2015 AUSTRALIAN OPEN – DAY 4 MEN’S MATCH NOTES

Written by: Staff on 21st January 2015

2015 AUSTRALIAN OPEN - DAY 4 MEN'S MATCH NOTES

epa04572568 Rafael Nadal of Spain in action against Tim Smyczek of the US during their second round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 21 January 2015. The Australian Open tennis tournament runs from 19 January until 01 February 2015. EPA/Narendra Shrestha |

2015 AUSTRALIAN OPEN

DAY 4 MEN’S NOTES

Thursday 22 January

2nd Round Top Half

Featured matches

No. 1 Novak Djokovic (SRB) v Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS)

No. 4 Stan Wawrinka (SUI) v (Q) Marius Copil (ROU)

No. 5 Kei Nishikori (JPN) v Ivan Dodig (CRO)

No. 8 Milos Raonic (CAN) v Donald Young (USA)

No. 9 David Ferrer (ESP) v Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)

No. 17 Gael Monfils (FRA) v Jerzy Janowicz (POL)

No. 19 John Isner (USA) v Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT)

Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) v Benjamin Becker (GER)

On court today…

• Four-time champion Novak Djokovic will look to take another step towards becoming the 2nd man to win 5 Australian Open titles when he takes on Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov in the 3rd match on Rod Laver Arena. The world No. 1 has not lost to a Russian opponent since 2010, when Mikhail Youzhny defeated him at Rotterdam. Kuznetsov is bidding for his 2nd career-win over a Top 10 player in his first encounter with a world No. 1.

• Stan Wawrinka is hoping to extend his 8-match winning streak at the Australian Open against qualifier Marius Copil on Margaret Court Arena today. Wawrinka is aiming to avoid becoming the first defending Australian Open champion to lose in the 2nd round since Mats Wilander in 1988. If he loses today, it would be the earliest exit for a defending Australian Open champion since Boris Becker lost in the 1st round to Carlos Moya in 1997

• Gael Monfils, Gilles Simon and Adrian Mannarino, 3 of the 6 French men through to the 2nd round here this year, are in action today. This is the fewest number through to the 2nd round at a Grand Slam since 2006 Wimbledon, when there were 5. The last time there were this few in the 2nd round at the Australian Open was in 2006 when there were 6.

• Milos Raonic will hope to continue his excellent record against American opposition when he takes on Donald Young in the night match on Margaret Court Arena. The Canadian is on an 11-match winning streak against American opposition, having not lost to a player from the USA since falling to John Isner at 2013 Cincinnati-1000.

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NO. 1 NOVAK DJOKOVIC (SRB) v ANDREY KUZNETSOV (RUS)

Head-to-head: first meeting

DJOKOVIC v KUZNETSOV

27 Age 23

1 ATP Ranking 88

48 Titles 0

181-33 Career Grand Slam Record 7-9

44-6 Australian Open Record 2-1

607-141 Career Record 25-42

393-82 Career Record – Hard 9-16

3-1 2015 Record 1-0

3-1 2015 Record – Hard 1-0

22-8 Career Five-Set Record 2-3

3 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0

172-102 Career Tiebreak Record 16-17

1-1 2015 Tiebreak Record 1-0

Novak Djokovic of Serbia during his first round match against Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 20 January 2015. The Australian Open tennis tournament goes from 19 January until 01 February 2015. EPA/Barbara Walton

• DJOKOVIC is through to the 2nd round here after defeating qualifier Aljaz Bedene 63 62 64 in the opening round on Tuesday.

• Djokovic is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for a 9th consecutive year. The last time he lost in the 2nd round at any Grand Slam event was at 2008 Wimbledon, when as No. 3 seed he fell to Marat Safin in straight sets. No. 75 Safin is the lowest ranked-player to defeat Djokovic at a major.

• Djokovic is looking to become the second man in history to win 5 or more Australian Open titles. Roy Emerson is the only man who has won more than 5 titles in Melbourne [see Preview page 1].

• Djokovic won his 7th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon last year, defeating Roger Federer in the final. He is a 4-time Australian Open champion having won the titles here in 2008 (d. Jo-Wilfried Tonga), 2011 (d. Andy Murray), 2012 (d. Rafael Nadal) and 2013 (d. Murray).

• Last year here Djokovic’s streak of 14 consecutive Grand Slam semifinal appearances was ended by Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals. Elsewhere at the majors in 2014, Djokovic lost to Nadal in the final at Roland Garros and to Kei Nishikori in the semifinals at the US Open.

• Djokovic won 7 titles in 8 finals in 2014 and in so doing finished the year with a prize money haul of $14,269,462. It was the 4th straight year he had earned over $12 million. He finished the year ranked No. 1 for the 3rd time after winning his 3rd consecutive ATP World Tour Finals crown.

• Djokovic warmed up for the 2015 Australian Open by reaching the quarterfinals at Doha (l. Ivo Karlovic).

• The last time Djokovic lost to a player ranked as low as No. 88 today’s opponent was at 2010 Belgrade when he retired against No. 319 Filip Krajinovic due to allergy and illness. He has never lost to a player ranked as low as today’s opponent at a Grand Slam.

• Djokovic is on a 6-match winning streak against Russian opposition. The last time he lost to a Russian player was against Mikhail Youzhny at 2010 Rotterdam.

• Djokovic started working with 2-time Australian Open champion Boris Becker in 2014. He has also been coached by Marian Vajda since June 2006. His wider team includes physios Miljan Amanovic and Gebhard Phil-Gritsch.

• KUZNETSOV is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the first time and equal his best Grand Slam performance. He advanced to the 2nd round after defeating Albert Ramos-Vinolas 61 36 63 76(3) in the 1st round on Tuesday for his first match-win at Melbourne Park since 2013.

• Kuznetsov’s best Grand Slam performance is reaching the 3rd round at 2014 Wimbledon (l. Leonardo Mayer) and the 2014 US Open (l. Andy Murray). This is his 2nd Australian Open and his 10th Grand Slam appearance overall.

