SKISTAR SWEDISH OPEN: PREVIEW & DAY 1 MEDIA NOTES Monday, July 11, 2016 Båstad Tennis Stadium, Båstad, Sweden | July 11-17, 2016 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: €463,520 | Surface: Clay ATP World Tour Info Tournament Info ATP PR & Marketing www.ATPWorldTour.com men.swedishopen.org Mark Epps: [email protected] Twitter: @ATPWorldTour Twitter: @Swedish_Open Press Room: +46 734 336806 Facebook: @ATPWorldTour Facebook: @SwedishOpen SKISTAR SWEDISH OPEN TALKING POINTS TOURNAMENT PREVIEW: World No. 13 and two-time champion David Ferrer leads the 28- player field at the SkiStar Swedish Open. Ferrer has yet to appear in an ATP World Tour final in 2016, his longest drought to start a season since 2006. He is making his ninth appearance in Båstad, where he is 19-6 with two titles (2007, 2012) in three finals (2011). The 34-year-old Spaniard is trying to extend his ATP title streak to seven consecutive years (since 2010). Half of the seeds are Spaniards, led by Ferrer. The others are No. 3 Albert Ramos-Viñolas, No. 4 Marcel Granollers and No. 5 Fernando Verdasco. All three have posted strong results on clay this season: Ramos-Viñolas advanced to his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland Garros (d. No. 9 Raonic, l. to No. 4 Wawrinka), Granollers reached the ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo quarter-finals and Verdasco won his seventh ATP World Tour title at Bucharest. Ramos-Viñolas is on pace to post the most ATP World Tour wins of his career this year. In 2012, he won a personal-best 25 matches. The 28-year-old Spaniard comes into Båstad with a 20-19 match record on the season (14-12 on clay). He reached a career-high No. 32 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on June 6 following his Roland Garros run. The No. 2 seed is Joao Sousa of Portugal, who advanced to the final in Båstad two years ago. Sousa, who reached a career-high No. 28 on May 16, is the top Portuguese player in the history of the Emirates ATP Rankings. After a 5-13 start to 2016, Sousa is 10-7 since April, reaching the Nice semi-finals and ATP Masters 100 Madrid quarter-finals. Both he and Ramos-Viñolas made a smooth transition to grass and advanced to the third round at Wimbledon. One of four Swedes in the Båstad singles draw, Elias Ymer is looking for his first tour-level win of the season (0-4). Ymer has compiled an 18-8 match record with one title on the ATP Challenger Tour. The 20-year-old Stockholm resident reached a career-high No. 118 on May 23. Another member of the ATP World Tour’s ‘Next Generation,’ Karen Khachanov, is making his Båstad debut. The 20-year-old Russian reached a career-high No. 96 on June 13. The Moscow native is 3-3 on the ATP World Tour this season and 24-9 in Challengers with one title. DAY 1 PREVIEW: Main draw play begins and qualifying concludes at the SkiStar Swedish Open on Monday. Three main draw singles matches are scheduled on Centre Court, beginning with an All-Russian affair between No. 8 seed Evgeny Donskoy and ‘Next Generation’ player Karen Khachanov. Swedish wild card Isak Arvidsson follows in his ATP World Tour debut against No. 6 seed Aljaz Bedene. Arvidsson lost in qualifying at both Båstad and Stockholm in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. He is also 0-6 in Davis Cup singles play. In the final match on Centre Court, Jurgen Zopp of Estonia seeks his first tour-level win since 2014 Roland Garros. Zopp meets Facundo Bagnis of Argentina, who has won three ATP Challenger Tour titles in 2016. SkiStar Swedish Open Day 1 – Monday, July 11, 2016 Page 2 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com EMIRATES ATP RANKING POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY SkiStar Swedish Open W F SF QF R16 R32 Singles Ranking Points 250 150 90 45 20* 0 Singles Prize Money (€) 82,450 43,430 23,525 13,400 7,900 4,680 Doubles Ranking Points 250 150 90 45 0 --- Doubles Prize Money (€) 25,070 13,170 7,140 4,080 2,390 --- * 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 David Ferrer (ESP) 19-6 2007, 2012 Champion 2 Joao Sousa (POR) 4-1 2014 Runner-up 3 Albert Ramos-Viñolas (ESP) 5-4 2012-13 Quarter-finalist 4 Marcel Granollers (ESP) 0-3 2008-10 Round of 32 5 Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 12-8 2013 Runner-up 6 Aljaz Bedene (GBR) 0-0 2016 Debut 7 Horacio Zeballos (ARG) 0-2 2012-13 Round of 32 8 Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) 0-0 2016 Debut QUALIFIERS (4) OLDEST PLAYER YOUNGEST PLAYER TBD on Monday Michael Berrer (GER) Carl Soderlund (SWE) 36 years, 0 months 19 years, 1 month WILD CARDS (3) Isak Arvidsson (SWE) TOP COUNTRY BREAKDOWN Fred Simonsson (SWE) Spain (7), Sweden (4), Argentina (3) Carl Soderlund (SWE) DOUBLES SEED TEAM W-L BEST FINISH Lindstedt: 18-9 Lindstedt: 2010-12 Champion 1 Robert Lindstedt/Andre Sa Sa: 2-1 Sa: 2011 Semi-finalist Granollers: 2-3 Granollers: 2009-10 Quarter-finalist 2 Marcel Granollers/David Marrero Marrero: 4-3 Marrero: 2014 Semi-finalist Monroe: 10-1 Monroe: 2013-14 Champion 3 Nicholas Monroe/Artem Sitak Sitak: 2-1 Sitak: 2015 Semi-finalist Daniell: 0-0 Daniell: 2016 Debut 4 Marcus Daniell/Marcelo Demoliner Demoliner: 0-0 Demoliner: 2016 Debut SkiStar Swedish Open Day 1 – Monday, July 11, 2016 Page 3 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com PAST FINALISTS SINGLES (since 2005) YEAR CHAMPION RUNNER-UP SCORE 2015 Benoit Paire (FRA) Tommy Robredo (ESP) 7-6(7), 6-3 2014 Pablo Cuevas (URU) Joao Sousa (POR) 6-2, 6-1 2013 Carlos Berlocq (ARG) Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 7-5, 6-1 2012 David Ferrer (ESP) Nicolas Almagro (ESP) 6-2, 6-2 2011 Robin Soderling (SWE) David Ferrer (ESP) 6-2, 6-2 2010 Nicolas Almagro (ESP) Robin Soderling (SWE) 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 2009 Robin Soderling (SWE) Juan Monaco (ARG) 6-3, 7-6(4) 2008 Tommy Robredo (ESP) Tomas Berdych (CZE) 6-4, 6-1 2007 David Ferrer (ESP) Nicolas Almagro (ESP) 6-1, 6-2 2006 Tommy Robredo (ESP) Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) 6-2, 6-1 2005 Rafael Nadal (ESP) Tomas Berdych (CZE) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 BOLD: Players in 2016 singles draw DOUBLES (since 2005) YEAR CHAMPION RUNNER-UP SCORE 2015 Jeremy Chardy/Lukasz Kubot Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah 6-7(6), 6-3, [10-8] 2014 Johan Brunstrom/Nicholas Monroe Jeremy Chardy/Oliver Marach 4-6, 7-6(5), [10-7] 2013 Nicholas Monroe/Simon Stadler Carlos Berlocq/Albert Ramos-Viñolas 6-2, 3-6, [10-3] 2012 Robert Lindstedt/Horia Tecau Alexander Peya/Bruno Soares 6-3, 7-6(5) 2011 Robert Lindstedt/Horia Tecau Simon Aspelin/Andreas Siljestrom 6-3, 6-3 2010 Robert Lindstedt/Horia Tecau Andreas Seppi/Simone Vagnozzi 6-4, 7-5 2009 Jaroslav Levinsky/Filip Polasek Robert Lindstedt/Robin Soderling 1-6, 6-3, [10-7] 2008 Jonas Bjorkman/Robin Soderling Johan Brunstrom/Jean-Julien Rojer 6-2, 6-2 2007 Simon Aspelin/Julian Knowle Martin Garcia/Sebastian Prieto 6-2, 6-4 2006 Jonas Bjorkman/Thomas Johansson Christopher Kas/Oliver Marach 6-3, 4-6, [10-4] 2005 Jonas Bjorkman/Joachim Johansson Jose Acasuso/Sebastian Prieto 6-2, 6-3 BOLD: Players in 2016 doubles draw FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS: DAY 1 MAIN DRAW FIRST-ROUND MATCHES Centre Court Karen Khachanov (RUS) vs [8] Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) First ATP Meeting Other Meeting: 15 Moscow CH (Russia) Clay R16 Evgeny Donskoy 6-3 7-6(1) Khachanov 2016 FastFacts YTD W-L: 3-3 (3-2 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: May 21, 1996 Emirates ATP Ranking: 104 Båstad W-L (Best Result): 0-0 (2016 Debut) • Qualified and advanced to 3R at Barcelona, saving 1 MP vs. Bedene, then beating Bautista Agut (l. to Dolgopolov) • Beat Bedene in 3 sets again to reach Istanbul 2R • Broke into Top 100 on June 6 and achieved career-high No. 96 in Emirates ATP Rankings on June 13 • Captured 2nd Challenger title at Samarkand, UZB (d. Ramirez Hidalgo, who is 18+ years older) • Reached Challenger final at Jonkoping, SWE (d. Krajinovic and Struff, l. to Golubev after holding 4 MPs) • Fell in qualifying at Australian Open, Montpellier, Marseille, Monte-Carlo, Roland Garros and Wimbledon SkiStar Swedish Open Day 1 – Monday, July 11, 2016 Page 4 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com Donskoy 2016 FastFacts YTD W-L: 3-13 (1-5 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: May 9, 1990 Emirates ATP Ranking: 79 Båstad W-L (Best Result): 0-0 (2016 Debut) • Started season 3-13 on tour with wins over Cervantes at Aus. Open, Bagnis at Barcelona and Kudla at Nottingham • Held at least 1 MP and lost in Chennai 1R vs. Ebden, Rotterdam 1R vs. Chardy and Barcelona 2R vs. Dolgopolov • Qualified at Geneva (l. to Ram in 1R) • Beat Berankis to capture 8th ATP Challenger Tour title at Raanana, ISR • Clinched Russia’s win vs. Sweden w/Kravchuk in Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I (d. Brunstrom/Lindstedt) • Retired vs. Kukushkin in Munich 1R due to hip injury [WC] Isak Arvidsson (SWE) vs [6] Aljaz Bedene (GBR) First Meeting Arvidsson 2016 FastFacts YTD W-L: 0-2 (0-0 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: August 6, 1992 Emirates ATP Ranking: 507 Båstad W-L (Best Result): 0-0 (2016 Main Draw Debut) • Tournament Note: Lost in qualifying at both Båstad and Stockholm in 2012-15 • Defeated No.