TATA OPEN MAHARASHTRA: DAY 6 MEDIA NOTES Saturday, 6 January 2018 Balewadi Stadium Pune, India 1-6 January 2018 Draw: S-28, D-16 Prize Money: $501,345 Surface: Outdoor Hard ATP World Tour Info Tournament Info ATP PR & Marketing ATPWorldTour.com MaharashtraOpen.com Edward La Cava: elacava@atpworldtour.com Twitter: @ATPWorldTour @MaharashtraOpen Press Room: : +91 98692 33393 Facebook: @ATPWorldTour @MaharashtraOpen TV & Radio: TennisTV.com SIMON, ANDERSON ATTEMPT TO WIN FIRST ATP TITLE SINCE 2015 The championship on Saturday at the Tata Open Maharashtra features unseeded Gilles Simon of France against No. 2 seed Kevin Anderson of South Africa. Both players are making their tournament debut this week and they both lost the opening set in their semi-final match on Friday. Anderson comes in with a 3-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Simon, winning two of the matches in three sets and the last meeting 62 76 in the 1R of Tokyo last October. They met in doubles in the first round on Tuesday with Herbert/Simon beating Anderson/Erlich 36 63 10-5. Simon has defeated defending champion Roberto Bautista Agut in the 2R and top seed/world No. 6 Marin Cilic in the semi-finals en route to his first ATP World Tour final since Sept. 27, 2015 Metz (l. to Tsonga). The 33-year-old Frenchman s last ATP title came in Marseille (d. Monfils) on Feb. 22, 2015. He has a 12-6 record in ATP World Tour singles finals. The last Frenchman to win the Indian tournament title was Jerome Golmard in Chennai in 2000. Simon is also in his first career ATP World Tour doubles final (w/herbert). The last double champion in India was Xavier Malisse (w/d. Norman) in 2007. Anderson, who is the tournament leader in aces (60), service games won (37 of 39, 95%) and break points saved (9 of 11, 82%), will improve to No. 10 in the ATP Rankings (from No. 14) if he wins the title. The only previous time he ranked in the Top 10 was on Oct. 12, 2015 at No. 10. Anderson is playing his first tournament with new coach Brad Stine, the former mentor of former World No. 1 Jim Courier. The 31-year-old South African is 3-10 lifetime in career finals and his last ATP World Tour title came at 2015 Winston-Salem (d. Herbert). This is Anderson s first final since reaching his maiden Grand Slam title match at the US Open (l. to Nadal). ATP RANKING POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY Tata Open Maharashtra Champion Finalist Ranking Points 250 150 Singles Prize Money $89,435 $47,105 Doubles Prize Money $27,170 $14,280 FEDEX ATP HEAD2HEADS: SATURDAY CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH Centre Court Gilles Simon (FRA) vs [2] Kevin Anderson (RSA) Anderson Leads 3-0 13 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Kevin Anderson 6-3 1-6 6-4 15 London / Queen's Club (Great Britain) Grass SF Kevin Anderson 6-3 6-7(6) 6-3 17 Tokyo (Japan) Hard R32 Kevin Anderson 6-2 7-6(6) Simon 2017 Summary QF(2): Marseille (l Tsonga); Lyon (l Berdych) 2017 W-L: 16-25 (10-13 on hard) 2017 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 12 Date of Birth: December 27, 1984 (33) ATP Ranking: 89 Tournament History (Best Result): 4-0 (2018 Finalist)
Day 6 Saturday, 6 January 2018 Page 2 of 2 Tournament History: Veteran Frenchman made debut on Monday with a 64 61 win over Sandgren and followed with 63 76 win over [3]/reigning champion Bautista Agut, then a 62 63 victory over [Q] Ojejda Lara and 16 63 62 win over [1]/two-time champ CIlic. Leads in return games won (16 of 38, 42%) this week. Has held serve 33 of 41 games (80%) Appearing in first ATP World Tour final since 2015 Metz (l. to Tsonga) and his last title came in 2015 Marseille (d. Monfils). Has a 12-6 record in ATP World Tour finals Last season reached QFs at Marseille (l. to Tsonga) and Lyon (l. to Berdych) Advanced to 3R at Australian Open (l. to Raonic) and ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (d. Goffin, l. to Gasquet) Saved 2 MPs to beat countryman Monfils 06 60 76(0) in ATP Masters 1000 Madrid 1R (l. to Lopez in 2R) Dropped to No. 74 in ATP Rankings on October 23 -- lowest since No. 86 on April 10, 2006 Owns 0-12 doubles record with 14-match losing streak dating back to 2016 Tokyo SF w/qureshi (l. to Klaasen/Ram) Helped France to 4-1 win over Japan in Davis Cup 1R (d. Nishioka) Anderson 2017 Summary F(2): Washington (l A. Zverev); US Open (l Nadal); SF(1): Estoril (l Muller); QF(3): Geneva (l Nishikori); ATP Masters 1000 Montreal (l A Zverev); Stockholm (l Verdasco) 2017 W-L: 32-21 (18-13 on hard) 2017 Titles: 0 / Career Titles : 3 Date of Birth: May 18, 1986 (31) ATP Ranking: 14 Tournament History (Best Result): 3-0 (2018 Finalist) Tournament History: Top South African made his Pune debut with a 76 3-2 ret. win over [Q] Monteiro on Wednesday and followed with a 67 64 62 victory over [7] Kukushkin and 67 76 61 triumph over [4/WC] Paire to reach final. Leads tournament in aces (60) and service games won (95%, 37 of 39) and break pts. saved (82%, 9 of 11) Has a 3-10 career record in finals and his last ATP World Tour title came at 2015 Winston-Salem (d. Herbert) Last season finished at No. 14, his fourth Top 20 showing in ATP Rankings in last five years Reached 1st Grand Slam final at US Open as World No. 32 (l. to No. 1 Nadal), becoming lowest-ranked US Open finalist since inception of rankings in 1973 and Grand Slam finalist since No. 38 Tsonga at 2008 Australian Open Became 1st South African US Open finalist in Open Era and Grand Slam finalist since Curren at 1984 Aus. Open Also tallest Grand Slam finalist in Open Era at 6-foot-8, oldest 1st-time Grand Slam finalist at age 31 since Pilic at 1973 Roland Garros, and 1st Grand Slam finalist who played college tennis (Illinois) since T. Martin at 1999 US Open Saved 1 MP to beat No. 1 seed Thiem in Washington 3R en route to 1st final since 2015 (l. to A. Zverev) Fell in 4R at Roland Garros (ret vs Cilic due to left thigh injury) and Wimbledon (l. to Querrey in 5 sets) Avenged loss to Querrey in ATP Masters 1000 Montreal 3R (l. to eventual champion A. Zverev in QF) Reached Estoril SF (l. to Muller), Geneva QF (l. to Nishikori after holding 3 MPs) and Stockholm QF (l. to Verdasco) Dropped to No. 80 in ATP Rankings on January 16 -- lowest since No. 87 on August 9, 2010 Withdrew from Brisbane (hip), Australian Open (hip), London/Queen s Club Q (leg) and Winston-Salem (right elbow) DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) / Gilles Simon (FRA) vs [2] Robin Haase (NED / Matwe Middelkoop (NED) First Meeting Both teams lost the opening set of their 1R matches and have won six straight sets since then Herbert/Simon are playing together for the first time this week and the only set they lost came in the 1R against Anderson/Erlich 36 63 10-5. Also beat [4]/reigning champions Bopanna/Nedunchezhiyan in QFs Herbert is 11-5 in doubles finals and ranked No. 13 in the ATP doubles rankings Simon is appearing in his first career ATP World Tour doubles final. He is ranked No. 824 in doubles Haase/Middelkoop are playing together in their second tournament (2017 US Open, QF) and they have a 7-2 record together. They also played in a 2016 and 2017 Davis Cup tie (1-1). They dropped the opening set in their 1R match vs. Kadhe/Paire (16 75 10-7) and then won their next six sets. Haase is 2-7 lifetime in ATP World Tour doubles finals and his last title came in 2014 Gstaad Middlekoop is 4-2 lifetime in ATP World Tour doubles finals (2-2 last year) and his last title came in St. Petersburg last October