• By reaching the 2nd round here, Kuznetsov has equalled his best Australian Open result. He also reached the 2nd round on his debut here in 2013, defeating No. 11 seed Juan Monaco for his 1st victory over a Top 20 player before losing to Kevin Anderson. He was ranked too low for direct entry here in 2014 and didn’t attempt to qualify.

• Kuznetsov is bidding to record his 2nd career-win against Top 10 opposition. He defeated world No. 7 Ferrer in the 2nd round at Wimbledon to record his first win over a Top 10 opponent. He has a 1-3 win-loss record against Top 10 opposition overall but has never faced a world No. 1.

• Kuznetsov has won his last two 5-set matches – against Ferrer at 2014 Wimbledon and Fernando Verdasco at the 2014 US Open. His victory over Ferrer at Wimbledon was his first 5-set match-win and ended a 3-match losing streak in 5-set matches.

• Kuznetsov warmed up for the Australian Open by reaching the quarterfinals at the Happy Valley Challenger (AUS) (l. Andrew Harris).

• Kuznetsov’s best performances in 2014 were quarterfinal finishes as a qualifier at Zagreb (l. Tommy Haas) and as a lucky loser at Casablanca (l. Roberto Carballes Baena). At the Grand Slams, he failed to qualify at Roland Garros and reached the 3rd round at Wimbledon and the US Open.

• By reaching the quarterfinals at both 2014 Zagreb and Casablanca, Kuznetsov equalled his career best Tour-level performance. He also reached the quarterfinals as a qualifier at 2011 Casablanca

(l. Victor Hanescu) and as a wild card at 2012 Umag (l. Fernando Verdasco).

• Kuznetsov is the only Russian to reach the 2nd round of the 4 Russian men to start the event – the fewest number of Russian men through to the 2nd round here since 2012 when only Alex Bogomolov Jr. reached this stage.

• Kuznetsov reached a career-high ATP ranking of No. 68 in March 2013, but plays here ranked No. 88.

• Kuznetsov won the boys’ singles title at 2009 Wimbledon, defeating Jordan Cox 46 62 62 in the final. He won 6 singles titles and 4 doubles titles as a junior, reaching a career-high junior ranking of No. 3 in 2009.

• Kuznetsov has been coached by his father, Alexander, since 1997.

NO. 4 STAN WAWRINKA (SUI) v (Q) MARIUS COPIL (ROU)

Head-to-head: Wawrinka leads 1-0

2013 Madrid-1000 Clay (O) R64 Wawrinka 64 64

Copil is bidding to become the lowest-ranked player to defeat Wawrinka at a Grand Slam. The lowest-ranked player Wawrinka has lost to at a major is No. 163 Nicolas Lapentti at the 2009 US Open – one of his 2 defeats to players ranked outside the Top 100 at a Grand Slam. He also lost to No. 116 Simone Bolelli at 2011 Wimbledon.

Copil is also looking to become the lowest-ranked player to defeat Wawrinka at Tour-level since No. 240 Nicolas Mahut at 2013 ’s-Hertogenbosch.

WAWRINKA v COPIL

29 Age 24

4 ATP Ranking 194

8 Titles 0

83-38 Career Grand Slam Record 1-0

24-8 Australian Open Record 1-0

343-216 Career Record 18-22

178-116 Career Record – Hard 11-11

5-0 2015 Record 1-1

5-0 2015 Record – Hard 1-1

21-16 Career Five-Set Record 0-0

6 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0

124-143 Career Tiebreak Record 6-11

1-0 2015 Tiebreak Record 0-0

Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in action against Marsel Ilhan of Turkey during their first round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 20 January 2015. The Australian Open tennis tournament will go from 19 January until 01 February 2015. EPA/Barbara Walton

• Defending champion WAWRINKA is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the 7th consecutive year.

• Wawrinka defeated Marsel Ilhan 61 64 62 in the opening round on Tuesday to maintain his record of always reaching the 2nd round here. This is his 10th Australian Open appearance and his 40th Grand Slam overall.

• Wawrinka is looking to avoid becoming the first defending Australian Open champion to lose in the 2nd round since Mats Wilander in 1988. If he loses today, it would be the earliest exit for a defending Australian Open champion since Boris Becker lost in the 1st round to Carlos Moya in 1997. [NB Andre Agassi in 2002, Thomas Johansson in 2003 and Marat Safin in 2006 did not attempt to defend their Australian Open titles.]

• Last year here Wawrinka broke through to win his first Grand Slam title in his first Grand Slam final (d. Rafael Nadal 63 62 36 63). He was the first player to defeat the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds en route to a Grand Slam title since Sergei Bruguera won 1993 Roland Garros. He is on an 8-match winning streak at Melbourne Park.

• Wawrinka had an outstanding 2014 season. As well as winning his first Grand Slam title, he won his first Masters-1000 title at Monte Carlo (d. Roger Federer) and lifted the trophy at Chennai (d. Edouard Roger-Vasselin). He was also a member of the Swiss team that won the Davis Cup title for the first time in its history. Wawrinka recorded a career-high ranking of No. 3 following his Australian Open triumph and plays here at No. 4.

• Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2014, Wawrinka reached the quarterfinals at both Wimbledon

(l. Federer) and the US Open (l. Kei Nishikori).

• Wawrinka warmed up for the Australian Open by successfully defending his title at Chennai. He defeated qualifier Aljaz Bedene in the final. It was his 8th career title and 3rd at Chennai, having also won there in 2011 and 2014.

• Wawrinka has never lost to a qualifier at a Grand Slam. He is on a 4-match winning streak against qualifiers since losing to Dominic Thiem at 2014 Madrid-1000.

• Wawrinka is currently working with Magnus Norman, who reached the semifinals here in 2000.

