J. SAFRA SARASIN SWISS OPEN GSTAAD: DAY 5 MEDIA NOTES Friday, July 22, 2016 Roy Emerson Arena, Gstaad, Switzerland | July 18 – 24, 2016 Draw: S-28, D-16 | Prize Money: €463,520 | Surface: Clay ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com http://www.jsafrasarasinswissopengstaad.ch Fabienne Benoit: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour @swissopengstaad Press Room: + 41335665219 facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/SwissOpenGstaad LOPEZ, RAMOS-VINOLAS, YOUZHNY, MATHIEU LEAD QUARTER-FINALS DAY 5 PREVIEW: The quarter-finals at the J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open at Roy Emerson Arena feature top seed Feliciano Lopez, No. 3 Albert Ramos-Vinolas, No. 7 Mikhail Youzhny and No. 8 Paul-Henri Mathieu. In addition, No. 2 Gilles Simon tries to reach the quarter-finals. He trails Brazilian qualifier Thiago Monteiro 6-2, 4-3 in their second round suspended match. In the opening match of the day, Dustin Brown and Youzhny square off for the first time. Brown saved two match points in his three-set win over No. 4 seed/two-time champion Thomaz Bellucci on Thursday. The 31-year-old German is appearing in his second straight quarter-final and third of the season. He advanced to his maiden ATP World Tour semi-final in Montpellier in February. Youzhny, who captured the Swiss Open title in 2013, is appearing in his second quarter-final of the season. He reached the QFs in Stuttgart last month (l. to eventual champion Thiem). Up next is the completion of the second round match between Simon and Monteiro, who led 6-2, 4-3 with Simon serving at love-40. Monteiro’s eight ATP-level matches in 2016 have all come on clay, where he has a 5-3 record. He advanced to his first ATP World Tour quarter-final in Sao Paulo in February. In the next match, Lopez and Swedish #NextGen star Elias Ymer meet for the first time. The 34-year- old Lopez, who is the oldest player left in the draw, reached the Gstaad final 10 years ago (l. to Gasquet). The 20-year-old Ymer is the youngest player remaining and he is making his ATP World Tour quarter-final debut. The last Swede to reach the quarter-finals on the ATP World Tour was Michael Ryderstedt (QF) and Robin Soderling in 2011 Bastad. Soderling won the title (d. Ferrer). Dutchman Robin Haase, who reached the final here three years ago (l. to Youzhny), awaits the winner of Simon and Monteiro. Simon has a 4-1 head-to-head advantage over Haase. The Dutchman has never faced Monteiro. In the final match on, Mathieu, who won his last ATP World Tour title here in 2007, brings a 2-0 head-to- head record against Ramos-Vinolas, who enters with a five-match winning streak after capturing his maiden ATP World Tour title in Bastad last week. DAY FIVE FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play CENTER COURT Dustin Brown (GER) vs [7] Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) First Meeting Brown 2016 FastFacts: SF: Montpellier (l Gasquet); QF: Bastad (l Ferrer) YTD W-L: 10-7 (5-3 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: December 8, 1984 Emirates ATP Ranking: 99 Gstaad W-L (Best Result-Year): 3-4 (2016 Quarter-finalist) J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad Day 5 – Friday, July 22, 2016 Page 2 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com Tournament Note: The 31-year-old German is making his first quarter-finals appearance after beating Monaco 62 75 in 1R and No. 4 seed/two-time champ Bellucci 26 76 61 (saved 2 match pts.) Reached maiden ATP World Tour SF at Montpellier as Q (d. Simon in 2R, l. to No. 10 Gasquet) Last week reached QF in Bastad (d. Munoz de la Nava, Bedene, l. to Ferrer) Beat Bemelmans in Montpellier to end 0-8 start to career in ATP QFs Also qualified at Doha (l. to No. 1 Djokovic in 1R) and Roland Garros (d. Sela for 1st 5-set win, l. to Sock in 2R) Won 5-setter over Lajovic before losing 5-setter to Kyrgios as Wimbledon WC Also reached Wimbledon 2R in doubles with countryman Struff as Q (l. to Marray/Shamasdin) Captured 7th Challenger title at Manchester, GBR (d. Ram, M. Zverev, J. Ward, Gojowczyk and Lu) Youzhny 2016 FastFacts: QF: Stuttgart (l Thiem) YTD W-L: 10-9 (3-4 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 10 Date of Birth: June 25, 1982 Emirates ATP Ranking: 66 Gstaad W-L (Best Result-Year): 