QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN: DAY 2 MEDIA NOTES Tuesday, January 5, 2016 Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex, Doha, Qatar | January 4-9, 2016 Draw: S-32, D-16 | Prize Money: $1,189,605 | Surface: Outdoor Hard ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.qatartennis.org Martin Dagahs: [email protected] Twitter: @ATPWorldTour @QatarTennis Facebook: facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/qatartennis Press Room: +974 44409620 2014 CHAMPION NADAL, 2015 CHAMPION FERRER TO MAKE 2016 DEBUTS DAY 2 PREVIEW: The last two Qatar ExxonMobil Open champions will play their first singles matches of the 2016 season in Doha on Tuesday. Reigning champion David Ferrer begins his title defense against Illya Marchenko. The fourth-seeded Ferrer is a player to watch at the start of 2016. He began his 2015 campaign with 19 wins in 20 matches, adding Rio de Janeiro and Acapulco to his Doha title. Following Ferrer vs. Marchenko, 2014 champion Rafael Nadal meets fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreño Busta. Nadal, the No. 2 seed, has not won a hard-court title since beating Gael Monfils in the Doha final two years ago – an 18-tournament stretch that includes a first-round loss to 127th-ranked qualifier Michael Berrer at the 2015 Qatar ExxonMobil Open. Also returning to Centre Court is No. 3 seed Tomas Berdych, who fell to Ferrer in the 2015 final. Berdych is coming off his sixth straight finish at No. 6 or No. 7 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. He takes a 6-0 FedEx ATP Head 2 Head advantage against Sergiy Stakhovsky into their match at 3:30 pm. The final match on Centre Court features Fernando Verdasco and Tunisian wild card Malek Jaziri, who is seeking his first win in four tries at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. No. 6 seed Andreas Seppi and No. 8 seed Leonardo Mayer are in action on the outer courts, as are all four doubles seeds: No. 1 Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, No. 2 Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, No. 3 Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez, and No. 4 Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya. Murray and Soares are making their debut as a team, Lopez and Lopez last teamed at Miami in 2012, and Petzschner and Peya are playing together for the first time in five years. Experience is not a problem for Rojer and Tecau, who count Wimbledon and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals among the 11 titles they’ve won since debuting at Brisbane in 2014. ATP MEDIA INFO ON TWITTER: New in 2016, the ATP World Tour has launched a dedicated Twitter account for the latest information, facts and figures about players and events. Follow @ATPMediaInfo at twitter.com/ATPMediaInfo for timely updates to complement daily media notes. Qatar ExxonMobil Open Day 2 – Tuesday, January 5, 2016 Page 2 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com DAY 2 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play CENTRE COURT [3] Tomas Berdych (CZE) vs Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) Berdych Leads 6-0 10 ATP Masters 1000 Toronto (Canada) Hard R32 Tomas Berdych 6-2 6-4 12 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells Hard R64 Tomas Berdych 6-7(2) 6-3 6-4 14 Dubai (U.A.E.) Hard R16 Tomas Berdych 6-2 6-1 15 Dubai (U.A.E.) Hard QF Tomas Berdych 6-3 4-6 6-2 15 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells Hard R64 Tomas Berdych 6-1 6-4 15 ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo Clay R32 Tomas Berdych 6-4 7-6(2) Berdych 2015 FastFacts W (2): Shenzhen (d. Garcia-Lopez); Stockholm (d. Sock); F (3): Doha (l. to Ferrer); Rotterdam (l. to Wawrinka); ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo (l. to Djokovic); SF (4): Australian Open (l. to Murray); Dubai (l. to Djokovic); ATP Masters 1000 Miami (l. to Murray); ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (l. to Nadal); QF (6): ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l. to Federer); ATP Masters 1000 Rome (l. to Federer); Halle (l. to Karlovic); ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati (l. to Dolgopolov); ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (l. to Murray); ATP Masters 1000 Paris (l. to Djokovic) 2015 W-L: 57-22 (40-16 on hard) 2015 Titles: 2 / Career Titles: 12 Date of Birth: September 17, 1985 Emirates ATP Ranking: 6 Doha W-L (Best Result): 4-2 (2015 Runner-up) • In 2015, Czech finished at No. 6 or No. 7 in Emirates ATP Rankings for 6th straight season • Achieved career-high of No. 4 on May 18 after reaching ATP Masters 1000 Rome QF (l. to No. 2 Federer) • Captured 11th and 12th titles of career at Shenzhen (d. Garcia-Lopez) and Stockholm (d. Sock) • Reached QF or better at 15 of 22 events in 2015 and won 2 or more matches at 18 of 22 • Advanced to Australian Open SF (d. No. 3 Nadal, l. to No. 6 Murray), matching career-best finish at event • Fell to Frenchmen in 4R at Roland Garros (l. to Tsonga), Wimbledon (l. to Simon) and US Open (l. to Gasquet) • Has played in 49 straight majors and 50 straight ATP Masters 1000 events • Reached 4th ATP Masters 1000 final of career at Monte-Carlo (d. Monfils, l. to No. 1 Djokovic in 3 sets) • Surpassed 50 wins for 5th consecutive season (career-high 61 in 2012) • Earned 500th career victory with 2R win over Bolelli at Dubai • Qualified for 6th-straight Barclays ATP World Tour Finals (0-3 in RR) Stakhovsky 2015 FastFacts SF: Marseille (l. to Simon); QF (2): Rotterdam (l. to Raonic); Dubai (l. to Berdych) 2015 W-L: 20-27 (15-18 on hard) 2015 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 4 Date of Birth: January 6, 1986 Emirates ATP Ranking: 62 Doha W-L (Best Result): 4-6 (2009 Quarter-finalist) • In 2015, Ukrainian finished in Top 100 of Emirates ATP Rankings for 7th time in 8 years (all but No. 101 finish in 2012) • Reached Rotterdam QF (l. to No. 6 Raonic), Marseille SF (d. No. 7 Wawrinka, l. to Simon) and Dubai QF (l. to No. 8 Berdych) during 3-week stretch in February • Only won back-to-back matches at 2 other tournaments, advancing to Nottingham 3R (l. to Istomin) and US Open 3R (l. to Tsonga) • Other Grand Slam results: Australian Open 2R (l. to No. 10 Ferrer), Roland Garros 2R (l. to Johnson) and Wimbledon 1R (l. to Coric 97 in 5th) • Went 11-6 at Challengers, reaching final at Istanbul, TUR (l. to Khachanov) • Lost to Przysiezny and Janowicz during July Davis Cup tie (POL d. UKR 3-1) • Enters 2016 with a 3-29 record vs. Top 10 opponents Qatar ExxonMobil Open Day 2 – Tuesday, January 5, 2016 Page 3 of 5 www.ATPWorldTour.com Illya Marchenko (UKR) vs [4] David Ferrer (ESP) First Meeting Marchenko 2015 FastFacts QF: ’s-Hertogenbosch (l. to Goffin) 2015 W-L: 5-7 (3-4 on hard) 2015 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: September 8, 1987 Emirates ATP Ranking: 94 Doha W-L (Best Result): 1-1 (2011 Round of 16) • In 2015, Ukrainian returned to year-end Top 100 for 1st time since 2010, finishing season at No. 94 • Qualified at Australian Open (l. to No. 8 Raonic in 1R), Roland Garros (l. to Berlocq in 1R after leading by 2 sets) and US Open (d. Monfils in 1R, l. to Stakhovsky in 2R). Did not attempt to qualify at Wimbledon • Best ATP World Tour result was QF at 's-Hertogenbosch in June (l. to Goffin) • Posted 30-16 record on ATP Challenger Tour with 4th career title at Mons, BEL (d. Becker) • Enters 2016 having yet to win a set vs. Top 10 opponents (0-4 in matches, 0-11 in sets) Ferrer 2015 FastFacts W (5): Doha (d. Berdych); Rio de Janeiro (d. Fognini); Acapulco (d. Nishikori); Kuala Lumpur (d. Lopez); Vienna (d. Johnson); SF (4): Barcelona (l. to Andujar); ATP Masters 1000 Rome (l. to Djokovic); Beijing (l. to Djokovic); ATP Masters 1000 Paris (l. to Murray); QF (4): ATP Masters 1000 Miami (l. to Djokovic); ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo (l. to Nadal); ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (l. to Nishikori); Roland Garros (l. to Murray) 2015 W-L: 55-16 (36-10 on hard) 2015 Titles: 5 / Career Titles: 26 Date of Birth: April 2, 1982 Emirates ATP Ranking: 7 Doha W-L (Best Result): 10-4 (2015 Champion) • In 2015, Spaniard posted 6th straight Top 10 finish in Emirates ATP Rankings and 7th overall. Also earned 50+ wins for 6th straight season and 7th overall • Captured 25th title of career in 50th final at Kuala Lumpur (d. Lopez), which he followed with Vienna title (d. Johnson 75 in 3rd) • Started season 19-1 with titles at Doha (d. No. 7 Berdych), Rio de Janeiro (d. Fognini) and Acapulco (d. No. 5 Nishikori) • Reached Australian Open 4R (l. to No. 5 Nishikori), Roland Garros QF (d. No. 10 Cilic, l. to No. 3 Murray) and US Open 3R (l. to Chardy) • In ATP Masters 1000 play, advanced to SFs at Rome (l. to No. 1 Djokovic) and Paris (l. to No. 3 Murray), and QFs at Miami (l. to No. 1 Djokovic), Monte-Carlo (l. to No. 5 Nadal) and Madrid (l. to No. 5 Nishikori) • Missed Wimbledon and ATP Masters 1000 events at Montréal and Cincinnati with a right elbow injury. Absence from Wimbledon snapped streak of 50 straight Grand Slam main draw appearances • Extended 12-match Davis Cup win streak by beating Nielsen and Torpegaard (ESP d. DEN 5-0 in Sept.) • Qualified for Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, going 0-3 in RR (l.