AEGON CHAMPIONSHIPS: PREVIEW & DAY 1 MEDIA NOTES Monday, June 15, 2015

Transcription

1 AEGON CHAMPIONSHIPS: PREVIEW & DAY 1 MEDIA NOTES Monday, June 15, 2015 Queen s Club, London, Great Britain June 15 21, 2015 Draw: S-32, D-16 Prize Money: 1,574,640 Surface: Grass ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: Richard #AegonChampionships Thomas Troxler: ttroxler@atpworldtour.com facebook.com/atpworldtour facebook.com/britishtennislta AEGON CHAMPIONSHIPS TALKING POINTS SPOTLIGHT ON LONDON: The grass court season continues this week with the re-categorised ATP 500 events taking place in London and Halle. Here at the Queen s Club, British No. 1 Andy Murray headlines a strong 32-man field which boasts five of the world s Top 10 players. Murray is joined in the draw by Roland Garros winner Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic, Marin Cilic and Rafael Nadal. Six former champions feature this week: Lleyton Hewitt (2000, 2001, 2002, 2006), Murray (2009, 2011, 2013), Nadal (2008), Sam Querrey (2010), Cilic (2012) and Grigor Dimitrov (2014). DAY 1 PREVIEW: There are plenty of big names in action on Monday, with Raonic, Dimitrov and Hewitt all opening their accounts. Richard Gasquet, who opens on Court 1, will be aiming for his 400 th career win ( ) when he takes on Italian qualifier Simone Bolelli. There are six singles and two doubles matches on today s order of play. See page 6 for detailed head to heads. MURRAY EYES FOURTH TITLE: This is Murray s 10th appearance in 11 years (except 2007) at the. He has a 20-5 career record here, winning three titles in odd years: 2009 (d. Blake), 2011 (d. Tsonga) and 2013 (d. Cilic). With his win in 2013, he became the first Brit since Francis Gordon Lowe ( , '25) to win a hat-trick of crowns here. The 28-year-old is coming off the best clay court season of his career, winning his first titles on the surface in Munich (d. Kohlschreiber) and Madrid (d. Nadal) before reaching the SF at Roland Garros (l. to Djokovic). Murray is one of seven men to complete the Queen's-Wimbledon title double in the same year: John McEnroe ( 81, 84), Jimmy Connors ( 82), Boris Becker ( 85), Pete Sampras ( 95, 99), Hewitt ( 02), Nadal ( 08) and Murray ( 13). DIMITROV OPENS TITLE DEFENCE: Dimitrov is looking to successfully defend a title for the first time in his career. The Bulgarian captured his fourth ATP World Tour title at Queen s Club last year, defeating then World No. 3 Wawrinka in the SF before edging past Feliciano Lopez in three tiebreak sets in the final (saved one match point). He hasn t reached a final since. The 24-year-old has posted an record this season with SF runs in Brisbane and Istanbul, his best results to date. He opens today against another former champion, 2010 winner Sam Querrey.