TATA OPEN MAHARASHTRA: DAY 5 MEDIA NOTES Friday, 5 January 2018 Balewadi Stadium Pune, India 1-6 January 2018 Draw: S-28, D-16 Prize Money: $501,345 Surface: Outdoor Hard ATP World Tour Info Tournament Info ATP PR & Marketing ATPWorldTour.com MaharashtraOpen.com Edward La Cava: elacava@atpworldtour.com Twitter: @ATPWorldTour @MaharashtraOpen Press Room: : +91 98692 33393 Facebook: @ATPWorldTour @MaharashtraOpen TV & Radio: TennisTV.com THREE OF TOP FOUR SEEDS HEADLINE SEMI-FINALS IN PUNE The semi-finals on Friday at the Tata Open Maharashtra are led by three of the top four seeds, with top seed and 2009-2010 champion Marin Cilic taking on unseeded Gilles Simon and No. 2 seed Kevin Anderson playing wild card/ No. 4 seed Benoit Paire. In the opening match on Centre Court, Cilic plays Simon, who holds a 5-1 head-to-head advantage over the Croat. Simon, who knocked off defending champion Roberto Bautista Agut in the 2R, has not lost a set (6-0) en route to his first ATP World Tour semi-final since October 2016 at ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai. Cilic has a 16-4 tournament record and last season he was 3-5 in SF matches. In the next match on, Anderson and Paire square off for the first time. Anderson, who leads the tournament in aces (34) and service games won (96%, 22 of 23), is playing his first tournament with new coach Brad Stine, the former mentor of former World No. 1 Jim Courier. The 31-year-old South African advanced to his first Grand Slam final at the US Open last September. His last title came at 2015 Winston-Salem. Paire has enjoyed success in India (12-5) and this is the Frenchman s fourth tournament semi-final (2013, 2016-18). He is trying to reach his first final. FEDEX ATP HEAD2HEADS: FRIDAY SEMI-FINAL MATCHES Centre Court [1] Marin Cilic (CRO) vs Gilles Simon (FRA) Simon Leads 5-1 07 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass R128 Gilles Simon 3-6 7-5 6-4 4-6 6-3 07 Umag (Croatia) Clay R16 Gilles Simon 7-5 2-6 6-3 08 ATP Masters 1000 Toronto (Canada) Hard QF Gilles Simon 3-6 6-2 6-3 14 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R64 Gilles Simon 4-6 7-6(3) 6-7(5) 6-1 6-2 14 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Marin Cilic 5-7 7-6(3) 6-4 3-6 6-3 16 ATP Masters 1000 Miami (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Gilles Simon 6-3 6-7(4) 6-3 Cilic 2017 Summary W(1): Istanbul (d Raonic); F(2): London / Queen's Club (l Lopez); Wimbledon (l Federer); SF(5): Acapulco (l Nadal); s Hert ogenbosch (l Karlovic); Tokyo (l Mannarino); ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (l Nadal); Basel (l del Potro); QF(5): Rotterdam (l Tsonga); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Ramos-Vinolas); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (l Isner); Roland Garros (l Wawrinka); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris (l Benneteau) 2017 W-L: 44-22 (18-15 on hard) 2017 Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 17 Date of Birth: September 28, 1988 (29) ATP Ranking: 6 Tournament History (Best Result): 16-4 (2009-10 Champion)
Day 5 Friday, 5 January 2018 Page 2 of 4 Tournament History: Top Croat opened with 64 63 win over [WC] Ramanathan and followed with 63 62 victory over [8} Herbert. Has held 18 of 19 games (95%) this week and leads in 1st serve pts. won (92%) and 2nd serve pts. won (64%). Won back-to-back titles in 2009 (d. Devvarman) and 2010 (d. No.21 Wawrinka). Also SF in 2008 debut (l. to Youzhny) and QF in 2013 (l. to Paire). Last year lost in 2R after bye (l. to Kovalik) Had a 3-5 record in SF matches last season and his last final came at Wimbledon (l. to Federer). His last title came at Istanbul last May (d. Raonic). Has a 17-13 record in finals Achieved career-high No. 4 in ATP Rankings on October 16 before finishing No. 6 for second straight year and in Top 10 for third time in four years Appeared in 2nd Grand Slam final at Wimbledon (d. Muller in 5 sets and Querrey in 4 sets, l. to Federer) Captured ATP World Tour title for 10th straight year with 2nd clay-court championship at Istanbul (d. Raonic) Became 3rd Croat with 400 wins by beating Darcis in Istanbul QF on May 5 (also Ivanisevic and Ljubicic) Squandered 1 MP in London/Queen s Club final (l. to Lopez 76 in 3rd) Reached Roland Garros QF for 1st time and has now appeared in all 4 Grand Slam QFs (l. to Wawrinka) Advanced to ATP Masters 1000 SF at Shanghai (l. to No. 1 Nadal) and QFs at Monte-Carlo (l. to Ramos-Vinolas) Rome (l. to Isner) and Paris (l. to Benneteau) Earned 5th comeback victory from 2 sets down at Australian Open (d. Janowicz, l. to Evans in 2R) Fell to 1-8 lifetime at Nitto ATP Finals with losses to A. Zverev, Sock and Federer Withdrew from ATP Masters 1000 events at Montreal and Cincinnati due to adductor injury Simon 2017 Summary QF(2): Marseille (l Tsonga); Lyon (l Berdych) 2017 W-L: 16-25 (10-13 on hard) 2017 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 12 Date of Birth: December 27, 1984 (33) ATP Ranking: 89 Tournament History (Best Result): 3-0 (2018 Semi-finalist) Tournament History: Veteran Frenchman made debut on Monday with a 64 61 win over Sandgren and followed with 63 76 win over [3] and reigning champion Bautista Agut and 62 63 victory over [Q] Ojejda Lara. Leads in return games won (46%, 12 of 26) this week Appearing in first SF since October 2016 at ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai. Trying to reach first final since 2015 Metz. His last title came in 2015 Marseille. Has a 12-6 record in ATP World Tour finals Last season reached QFs at Marseille (l. to Tsonga) and Lyon (l. to Berdych) Advanced to 3R at Australian Open (l. to Raonic) and ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (d. Goffin, l. to Gasquet) Saved 2 MPs to beat countryman