD W-L: 29-20 (10-9 on hard) YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 6 Date of Birth: October 16, 1983 Emirates ATP Ranking: 33 Metz W-L (Best Result): 12-9 (2009 Runner-Up) • The 2009 Metz finalist beat Millman 76(5) 63 in 1R and Lorenzi 63 63 in 2R. Received walkover from Wawrinka in QF (right ankle) • 31-year-old German captured 6th career ATP World Tour title at Kitzbühel, snapping Thiem's 10-match win streak in SF before beating qualifier Mathieu in final • Led Germany to Davis Cup Play-off win over Dominican Republic by sweeping 9 sets in singles wins over Estrella Burgos and Hernandez-Fernandez and doubles win with Petzschner • Failed to win back-to-back matches at 1st 7 events before Barcelona QF (l. to No. 8 Ferrer) • Followed Barcelona with run to Munich final (l. to No. 2 Murray 7-6 in 3rd) • Reached Stuttgart QF (l. to Monfils) before difficult draws at Halle (l. to No. 2 Federer in 1R) and Wimbledon (l. to No. 1 Djokovic in 1R) • Advanced to Australian Open 2R (l. to Tomic), Roland Garros 2R (l. to Andujar) and US Open 3R (l. to No. 2 Federer) • Enters SF with records of 10-9 on hard, 17-8 on clay, 2-3 on grass and 0-7 vs. Top 10 opponents Moselle Open Day 6 – Saturday, September 26, 2015 Page 3 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com Tsonga 2015 FastFacts SF: Roland Garros (l. to Wawrinka); QF (2): ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Montreal (l. to Murray); US Open (l. to Cilic) YTD W-L: 23-12 (11-5 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 11 Date of Birth: April 17, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 17 Metz W-L (Best Result): 16-3 (2011 & 2012 Champion) • Two-time Metz champion defeated M. Zverev 76(5) 67(8) 63 in 2R and Mahut 67(6) 63 75 in QF • 30-year-old Frenchman missed 1st 11 weeks with an arm injury before season debut at Miami in March • Started season 6-5 prior to reaching Roland Garros SF (d. No. 4 Berdych and No. 5 Nishikori, l. to eventual champ Wawrinka), matching best career result in Paris (also 2013 SF) • Trying to reach first final since winning ATP Masters 1000 Toronto title (d. Federer) in August last year. Has an 11-9 career record in ATP World Tour level finals • Advanced to 2nd US Open QF of career (also 2011), not dropping serve during event until 5-set loss to Cilic • Fell in 3R of Wimbledon (l. to Karlovic) • Lost to No. 3 Murray in Davis Cup QF and ATP Masters 1000 Montreal QF • Enters SF with records of 11-5 on hard, 10-5 on clay, 2-2 on grass and 2-6 vs. Top 10 opponents FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – Potential Finals [6] Martin Klizan (SVK) vs [5] Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) Kohlschreiber Leads 1-0 13 Barcelona (Spain) Clay R16 Philipp Kohlschreiber 1-6 7-6(2) 7-6(5) [6] Martin Klizan (SVK) vs [3] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) Klizan Leads 1-0 12 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R64 Martin Klizan 6-4 1-6 6-1 6-3 [2] Gilles Simon (FRA) vs [5] Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) Simon Leads 4-3 07 Rotterdam (Netherlands) Hard R32 Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3 3-1 ret 07 Dubai (U.A.E.) Hard R32 Gilles Simon 6-4 6-4 09 Rotterdam (Netherlands) Hard R32 Gilles Simon 7-5 7-6(1) 10 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R64 Gilles Simon 4-6 6-3 1-6 6-1 6-3 10 Metz (France) Hard SF Gilles Simon 6-3 6-2 14 Hamburg (Germany) Clay R16 Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-5 6-3 15 GER vs.