• Qualifier COPIL is bidding to become the first Romanian man to reach the 3rd round at the Australian Open since Andrei Pavel in 2004. Victor Hansecu is the last Romania man to reach the 3rd round at a major – at 2013 Roland Garros. Just 5 other Romanian men have reached the 2nd round at the Australian Open in the Open Era – Adrian Voinea, Ion Tiriac, Pavel, Ilie Nastase and Hanescu.

• Copil recorded his first Grand Slam match-win on his Grand Slam debut on Tuesday when he defeated Pablo Andujar 62 62 75 in the 1st round.

• Copil defeated No. 11 seed Horacio Zeballos (ARG) 64 75, Philipp Petzschner (GER) 63 36 86 and wild card Omar Jasika (AUS) 76(5) 62 in the 3 rounds of qualifying for this year’s Australian Open. It was his first successful qualifying campaign after 10 unsuccessful attempts to qualify for the majors since 2011.

• Copil’s best result in 2014 was reaching his first Tour-level quarterfinal as a qualifier at Brisbane (l. Lleyton Hewitt) and as a qualifier at Stockholm (l. Tomas Berdych) – 2 of only 3 occasions in which he has won back-to-back matches at Tour level. He also recorded back-to-back match wins in helping Romania defeat Denmark 5-0 in Davis Cup in February 2013.

• At the Grand Slams in 2014, Copil fell in the 2nd round of qualifying at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon and the 1st round of qualifying at the US Open.

• Copil finished 2014 ranked No. 172 – his lowest year-end finish since 2011. He plays here ranked No. 194. He is the lowest-ranked player through to the 2nd round here.

• Copil is bidding to defeat a Top 10 opponent for the first time on his 3rd attempt. The highest-ranked player he has defeated is No. 13 Marin Cilic at 2012 Beijing.

• Copil is playing here without a coach. His physical trainer is Ionut Gaurila.

NO. 5 KEI NISHIKORI (JPN) v IVAN DODIG (CRO)

Head-to-head: Nishikori leads 3-1

2012 Davis Cup (WG-1R) Hard (I) R4 Nishikori 75 76(4) 63

2013 Basel Hard (I) R16 Dodig 61 62

2014 Madrid-1000 Clay (O) R64 Nishikori 64 64

2014 Tokyo Hard (O) R32 Nishikori 63 64

NISHIKORI v DODIG

25 Age 30

5 ATP Ranking 86

7 Titles 1

38-21 Career Grand Slam Record 14-18

13-5 Australian Open Record 6-5

192-106 Career Record 106-118

138-72 Career Record – Hard 69-71

3-1 2015 Record 3-1

3-1 2015 Record – Hard 3-1

10-2 Career Five-Set Record 5-5

2 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 2

62-42 Career Tiebreak Record 51-48

2-2 2015 Tiebreak Record 1-0

Kei Nishikori of Japan takes a breather during his first round match against Nicolas Almagro of Spain at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 20 January 2015. The Australian Open tennis tournament goes from 19 January until 01 February 2015. EPA/Made Nagi

• NISHIKORI advanced to the 2nd round after defeating Nicolas Almagro 64 76(1) 62 in the 1st round on Tuesday. This is his 6th Australian Open appearance and his 22nd Grand Slam overall.

• Nishikori’s best result here is reaching the quarterfinals as No. 24 seed in 2012 (l. Andy Murray). He was the first Japanese man to reach the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park in the Open Era.

• At the 2014 US Open, Nishikori became the first Asian male to contest a Grand Slam final after defeating 3 Top 10 players – Milos Raonic, Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic – in consecutive matches before falling to Marin Cilic in the title match.

• Also in Grand Slam play last year Nishikori reached the round of 16 at the Australian Open (l. Rafael Nadal) and Wimbledon (l. Raonic) and fell in the 1st round to Martin Klizan at Roland Garros.

• Nishikori had a career-best year in 2014. As well as reaching his first Grand Slam final at the US Open, he won 4 titles – at Memphis (d. Ivo Karlovic), Barcelona (d. Santiago Giraldo), Kuala Lumpur (d. Julien Benneteau) and Tokyo (d. Raonic) and finished as runner-up in his first Masters-1000 final at Madrid

(l. Nadal). It was the first time he had won multiple titles in a season. 6 of Nishikori’s 7 career titles have come on a hard court.

• Nishikori warmed up for the Australian Open by reaching the semifinals at Brisbane, where he lost to Raonic 67(4) 76(4) 76(4). He also reached the doubles final alongside Alexandr Dolgopolov, losing to Jamie Murray/John Peers in the final.

• The last time Nishikori lost to a player ranked as low as No. 86 today’s opponent was at the 2013 US Open when he lost to No. 179 Daniel Evans. The lowest ranked player he has lost to at the Australian Open is No. 32 Jurgen Melzer on his debut here in the 1st round in 2009.

• Nishikori is the highest-ranked Japanese man in ATP World Tour Rankings history (since 1973). He had the nickname ‘Project 45’ as a major goal was to get him to No. 45 in the rankings, which would be one spot better than the highest by any Japanese man (Shuzo Matsuoka). He plays here on his career-high ranking of No. 5.

• Nishikori is coached by Dante Bottini and Michael Chang. Chang finished as runner-up at the 1996 Australian Open, losing in the final to Boris Becker.

• DODIG is looking to reach the 3rd round here and equal his best Australian Open result. He defeated Joao Souza 64 75 64 in the 1st round on Tuesday.

• Dodig recorded his best Australian Open performance in 2013 when he reached the 3rd round (l. Richard Gasquet). Last year here he retired in the 2nd round with heat exhaustion when leading Damir Dzumhur 46 46 63 4-1. This is his 6th consecutive appearance at Melbourne Park.

• Dodig’s Grand Slam highlight is reaching the round of 16 at 2013 Wimbledon (l. David Ferrer). This is his 19th Grand Slam appearance.

• In 2014, Dodig’s best results were reaching the quarterfinals at Zagreb (l. Marin Cilic) and Marseille

(l. Richard Gasquet). He missed 2 months (June-July) of the season with a rib injury.