2 Page 2 of 11 FROM CLAY TO GRASS: Wawrinka will be looking to carry his clay form onto the grass this week after collecting a memorable first Roland Garros title and a second Grand Slam overall in Paris, making him the 30th player to capture multiple major titles. The 30-year-old s defeat of Djokovic in the final was just his second victory over a World No. 1 (2-17), with the first coming against Nadal in the Australian Open final in Wawrinka advanced to the SF at Queen s last year (l. to Dimitrov) before going on to make his first Wimbledon QF (l. to Federer). RAFA BACK AT QUEEN S: Nadal, who won the Queen s Club title in 2008 (d. Djokovic), returns for his sixth tournament appearance (13-4) after a three-year absence. In his other four visits he lost in the QFs ( , 10-11). The Spaniard contested his seventh career grass court final in Stuttgart on Sunday, defeating Viktor Troicki to claim his fourth title on the surface and a first since winning Wimbledon in RAONIC RETURNS FROM INJURY: No. 3 seed Milos Raonic makes his return to the ATP World Tour after undergoing minor surgery to correct a pinched nerve in his right foot last month. The World No. 8, who last played in Madrid (QF) on May 8, is making his Queen s Club debut. Last year he reached his first Grand Slam SF at Wimbledon (l. to Federer). MILESTONE WATCH: Gasquet is one victory away from joining the 400 wins club ( ). Only two other Frenchmen in the Open Era have won at least 400 matches: Yannick Noah (476) and Fabrice Santoro (470). There are 12 active players who have won at least 400 matches. 16 YEARS LATER: Hewitt returns to the for the 16 th and final time after making his debut at the age of 17 in The 34-year-old Aussie has played the most singles matches (52) in tournament history, compiling a record while winning four titles. Victory this week would see him become the most successful player in tournament history. He is currently tied in first place with three other four-time winners in John McEnroe, Boris Becker and Andy Roddick. Hewitt has 128 career grass court wins (128-39), second-most among active players (Federer, 131). Here are the players with the most singles matches played at Queen s: 1. Lleyton Hewitt John McEnroe Jimmy Connors 44 Stefan Edberg Boris Becker 43

3 Page 3 of 11 GRASS COURT WIN LEADERS: Federer has the best career match record on grass (131-19) in the Open Era. Here is a look at the active win leaders on grass: PLAYER W-L WIN % TITLES Roger Federer Lleyton Hewitt Andy Murray Novak Djokovic Feliciano Lopez Rafael Nadal Tommy Haas Mikhail Youzhny Nicolas Mahut WILD CARDS: Hewitt, tournament debutante Thanasi Kokkinakis and British No. 4 James Ward were awarded the three wild cards into the main draw. Ward, who reached the semi-finals in 2011 (l. to Tsonga), is making his eighth straight main draw appearance at Queen s Club (5-7). PRE-WIMBLEDON EVENTS: In seven of the last 13 years, the Wimbledon champion came into the tournament having won a title in one of the pre-wimbledon grass court events: Murray (2013 Queen s), Nadal (2008 Queen s), Federer ( Halle) and Hewitt (2002 Queen s). In the Open Era, just seven different men have won the Wimbledon title without playing a warm-up event on grass: Stan Smith (1972), Jan Kodes (1973), Bjorn Borg ( ), Boris Becker (1989), Andre Agassi (1992), Federer (2007 & 2009), Novak Djokovic (2011 & 2014). Borg won all 5 of his Wimbledon titles straight off the clay court season. WHAT S AT STAKE? EMIRATES ATP RANKING POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY W F SF QF R16 R32 SINGLES RANKING POINTS SINGLES PRIZE MONEY ( ) 381, ,100 81,530 39,340 20,060 11,035 DOUBLES RANKING POINTS DOUBLES PRIZE MONEY ( ) 112,780 50,880 23,990 11,600 5,950

4 Page 4 of 11 FORMER QUEEN S CLUB CHAMPIONS AND FINALISTS (Since 2000): YEAR WINNER FINALIST SCORE 2014 Grigor Dimitrov Feliciano Lopez 6-7(8) 7-6(1) 7-6(6) 2013 Andy Murray Marin Cilic 5-7, 7-5, Marin Cilic David Nalbandian 6-7(3), 4-3 DEF 2011 Andy Murray Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-6, 7-6(2), Sam Querrey Mardy Fish 7-6(3), Andy Murray James Blake 7-5, Rafael Nadal Novak Djokovic 7-6(6), Andy Roddick Nicolas Mahut 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-6(2) 2006 Lleyton Hewitt James Blake 6-4, Andy Roddick Ivo Karlovic 7-6(7), 7-6(4) 2004 Andy Roddick Sebastien Grosjean 7-6(4), Andy Roddick Sebastien Grosjean 6-3, Lleyton Hewitt Tim Henman 4-6, 6-1, Lleyton Hewitt Tim Henman 7-6(3), 7-6(3) 2000 Lleyton Hewitt Pete Sampras 6-4, 6-4 FORMER QUEEN S CLUB DOUBLES CHAMPIONS (Since 2000): YEAR WINNER YEAR WINNER 2014 Alexander Peya & Bruno Soares 2006 Paul Hanley & Kevin Ullyett 2013 Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan 2005 Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan 2012 Max Mirnyi & Daniel Nestor 2004 Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan 2011 Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan 2003 Mark Knowles & Daniel Nestor 2010 Novak Djokovic & Jonathan Erlich 2002 Wayne Black & Kevin Ullyett 2009 Wesley Moodie & Mikhail Youzhny 2001 Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan 2008 Daniel Nestor & Nenad Zimonjic 2000 Mark Woodforde & Todd Woodbridge 2007 Mark Knowles & Daniel Nestor

