OPEN SUD DE FRANCE: DAY 6 MEDIA NOTES Saturday, February 6, 2016 The Parks & Suites Arena, Montpellier, France | February 1 –7, 2016 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: € 520,070| Surface: Indoor Hard ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.opensuddefrance.com Stephanie Natal: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour @OpenSuddeFrance Press Room: +33 (0)4 67 17 68 33 facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/opensuddefrance TWO FRENCHMEN AND GERMANS MEET IN SEMI-FINAL ACTION SEMI-FINAL MATCHES – The semi-finals on Saturday feature two Frenchmen and two Germans. The top seed/defending champion Richard Gasquet of France faces German qualifier Dustin Brown, who is the first qualifier to reach the semi-finals here, while Gasquet’s countrymen Paul-Henri Mathieu takes on the German teenager Alexander Zverev. The first semi-final features a first time meeting on the ATP World Tour between the oldest and youngest players left in the draw. The 34-year-old Mathieu is appearing in his 22nd career ATP World Tour semi- final (9-12 mark) and is looking to reach his 10th career ATP World Tour final (4-5 record); while the 18- year-old Zverev is appearing in his third career ATP World Tour semi-final (0-2 mark) and is looking to reach his first career ATP World Tour final. Zverev is attempting to become the first teenager to win a title on the ATP World Tour since Marin Cilic (19) won 2008 New Haven. The second semi-final is a first time meeting between world No. 10 Gasquet and Brown. The 29-year- old Frenchman comes into the semi-finals with a 15-3 career record in Montpellier. He is attempting to reach his 25th career ATP World Tour final (12-12 mark) and first final since winning at Estoril (d. Kyrgios) last May. The 31-year-old German qualifier is appearing in his first career ATP World Tour semi-final. He has a career 3-8 record against Top 10 opponents, with wins over No. 10 Rafael Nadal last year in 2R at Wimbledon, No. 1 Nadal at 2014 Halle and No. 9 John Isner at 2014 Houston. DAY 6 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play Centre Court Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) vs Alexander Zverev (GER) First ATP Meeting Other meetings 14 Braunschweig CH (Germany) Clay F Alexander Zverev 1-6 6-1 6-4 14 St. Remy CH (France) Hard R32 Alexander Zverev 6-4 6-2 15 Aix en Provence CH (France) Clay SF Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4 4-6 7-5 Mathieu 2016 FastFacts: YTD W-L: 4-2 (4-2 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 4 Date of Birth: January 12, 1982 Emirates ATP Ranking: 93 Montpellier W-L (Best Result): 6-4 (SF in 2016) • The 34-year-old Frenchman, oldest player left in the draw, is appearing in his first semi-final of the year • Attempting to reach his 10th career ATP World Tour final (4-5 mark) and first since reaching the finals last year at Kitzbuhel (l. to Kohlschreiber) • This week No. 3 in service games won (32 of 35, 91%), No. 4 in Aces (22) and 2nd serve points won (47 of 81, 58%) • In opening month of season, reached 2R in Doha (l. to Chardy) and lost in 1R at Australian Open (l. to Garcia-Lopez) • In 2015, Frenchman finished in Top 100 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 11th time in his career at No. 95 • Qualified at Rotterdam, Casablanca, London/Queen's Club, Båstad, US Open and Kitzbühel, where he reached his 1st final in 6+ years (l. to Kohlschreiber) Open Sud de France Day 6 – Saturday, February 6, 2016 Page 2 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com • Fell in 1R at Australian Open (l. to Kohlschreiber), Roland Garros (l. to No. 5 Nishikori) and US Open (l. to Nishioka in 5 sets) • Lost in final round of qualifying at Wimbledon (l. to Sijsling 75 in 5th) • Posted 19-10 record on ATP Challenger Tour, reaching finals at Aix en Provence, FRA (l. to Haase) and Braunchweig, GER (l. to Krajinovic) Zverev 2016 FastFacts: YTD W-L: 3-1 (3-1 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: April 20, 1997 Emirates ATP Ranking: 85 Montpellier W-L (Best Result): 3-0 (SF in 2016) • The youngest player in the draw (18) is playing in his second tournament of the season. Lost to eventual finalist Andy Murray 61 62 63 in 1R at Australian Open • Appearing in his third career ATP World Tour SF (0-2 record) – reached SF at 2014 Hamburg (l. to Ferrer) and 2015 Bastad (l. to Robredo) • This week No. 2 in Aces (25), No. 3 in break