• All of Dodig’s 3 Grand Slam appearances last year were ended by retirement. He won just one match at the Grand Slams in 2014, when retiring in the 2nd round here. He retired with a right shoulder injury in the 1st round at Roland Garros (l. Marcel Granollers) and due to cramping in the 1st round at the US Open (l. Feliciano Lopez). He missed Wimbledon with a rib injury.

• Prior to coming here, Dodig reached the quarterfinals at Doha, losing to Andreas Seppi.

• Dodig is looking for his first victory over a Top 10 player at a Grand Slam. He is currently on a 4-match losing streak against Top 10 opposition. His last victory over a Top 10 player came at 2013 Tokyo when he defeated No. 8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

• Dodig has entered the men’s doubles here as No. 4 seed with Marcelo Melo. They defeated Andre Begemann/Robin Haase 76(2) 62 in the 1st round. He has won one doubles title – at 2013 Shanghai-1000 with Melo. They also reached the doubles final at the ATP World Tour Finals last year.

• Dodig is coached by Martin Stepanek. His physical trainer is Stjepan Medak.

NO. 8 MILOS RAONIC (CAN) v DONALD YOUNG (USA)

Head-to-head: Raonic leads 2-0

2014 Washington Hard (O) SF Raonic 64 75

2014 Basel Hard (I) R16 Raonic 64 67(5) 76(2)

RAONIC v YOUNG

24 Age 25

8 ATP Ranking 56

6 Titles 0

36-16 Career Grand Slam Record 12-22

11-4 Australian Open Record 5-5

178-88 Career Record 60-110

129-53 Career Record – Hard 50-82

4-1 2015 Record 3-1

4-1 2015 Record – Hard 3-1

4-3 Career Five-Set Record 3-2

0 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0

120-69 Career Tiebreak Record 27-39

7-1 2015 Tiebreak Record 0-1

Milos Raonic of Canada plays Illya Marchenko of Ukraine during the Australian Open at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, 20 January 2015. EPA/LUKAS COCH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

• RAONIC is bidding to maintain his record of always having reached the 3rd round here. He defeated qualifier Illya Marchenko 76(3) 76(3) 63 in the 1st round on Tuesday.

• Last year here as No. 11 seed Raonic reached the 3rd round (l. Grigor Dimitrov). This is his 5th Australian Open appearance and his 17th Grand Slam overall.

• Raonic’s best Australian Open result is reaching the round of 16 on his debut here as a qualifier in 2011

(l. David Ferrer) and as No. 13 seed in 2013 (l. Roger Federer).

• Raonic’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the semifinals as No. 8 seed at 2014 Wimbledon (l. Federer). He became the first Canadian man to reach a Grand Slam semifinal after Robert Powell at 1908 Wimbledon. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 6 as a result but plays here ranked No. 8.

• Also in Grand Slam play in 2014 Raonic reached the 3rd round at the Australian Open, the quarterfinals at Roland Garros (l. Novak Djokovic) and the round of 16 at the US Open (l. Kei Nishikori).

• In 2014, Raonic won the title at Washington (d. Vasek Pospisil) and finished as runner-up in his second Masters-1000 final at Paris (l. Djokovic) and at Tokyo (l. Nishikori). All 6 of Raonic’s career titles have come on a hard court.

• Raonic warmed up for the Australian Open by reaching the final as No. 3 seed at Brisbane, losing to Federer 64 67(2) 64. It was Federer’s 1000th career match-win.

• Raonic became the first Canadian to be seeded in the men’s singles at a Grand Slam event in the Open Era at 2011 Roland Garros. He plays here seeded No. 8.

• Raonic is on an 11-match winning streak against American opposition. The last time he lost to an American player was at 2013 Cincinnati-1000 when he lost to John Isner. The only time he has lost to an American player at a Grand Slam was to Sam Querrey at 2012 Wimbledon.

• Raonic was born in Montenegro but moved to Canada in 1994. He started playing tennis aged 8.

• Raonic started working with Ivan Ljubicic at 2013 Roland Garros. Ljubicic reached the quarterfinals here in 2006.

• Lefthander YOUNG is bidding to reach the 3rd round and equal his best Australian Open result. He defeated qualifier Tim Puetz 64 46 63 62 in the 1st round on Tuesday.

• Young’s best Australian Open performance is reaching the 3rd round here last year (l. Kei Nishikori). He has a 5-5 win-loss record here compared with 2-3 at Roland Garros, 0-4 at Wimbledon and 5-10 at the US Open. This is his 6th appearance at Melbourne Park.

• Young’s best Grand Slam performance is reaching the round of 16 as a wild card at the 2011 US Open

(l. Andy Murray). This is his 23rd Grand Slam appearance but just the 8th time he has advanced beyond the 1st round at a major.

• Young’s 2014 highlight was reaching the semifinals at Washington (l. today’s opponent) – one of just 4 times he won multiple matches at the same tournament last year. He reached the quarterfinals at Houston

(l. Fernando Verdasco) and the 3rd round at the Australian Open and Roland Garros (l. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez). He fell in the 1st round at Wimbledon (l. Benjamin Becker) and at the US Open (l. Blaz Kavcic).

• Prior to coming here, Young reached the quarterfinals at Auckland, losing to Jiri Vesely.

• Young is looking to end a 9-match losing streak against Top 10 players. He has defeated a Top 10 opponent on 2 occasions – No. 5 Andy Murray at 2011 Indian Wells-1000 and No. 9 Gael Monfils at 2011 Bangkok.

• Young has entered the men’s doubles here with Austin Krajicek. They defeated No. 3 seeds Marcel Granollers/Marc Lopez 76(6) 26 75 in the 1st round on Wednesday. They will play Pablo Cuevas/David Marrero in the 2nd round.

• Young is one of 9 lefthanders through to the 2nd round here from the 17 to start in the men’s main draw. The last lefthander to win the title here was Rafael Nadal in 2009.