5 Page 5 of 11 SEEDS TO WATCH THIS WEEK SINGLES: SEED PLAYER RECORD BEST FINISH 1. Andy Murray (GBR) 20-5 W 2013, 11, Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 3-2 SF Milos Raonic (CAN) DEBUT 4. Marin Cilic (CRO) 16-6 W Rafael Nadal (ESP) 13-4 W Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 11-5 W Gilles Simon (FRA) 1-3 R Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 14-9 F 2014 QUALIFIERS (4): Simone Bolelli (ITA) Jared Donaldson (USA) Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) WILDCARDS (3): Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) James Ward (GBR) OLDEST: Lleyton Hewitt 34 y, 3 m YOUNGEST: Jared Donaldson 18 y, 8 m TOP COUNTRY BREAKDOWN: Spain (6), France (5), Australia (3), USA (3), Great Britain (2) DOUBLES: SEED PLAYER BEST FINISH 1. Alexander Peya & Bruno Soares 7-1; W Marcin Matkowski & Nenad Zimonjic TEAM DEBUT 3. Daniel Nestor & Leander Paes 0-1; R Pierre-Hugues Herbert & Nicolas Mahut TEAM DEBUT

6 Page 6 of 11 DAY 1 FEDEX ATP HEAD2HEADS CENTRE COURT Fernando Verdasco (ESP) vs Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) FedEx ATP Head2Head: Series tied Hamburg (Germany) Clay R32 F Verdasco ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid Clay R32 R Bautista Agut (4) 6-1 SF (2): Quito (l. to F. Lopez), Houston (l. to Querrey) SF (3): Chennai (l. to Bedene), Marseille (l. to Monfils), Munich (l. to Murray); QF: Barcelona (l. to Nishikori) Verdasco vs Bautista Agut 31 (Nov 15, 1983) Age (DOB) 27 (Apr 14, 1988) 42 (7 Apr 20, 2009) Emirates ATP Rankings (high) 21 (14 Oct 20, 2014) 5-4 Queen s W-L DEBUT (1-1) 2014 W-L (on grass) (0-1) (39-26) Career W-L (on grass) (10-4) 6 (0) Career titles (2015) 2 (0) Sergio Perez Coach Javier Piles Verdasco returns to the Queen s Club for the fifth time. His best showing was a QF appearance on his last visit in 2011 (l. to Roddick). Verdasco arrives in London after 2R exits at both Roland Garros (l. to Becker) and last week in s- Hertogenbosch (l. to Haase). Verdasco s best results this year were SF appearances at the inaugural event in Quito in February (l. to F. Lopez in 2 TB sets) and in Houston in April (l. to Querrey). At Indian Wells in March, Verdasco defeated World No. 3 Rafael Nadal en route to the 4R. It was his second win in a row over his compatriot, having lost their opening 13 encounters. He also posted a Top 10 win last month in Madrid, seeing off Marin Cilic in the 2R. In 2014, Verdasco finished in the Top 40 for an 11th year in a row with a sixth career ATP World Tour title in Houston in April (d. Almagro), ending a four-year wait for a trophy. Bautista Agut is set to make his debut. Bautista Agut suffered an opening round loss to eventual winner Nicolas Mahut in s- Hertogenbosch last week, where the Spaniard was the defending champion. Baustista Agut s best clay court results were a SF run in Munich (l. to Murray) and a QF appearance in Barcelona (l. to Nishikori). He fell to Lukas Rosol in the 2R at Roland Garros. Earlier in the season on hard courts, Bautista Agut reached SFs in Chennai (l. to Bedene) and Marseille (l. to Monfils). Bautista Agut finished 2014 at a year-end best No. 15, rising from No. 59 at start of season, and was named the ATP s Most Improved Player of the Year. He won his first ATP titles in s- Hertogenbosch in June (d. Becker) and Stuttgart in July (d. Rosol).

