ROGER FEDERER FEATURES AT INAUGURAL ISTANBUL OPEN; AND MURRAY MAKES FIRST MUNICH VISIT

Written by: on 27th April 2015
Swiss tennis player Roger Federer in Istanbul
ROGER FEDERER FEATURES AT INAUGURAL ISTANBUL OPEN; AND MURRAY MAKES FIRST MUNICH VISIT

epa04722982 Swiss tennis player Roger Federer smiles during a press conference of the Istanbul Open tennis tournament in Istanbul, Turkey, 27 April 2015. The TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open will be held from 27 April to 03 May 2015 in Istanbul. EPA/ULAS YUNUS TOSUN  |

Looking Ahead: Istanbul, Estoril, Munich Continue Clay Circuit – The ATP World Tour European clay court circuit moves on to Istanbul, Estoril and Munich. Istanbul is a first-time tournament stop on the ATP World Tour. Estoril is a new tournament and secures the future of Portuguese tennis on the calendar, which goes back to the Tour’s inception in 1990. Munich is one of the oldest clay court tournaments on the ATP World Tour, which was first held in 1974. There are seven of the Top 20 players in the Emirates ATP Rankings in action, led by World No. 2 Roger Federer in Istanbul, No. 3 Andy Murray in Munich and No. 12 Feliciano Lopez in Estoril.

 

TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open (Istanbul, Turkey) – The first ATP World Tour tournament in Turkey is the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open and the venue is the spectacular Garanti Koza Arena, which is promoted as the largest tennis academy in the world. The Centre Court features a retractable roof and will provide seating for 7,500 spectators. Two other clay show courts have available seating for 9,500 spectators, and the clubhouse features a fitness centre, spa, swimming pool and restaurant. Turkey is the 36th different country an ATP World Tour tournament has been held in since the formation of the ATP World Tour in 1990. The seeds are: 1) Federer, 2) Grigor Dimitrov, 3) Pablo Cuevas, 4) Santiago Giraldo, 5) Andreas Haider-Maurer, 6) Mikhail Kukushkin, 7) Mikhail Youzhny and 8) Diego Schwartzman.

 

• Federer Eyes Title in 19th Country – World No. 2 and top seed Roger Federer has won 84 titles in 18 countries on the ATP World Tour during his Hall of Fame career. Here is a breakdown of Federer’s titles by country: United States of America (19), Germany (12), England (9), Switzerland (7), United Arab Emirates (7), Australia (6), China (3), France (3), Qatar (3), Spain (3), Austria (2), Canada (2), Netherlands (2), Thailand (2), Italy (1), Japan (1), Portugal (1) and Sweden (1).

 

• More On Roger: Federer is playing in his second clay court tournament of the season after a 3R showing last time out in Monte-Carlo (l. to Monfils). He has won 10 career titles on clay, the last coming at ATP Masters 1000 Madrid in 2012 (d. Berdych). This season Federer is 17-3 with titles in Brisbane and Dubai.

Swiss tennis player Roger Federer performs during a media event promoting the Istanbul Open tennis tournament near Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey, 27 April 2015. TheTEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open will be held from 27 April to 03 May 2015 in Istanbul. EPA/ULAS YUNUS TOSUN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Grigor No. 2 Seed – Dimitrov comes in with a 12-7 record on the season, and he opened his clay court campaign in Monte-Carlo by reaching the quarter-finals, defeating Fernando Verdasco, Fabio Fognini and defending champion Stan Wawrinka before falling to Gael Monfils. The 23-year-old Bulgarian, a three-time title winner last year, reached the semi-finals in the opening week of the season in Brisbane.

 

• Turkish Title Hopes – Marsel Ilhan is the No. 1 player in Turkey at No. 84, and recently reached a career-high No. 77 on 2 March. The 27 year old reached the quarter-finals in Dubai and was runner-up on home soil at the Mersin Challenger two weeks ago. If Ilhan beats Jarkko Nieminen in the first round, he will face Federer in Round 2. The other Turkish player in the field is local wild card Cem Ilkel, a 19 year old ranked No. 423. He is making his ATP World Tour main draw debut and is a member of the Turkish Davis Cup team.

 

• Rublev on the Rise – The youngest player in the field is 17-year-old Russian wild card Andrey Rublev, who has made a steady climb in the Emirates ATP Rankings this season. Rublev qualified last week in Barcelona and posted the biggest win of his career over No. 37 Verdasco before falling in three sets to Fognini in the second round. He has won all three first-round ATP World Tour matches this season in Delray Beach, Miami and Barcelona. He finished No. 517 last season and will break the Top 300 after Barcelona. He was the No. 1 junior in the world in 2014.