• Young is a former junior Australian Open champion having won the boys’ singles title here in 2005

(d. Sun-Yong Kim). He finished 2005 as the No. 1-ranked player on the ITF Junior Circuit and was named ITF Junior World Champion that year. He also won 2007 Junior Wimbledon (d. Uladzimir Ignatik).

• Young is coached by his parents.

NO. 9 DAVID FERRER (ESP) v SERGIY STAKHOVSKY (UKR)

Head-to-head: Ferrer leads 3-0

2008 Wimbledon Grass (O) R128 Ferrer 76(6) 63 1-3 ret.

2011 Madrid-1000 Clay (O) R16 Ferrer 63 76(3)

2011 Roland Garros Clay (O) R32 Ferrer 61 61 63

A 4th career-meeting between these two players and their third at a Grand Slam – but first on a hard court. Stakhovsky has never taken a set off Ferrer.

FERRER v STAKHOVSKY

32 Age 29

10 ATP Ranking 71

22 Titles 4

122-48 Career Grand Slam Record 15-24

33-12 Australian Open Record 4-6

608-295 Career Record 132-150

276-154 Career Record – Hard 85-86

6-0 2015 Record 2-2

6-0 2015 Record – Hard 2-2

19-11 Career Five-Set Record 9-5

4 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 1

136-124 Career Tiebreak Record 70-63

2-3 2015 Tiebreak Record 0-2

David Ferrer of Spain in action against Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil during their first round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 20 January 2015. The Australian Open tennis tournament goes from 19 January until 01 February 2015. EPA/Made Nagi

• FERRER is through to the 2nd round here for the 10th straight year. He defeated Thomaz Bellucci 67(2) 62 60 63 in the opening round on Tuesday. He is contesting his 13th successive Australian Open and 49th straight Grand Slam.

• Ferrer has not lost in the 2nd round here since 2010, when as No. 17 seed he lost to Marcos Baghdatis. He also fell in the 2nd round on his 2nd appearance here in 2004 (l. Sjeng Schalken).

• Ferrer’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the final as No. 4 seed at 2013 Roland Garros, where he lost in straight sets to Rafael Nadal. At 31 years 68 days, he was the 4th oldest man to reach the Roland Garros final.

• Ferrer’s best Australian Open performance is reaching the semifinals as No. 7 seed in 2011 (l. Andy Murray) and as No. 4 seed in 2013 (l. Novak Djokovic).

• Last year here Ferrer reached the quarterfinals as No. 3 seed, losing to Tomas Berdych. Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2014, Ferrer reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros (l. Nadal), the 3rd round at the US Open (l. Gilles Simon) and the 2nd round at Wimbledon (l. Andrey Kuznetsov).

• Ferrer warmed up for the Australian Open by winning the title at Doha (d. Berdych). 9 of his 22 career singles titles have come on a hard court.

• Ferrer has recently lost to a player ranked as low as No. 71 today’s opponent at a Grand Slam – when he was defeated by No. 118 Kuznestov in the 2nd round at 2014 Wimbledon. He last lost to a player ranked as low as today’s opponent at 2014 Shenzhen when he lost to No. 174 Viktor Troicki.

• Ferrer finished 2014 at No. 10 in the rankings – his lowest year-end finish since 2009. He won one title in 2014 – the fewest titles he has won in one year since 2006 – at Buenos Aires (d. Fabio Fognini). He also finished as runner-up at Hamburg (l. Leonardo Mayer), Cincinnati-1000 (l. Roger Federer) and Vienna

(l. Andy Murray).

• Ferrer plays here seeded No. 9 – his lowest Grand Slam seeding since the 2010 US Open. He has been seeded at every Grand Slam event since 2005 Roland Garros.

• Since making his debut at the 2003 Australian Open, Ferrer has played at every Grand Slam event. He is in 5th place for the most consecutive majors played in the Open Era behind Federer (61), Wayne Ferreira (56), Stefan Edberg (54) and Feliciano Lopez (52) with 49 [see Preview page 4].

• Ferrer started working with Francisco Fogues in 2015.

• STAKHOVSKY is bidding to reach the 3rd round here and equal his best Grand Slam result.

• Stakhovsky’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the 3rd round, which he has achieved at all 4 majors – at the 2010 US Open (l. Feliciano Lopez), the 2011 Australian Open (l. Tommy Robredo), 2011 Roland Garros (l. David Ferrer) and at Wimbledon in 2013 (l. Melzer) and 2014 (l. Jeremy Chardy).

• Stakhovsky advanced to the 2nd round here for the 3rd time after defeating Dusan Lajovic 63 46 64 67(3) 64 in the opening round on Tuesday. It was his 8th 5-set match-win in his last nine 5-set matches and extended his career 5-set record to 9-5.

• Stakhovsky lost in the 1st round at 3 of the 4 Grand Slams in 2014. He reached the 3rd round at Wimbledon but fell in the 1st round at the Australian Open (l. Teymuraz Gabashvili), Roland Garros (l. Denis Istomin) and the US Open (l. Andreas Seppi). This is his 7th appearance at the Australian Open and his 25th Grand Slam appearance overall.

• Stakhovsky is bidding to record his 3rd Tour-level victory over a Top 10 player on his 26th attempt. He recorded one of the biggest upsets in Wimbledon history when he defeated No. 3 seed Roger Federer 67(5) 76(5) 75 76(5) at 2013 Wimbledon. He also defeated No. 10 Ernests Gulbis at the same stage of Wimbledon in 2014.

• Stakhovsky warmed up for the Australian Open by reaching the 2nd round at Doha (l. Novak Djokovic). He also played at Sydney, losing to Juan Martin del Potro in the 1st round.

• Stakhovsky is bidding to defeat a Spanish player for the first time at a Grand Slam. He is currently on a 4-match losing streak against Spanish opposition at the majors. As well as losing to today’s opponent at 2008 Wimbledon and 2011 Roland Garros, he also lost to Feliciano Lopez at the 2010 US Open and Tommy Robredo at the 2011 Australian Open.