7 Page 7 of 11 Kevin Anderson (RSA) vs [WC] Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) FedEx ATP Head2Head: Series tied Stockholm (Sweden) Hard R32 Lleyton Hewitt ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells Hard R64 Kevin Anderson 7-6(5) 6-4 F: Memphis (l. to Nishikori); SF (3): Auckland (l. to Vesely), Acapulco (l. to Nishikori), Houston (l. to Sock) Anderson vs Hewitt 29 (May 18, 1986) Age (DOB) 34 (Feb 24, 1981) 17 (15 Jan 19, 2015) Emirates ATP Rankings (high) 117 (1 Nov 19, 2001) 9-6 Queen s W-L (0-0) 2014 W-L (on grass) 1-5 (0-1) (17-16) Career W-L (on grass) (128-39) 2 (0) Career titles (2015) 30 (0) Neville Godwin, Michael Anderson Coach Tony Roche Anderson is back at the for the seventh time. He has reached the QF here on his last two visits, in 2012 (l. to Dimitrov) and 2014 (l. to Stepanek). Anderson is set to contest his first grass court match of His last competitive outing was a 3R defeat to Richard Gasquet at Roland Garros. The South African s best clay performance came in Houston in April where he advanced to the SF before falling to eventual champion Jack Sock. Anderson reached a ninth ATP World Tour final in Memphis in February (l. to Nishikori, falling to 2-7 in finals). On January 19, Anderson rose to a career high No. 15 in the Emirates ATP Rankings after advancing to the SF in Auckland (l. to Vesely). He went on to reach the 4R at the Australian Open (l. to Nadal). In 2014, Anderson became the first South African to post back-to-back Top 20 seasons since Wayne Ferreira ( ) after reaching the QF or better eight times during the year. Hewitt is making his 16th appearance at the (41-11). He has won the title four times in 2000 (d. Sampras), 2001 (d. Henman), 2002 (d. Henman) and 2006 (d. Blake). Last year he reached the 2R (d. Gimeno-Traver in 1R, l. to F. Lopez). Hewitt currently sits tied with Andy Roddick in 20th place on the Open Era match wins list on 612 victories. A win today will see him take sole ownership of 20th place. Hewitt opened his grass court season last week in s-hertogenbosch where he fell in the 1R to eventual champion Nicolas Mahut. Hewitt s lone win this season was a 1R victory over Ze Zhang at the Australian Open (l. to Becker in 5 sets in the 2R). His only other tour appearances came in Brisbane (l. to Groth in 1R), Miami (l. to Bellucci in 1R), Houston (l. to Soeda in 1R) and s-hertogenbosch (l. to Mahut in 1R). In 2014, Hewitt finished in the Top 50 for the first time since 2009 and won multiple ATP titles for first time since 2004, emerging victorious in Brisbane and Newport. Hewitt is one of just five active players - Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray - to own at least 30 career titles.