Monfils 06 60 76(0) in ATP Masters 1000 Madrid 1R (l. to Lopez in 2R) Dropped to No. 74 in ATP Rankings on October 23 -- lowest since No. 86 on April 10, 2006 Owns 0-12 doubles record with 14-match losing streak dating back to 2016 Tokyo SF w/qureshi (l. to Klaasen/Ram) Helped France to 4-1 win over Japan in Davis Cup 1R (d. Nishioka) Went 1-6 vs. Top 10 opponents last season (d. No.10 Goffin in Shanghai) and 31-82 lifetime vs. Top 10 foes [WC-4] Benoit Paire (FRA) vs [2] Kevin Anderson (RSA) First Meeting Paire 2017 Summary F(1): Metz (l Gojowczyk); SF(4): Chennai (l Bautista Agut); Montpellier (l Gasquet); Marrakech (l Kohlschreiber); Stuttgart (l Pouille) 2017 W-L: 31-31 (17-18 on hard) 2017 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 1 Date of Birth: May 8, 1989 (28) ATP Ranking: 41 Tournament History (Best Result): 12-5 (2013, 2016-18 Semi-finalist) Tournament History: After a 1R bye, has posted wins over Fucsovics 64 67 76 and [5] Haase 75 26 63 to reach his fourth SF on Indian soil. Also SF in 2013 (l. to Bautista Agut), 2016 (l. to Wawrinka) and last year (l. to Bautista Agut). Last season went 1-4 in SF matches and best result was final in Metz (l. to Gojowczyk). Has an 1-4 career record in ATP World Tour finals and his lone ATP title came in 2015 Bastad Beat Basilashvili to snap 8-SF losing streak and reach Metz final (d. Goffin in QF after saving 1 MP, l. to Gojowczyk Prior to Metz, fell in SFs at 4 events this season, including Montpellier (l. to Gasquet) and Stuttgart (l. to Pouille) Advanced to Grand Slam 4R for 2nd time at Wimbledon (l. to No. 1 Murray)
Day 5 Friday, 5 January 2018 Page 3 of 4 Earned biggest win of career by beating No. 3 Wawrinka in ATP Masters 1000 Madrid 2R (l. to Cuevas in 3R) Posted 31-31 record and played 30+ tournaments for 3rd time in career (also 2013 and 2016) Upset in 1R matches by No. 333 de Minaur at Sydney, No. 136 Fritz at Indian Wells, No. 655 Haas at Monte-Carlo No. 134 F. Mayer at Halle, No. 148 De Schepper at Umag and No. 244 Krueger at Cincinnati Reached 12th ATP Challenger Tour final at Sophia Antipolis, FRA (l. to Bedene) Teamed with older brother Thomas to reach Lyon doubles QF as WC (d. Raja/Sharan, l. to Marach/Pavic) Retired in Tokyo 1R vs Sugita (fatigue) and Mouilleron Le Captif, FRA Challenger 1R vs Barbosa (lower back) Anderson 2017 Summary F(2): Washington (l A. Zverev); US Open (l Nadal); SF(1): Estoril (l Muller); QF(3): Geneva (l Nishikori); ATP Masters 1000 Montreal (l A Zverev); Stockholm (l Verdasco) 2017 W-L: 32-21 (18-13 on hard) 2017 Titles: 0 / Career Titles : 3 Date of Birth: May 18, 1986 (31) ATP Ranking: 14 Tournament History (Best Result): 2-0 (2018 Semi-finalist) Tournament History: Top South African made his Pune debut with a 76 3-2 ret. win over [Q] Monteiro on Wednesday and followed with a 67 64 62 victory over [7] Kukushkin. Leads tournament in aces (34) and service games won (96%, 22 of 23) and break pts. saved (83%, 5 of 6) Has a 3-10 career record in finals and his last ATP World Tour title came at 2015 Winston-Salem Last season finished at No. 14, his fourth Top 20 showing in ATP Rankings in last five years Reached 1st Grand Slam final at US Open as World No. 32 (l. to No. 1 Nadal), becoming lowest-ranked US Open finalist since inception of rankings in 1973 and Grand Slam finalist since No. 38 Tsonga at 2008 Australian Open Became 1st South African US Open finalist in Open Era and Grand Slam finalist since Curren at 1984 Aus. Open Also tallest Grand Slam finalist in Open Era at 6-foot-8, oldest 1st-time Grand Slam finalist at age 31 since Pilic at 1973 Roland Garros, and 1st Grand Slam finalist who played college tennis (Illinois) since T. Martin at 1999 US Open Saved 1 MP to beat No. 1 seed Thiem in Washington 3R en route to 1st final since 2015 (l. to A. Zverev) Fell in 4R at Roland Garros (ret vs Cilic due to left thigh injury) and Wimbledon (l. to Querrey in 5 sets) Avenged loss to Querrey in ATP Masters 1000 Montreal 3R (l. to eventual champion A. Zverev in QF) Reached Estoril SF (l. to Muller), Geneva QF (l. to Nishikori after holding 3 MPs) and Stockholm QF (l. to Verdasco) Dropped to No. 80 in ATP Rankings on January 16 -- lowest since No. 87 on August 9, 2010 Withdrew from Brisbane (hip), Australian Open (hip), London/Queen s Club Q (leg) and Winston-Salem (right elbow) POTENTIAL CHAMPIONSHIP FEDEX ATP HEAD2HEADS Marin Cilic (CRO) vs Benoit Paire (FRA) Cilic Leads 3-1 13 Chennai (India) Hard QF Benoit Paire 6-4 1-6 7-5 16 Marseille (France) Hard SF Marin Cilic 6-2 6-7(3) 6-3 16 Tokyo (Japan) Hard R32 Marin Cilic 6-0 4-6 6-3 17 Rotterdam (Netherlands) Hard R32 Marin Cilic 5-7 6-3 6-2 Marin Cilic (CRO) vs Kevin Anderson (RSA) Cilic Leads 6-1 09 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R128 Marin Cilic 6-3 6-2 6-7(4) 6-3 11 Beijing (China) Hard QF Marin Cilic 7-6(4) 4-6 6-1 13 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (Monaco)Clay R32 Marin Cilic 6-2 6-3 13 ATP Masters 1000 Rome (Italy) Clay R32 Kevin Anderson 6-3 7-6(7) 14 Delray Beach (U.S.A.) Hard F Marin Cilic 7-6(6) 6-7(7) 6-4 14 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Marin Cilic 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4 17 Roland Garros (France) Clay R16 Marin Cilic 6-3 3-0 ret
Day 5 Friday, 5 January 2018 Page 4 of 4 Gilles Simon (FRA) vs Benoit Paire (FRA) Simon Leads 4-3 11 Rotterdam (Netherlands) Hard R32 Benoit Paire 6-2 2-6 6-3 13 Montpellier (France) Hard QF Benoit Paire 7-5 7-6(4) 13 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Gilles Simon 3-6 7-6(5) 6-4 13 ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (China) Hard R64 Benoit Paire 6-4 6-3 14 ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (Spain) Clay R64 Gilles Simon 2-0 ret 15 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (Monaco)Clay R32 Gilles Simon 6-4 7-5 15 ATP Masters 1000 Paris (France) Hard R32 Gilles Simon 6-4 4-6 6-1 Gilles Simon (FRA) vs Kevin Anderson (RSA) Anderson Leads 3-0 13 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Kevin Anderson 6-3 1-6 6-4 15 London / Queen's Club (Great Britain) Grass SF Kevin Anderson 6-3 6-7(6) 6-3 17 Tokyo (Japan) Hard R32 Kevin Anderson 6-2 7-6(6)
