BB&T ATLANTA OPEN: PREVIEW & DAY 1 MEDIA NOTES Monday, August 1, 2016 Atlantic Station, Atlanta, GA, USA | August 1-7, 2016 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: $618,030 | Surface: Outdoor Hard ATP World Tour Info Tournament Info ATP PR & Marketing www.ATPWorldTour.com www.BBTAtlantaOpen.com Greg Sharko: [email protected] Twitter: @ATPWorldTour Twitter: @BBTAtlantaOpen Press Room: +1-209-920-7425 Facebook: @ATPWorldTour Facebook: @BBTAtlOpen BB&T ATLANTA OPEN TALKING POINTS TOURNAMENT PREVIEW: With the return of the BB&T Atlanta Open on the ATP World Tour, it’s no surprise to find 6-foot-10 John Isner atop the singles draw. Isner, the three-time defending champion, has played in Atlanta each summer since the event debuted in 2010. The No. 1 American is the No. 1 seed for the fifth consecutive year, coinciding with the tournament’s fifth staging at Atlantic Station. Isner, who led nearby University of Georgia to the 2007 NCAA Team Championship, opted to play in the Peach State this week instead of the Rio Olympics. Isner is on a 12-match winning streak and 20-3 overall in Atlanta. His only three losses came to eventual champions Mardy Fish (2010 and 2011 finals) and Andy Roddick (2012 semi-final) – Americans have swept all six BB&T Atlanta Open titles. Isner has also won his last seven tiebreakers in Atlanta and 13 of 14 overall since the event moved to Atlantic Station in 2012. Other seeds this week include Nick Kyrgios, Kevin Anderson, Donald Young and Taylor Fritz. Making his Atlanta debut, Kyrgios is ranked a career-high No. 18 after starting the season 26-11 with his first title at Marseille. The 6-foot-8 Anderson was the Atlanta runner-up in 2013, edged by Isner in three tiebreakers as part of the tallest ATP World Tour final in history. Young, who lives across the street from Atlantic Station, has lost five straight matches in his hometown. Fritz has secured another milestone in a remarkable rookie season on the ATP World Tour. Ranked No. 675 on this date last year, the 18-year-old is a career-high No. 60 this week and seeded for the first time in his career at No. 8. However, he is 4-11 without back-to-back wins in tour-level matches since reaching the Memphis final and Acapulco quarter-finals in February. ACTIVE PLAYERS WITH 4+ CONSECUTIVE TITLES Novak Djokovic Beijing 2012-15 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals 2012-15 Roger Federer Halle 2003-06 Wimbledon 2003-07 US Open 2004-08 Rafael Nadal ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo 2005-12 Barcelona 2005-09 Roland Garros 2005-08, 2010-14 Kei Nishikori Memphis 2013-16 NOTE: John Isner is bidding for his fourth consecutive Atlanta title. DAY 1 PREVIEW: Six Americans are in action Monday. Tim Smyczek starts the day against lucky loser Thiago Monteiro. Then, 19-year-old wild card Jared Donaldson, who reached the Round of 16 at Toronto last week, meets Sam Groth. A pair of All-American matches follow with Atlanta’s own Donald Young facing qualifier Austin Krajicek and 6-foot-11 wild card Reilly Opelka taking on qualifier Christopher Eubanks. Opelka and Eubanks are both playing for their first ATP singles win. A rising junior at Georgia Tech, Eubanks is one of 15 current or former college tennis players competing this week at the BB&T Atlanta Open (see chart on page 2). BB&T Atlanta Open Day 1 – Monday, August 1, 2016 Page 2 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com COLLEGE TENNIS PLAYERS IN ATLANTA DRAWS Kevin Anderson (RSA) S Illinois (2005-07) Johan Brunstrom (SWE) D Southern Methodist (2001-04) Eric Butorac (USA) D Ball State (2000), Gustavus Adolphus (2001-03) Christopher Eubanks (USA) S/D Georgia Tech (2015-Present) John Isner (USA) S Georgia (2004-07) Zack Kennedy (USA) D Clemson (2014), Georgia State (2015-Present) Austin Krajicek (USA) S Texas A&M (2008-11) Robert Lindstedt (SWE) D Fresno State (1997), Pepperdine (1998) Nicholas Monroe (USA) D North Carolina (2001-04) Purav Raja (IND) D Loyola Marymount (Fall 2004) Adil Shamasdin (CAN) D Brown (2002-05) Andreas Siljestrom (SWE) D Middle Tennessee State (2004-07) Ken Skupski (GBR) D Louisiana State (2004-07) Austin Smith (USA) S Georgia (2013-16) John-Patrick Smith (AUS) S Tennessee (2008-11) NOTE: Years in parentheses reflect spring seasons unless otherwise noted. EMIRATES ATP RANKING POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY BB&T Atlanta Open W F SF QF R16 R32 Singles Ranking Points 250 150 90 45 20* 0 Singles Prize Money ($) 109,950 57,910 31,370 17,875 10,530 6,240 Doubles Ranking Points 250 150 90 45 0 --- Doubles Prize