8 Page 8 of 11 [WC] James Ward (GBR) vs [3] Milos Raonic (CAN) F: Brisbane (l. to Federer); SF (2): Rotterdam (l. to Wawrinka), Indian Wells (l. to Federer); QF (3): Aus Open (l. to Djokovic), Monte-Carlo (l. to Berdych), Madrid (l. to Murray) Ward vs Raonic 28 (Feb 9, 1987) Age (DOB) 24 (Dec 27, 1990) 109 (101 Jan 5, 2015) Emirates ATP Rankings (high) 8 (4 May 11, 2015) 5-7 Queen s W-L DEBUT 2-5 (0-0) 2014 W-L (on grass) 21-9 (0-0) (11-19) Career W-L (on grass) (14-11) 0 (0) Career titles (2015) 6 (0) Darren Tandy Coach Ivan Ljubicic, Riccardo Piatti Ward returns to Queen s for the eighth time. His best showing came in 2011 when he advanced to the SF (d. Cox, Wawrinka, Querrey, Mannarino; l. to Tsonga). He has fallen in the 1R in five of his other six outings here. Ward warmed up for the at last week s Challenger event in Surbiton, falling in the 1R to fellow Brit Brydan Klein. Ward comes in with a 2-5 tour-level record this season. His two victories came over World No. 228 Antonio Veic in Zagreb in February (l. to Seppi in 2R) and World No. 20 John Isner in Great Britain s Davis Cup victory over USA in Glasgow in March. Of Ward s 23 career wins, 11 have come on grass. Ward s only previous clash with a Top 10 opponent was a straight sets loss to then World No. 8 Fernando Verdasco in the 1R at Wimbledon in Ward finished the 2014 season as the British No. 2 (behind Murray) after putting together his best season, finishing just outside the Top 100 at No He qualified a career-best five times into ATP World Tour level events, including at Roland Garros where he became the first British player since John Lloyd in 1973 to qualify into main draw. Raonic is contesting the for the first time. Raonic is set to make his first competitive outing since a QF loss to Andy Murray in Madrid. He was forced out of Rome and Roland Garros after undergoing surgery to correct a pinched nerve in his right foot. Raonic opened his season with a run to the Brisbane final (l. to Federer). He also reached SFs in Rotterdam (l. to Wawrinka) and Indian Wells, and the QF at the Australian Open (l. to Djokovic) and Monte-Carlo (l. to Berdych). At Indian Wells, Raonic saved three MPs en route to a first win over Rafael Nadal, putting the Canadian into a fifth career ATP Masters 1000 SF (l. to Federer). He was the first player from his country to beat Nadal. In 2014, Raonic became the first Canadian to end a season in the Top 10 after winning a personalbest 49 matches and capturing a sixth career title and first at ATP 500 level in Washington.

9 Page 9 of 11 Sam Querrey (USA) vs [6] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) FedEx ATP Head2Head: Dimitrov leads Washington (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Grigor Dimitrov F: Houston (l. to Sock); SF: Memphis (l. to Nishikori) SF (2): Brisbane (l. to Federer), Istanbul (l. to Cuevas); QF (2): Monte-Carlo (l. to Monfils), Madrid (l. to Nadal) Querrey vs Dimitrov 27 (Oct 7, 1987) Age (DOB) 24 (May 16, 1991) 38 (17 Jan 31, 2011) Emirates ATP Rankings (high) 11 (8 Aug 4, 2014) 16-6 Queen s W-L (0-0) 2014 W-L (on grass) (0-0) (35-23) Career W-L (on grass) (23-14) 7 (0) Career titles (2015) 4 (0) Tom Gullikson Coach Roger Rasheed Querrey is back in West London for the eighth time. He lifted the fifth of his seven career titles here in 2010, defeating Mardy Fish in the final. He also reached the SF here in 2012 (l to Cilic). Querrey s last competitive outing was a 1R loss to Borna Coric at Roland Garros. It was one of seven opening round losses for the American in Querrey s best result this season was a runner-up showing on clay in Houston (l. to Sock, falling to 7-7 in finals). He also put together a SF run indoors in Memphis (d. No. 18 Isner in QF; l. to Nishikori in 3rd set TB). In 2014, Querrey finished in the Top 50 for the third year in a row, reaching three tour-level SFs. Dimitrov is making his seventh straight appearance at the having first appeared as a teenager in He lifted the title here last year, defeating World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka in the SF before saving 1 MP en route to victory over Feliciano Lopez in the final. Dimitrov is looking to successfully defend a title for the first time in his career. Dimitrov will be hoping to bounce back after a 1R loss to Jack Sock at Roland Garros. His best clay court results were a SF appearance in Istanbul (l. to Cuevas) and QF outings at both Monte- Carlo (d. No. 9 Warinka, l. to Monfils) and Madrid (d. No. 9 Wawrinka, l. to Nadal). His wins over Wawrinka both weeks were the ninth and tenth Top 10 victories of the Bulgarian s career. Dimitrov began the year with runs to the Brisbane SF (l. to Federer) and 4R at the Aus Open (l. to Murray) before suffering early exits in Rotterdam (l. to Muller in 2R), Acapulco (l. to Harrison in 2R), Indian Wells (l. to Robredo in 3R) and Miami (l. to Isner in 3R). In 2014, Dimitrov finished a year-end high No. 11, winning a personal-best 50 matches and three titles on three surfaces: Acapulco (d. Anderson), Bucharest (d. Rosol) and Queen s (d. F Lopez).

