BARCELONA OPEN BANCSABADELL: DAY 6 MEDIA NOTES Saturday, April 23, 2016 Real Club de Tenis Barcelona 1899, Barcelona, Spain | April 18-24, 2016 Draw: S-48, D-16 | Prize Money: €2,152,690 | Surface: Clay ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.barcelonaopenbancsabadell.com Maria Garcia-Planas: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour @bcnopenbs Nanette Duxin: [email protected] facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/barcelonaopenbancsabadell Press Room: +34 93 2052365 TOP TWO SEEDS NADAL, NISHIKORI, JOINED BY KOHLSCHREIBER, PAIRE SEMI-FINALS PREVIEW: The top two seeds Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori, who have accounted for 10 of the past 11 tournament titles since 2005 (except 2010), headline Saturday’s semi-finals at the Barcelona Open BancSabadell. In the opening match, Nishikori takes on wild card/No. 6 seed Benoit Paire and Nadal follows against No. 10 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber. Nishikori and Paire meet for the fifth time (tied 2-2) and the Frenchman won the last two meetings last year at the US Open and in Tokyo. In their lone clay court meeting, Nishikori won in four sets in the 3R at Roland Garros in 2013. Nishikori enters on a 13-match Barcelona winning streak and he leads the tournament this week in service games won, holding 27 of 29 games (93%). Paire is making his third semi-final showing of the season and he’s attempting to reach his fifth career ATP World Tour final (1-3). The 26-year-old wild card is trying to become the first Frenchman to reach the Barcelona final since Thierry Tulasne won the title in 1985 (d. Wilander). Nadal brings an 11-1 career head-to-head record (4-0 on clay) against Kohlschreiber, who won the only time against the Spaniard on grass in Halle in 2012. Nadal is making his ninth semi-final showing in Barcelona and he’s never lost in this round or in the final (8-0). The 29-year-old Spaniard is trying to reach his third final of the season (1-1) and he enters with an eight-match winning streak after capturing his ninth crown at ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo last Sunday. He is attempting to reach his 101st career final (68-32) and earn his 48th career title on clay, tying Open Era leader Guillermo Vilas. Kohlschreiber is facing his 100th career Top 10 opponent (22-77) and the top German is eyeing his 14th career ATP World Tour final (6-7). The last German to reach the Barcelona final was Andreas Maurer in 1986 (l. to Carlsson). In the doubles semi-finals, the lone seeded team remaining is No. 2 Bob and Mike Bryan. They take on Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi. In the other semi-final, Pablo Cuevas and Marcel Granollers meet Feliciano and Marc Lopez. SEMI-FINAL FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play [6/WC] Benoit Paire (FRA) vs [2] Kei Nishikori (JPN) Series Tied 2-2 12 ATP Masters 1000 Paris (France) Hard R32 Kei Nishikori 7-6(2) 6-2 13 Roland Garros (France) Clay R32 Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-7(3) 6-4 6-1 15 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R128 Benoit Paire 6-4 3-6 4-6 7-6(6) 6-4 15 Tokyo (Japan) Hard SF Benoit Paire 1-6 6-4 6-2 Paire 2016 FastFacts SF (2): Chennai (l. to Wawrinka); Marseille (l. to Cilic) YTD W-L: 12-11 (5-3 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 1 Date of Birth: May 8, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 22 Barcelona W-L (Best Result): 8-5 (2016 Semi-finalist) Barcelona Open BancSabadell Day 6 – Saturday, April 23, 2016 Page 2 of 4 www.ATPWorldTour.com • Tournament Note: Wild card defeated Gabashvili 62 75 in 2R, [9] Cuevas 62 64 in 3R and Jaziri 36 75 61 in QF • Appearing in third SF after Chennai (l. to No. 4 Wawrinka) and Marseille (d. No. 4 Wawrinka, l. to Cilic) • Achieved career-high No. 18 in Emirates ATP Rankings on January 11 • Saved 1 MP to beat Cervantes 76 in 3rd of ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo 1R (l. to No. 2 Murray in 3R) • Upset in Australian Open 1R by No. 328 Rubin 76(4) 76(6) 76(5) • Trying to reach fifth career ATP World Tour final (1-3) and lone title came in Bastad last July (d. Robredo) • Reached Chennai doubles final with 1st-time partner Krajicek (l. to Marach/Martin) • Has a 5-20 career record vs. Top 10 opponents (1-7 on clay and lone win came over No. 7 del Potro at ’13 ATP Masters 1000 Rome 3R) Nishikori 2016 FastFacts W: Memphis (d. Fritz); F: ATP Masters 1000 Miami (l. to Djokovic); QF (3): Brisbane (l. to Tomic); Australian Open (l. to Djokovic); ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l. to Nadal) YTD W-L: 22-6 (3-0 on clay) YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 11 Date of Birth: December 29, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 6 Barcelona W-L (Best Result): 18-3 (2014-15 Champion) • Tournament Note: Beat de Bakker 64 62 in 2R, [13] Chardy 63 75 in 3R and [11] Dolgopolov 75 60 to extend Barcelona winning streak to 13. Leads tournament in service games won (27 of 29, 93%) and second serve pts. won (61%) and No. 4 in first serve pts. won (76%) • Trying to reach 18th career ATP World Tour level final (11-6) and third this season (1-1) • Captured 4th straight Memphis title and extended win streak at event to 17 matches (d. Fritz) • Saved 5 MPs to beat Monfils en route to 2nd ATP Masters 1000 final of career at Miami (l. to No. 1 Djokovic) • Also saved 1 MP to defeat Isner 76 in 3rd before falling to No. 5 Nadal in ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells QF • Advanced to 3rd Australian Open QF of career (d. No. 10 Tsonga, l. to No. 1 Djokovic) • Beat Evans before falling to No. 2 Murray in 5 sets, snapping 12-match Davis Cup win streak (GBR d. JPN 3-1) [1] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs [10] Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) Nadal Leads 11-1 07 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R64 Rafael Nadal 7-5 6-3 4-6 6-2 07 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (Monaco) Clay QF Rafael Nadal 6-2 6-3 07 Stuttgart (Germany) Clay R16 Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-3 08 Dubai (U.A.E.) Hard R32 Rafael Nadal 3-6 6-1 6-4 10 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R32 Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-2 2-6 7-5 10 ATP Masters 1000 Rome (Italy) Clay R32 Rafael Nadal 6-1 6-3 10 ATP Masters 1000 Toronto (Canada) Hard QF Rafael Nadal 3-6 6-3 6-4 12 Doha (Qatar) Hard R32 Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-7(2) 6-3 12 Halle (Germany) Grass QF Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3 6-4 13 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (Monaco) Clay R16 Rafael Nadal 6-2 6-4 13 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) 6-4 6-3 6-1 13 Beijing (China) Hard R16 Rafael Nadal 6-4 7-6(3) Other meeting: 02 Spain F15 (Barcelona) Clay QF Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-7(5) 6-2 Rafael Nadal Philipp Kohlschreiber Sets Won: 25 8 Tiebreak Sets Won: 1 2 Match Wins By Surface: Clay: 4 0 Hard: 7 0 Grass: 0 1 Nadal 2016 FastFacts W: ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo (d. Monfils); F: Doha (l. to Djokovic); SF (3): Buenos Aires (l. to Thiem); Rio de Janeiro (l. to Cuevas); ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l. to Djokovic) YTD W-L: 20-6 (12-2 on clay) YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 68 Date of Birth: June 3, 1986 Emirates ATP Ranking: 5 Barcelona W-L (Best Result): 46-3 (2005-09, 2011-13 Champion) Barcelona Open BancSabadell Day 6 – Saturday, April 23, 2016 Page 3 of 4 www.ATPWorldTour.com • Tournament Note: Eight-time champion beat Granollers 63 62 in 2R, [WC] Montañes 62 62 in 3R and No. 12 Fognini 62 76(1) in QF. Appearing in ninth SF in Barcelona and has never lost in this round or in final (8-0). Leads tournament this week in return games won (14 of 26, 54%) & first serve pct. (74%). Has held 22 of 27 games (81%) • Captured record-extending 9th Monte-Carlo title and record-tying 28th ATP Masters 1000 title overall. Beat Bedene, Thiem, No. 4 Wawrinka, No. 2 Murray and Monfils at Monte-Carlo for 68th title in 100th final • Reached 99th career final to start season in Doha (l. to No. 1 Djokovic) • Saved 1 MP to defeat A. Zverev en route to ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells SF (l. to No. 1 Djokovic) • Lost to eventual champs in SFs at Buenos Aires (l. to Thiem after holding 1 MP) and Rio de Janeiro (l. to Cuevas) • Suffered 2nd Grand Slam 1R loss of career at Australian Open vs. Verdasco in 4h41m, 5-set marathon • Retired with illness while trailing Dzumhur 26 64 30 in ATP Masters 1000 Miami 2R CLAY COURT TITLES LIST: Nadal is No. 2 in the Open Era clay court titles list: 1. Guillermo Vilas 49 2. Rafael Nadal 48 3. Thomas Muster 40 T4. Bjorn Borg 30 T4. Manuel Orantes 30 100 FINALS CLUB: Nadal is the sixth player in the Open Era (since 1968) to appear in at least 100 ATP World Tour level singles finals: No. (Titles-Finalist) 1.