TATA OPEN MAHARASHTRA: DAY 4 MEDIA NOTES Thursday, 4 January 2018 Balewadi Stadium Pune, India 1-6 January 2018 Draw: S-28, D-16 Prize Money: $501,345 Surface: Outdoor Hard ATP World Tour Info Tournament Info ATP PR & Marketing ATPWorldTour.com MaharashtraOpen.com Edward La Cava: elacava@atpworldtour.com Twitter: @ATPWorldTour @MaharashtraOpen Press Room: : +91 98692 33393 Facebook: @ATPWorldTour @MaharashtraOpen TV & Radio: TennisTV.com SIX OF TOP EIGHT SEEDS, LED BY CILIC, ANDERSON, IN QUARTER-FINALS The quarter-finals on Thursday at the Tata Open Maharashtra feature six of the top eight seeds, led by top seed and 2009-2010 champion Marin Cilic and No. 2 seed Kevin Anderson. There are also three Frenchmen in the quarter-finals: No. 4 seed Benoit Paire, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Gilles Simon. In the opening match on Centre Court, Cilic and Herbert meet for the first time. Cilic has a 15-4 tournament record and last season he was 8-5 in quarter-final matches. Herbert, who is one of two players remaining (Ojeda Lara) without an ATP World Tour singles title, is looking to reach his first ATP semi-final since Rotterdam last February. In the next match on, No. 7 seed Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan plays Anderson for the third time (tied 1-1). Both of their previous meetings have come on hard courts with Kukushkin winning at 2014 ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai before Anderson won the last encounter in three sets at 2015 Winston-Salem. On Court 1, Simon and Spanish qualifier Ricardo Ojeda Lara square off for the first time. Simon knocked off defending champion Roberto Bautista Agut and he is trying to reach his first ATP World Tour semi-final since October 2016 at ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai. In the next match on, No. 5 seed Robin Haase and Paire meet for the second time. The Dutchman won in three sets at 2014 Winston-Salem. Haase is appearing in his third QF on Indian soil (2008, 2011) while Paire is looking to advance to his fourth Indian semi-final (2013, 2016-17). FEDEX ATP HEAD2HEADS: THURSDAY QUARTER-FINAL MATCHES Centre Court [1] Marin Cilic (CRO) vs [8] Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) First Meeting Cilic 2017 Summary W(1): Istanbul (d Raonic); F(2): London / Queen's Club (l Lopez); Wimbledon (l Federer); SF(5): Acapulco (l Nadal); s Hertogenbosch (l Karlovic); Tokyo (l Mannarino); ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (l Nadal); Basel (l del Potro); QF(5): Rotterdam (l Tsonga); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Ramos-Vinolas); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (l Isner); Roland Garros (l Wawrinka); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris (l Benneteau) 2017 W-L: 44-22 (18-15 on hard) 2017 Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 17 Date of Birth: September 28, 1988 (29) ATP Ranking: 6 Tournament History (Best Result): 15-4 (2009-10 Champion) Tournament History: Top Croat opened with 64 63 win over [WC] Ramanathan. Won back-to-back titles in 2009 (d. Devvarman) and 2010 (d. No.21 Wawrinka). Also SF in 2008 debut (l. to Youzhny) and QF in 2013 (l. to Paire). Last year lost in 2R after bye (l. to Kovalik) Achieved career-high No. 4 in ATP Rankings on October 16 before finishing No. 6 for second straight year and in Top 10 for third time in four years Appeared in 2nd Grand Slam final at Wimbledon (d. Muller in 5 sets and Querrey in 4 sets, l. to Federer) Captured ATP World Tour title for 10th straight year with 2nd clay-court championship at Istanbul (d. Raonic) Became 3rd Croat with 400 wins by beating Darcis in Istanbul QF on May 5 (also Ivanisevic and Ljubicic) Squandered 1 MP in London/Queen s Club final (l. to Lopez 76 in 3rd)
Day 4 Thursday, 4 January 2018 Page 2 of 3 Reached Roland Garros QF for 1st time and has now appeared in all 4 Grand Slam QFs (l. to Wawrinka) Advanced to ATP Masters 1000 SF at Shanghai (l. to No. 1 Nadal) and QFs at Monte-Carlo (l. to Ramos-Vinolas) Rome (l. to Isner) and Paris (l. to Benneteau) Earned 5th comeback victory from 2 sets down at Australian Open (d. Janowicz, l. to Evans in 2R) Fell to 1-8 lifetime at Nitto ATP Finals with losses to A. Zverev, Sock and Federer Withdrew from ATP Masters 1000 events at Montreal and Cincinnati due to adductor injury Herbert 2017 Summary SF(1): Rotterdam (l Goffin); QF(1): Newport (l Fratangelo) 2017 W-L: 10-20 (6-13 on hard) 2017 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: March 18, 1991 (26) ATP Ranking: 81 Tournament History (Best Result): 2-0 (2018 Quarter-finalist) Tournament History: Opened on Monday with a 76 67 62 win over Cecchinato in 2h, 24m in main draw debut and followed with 46 63 64 victory over top Indian Bhambri. In previous visit in 2013, lost in 1R of qualifying to J. Ward Last year finished No. 81 in ATP Rankings, his second straight Top 100 season (No. 78 in 2016) Earned biggest win of career over No. 8 Thiem to reach Rotterdam SF as a qualifier (l. to Goffin) Qualified at Madrid (d. Pouille, l. to Coric in 2R), Montreal (l. to Sock in 1R) and Vienna (l. to Kohlschreiber in 2R) Achieved career-high No. 63 in ATP Rankings on August 14 Improved to 6-1 in ATP Masters 1000 doubles finals w/mahut, winning titles at Rome (d. Dodig/Granollers), Montrea (d. Bopanna/Dodig) and Cincinnati (d. J. Murray/Soares) Helped France to Davis Cup title with 3-0 doubles record. Won matches w/mahut in 1R (d. Sugita/Uchiyama) and S (d. Krajinovic/Zimonjic), then made victorious team debut w/gasquet in final (d. Bemelmans/De Loore). Withdrew from Nitto ATP Finals after 2 matches w/mahut due to lower back pain (d. Rojer/Tecau, l. to Harrison/Venus). Also W/D from London/Queen s Club and Eastbourne Q (back) and conceded W/O in Miami 2R [7] Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) vs [2] Kevin Anderson (RSA) Series Tied 1-1 14 ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (China) Hard R32 Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4 6-2 15 Winston-Salem (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Kevin Anderson 4-6 6-2 6-3 Kukushkin 2017 Summary SF(1): Memphis (l Basilashvili) YTD W-L: 13-14 (9-8 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 1 Date of Birth: December 26, 1987 (30) ATP Ranking: 74 Tournament History (Best Result): 2-0 (2018 Quarter-finalist) Tournament History: Opened on Monday with a 62 76 win over Albot and followed with a 75 76 victory over Djere to reach quarter-finals in his debut Advanced to 1st ATP World Tour SF since 2015 Sydney at Memphis (d. Johnson, l. to Basilashvili) Qualified at US Open and reached 3R for 3rd time (d. Ferrer in 1R, l. to Pouille) Also qualified at Miami (l. to Bautista Agut in 2R), Madrid (l. to Ferrer in 1R) and Basel (l. to Bautista Agut in 1R) Fell to No. 126 in ATP Rankings on June 12 -- lowest since No. 145 on September 9, 2013 Played in 19th and 20th Challenger finals at Irving, TEX (l. to Bedene) and Astana, KAZ (l. to Gerasimov) Beat Pella and Schwartzman to lead Kazakhstan to 3-2 Davis Cup Play-off win over defending champion Argentina Withdrew from Todi, ITA Challenger and Eastbourne Q due to right knee injury Retired in Rome qualifying 1R vs Olivo (illness) and Bratislava, SVK Challenger SF vs Copil (right elbow) Anderson 2017 Summary F(2): Washington (l A. Zverev); US Open (l Nadal); SF(1): Estoril (l Muller); QF(3): Geneva (l Nishikori); ATP Masters 1000 Montreal (l A Zverev); Stockholm (l Verdasco) 2017 W-L: 32-21 (18-13 on hard) 2017 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 3 Date of Birth: May 18, 1986 (31) ATP Ranking: 14 Tournament History (Best Result): 1-0 (2018 Quarter-finalst)