15-9 (2013 Champion) • Tournament Note: The 34-year-old 2013 champion (d. Haase) is making his 11th main-draw appearance. Opened with 63 62 win over Swiss wild card Nikles on Monday and followed with 75 57 63 victory over Basic on Thursday • Reached 1st ATP QF since 2015 Zagreb at Stuttgart (d. Lopez and Stakhovsky, l. to Thiem 75 in 3rd) • Advanced to Nottingham 3R (l. to Muller) before reaching Wimbledon 2R (l. to A. Zverev in 5 sets) • Won 30 of 32 sets to sweep 3 consecutive ATP Challenger Tour titles in January • Captured 2 titles in Bangkok, THA (d. Soeda and Pavlasek), followed by title at Manila, PHI (d. Chiudinelli) • Illness forced walkover vs. Bautista Agut in Indian Wells 2R and retirement vs. Bellucci in Munich 1R 2R TO FINISH – Monteiro leads 6-2 4-3 [Q] Thiago Monteiro (BRA) vs [2] Gilles Simon (FRA) First Meeting Monteiro 2016 FastFacts: QF: Sao Paulo (l Cuevas) YTD W-L: 5-3 (5-3 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: May 31, 1994 Emirates ATP Ranking: 110 (Career-high) Gstaad W-L (Best Result-Year): 1-0 (2016 Second Round) Tournament Note: The 22-year-old Brazilian left-hander marked his tournament debut (as qualifier) with a 63 75 1R victory over Swiss wild card Bellier Defeated 3-time champion Almagro en route to 1st ATP World Tour QF of career at São Paulo as WC (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. 123 in Emirates ATP Rankings on July 11 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) Simon 2016 FastFacts: QF(4): ATP Masters 1000 Miami (l Goffin); Estoril (l Carreno Busta); Nice (l Zverev);Stuttgart(l del Potro) YTD W-L: 19-15 (9-5 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 12 Date of Birth: December 27, 1984 Emirates ATP Ranking: 30 Gstaad W-L (Best Result-Year): 0-1 (2016 Second Round-bye) J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad Day 5 – Friday, July 22, 2016 Page 3 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com Tournament Note: The 31-year-old Frenchman is making his second appearance in Gstaad after retiring in his debut match in 2014 (l. 1R to Andujar 26 23 RET) Advanced to Australian Open 4R for 3rd time (d. Donskoy in 5 sets, l. to No. 1 Djokovic in 5 sets after 4h32m) Owns a 2-0 record against left-handers in 2016 (45-34 career) Also played 4 hours, 32 minutes vs. Pella in Roland Garros 2R, rallying from 2 sets down (l. to Troicki in 3R) Reached ATP Masters 1000 Miami QF (d. Cilic in 3R and Pouille 60 61 in 4R, l. to Goffin) Also reached ATP Masters 1000 3R at Monte-Carlo (l. to No. 4 Wawrinka) and Madrid (l. to No. 2 Murray) Helped France to 5-0 sweep of Canada in Davis Cup 1R with straight-set win over Pospisil Held 3 MPs vs. Gabashvili in Marseille 1R and 2 MPs vs. A. Zverev in Nice QF before losing both 76 in 3rd [1] Feliciano Lopez (ESP) vs Elias Ymer (SWE) First Meeting Lopez 2016 FastFacts: SF(2): Dubai (l Baghdatis); Houston (l Monaco); QF: Quito (l Ramos-Vinolas) YTD W-L: 18-16 (8-7 on clay) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 4 Date of Birth: September 20, 1981 Emirates ATP Ranking: 21 Gstaad W-L (Best Result-Year): 17-9 (2006 Finalist) Tournament Note: The 34-year-old Spaniard is making his 10th tournament appearance, having reached 2006 final (QF d. No. 4 Ljubicic, l. to Gasquet); last year reached SF for second straight appearance (l. to eventual champ Thiem; 2013 l. to Haase). Opened with 76 64 win over Q Mertl Earned 2nd win vs. World No. 1 when Djokovic retired with eye problem in Dubai QF (l. to Baghdatis in SF) Defeated Garcia-Lopez for 400th career singles win in Dubai 1R on February 22 Reached 3R at Aus. Open (l. to Isner), Roland Garros (l. to Ferrer) and Wimbledon (d. Fognini in 5 sets, l. to Kyrgios) Participated in 58 straight Grand Slam main draws, most among active players and 7 behind Federer’s Open Era record Beat Bautista Agut 76 67 64 in 3h16m to reach ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells 4R (l. to No. 1 Djokovic) Upset No. 1 seeds and last 3 Roland Garros doubles champions to win 1st Grand Slam title in Paris w/M. Lopez (d. Herbert/Mahut, Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin after saving 6 MPs, Dodig/Melo and Bryan/Bryan) Captured 1st doubles title since 2004 at Doha w/M. Lopez (d. J. Murray/Soares and Peya/Petzschner) Held 2 MPs in Dubai doubles final w/M.