• Stakhovsky’s best result in 2014 was reaching the semifinals as a qualifier at Sydney (l. Bernard Tomic) and the quarterfinals at Bucharest (l. Grigor Dimitrov).

• Stakhovsky achieved a career-high ranking of No. 31 in September 2010 but plays here ranked No. 71.

• Stakhovsky entered the men’s doubles here with Jonathan Marray. The pair lost to Pablo Cuevas/David Marrero 64 76(6) in the 1st round on Wednesday.

• Stakhovsky went 5-1 in Davis Cup singles play in 2014 to help Ukraine reach the World Group play-offs for the third time in its history. He won one of his two singles rubbers in Ukraine’s 3-2 loss to Belgium in the play-offs.

• Stakhovsky began working with Fabrice Santoro at the end of 2014. Santoro won the doubles title here with Michael Llodra in 2003 and 2004 and reached the quarterfinals of the singles event in 2006.

NO. 17 GAEL MONFILS (FRA) v JERZY JANOWICZ (POL)

Head-to-head: Monfils leads 1-0

2014 Metz Hard (I) QF Monfils 63 64

MONFILS v JANOWICZ

28 Age 24

19 ATP Ranking 44

5 Titles 0

68-32 Career Grand Slam Record 19-10

17-9 Australian Open Record 5-2

314-186 Career Record 73-63

194-110 Career Record – Hard 48-39

1-0 2015 Record 2-1

1-0 2015 Record – Hard 2-1

13-9 Career Five-Set Record 6-5

2 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 2

126-92 Career Tiebreak Record 47-31

0-1 2015 Tiebreak Record 2-2

Gael Monfils of France reacts after beating Lucas Pouille of France in their first round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, 20 January 2015. EPA/JULIAN SMITH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

• MONFILS is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the 8th time. He defeated wild card Lucas Pouille 67(3) 36 64 61 64 in his 1st round match on Tuesday.

• Monfils’ 5-set victory over Pouille in the 1st round here ended a run of 3 defeats in 5-set matches. He has improved his 5-set win-loss record at Melbourne Park to 3-2.

• Last year here Monfils reached the 3rd round (l. Rafael Nadal). His best result at Melbourne Park came in 2009, when he reached the round of 16 before retiring with a right wrist injury when trailing compatriot Gilles Simon 64 26 61.

• Monfils’ best Grand Slam result is a semifinal finish at 2008 Roland Garros, where ranked No. 59 he lost to Roger Federer 62 57 63 75. He is making his 10th appearance at the Australian Open and his 33rd appearance at a Grand Slam overall.

• In Grand Slam play in 2014 Monfils reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros (l. Andy Murray) and the US Open (l. Federer), the 3rd round at the Australian Open and the 2nd round at Wimbledon

(l. Jiri Vesely). He led Federer by two-sets-to-love and held 2 match points before eventually losing their US Open quarterfinal.

• Monfils did not play an Australian Open warm-up event for the first time since 2011. He is contesting his first event since the 2014 Davis Cup Final.

• Monfils won all 4 of the Davis Cup singles rubbers he contested in 2014 to help France reach the final in Lille, where they lost 3-1 to Switzerland. Monfils upset Federer 61 64 63 in the second rubber to extend his 6-match winning streak in Davis Cup. Monfils has a 10-2 win-loss record in Davis Cup singles rubbers.

• Monfils’ best result in 2014 was winning his 2nd title at Montpellier (d. Richard Gasquet). 4 of his 5 career titles have come on hard courts at 2009 Metz, 2010 and 2014 Montpellier and 2011 Stockholm. Also in 2014 he finished as runner-up at Doha (l. Nadal) and reached the semifinals at Bucharest and Metz.

• Monfils finished 2014 ranked No. 18 – his highest year-end ranking since 2011. He plays here ranked No. 19.

• Monfils is one of 6 Frenchmen through to the 2nd round here from the 12 to start in the main draw. This is the fewest Frenchmen through to this stage at a Grand Slam since 2006 Wimbledon when there were 5. The last time there were this few in the 2nd round at the Australian Open was in 2006 when there were 6.

• Monfils narrowly missed out on achieving the Junior Grand Slam in 2004 after winning the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. His preparation for the junior US Open that year was hampered by a knee injury and he lost in the 3rd round to Viktor Troicki. He was named 2004 ITF Junior Boys’ World Champion. He is one of 7 junior Australian Open champions starting the men’s draw here.

• Monfils is currently without a coach.

• JANOWICZ is bidding to maintain his record of always having reached the 3rd round here. He defeated lucky loser Hiroki Moriya 76(5) 26 63 75 in the 1st round on Tuesday.

• Janowicz’s best Australian Open performance is reaching the 3rd round here on his Australian Open debut in 2013 (l. Nicolas Almagro) and in 2014 (l. Florian Mayer). This is his 3rd straight Australian Open appearance and his 11th Grand Slam appearance overall.

• Janowicz’s best Grand Slam performance is reaching the semifinals as No. 24 seed at 2013 Wimbledon

(l. Andy Murray). He was the first Polish man to reach a Grand Slam semifinal.

• At the Grand Slams in 2014, Janowicz reached the 3rd round at the Australian Open, Roland Garros (l. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga) and Wimbledon (l. Tommy Robredo), and fell in the 2nd round at the US Open (l. Kevin Anderson).

• Janowicz’s best result in 2014 was reaching his 2nd ATP final at Winston-Salem, losing to Lukas Rosol 36 76(3) 75. He held 2 match points in the 3rd set. He reached the semifinals at Montpellier (l. Richard Gasquet) and the quarterfinals at Rotterdam and Metz.

• Janowicz is bidding to end a 6-match losing streak against Top 20 opposition. His last win over a player ranked inside the Top 20 came against No. 8 Grigor Dimitrov at 2014 Cincinnati-1000.