Day 4 Thursday, 4 January 2018 Page 3 of 3 Tournament History: Top South African made his Pune debut with a 76 3-2 ret. win over [Q] Monteiro on Wednesday Last season finished at No. 14, his fourth Top 20 showing in ATP Rankings in last five years Reached 1st Grand Slam final at US Open as World No. 32 (l. to No. 1 Nadal), becoming lowest-ranked US Open finalist since inception of rankings in 1973 and Grand Slam finalist since No. 38 Tsonga at 2008 Australian Open Became 1st South African US Open finalist in Open Era and Grand Slam finalist since Curren at 1984 Aus. Open Also tallest Grand Slam finalist in Open Era at 6-foot-8, oldest 1st-time Grand Slam finalist at age 31 since Pilic at 1973 Roland Garros, and 1st Grand Slam finalist who played college tennis (Illinois) since T. Martin at 1999 US Open Saved 1 MP to beat No. 1 seed Thiem in Washington 3R en route to 1st final since 2015 (l. to A. Zverev) Fell in 4R at Roland Garros (ret vs Cilic due to left thigh injury) and Wimbledon (l. to Querrey in 5 sets) Avenged loss to Querrey in ATP Masters 1000 Montreal 3R (l. to eventual champion A. Zverev in QF) Reached Estoril SF (l. to Muller), Geneva QF (l. to Nishikori after holding 3 MPs) and Stockholm QF (l. to Verdasco) Dropped to No. 80 in ATP Rankings on January 16 -- lowest since No. 87 on August 9, 2010 Withdrew from Brisbane (hip), Australian Open (hip), London/Queen s Club Q (leg) and Winston-Salem (right elbow) Court 1 Gilles Simon (FRA) vs [Q] Ricardo Ojeda Lara (ESP) First Meeting Simon 2017 Summary QF(2): Marseille (l Tsonga); Lyon (l Berdych) 2017 W-L: 16-25 (10-13 on hard) 2017 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 12 Date of Birth: December 27, 1984 (33) ATP Ranking: 89 Tournament History (Best Result): 2-0 (2018 Quarter-finalist) Ojeda Lara 2017 Summary 2017 W-L: 0-0 2017 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: January 26, 1993 (24) ATP Ranking: 198 Tournament History (Best Result): 2-0 (2018 Quarter-finalist) [5] Robin Haase (NED) vs [WC-4] Benoit Paire (FRA) Haase Leads 1-0 14 Winston-Salem (U.S.A.) Hard R64 Robin Haase 6-4 2-6 6-2 Haase 2017 Summary SF(3): Dubai (l Verdasco); Gstaad (l Hanfmann); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Montreal (l Federer); QF(2): Auckland (l Sousa); Halle (l Gasquet) 2017 W-L: 28-30 (17-17 on hard) 2017 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 2 Date of Birth: April 6, 1987 (30) ATP Ranking: 42 Tournament History (Best Result): 8-5 (2008, 2011, 2018 Quarter-finalist) Paire 2017 Summary F(1): Metz (l Gojowczyk); SF(4): Chennai (l Bautista Agut); Montpellier (l Gasquet); Marrakech (l Kohlschreiber); Stuttgart (l Pouille) 2017 W-L: 31-31 (17-18 on hard) 2017 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 1 Date of Birth: May 8, 1989 (28) ATP Ranking: 41 Tournament History (Best Result): 11-5 (2013, 2016-17 Semi-finalist)
TATA OPEN MAHARASHTRA: DAY 3 MEDIA NOTES Wednesday, 3 January 2018 Balewadi Stadium Pune, India 1-6 January 2018 Draw: S-28, D-16 Prize Money: $501,345 Surface: Outdoor Hard ATP World Tour Info Tournament Info ATP PR & Marketing ATPWorldTour.com MaharashtraOpen.com Edward La Cava: elacava@atpworldtour.com Twitter: @ATPWorldTour @MaharashtraOpen Press Room: : +91 98692 33393 Facebook: @ATPWorldTour @MaharashtraOpen TV & Radio: TennisTV.com FORMER CHAMPIONS CILIC, BAUTISTA AGUT, INDIAN DUO EYE QUARTERS All eight second round singles matches are on Wednesday s schedule at the Tata Open Maharashtra with top seed and 2009-2010 winner Marin Cilic, No. 2 seed Kevin Anderson and No. 3/reigning champion Roberto Bautista Agut leading the way. In addition, the Top 2 Indian players of Yuki Bhambri and wild card Ramkumar Ramanathan are attempting to reach their second ATP World Tour quarter-final on home soil. In the opening match on Centre Court, Bhambri and No. 8 seed Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France square off for The first time. The 25-year-old Bhambri comes in No. 118 in the ATP Rankings and he last reached the quarterfinals in 2014 in Chennai. Herbert is looking to reach his first ATP World Tour QF since Newport last July. In the next match on, Bautista Agut looks to turn things around against Frenchman Gilles Simon, who owns a 4-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head advantage. All four of Simon s wins have come on hard courts while the Spaniard s lone victory came on clay in 2013. Bautista Agut is 11-4 lifetime in the tournament and Simon is trying to reach his first ATP World Tour quarter-final since Lyon last May. In the third match on, World No. 6 Cilic meets Ramanathan for the first time. Cilic, who has a 14-4 tournament record, finished No. 6 last season in the ATP Rankings for the second straight year. The 23-year-old Indian was a quarter-finalist two years ago, his best ATP World Tour result on home soil. In the last match on, Brazilian qualifier Thiago Monteiro plays Anderson for the first time. Monteiro was 2-10 on hard courts last season and with a win he could already equal his 2017 total. Anderson was a finalist at the US Open and he finished No. 14, his fourth Top 20 ATP Ranking in the last five years. He ranked No. 80 a year ago. FEDEX ATP HEAD2HEADS: WEDNESDAY SECOND-ROUND MATCHES Centre Court Yuki Bhambri (IND) vs [8] Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) First Meeting Bhambri 2017 Summary QF(1): Washington (l Anderson) 2017 W-L: 8-4 (8-4 on hard) 2017 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: July 4, 1992 (25) ATP Ranking: 118 Tournament History (Best Result): 5-5 (2014 Quarter-finalist) Tournament History: Opened on Tuesday with a 63 64 win over [Q] Kadhe. Trying to reach second ATP World Tour QF on home soil after getting to this round in 2014 (d. Carreno Busta, Fognini-ret., l. to Pospisil) No. 1 Indian last season finished at a year-end best No. 116 in ATP Rankings Advanced to 2nd ATP World Tour QF at Washington as Q (d. Monfils in 2R, l. to Anderson) Also qualified at Chennai (l. to Paire in 2R) Challenger semi-finalist at Zhuhai, CHN (l. to Donskoy); Shenzhen, CHN (l. to Sugita); Karshi, UZB (l. to Gerasimov) Beat 5 countrymen and did not drop a set en route to Chandigarh, IND Futures title (d. Balaji)