10 Page 10 of 11 COURT 1 Pablo Andujar (ESP) vs Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) FedEx ATP Head2Head: Garcia-Lopez leads Doha (Qatar) Hard R32 G Garcia-Lopez ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (Italy) Clay R64 G Garcia-Lopez Stuttgart (Germany) Clay R16 G Garcia-Lopez ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid Clay R64 G Garcia-Lopez Richard Gasquet (FRA) vs [Q] Simone Bolelli (ITA) FedEx ATP Head2Head: Gasquet leads Marseille (France) Hard R32 Richard Gasquet London / Queen's Club (Great Britain) Grass R32 Richard Gasquet Dubai (U.A.E.) Hard R16 Richard Gasquet 6-7(4) (5) 2011 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass R32 Richard Gasquet Doha (Qatar) Hard R16 Richard Gasquet OTHER FIRST ROUND FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS In Draw Order [1] Andy Murray (GBR) vs [Q] Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) FedEx ATP Head2Head: Murray leads Beijing Olympics (China) Hard R64 Yen-Hsun Lu 7-6(5) ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells Hard R32 Andy Murray Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass R64 Andy Murray Gilles Muller (LUX) vs Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) FedEx ATP Head2Head: Youzhny leads Roland Garros (France) Clay R128 Mikhail Youzhny Roland Garros (France) Clay R128 Mikhail Youzhny 7-6(2) US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R128 Gilles Muller (6) 7-6(6) [4] Marin Cilic (CRO) vs Adrian Mannarino (FRA) Other Meetings: 2007 Roland Garros Q (France) Clay Marin Cilic

11 Page 11 of 11 Viktor Troicki (SRB) vs [Q] Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) FedEx ATP Head2Head: Series tied Hamburg (Germany) Clay QF P-H Mathieu 3-0 ret 2009 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris Hard R64 Viktor Troicki 7-6(4) 3-0 ret [Q] Jared Donaldson (USA) vs John Isner (USA) Joao Sousa (POR) vs [8] Feliciano Lopez (ESP) FedEx ATP Head2Head: Lopez leads Roland Garros (France) Clay R64 Feliciano Lopez [7] Gilles Simon (FRA) vs David Goffin (BEL) [WC] Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) vs Jeremy Chardy (FRA) [5] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) FedEx ATP Head2Head: Nadal leads ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid Clay R32 Rafael Nadal ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami Hard R16 Rafael Nadal ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells Hard R16 Rafael Nadal ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Shanghai Hard R32 Rafael Nadal Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) Clay F Rafael Nadal (3) 2014 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells Hard R32 A Dolgopolov (5) Nick Kyrgios (AUS) vs [2] Stan Wawrinka (SUI)