• Prior to coming here, Janowicz won the Hopman Cup with Agnieszka Radwanska. He defeated Matt Ebden and Benoit Paire but lost to Andy Murray and John Isner. Poland defeated USA 2-1 in the final.

• Janowicz is coached by former Finnish tennis player Kim Tiilikainen. His strength and conditioning coach is Piotr Grabia.

NO. 19 JOHN ISNER (USA) v ANDREAS HAIDER-MAURER (AUT)

Head-to-head: first meeting

ISNER v HAIDER-MAURER

29 Age 27

21 ATP Ranking 79

9 Titles 0

38-26 Career Grand Slam Record 6-11

8-6 Australian Open Record 1-0

244-152 Career Record 26-42

181-100 Career Record – Hard 11-17

1-0 2015 Record 3-1

1-0 2015 Record – Hard 3-1

5-12 Career Five-Set Record 2-3

1 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 1

242-131 Career Tiebreak Record 16-20

1-0 2015 Tiebreak Record 1-1

• ISNER is bidding to reach the 3rd round here for the 4th time. He advanced to the 2nd round for the first time since 2012 after defeating qualifier Jimmy Wang 76(5) 64 64 in the opening round on Tuesday.

• Last year here as No. 13 seed, Isner retired in the 1st round with a foot injury while trailing Martin Klizan 62 76(6). He missed the 2013 event with a knee injury.

• Isner’s best Australian Open performance is reaching the round of 16 as No. 33 seed in 2010 (l. Andy Murray). This is his 7th Australian Open appearance and his 27th Grand Slam overall.

• Isner recorded his best Grand Slam result at the 2011 US Open where he reached the quarterfinals as No. 28 seed (l. Murray).

• Isner warmed up for the Australian Open at the Hopman Cup. He won 3 of his 4 singles matches, defeating Fabio Fognini, Adam Pavlasek and Jerzy Janowicz but losing to Vasek Pospisil. USA fell to Poland in the final. He also played a match at the Kooyong Exhibition Event, losing to James Ward 36 76 62.

• Isner won 2 titles in 2014 – at Auckland (d. Yen-Hsun Lu) and Atlanta (d. Dudi Sela). It was the 4th straight year he has won 2 titles in a season. He also reached the semifinals at Delray Beach (l. Marin Cilic) and Indian Wells-1000 (l. Novak Djokovic) and 4 further quarterfinals. 6 of Isner’s 9 career titles have come on a hard court.

• Isner finished 2014 ranked No. 19 – the 5th consecutive season he has finished inside the Top 20. He plays here ranked No. 21.

• In Grand Slam play in 2014, Isner fell in the 1st round at the Australian Open before reaching the round of 16 at Roland Garros (l. Tomas Berdych) and the 3rd round at Wimbledon (l. Feliciano Lopez) and the US Open (l. Philip Kohlschreiber). He was the first American to reach the round of 16 at Roland Garros since Robby Ginepri in 2010.

• Isner’s 64 36 67 76 70-68 1st round defeat of Nicolas Mahut at 2010 Wimbledon played over 3 days set the record for the longest tennis match in history in terms of number of games and duration. The match lasted 11 hours 5 minutes and totalled 183 games. The final set alone lasted 8 hours 11 minutes. In comparison, the fewest games played through 7 rounds to win a Grand Slam Open Era men’s singles title is 147, by Guillermo Vilas at the 1977 US Open.

• Isner started working with Justin Gimelstob, who was a doubles semifinalist here in 2001, in December 2014. His fitness trainer is Kyle Morgan.

• HAIDER-MAURER is bidding to reach the 3rd round here and record his best Grand Slam result. He advanced to the 2nd round after defeating qualifier Laurent Lokoli 64 75 46 63 in the opening round on Tuesday.

• By reaching the 2nd round on his Australian Open debut, Haider-Maurer has equalled his best Grand Slam performance. He also reached the 2nd round at Roland Garros in 2011 (l. Alexandr Dolgopolov) and as a qualifier in 2014 (l. Ivo Karlovic), at Wimbledon in 2011 (l. David Nalbandian) and 2014 (l. Marin Cilic) and at the US Open in 2013 (l. Mikhail Kukushkin).

• In Grand Slam play in 2014, Haider-Maurer reached the 2nd round at Roland Garros and Wimbledon and lost in the 1st round at the US Open (l. Roberto Bautista Agut). He didn’t attempt to qualify for the Australian Open. He failed to qualify here in 2010, 2011 and 2013. This is his first Australian Open appearance and his 12th Grand Slam overall.

• Haider-Maurer’s best result in 2014 was winning 2 Challenger titles – at Brasov (ROU) (d. Guillaume Rufin) and Trnava (SVK) (d. Antonio Veic). He also finished as runner-up at the San Benedetto Challenger (ITA)

(l. Damir Dzumhur) and reached 4 further Challenger semifinals.

• Haider-Maurer finished 2014 ranked inside the Top 100 for the first time at No. 82 – 12 places behind his career-high ranking of No. 70 recorded in July 2011. He plays here ranked No. 79.

• Haider-Maurer warmed up for the Australian Open at Chennai, where he reached the quarterfinals

(l. David Goffin).

• Haider-Maurer is bidding to defeat a Top 30 player for the 2nd time at the 17th attempt. The highest-ranked player he has defeated is No. 14 Marin Cilic at 2010 Vienna.

• Haider-Maurer is coached by former world No. 52 Werner Eschauer. His fitness trainer is Christian Kohl.