Day 3 Wednesday, 3 January 2018 Page 2 of 5 Herbert 2017 Summary SF(1): Rotterdam (l Goffin); QF(1): Newport (l Fratangelo) 2017 W-L: 10-20 (6-13 on hard) 2017 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: March 18, 1991 (26) ATP Ranking: 81 Tournament History (Best Result): 1-0 (2018 2nd Round) Tournament History: Opened on Monday with a 76 67 62 win over Cecchinato in 2h, 24m in main draw debut. In previous visit in 2013, lost in 1R of qualifying to James Ward Last year finished No. 81 in ATP Rankings, his second straight Top 100 season (No. 78 in 2016) Earned biggest win of career over No. 8 Thiem to reach Rotterdam SF as a qualifier (l. to Goffin) Qualified at Madrid (d. Pouille, l. to Coric in 2R), Montreal (l. to Sock in 1R) and Vienna (l. to Kohlschreiber in 2R) Achieved career-high No. 63 in ATP Rankings on August 14 Improved to 6-1 in ATP Masters 1000 doubles finals w/mahut, winning titles at Rome (d. Dodig/Granollers), Montrea (d. Bopanna/Dodig) and Cincinnati (d. J. Murray/Soares) Helped France to Davis Cup title with 3-0 doubles record. Won matches w/mahut in 1R (d. Sugita/Uchiyama) and S (d. Krajinovic/Zimonjic), then made victorious team debut w/gasquet in final (d. Bemelmans/De Loore). Withdrew from Nitto ATP Finals after 2 matches w/mahut due to lower back pain (d. Rojer/Tecau, l. to Harrison/Venus). Also W/D from London/Queen s Club and Eastbourne Q (back) and conceded W/O in Miami 2R w/mahut (leg). [3] Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) vs Gilles Simon (FRA) Simon Leads 4-1 12 ATP Masters 1000 Miami (U.S.A.) Hard R64 Gilles Simon 6-4 6-2 13 Marseille (France) Hard R16 Gilles Simon 6-3 6-1 13 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (Monaco) Clay R64 Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3 7-6(6) 14 Tokyo (Japan) Hard R32 Gilles Simon 4-6 7-6(7) 2-1 ret 16 ATP Masters 1000 Paris (France) Hard R32 Gilles Simon 2-6 6-1 7-6(6) Bautista Agut 2017 Summary W(2): Chennai (d Medvedev); Winston-Salem (d Dzumhur); SF(4): Sofia (l Goffin); Munich (l A. Zverev); Gstaad (l Fognini); St. Petersburg (l Fognini); QF(4): Halle (l A. Zverev); ATP Masters 1000 Montreal (l Federer); Beijing (l Dimitrov); Basel (l Del Potro) 2017 W-L: 48-21 (32-12 on hard) 2017 Titles: 2 / Career Titles: 6 Date of Birth: April 14, 1988 (29) ATP Ranking: 20 Tournament History (Best Result): 11-4 (2017 Champion) Tournament History: Reigning champion (d. Medvedev) is making his sixth straight Indian tourney appearance. Made debut in 2013 and reached final (l. to Tipsarevic) and SF in 2015 (l. to Bedene) and QF in 2016 (l. to Coric) Finished last season in Top 20 for second straight year at No. 20 and for third time in four years Captured 5th and 6th ATP titles respectively at Chennai (d. Medvedev) and Winston-Salem (d. Dzumhur Advanced to 4 other ATP World Tour 250 SFs, including St. Petersburg (l. to Fognini 76 in 3rd after holding 2 MPs) Fell in ATP World Tour 500 QFs at Halle (l. to A. Zverev), Beijing (l. to Dimitrov) and Basel (l. to del Potro) Reached 4R at Australian Open (l. to Raonic), Roland Garros (l. to Nadal) and Wimbledon (d. Nishikori, l. to Cilic) Appeared in 3rd ATP Masters 1000 QF at Montreal (d. Monfils after saving 1 MP, l. to Federer) Held 4 MPs before falling to Karlovic 76 67 76 after 3 hours, 1 minute in ATP Masters 1000 Madrid 1R Conceded walkover vs Carreno Busta in ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells 3R due to abdominal muscle injury Withdrew from Auckland due to stomach virus and Rotterdam due to right elbow injury
Day 3 Wednesday, 3 January 2018 Page 3 of 5 Simon 2017 Summary QF(2): Marseille (l Tsonga); Lyon (l Berdych) YTD W-L: 16-25 (10-13 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 12 Date of Birth: December 27, 1984 (33) ATP Ranking: 89 Tournament History (Best Result): 1-0 (2018 2nd Round) Tournament History: Veteran Frenchman made debut on Monday with a 64 61 win over Sandgren Reached QFs at Marseille (l. to Tsonga) and Lyon (l. to Berdych) Advanced to 3R at Australian Open (l. to Raonic) and ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (d. Goffin, l. to Gasquet) Saved 2 MPs to beat countryman Monfils 06 60 76(0) in ATP Masters 1000 Madrid 1R (l. to Lopez in 2R) Dropped to No. 74 in ATP Rankings on October 23 -- lowest since No. 86 on April 10, 2006 Owns 0-12 doubles record with 14-match losing streak dating back to 2016 Tokyo SF w/qureshi (l. to Klaasen/Ram) Helped France to 4-1 win over Japan in Davis Cup 1R (d. Nishioka) [1] Marin Cilic (CRO) vs [WC] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) First Meeting Cilic 2017 Summary W(1): Istanbul (d Raonic); F(2): London / Queen's Club (l Lopez); Wimbledon (l Federer); SF(5): Acapulco (l Nadal); s Hertogenbosch (l Karlovic); Tokyo (l Mannarino); ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (l Nadal); Basel (l del Potro); QF: Rotterdam (l Tsonga); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Ramos-Vinolas); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (l Isner); Roland Garros (l Wawrinka); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris (l Benneteau) 2017 W-L: 44-22 (18-15 on hard) 2017 Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 17 Date of Birth: September 28, 1988 (29) ATP Ranking: 6 Tournament History (Best Result): 14-4 (2009-10 Champion) Tournament History: Top Croat won back-to-back titles in 2009 (d. Devvarman) and 2010 (d. No.21 Wawrinka). Also SF in 2008 debut (l. to Youzhny) and QF in 2013 (l. to Paire). Last year lost in 2R after bye (l. to Kovalik) Achieved career-high No. 4 in ATP Rankings on October 16 before finishing No. 6 for second straight year and in Top 10 for third time in four years Appeared in 2nd Grand Slam final at Wimbledon (d. Muller in 5 sets and Querrey in 4 sets, l. to Federer) Captured ATP World Tour title for 10th straight year with 2nd clay-court championship at Istanbul (d. Raonic) Became 3rd Croat with 400 wins by beating Darcis in Istanbul QF on May 5 (also Ivanisevic and Ljubicic) Squandered 1 MP in London/Queen s Club final (l. to Lopez 76 in 3rd) Reached Roland Garros QF for 1st time and has now appeared in all 4 Grand Slam QFs (l. to Wawrinka) Advanced to ATP Masters 1000 SF at Shanghai (l. to No. 1 Nadal) and QFs at Monte-Carlo (l. to Ramos-Vinolas) Rome (l. to Isner) and Paris (l. to Benneteau) Earned 5th comeback victory from 2 sets down at Australian Open (d. Janowicz, l. to Evans in 2R) Fell to 1-8 lifetime at Nitto ATP Finals with losses to A. Zverev, Sock and Federer Withdrew from ATP Masters 1000 events at Montreal and Cincinnati due to adductor injury