points saved (20 of 34, 85%) and No. 5 in service games won (40 of 45, 89%) • In 2015, German finished as youngest player in year-end Top 100 of Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 83 • Achieved career-high No. 74 on June 29 after reaching Nottingham 3R (d. Bellucci, l. to Baghdatis) • Broke into Top 100 on May 18 following Heilbronn, GER Challenger title (d. Pella) • Earned 1st career Grand Slam main draw win at Wimbledon (d. Gabashvili 9-7 in 5th, l. to Kudla in 2R) • Reached Båstad SF (l. to Robredo) and Washington QF (d. Anderson, l. to No. 8 Cilic), becoming youngest D.C. quarter-finalist since Roddick in 2000 • Qualified at Marseille, ATP Masters 1000 Miami, ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati and US Open, where he lost to countryman Kohlschreiber in 5-set 1R match • Fell in Australian Open and Roland Garros qualifying • In doubles, reached 1st ATP final with older brother Mischa at Munich (d. J. Murray/Peers in QF, l. to Peya/Soares [1] Richard Gasquet (FRA) vs [Q] Dustin Brown (GER) First Meeting Gasquet 2016 FastFacts: YTD W-L: 2-0 (2-0 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 12 Date of Birth: June 18, 1986 Emirates ATP Ranking: 10 Montpellier W-L (Best Result): 15-3 (Winner in 2013, ‘15) • The 29-year-old Frenchman comes into the semi-finals with a 15-3 career record in Montpellier, having won the title in two of the previous three years while reaching the final in ’14 (l. to Monfils) • On Wednesday, returned to ATP World Tour from a back injury which kept him out in first month and defeated Ernests Gulbis 64 64 and followed with a 64 64 win over Marcos Baghdatis • Attempting to reach his 25th career ATP World Tour final (12-12 mark) and first final since winning at Estoril (d. Kyrgios) last May • This week No. 1 in service games won (19 of 20, 95%), No. 2 in 2nd serve points won (26 of 42, 62%) and No. 4 in 1st serve points won (59 of 76, 78%) • In 2015, Frenchman finished in Top 10 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 4th time at No. 9 • Improved to 12-12 lifetime in ATP World Tour finals by winning titles at Montpellier (d. Janowicz) and Estoril (d. Kyrgios) • Tied with Simon and Tsonga for 2nd-most titles won by Frenchman in Open Era behind Noah’s 23 • Enjoyed 2nd Wimbledon SF run of career (also 2007) by winning QF over No. 4 Wawrinka 11-9 in 5th (l. to No. 1 Djokovic). • Reached Roland Garros 4R (l. to Djokovic), matching best result in Paris (also 2011-13) • Advanced to US Open QF (d. No. 6 Berdych, l. to No. 2 Federer) and Australian Open 3R (l. to Anderson) • In 3-week stretch during fall, advanced to Stockholm SF (l. to Sock), saved 1 MP to beat Karlovic and reach Basel SF (l. to No. 7 Nadal), and made run to ATP Masters 1000 Paris QF (d. No. 7 Nishikori, l. to No. 3 Murray) Open Sud de France Day 6 – Saturday, February 6, 2016 Page 3 of 3 www.ATPWorldTour.com • Enjoyed 400th career victory in London/Queen’s Club 1R (d. Bolelli) • Owns 21-6 record against fellow Frenchmen since 2010 US Open (6 straight wins) • Withdrew from ATP Masters 1000 events at Miami (back), Monte-Carlo (back) and Montreal (illness) Brown 2016 FastFacts: YTD W-L: 3-1 (3-1 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: December 8, 1984 Emirates ATP Ranking: 133 Montpellier W-L (Best Result): 4-2 (SF in 2016) • The 31-year-old German qualifier is appearing in his first career ATP World Tour semi-final after posting wins over Steve Darcis 75 75 with 21 aces, No. 3 seed Gilles Simon 64 64 with 10 aces and followed with a 63 63 win over Ruben Bemelmans • This week No. 1 in aces (35) and break points saved (16 of 18, 89%), No. 2 in service game won (29 of 31, 94%) • In opening month of season, qualified in Doha and reached 2R (l. to eventual champion Djokovic) and followed with 1R qualifying loss at Australian Open (l. to Novak) • In 2015, German finished in Top 200 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 7th straight season at No. 118 • Qualified and reached 3R at Wimbledon after upsetting 2-time champion No. 10 Nadal in 2R (l. to Troicki) • Also qualified at Munich (l. to Bolelli in 1R) and Stuttgart (l. to Janowicz in 1R) • Fell to 0-8 in ATP World Tour QFs with losses at Doha (l. to No. 10 Ferrer) and Newport (l. to Karlovic) • Nearly knocked off No. 4 Wawrinka in Metz 2R, losing 76 in 3rd • Twelve years after representing JAM in Davis Cup, made GER Davis Cup debut in 4-1 Play-off win over DOM (l.