Money ($) 33,400 17,560 9,520 5,440 3,190 --- * Singles players who receive first-round byes and lose in the second round earn 0 points. WHO TO WATCH THIS WEEK SINGLES SEED PLAYER W-L BEST FINISH 1 John Isner (USA) 20-3 2013-15 Champion 2 Nick Kyrgios (AUS) 0-0 Debuting 3 Kevin Anderson (RSA) 8-5 2013 Runner-up 4 Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) 0-1 2015 Round of 32 5 Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 0-0 Debuting 6 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 0-0 Debuting 7 Donald Young (USA) 1-5 2010 Round of 16 8 Taylor Fritz (USA) 0-0 Debuting QUALIFIERS (4) OLDEST PLAYER YOUNGEST PLAYER Christopher Eubanks (USA) Julien Benneteau (FRA) Taylor Fritz (USA) Austin Krajicek (USA) 34 years, 7 months 18 years, 9 months John-Patrick Smith (AUS) Mischa Zverev (GER) TOP COUNTRY BREAKDOWN United States 10, Australia 3, France 2, Spain 2, Ukraine 2 WILD CARDS (3) Jared Donaldson (USA) Reilly Opelka (USA) Austin Smith (USA) BB&T Atlanta Open Day 1 – Monday, August 1, 2016 Page 3 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com DOUBLES SEED TEAM W-L BEST FINISH Dodig: 1-1 Dodig: 2013 Quarter-finalist 1 Ivan Dodig/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi Qureshi: 0-0 Qureshi: Debuting Lindstedt: 0-0 Lindstedt: Debuting 2 Robert Lindstedt/Mate Pavic Pavic: 0-1 Pavic: 2015 Round of 16 Butorac: 2-1 Butorac: 2015 Semi-finalist 3 Eric Butorac/Sam Groth Groth: 0-1 Groth: 2015 Round of 16 Erlich: 3-4 Erlich: 2013 Semi-finalist 4 Jonathan Erlich/Mariusz Fyrstenberg Fyrstenberg: 0-0 Fyrstenberg: Debuting PAST FINALISTS SINGLES YEAR CHAMPION RUNNER-UP SCORE 2015 John Isner (USA) Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) 6-3, 6-3 2014 John Isner (USA) Dudi Sela (ISR) 6-3, 6-4 2013 John Isner (USA) Kevin Anderson (RSA) 6-7(3), 7-6(2), 7-6(2) 2012 Andy Roddick (USA) Gilles Muller (LUX) 1-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 2011 Mardy Fish (USA) John Isner (USA) 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-2 2010 Mardy Fish (USA) John Isner (USA) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) BOLD: Players in 2016 singles draw DOUBLES YEAR CHAMPION RUNNER-UP SCORE 2015 Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan Colin Fleming/Gilles Muller 4-6, 7-6(2), [10-4] 2014 Vasek Pospisil/Jack Sock Steve Johnson/Sam Querrey 6-3, 5-7, [10-5] 2013 Edouard Roger-Vasselin/Igor Sijsling Colin Fleming/Jonathan Marray 7-6(6), 6-3 2012 Matthew Ebden/Ryan Harrison Xavier Malisse/Michael Russell 6-3, 3-6, [10-6] 2011 Alex Bogomolov Jr./Matthew Ebden Matthias Bachinger/Frank Moser 3-6, 7-5, [10-8] 2010 Scott Lipsky/Rajeev Ram Rohan Bopanna/Kristof Vliegen 6-3, 6-7(4), [12-10] BOLD: Players in 2016 doubles draw BB&T Atlanta Open Day 1 – Monday, August 1, 2016 Page 4 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS: DAY 1 FIRST-ROUND MATCHES Stadium Court [LL] Thiago Monteiro (BRA) vs Tim Smyczek (USA) First Meeting Monteiro 2016 FastFacts QF (2): São Paulo (l. to Cuevas); Gstaad (l. to Haase) YTD W-L: 6-4 (0-0 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: May 31, 1994 Emirates ATP Ranking: 101 (Career-High) Atlanta W-L (Best Result): 0-0 (Debuting in Main Draw) • Tournament Note: Fell in final round of qualifying to Eubanks and entered main draw when Ram withdrew • Defeated 3-time champion Almagro en route to 1st ATP World Tour QF of career at São Paulo as WC (l. to Cuevas) • Also advanced to Gstaad QF as Q (d. Simon, l. to Haase) and Hamburg 2R as Q (l. to Cuevas) • Made winning ATP debut as 338th-ranked WC at Rio de Janeiro (d. No. 9 Tsonga in 1R, l. to Cuevas in 2R) • Lowest-ranked man to beat a Top 10 player since No. 388 Olivetti beat No. 8 Fish at 2012 Marseille • Achieved career-high No. 101 in Emirates ATP Rankings on August 1 • Captured 1st ATP Challenger Tour title in 1st final at Aix En Provence, FRA (d. Berlocq in 3 sets) • Also reached Challenger final at Lyon, FRA (l. to Darcis in 3 sets) Smyczek 2016 FastFacts QF (2): Delray Beach (l. to Querrey); Houston (l. to Lopez) YTD W-L: 7-8 (5-7 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: December 30, 1987 Emirates ATP Ranking: 116 Atlanta W-L (Best Result): 1-3 (2014 Round of 16) • Tournament Note: Beat Harrison 60 62 to reach 2R in 2014 (l. to Matosevic). Qualified in 2013 with win over Young • Received WCs and reached QFs at Delray Beach (d. Young, l. to Querrey) and Houston (d. Young, l. to Lopez) • Qualified at Australian Open (l. to Troicki in 2R), ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l. to del Potro in 1R), ATP Masters 1000 Miami (l.