Day 3 Wednesday, 3 January 2018 Page 4 of 5 Ramanathan 2017 Summary QF: Antalya (l Baghdatis) YTD W-L: 8-5 (8-5 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: November 8, 1994 (23) ATP Ranking: 148 Tournament History (Best Result): 4-4 (2016 Quarter-finalist) Tournament History: The wild card opened with a 63 64 win over Carballas Baena on Monday and trying to reach second QF on home soil in three years. In 2016 fell to Bedene in QFs Last season No. 2 Indian finished in Top 150 for first time at No. 137 and best ATP World Tour result was QF in Antalya as qualifier, beating No. 8 Thiem in 2R before losing to Baghdatis in third set Tie-break Went 4-0 in singles to lead India to Davis Cup World Group Play-off (IND d. NZL 4-1, IND d. UZB 4-1) Lost to countryman Bhambri 61 61 in Chennai 1R as WC Compiled 19-19 record on ATP Challenger Tour and advanced to 1st ATP Challenger Tour final at Tallahassee, USA (l. to Rola) Did not drop a set en route to 15th and 16th Futures singles titles at Singapore F2 (d. Sarmiento) and F3 (d. Hu) Also won 15th Futures doubles title at Indian Harbour Beach, USA w/pla Malfeito (d. Callahan/Chappell) [Q] Thiago Monteiro (BRA) vs [2] Kevin Anderson (RSA) First Meeting Monteiro 2017 Summary QF(2): Buenos Aires (l Berlocq); Rio de Janeiro (l Ruud) 2017 W-L: 13-24 (2-10 on hard) 2017 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: May 31, 1994 (23) ATP Ranking: 124 Tournament History (Best Result): 1-1 (2018 2nd Round) Tournament History: Brazilian qualifier won 1R on Tuesday with a 67 63 76 win in 2h, 42m over Bemelmans. Last year made debut and lost in 1R to Medvedev 63 63 Advanced to back-to-back QFs at Buenos Aires (l. to Berlocq) and Rio de Janeiro (l. to Ruud) Reached 2R at Roland Garros (d. A. Muller in 5 sets, l. to Monfils) and Wimbledon (d. Whittington, l. to Khachanov) Qualified and lost in 1R at Sydney (l. to Evans), Barcelona (l. to Evans) and Rome (l. to F. Mayer) Achieved career-high No. 74 in ATP Rankings on February 27 before finishing No. Went 2-0 in Davis Cup vs Ecuador (d. Quiroz and Escobar) and 0-2 vs Japan (l. to Soeda and Sugita) Anderson 2017 Summary F(2): Washington (l A. Zverev); US Open (l Nadal); SF(1): Estoril (l Muller); QF(3): Geneva (l Nishikori); ATP Masters 1000 Montreal (l A Zverev); Stockholm (l Verdasco) 2017 W-L: 32-21 (18-13 on hard) 2017 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 3 Date of Birth: May 18, 1986 (31) ATP Ranking: 14 Tournament History (Best Result): 0-0 (Main Draw Debut) Tournament History: Top South African is making his Pune debut and last season finished at No. 14, his fourth Top 20 showing in ATP Rankings in last five years Reached 1st Grand Slam final at US Open as World No. 32 (l. to No. 1 Nadal), becoming lowest-ranked US Open finalist since inception of rankings in 1973 and Grand Slam finalist since No. 38 Tsonga at 2008 Australian Open Became 1st South African US Open finalist in Open Era and Grand Slam finalist since Curren at 1984 Aus. Open Also tallest Grand Slam finalist in Open Era at 6-foot-8, oldest 1st-time Grand Slam finalist at age 31 since Pilic at 1973 Roland Garros, and 1st Grand Slam finalist who played college tennis (Illinois) since T. Martin at 1999 US Open Saved 1 MP to beat No. 1 seed Thiem in Washington 3R en route to 1st final since 2015 (l. to A. Zverev) Fell in 4R at Roland Garros (ret vs Cilic due to left thigh injury) and Wimbledon (l. to Querrey in 5 sets) Avenged loss to Querrey in ATP Masters 1000 Montreal 3R (l. to eventual champion A. Zverev in QF) Reached Estoril SF (l. to Muller), Geneva QF (l. to Nishikori after holding 3 MPs) and Stockholm QF (l. to Verdasco) Dropped to No. 80 in ATP Rankings on January 16 -- lowest since No. 87 on August 9, 2010 Withdrew from Brisbane (hip), Australian Open (hip), London/Queen s Club Q (leg) and Winston-Salem (right elbow)
Day 3 Wednesday, 3 January 2018 Page 5 of 5 Court 1 Marton Fucsovics (HUN) vs [4-WC] Benoit Paire (FRA) First ATP Meeting Other meeting: 17 Sophia Antipolis CH (France) Clay QF Benoit Paire 7-5 6-3 [7] Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) vs Laslo Djere (SRB) First Meeting [Q] Ilya Ivashka (BLR) vs [Q] Ricardo Ojeda Lara (ESP) First Meeting Court 2 [5] Robin Haase (NED) vs Nicolas Jarry (CHI) First Meeting
TATA OPEN MAHARASHTRA: DAY 2 MEDIA NOTES Tuesday, 2 January 2018 Balewadi Stadium Pune, India 1-6 January 2018 Draw: S-28, D-16 Prize Money: $501,345 Surface: Outdoor Hard ATP World Tour Info Tournament Info ATP PR & Marketing ATPWorldTour.com MaharashtraOpen.com Edward La Cava: elacava@atpworldtour.com Twitter: @ATPWorldTour @MaharashtraOpen Press Room: : +91 98692 33393 Facebook: @ATPWorldTour @MaharashtraOpen TV & Radio: TennisTV.com INDIAN DUO SQUARE OFF, NO. 5 HAASE IN ACTION, PAES RETURNS The remaining five first round singles matches are on Tuesday s schedule at the Tata Open Maharashtra with local players Yuki Bhambri and Arjun Kadhe squaring off for the first time on the ATP World Tour and No. 5 seed Robin Haase of the Netherlands taking on Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia on Centre Court. There are also two doubles matches on Centre with the day s opening match featuring Kevin Anderson and Jonathan Erlich against the first-time French duo of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Gilles Simon. In the last match on, No. 4 seeds and reigning champions Rohan Bopanna and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan meet countrymen Leander Paes and Purav Raja. Paes owns a tournament record six titles (1997-99, 2002, 2011-12). FEDEX ATP HEAD2HEADS: TUESDAY FIRST-ROUND SINGLES MATCHES Centre Court [5] Robin Haase (NED) vs Blaz Kavcic (SLO) Haase Leads 1-0 15 s-hertogenbosch (Netherlands) Grass R32 Robin Haase 6-2 7-5 Haase 2017 Summary SF(3): Dubai (l Verdasco); Gstaad (l Hanfmann); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Montreal (l Federer); QF(2): Auckland (l Sousa); Halle (l Gasquet) 2017 W-L: 28-30 2017 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 2 Date of Birth: April 6, 1987 (30) ATP Ranking: 42 Tournament History (Best Result): 3-4 (2016 Quarter-finalist) No. 1 Dutchman finished a year-end best No. 42 in ATP Rankings, his third career Top 50 ranking (2011, 2013) Reached 1st ATP Masters 1000 SF at Montreal (l. to Federer) and ATP World Tour 500 SF at Dubai (l. to Verdasco Also reached Gstaad SF (d. Goffin, l. to Hanfmann after holding 4 MPs) Advanced to QFs at Auckland (d. Ferrer 76 in 3rd, l. to Sousa) and Halle (d. Thiem, l. to Gasquet) Earned biggest win of career over No. 4 A. Zverev to reach ATP Masters 1000 Paris 3R (l. to del Potro) Squandered 1 MP in ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati 1R vs Mannarino Marseille doubles finalist in team debut w/inglot (l. to Benneteau/Mahut) Rallied Dutch to 3-2 Davis Cup Play-off win over CZE (l. to Rosol, w/middelkoop d. Jebavy/Pavlasek, d. Vesely) Led Dutch to 3-1 Davis Cup Group I win over BIH (d. Basic, w/rojer d. Basic/Brkic, d. Dzumhur in 5 sets)