BENJAMIN BECKER (GER) v LLEYTON HEWITT (AUS)

Head-to-head: Hewitt leads 2-0

2009 Cincinnati-1000 Hard (O) R32 Hewitt 63 63

2010 Halle Grass (O) SF Hewitt 67(4) 76(3) 62

BECKER v HEWITT

33 Age 33

41 ATP Ranking 87

1 Titles 30

15-28 Career Grand Slam Record 146-60

4-7 Australian Open Record 31-18

134-181 Career Record 612-253

93-131 Career Record – Hard 369-153

1-2 2015 Record 1-1

1-2 2015 Record – Hard 1-1

0-6 Career Five-Set Record 32-22

0 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 6

63-92 Career Tiebreak Record 167-156

0-2 2015 Tiebreak Record 0-0

• BECKER is bidding to reach the 3rd round at the Australian Open for the first time. He defeated No. 25 seed Julien Benneteau 75 57 62 64 in the 1st round on Tuesday.

• Becker’s victory over No. 25 seed Benneteau ended a run of 6 defeats to seeds at the Grand Slams. It was his first match-win over a seed since he defeated No. 24 seed Ernests Gulbis at the 2011 Australian Open.

• Becker’s 1st round match-win over Benneteau was also his first victory in 2015. Prior to coming here he fell in the 1st round to Simone Bolelli at Doha and to Leonardo Mayer at Sydney.

• By reaching the 2nd round here, Becker has equalled his best Australian Open performance. He also reached the 2nd round here in 2010 (l. Nicolas Almagro), 2011 (l. Alexandr Dolgopolov) and 2013 (l. Juan Martin del Potro).

• Last year here Becker lost in the 1st round to Nick Kyrgios. This is his 8th appearance at Melbourne Park and his 29th Grand Slam overall.

• Becker’s best Grand Slam result is a round of 16 finish as a qualifier at the 2006 US Open (l. Andy Roddick) – the only time he has advanced beyond the 2nd round at a major in 28 previous Grand Slam appearances.

• Becker achieved good results in 2014, culminating in a career-high ranking of No. 35 in October. He reached his 3rd Tour-level final at ’s-Hertogenbosch (l. Roberto Bautista Agut), the semifinals at Atlanta

(l. Dudi Sela) and Tokyo (l. Kei Nishikori) and the quarterfinals at 3 further events.

• Becker won just one Grand Slam match last year, when he reached the 2nd round at Wimbledon

(d. Donald Young, l. Dolgopolov). He fell in the 1st round at the Australian Open, Roland Garros (l. Thomaz Bellucci) and the US Open (l. Peter Gojowczyk).

• Becker’s 5-set defeat to Bellucci in the 1st round at Roland Garros was his 6th consecutive 5-set loss. He has never won a 5-set match.

• Becker has entered the men’s doubles here with Artem Sitak. They defeated Gilles Muller/Igor Sijsling 63 64 in the 1st round on Wednesday.

• Becker is coached by former world No. 13 Andrei Pavel, who reached the round of 16 here in 1999 and 2004.

• 2005 Australian Open runner-up HEWITT is making his 19th consecutive Australian Open appearance, setting a new record for the most Australian Open appearances ahead of Fabrice Santoro (18) [see Preview page 3]. He is in 5th place in the list for the most appearances at a single Grand Slam.

• Hewitt is also making his 63rd Grand Slam appearance overall, which puts him in joint-2nd place for the most Grand Slams played in the Open Era alongside Roger Federer [see Preview page 5].

• Hewitt is bidding to reach the 3rd round at the Australian Open for the 10th time. He defeated Zhang Ze 63 16 60 64 in Tuesday’s night match to advance beyond the 1st round here for the first time since 2012.

• Hewitt warmed up for the Australian Open at Brisbane, losing to Samuel Groth 63 62 in the 1st round. It was his first competitive match since defeating Farrukh Dustov 64 64 62 in Australia’s 5-0 victory over Uzbekistan in the Davis Cup World Group play-offs in Perth last September.

• At last year’s Australian Open, Hewitt lost in the 1st round to Andreas Seppi 76(4) 63 57 57 75. He is on a 3-match losing streak in 5-set matches. Hewitt has a 7-5 win-loss record in 5-set matches at the Australian Open and a 32-22 5-set win-loss record overall. He hasn’t won a 5-set match at Melbourne Park since defeating Marcos Baghdatis in the 3rd round in 2008 in a match that finished at 4:34am.

• Elsewhere in Grand Slam play in 2014, Hewitt reached the 2nd round at Wimbledon (l. Jerzy Janowicz) and fell in the 1st round at Roland Garros (l. Carlos Berlocq) and at the US Open (l. Tomas Berdych).

• Hewitt’s best results in 2014 were winning his first hard court title since 2007 at Brisbane (d. Roger Federer) and his 30th career title at Newport (d. Ivo Karlovic). It was the first time he had won 2 titles in the same year since 2004.

• In February 2014 Hewitt broke back into the Top 40 for the first time since October 2010. He plays here ranked No. 87 – his lowest ranking since March 2013.

• Hewitt is a former Grand Slam champion, having won the 2001 US Open (d. Pete Sampras) and 2002 Wimbledon (d. David Nalbandian). All 6 Grand Slam champions to start in the men’s main draw are through to the 2nd round.

• Hewitt finished runner-up here in 2005, becoming the first Australian to reach an Australian Open final since Pat Cash in 1988. He lost to Marat Safin 16 63 64 64 and had carried a hip flexor injury throughout the whole tournament. Hewitt was one of 10 Australian players to start in this year’s men’s main draw vying to become the first homegrown champion since Mark Edmondson in 1976.

• Hewitt has entered the men’s doubles event here with Chris Guccione. They defeated Federico Delbonis/Albert Ramos-Vinolas 63 63 in the 1st round on Wednesday.

• In Davis Cup play in 2014, Hewitt played in Australia’s first World Group appearance since 2007 as they lost 5-0 to France in Rouen. He won a singles and doubles rubber as Australia defeated Uzbekistan 5-0 in the World Group play-offs.

• Hewitt started working with Tony Roche again in 2011.

Topics: 2015 Australian Open, AO15, AusOpen, Donald Young, Gael Monfils, Melbourne, milos raonic, Novak Djokovic, Sports, Stan Wawrinka, Tennis

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January 21, 2015 at 3:47 pm

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