Day 2 Tuesday, 2 January 2018 Page 2 of 2 Kavcic 2017 Summary 2017 W-L: 1-2 2017 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: March 5, 1987 (30) ATP Ranking: 97 Tournament History (Best Result): 2-3 (2011 Quarter-finalist) Broke back into Top 100 of ATP Rankings on July 17 for 1st time since June 15, 2015 and finished in Top 100 at No. 97 from No. 220 in 2016. It was his first Top 100 season since 2012 Defeated No. 885 Catarina for only tour-level singles win of season on Feb. 3 as part of Davis Cup Group II tie In only other tour-level matches, lost to Youzhny in US Open 1R and retired vs Basic in Moscow 1R (right knee Defeated Polansky for 15th and 16th ATP Challenger Tour titles respectively at Winnipeg, CAN and Granby, CAN Challenger finalist at Bangkok, THA (l. to Tipsarevic); Kyoto, JPN (l. to Uchiyama) and Shenzhen, CHN (l. to Sugita) Lost to Marcan/Weissborn in Challenger doubles finals at Budapest, HUN w/skugor and Anning, CHN w/de Waard Yuki Bhambri (IND) vs [WC] Arjun Kadhe (IND) First ATP Meeting Other meeting: 13 India F9 (India) Hard R16 Yuki Bhambri 7-5 6-1 Bhambri 2017 Summary QF(1): Washington (l Anderson) 2017 W-L: 8-4 2017 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: July 4, 1992 (25) ATP Ranking: 118 Tournament History (Best Result): 4-5 (2014 Quarter-finalist) No. 1 Indian last season finished at a year-end best No. 116 in ATP Rankings Advanced to 2nd ATP World Tour QF at Washington as Q (d. Monfils in 2R, l. to Anderson) Also qualified at Chennai (l. to Paire in 2R) Challenger semi-finalist at Zhuhai, CHN (l. to Donskoy); Shenzhen, CHN (l. to Sugita); Karshi, UZB (l. to Gerasimov) Beat 5 countrymen and did not drop a set en route to Chandigarh, IND Futures title (d. Balaji) Kadhe 2017 Summary 2017 W-L: 0-0 2017 Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: January 7, 1994 (23) ATP Ranking: 610 Tournament History (Best Result): 0-0 (Main Draw Debut) * Making ATP World Tour main draw debut Played in 12 Futures tournaments in seven countries last season and won title at Vietnam #3 in November and reached final at India #9 in September Also SF on home soil in back-to-back events at India #7 and India #8. Played in one Challenger in Pune (1R) Court 1 [Q] Sumit Nagal (IND) vs [Q] Ilya Ivashka (BLR) First ATP Meeting Other meeting: 15 Pune CH (India) Hard R16 Ilya Ivashka 7-5 6-3 Laslo Djere (SRB) vs Marius Copil (ROU) First ATP Meeting Other meeting: 17 Marrakech Q (Morocco) Clay -- Laslo Djere 6-1 ret [Q] Thiago Monteiro (BRA) vs Ruben Bemelmans (BEL) First ATP Meeting Other meetings: 16 Roland Garros Q (France) Clay -- Ruben Bemelmans 6-3 6-3 16 Furth CH (Germany) Clay R32 Thiago Monteiro 7-6(6) 7-6(3)
TATA OPEN MAHARASHTRA: PREVIEW & DAY 1 MEDIA NOTES Monday, 1 January 2018 Balewadi Stadium Pune, India 1-6 January 2018 Draw: S-28, D-16 Prize Money: $501,345 Surface: Outdoor Hard ATP World Tour Info Tournament Info ATP PR & Marketing ATPWorldTour.com MaharashtraOpen.com Edward La Cava: elacava@atpworldtour.com Twitter: @ATPWorldTour @MaharashtraOpen Press Room: : +91 98692 33393 Facebook: @ATPWorldTour @MaharashtraOpen TV & Radio: TennisTV.com 10 THINGS TO WATCH IN PUNE 1) ATP Comes to Pune: The ATP World Tour rings in the new year in a new city Monday at the Tata Open Maharashtra. From Chennai to Pune, India s only ATP event welcomes Wimbledon finalist Marin Cilic, US Open finalist Kevin Anderson and defending champion Roberto Bautista Agut. 2) Consistent Croat: Cilic returns to India after winning the Chennai championship in 2009 and 2010. The Croat has captured an ATP World Tour title in 10 straight seasons, highlighted by the 2014 US Open. Cilic qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals and posted Top 10 finishes in 2014, 2016 and 2017. 3) Tall Order: The 6-foot-8 Anderson became the tallest Grand Slam finalist in the Open Era when he met World No. 1 Rafael Nadal for the US Open title on 10 September. Ranked 32nd at the time, Anderson also emerged as the lowest-ranked US Open finalist since the inception of ATP Rankings in 1973 and the first South African US Open finalist in the Open Era. He has never played in India. 4) Unique Streaks: Bautista Agut has finished four straight seasons with both a Top-25 ranking and 40+ wins. The Spaniard has also spent 103 consecutive weeks ranked between No. 13 and No. 23. Now ranked 20th, Bautista Agut is defending 250 points this week as the 2017 Chennai champion. 5) Starting Over: Another player eager to start a new season in Pune is former World No. 6 Gilles Simon. The Frenchman went 16-25 in 2017 for his first losing season since 2004 (0-1). Now ranked 89th, Simon is making his first appearance in India and seeking his first final since 2015. 6) Paire Successful in India: No. 4 seed and wild card entry Benoit Paire is making his sixth Indian appearance in seven years (except 2015). The Frenchman has a 10-5 record in Chennai, reaching the semi-finals in 2013 and the last two years. 7) Leaving Clay is Hard: Nicolas Kicker ended 2017 in the Top 100 after reaching his first quarterfinals at Rio de Janeiro, Lyon and Hamburg. The 25-year-old Argentine has yet to win a pro match at any level off of clay courts. Kicker is 11-15 on the ATP World Tour (11-10 on clay), 78-53 on the ATP Challenger Tour (78-53 on clay) and 128-74 on the ITF Futures Circuit (128-73 on clay). 8) Tennys Time: American Tennys Sandgren finished in the Top 100 for the first time at No. 96 last season, highlighted by a 46-22 record and two ATP Challenger Tour titles. He went 2-6 in tour play. 9) Local Title Hopes: There are four Indian players in the singles draw, led by the country s top two duo of No. 116 Yuki Bhambri and wild card No. 148 Ramkumar Ramanathan, who reached the quarter-finals in 2016. Wild card Arjun Kadhe and qualifier Sumit Nagal are the other two players. 10) Strong Indian Doubles Showing: There are nine Indian players in the doubles draw, led by No. 4 seeds and defending champions Rohan Bopanna and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan. They take on countrymen Leander Paes and Purav Raja. Paes won Chennai titles in 1997-99, 2002, 2011-12.