 

BMW OPEN BY FWU AG (Munich, Germany) – The first of five German tournaments on the ATP World Tour calendar takes place at Munich’s Iphitos Tennis Club, which was first staged in 1974. The International Tennis Championships of Bavaria was first held in 1900. Germans have won the title six times since then, most recently Tommy Haas in 2013 (d. Kohlschreiber) in the tournament’s first all-German final since 1965. The only former champion in the field is No. 1 German Philipp Kohlschreiber (2012, ‘07). Last year’s champion and No. 7 seed Martin Klizan withdrew Sunday due to a wrist injury. The seeds are: 1) Andy Murray, 2) Gael Monfils, 3) Roberto Bautista Agut, 4) David Goffin, 5) Kohlschreiber, 6) Bernard Tomic, 8) Fabio Fognini and 9) Lukas Rosol.

 

• Newlywed Andy Returns – Top seed and World No. 3 Andy Murray makes his Munich and season clay court debut along with his first tournament as a married man. Murray married longtime girlfriend Kim Sears on 11 April. Last season, Murray compiled an 11-4 clay court record with a semi-final showing at Roland Garros and a quarter-final showing in Rome. He has a 63-37 clay record and has never reached an ATP World Tour clay court final. This season, Murray is 21-5 with runner-up showings at the Australian Open and the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Miami. Three of his losses have come to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Murray is also here with coach former World No. 4 Jonas Bjorkman in their first tournament together.

“@andymurray that car suits you! #andymurray #BMWOpenbyFWUAG #practice #BMWi8″ – photo by @bmw_open_by_fwu_ag via Instagram.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Local Title Hopes – There are five Germans in the main draw (not including qualifiers), led by Kohlschreiber, No. 2 German Benjamin Becker and No. 3 Jan-Lennard Struff. Becker meets 18-year-old wild card Alexander Zverev,who reached a career-high No. 118 last week. Former World No. 18 Florian Mayer is playing his third event back since returning in Monte-Carlo from a groin injury last year.

 

• Tomic Eyes Top 20 – No. 1 Aussie Bernard Tomic reached a career-high No. 26 two weeks ago and he is 21-8 on the season, having reached 2R or better in all nine tournaments in 2015. In his last Munich visit three years ago, Tomic reached the QF.

 

MILLENNIUM ESTORIL OPEN (Estoril, Portugal) – The new ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tournament will take place at the Clube de Ténis do Estoril. A Portuguese tournament on the ATP World Tour calendar has been a fixture since the Tour’s inception in 1990. In partnership with the Municipality of Cascais, the tournament will see fans enjoy greater proximity to the players and the action on court. There are three of the Top 20 players in the field, led by the top three seeds: 1) Feliciano Lopez, 2) Kevin Anderson, 3) Tommy Robredo. The others are: 4) Leonardo Mayer, 5) Richard Gasquet, 6) Jeremy Chardy, 7) Nick Kyrgios and 8) Gilles Muller.

 

• Lopez Top Seed – This is the third time in 2015 (fourth in career) Feliciano Lopez is the top seed in an ATP World Tour tournament. The 33-year-old Spaniard comes in with a 12-8 match record on the season (5-3 on clay). He was the top seed in February in Quito where he reached the final (l. to Estrella Burgos) and Houston three weeks ago where he was a QF (l. to Querrey).

 

• Birthday Boy Nick – No. 7 seed Nick Kyrgios celebrates his 20th birthday on Monday. The Aussie has a 5-4 record this season with a quarter-final on home soil at the Australian Open. Last week he began his clay court debut in Barcelona where he lost to fellow teenager Elias Ymer in a third set tie-break after holding two match pts.

 

• Coric Nears Top 50 – Croatian teenager Borna Coric has already surpassed last year’s wins total (7) on the ATP World Tour. The 18-year-old earned his eighth win last week in Bucharest. He is ranked No. 55 and the youngest player in the Top 100 Emirates ATP Rankings.

 

• Local Title Hopes – Portugal’s No. 1 player, Joao Sousa, is the country’s highest ranked player in the history of the Emirates ATP Rankings. The 26-year-old is ranked No. 56 after reaching a career-high No. 35 on July 14, 2014. In 2013, he became the first Portuguese native to win an ATP World Tour singles title in Kuala Lumpur. He is 4-4 lifetime at his home country tournament, reaching the quarter-finals in 2012. Sousa opens against countryman Rui Machado, a QF in 2010. The other wild cards are Gastao Elias, a QF the past two years, and Frederico Ferreira Silva, a 20-year-old making his main draw debut. He lost in the qualifying five times.

 

Emirates ATP Ranking Movers (as of 27 April)

 

Martin Klizan 24 (+4 spots) – career high

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 31 (+14 spots)

Jiri Vesely 35 (+11 spots) – career high

Pablo Andujar 42 (+24 spots)

Santiago Giraldo 50 (-19 spots)

Hyeon Chung 88 (+19 spots) – career high

Blaz Rola 93 (+19 spots)

James McGee 152 (+17 spots) – career high

Elias Ymer 171 (+21 spots) – career high

 

Potential Milestones (as of 27 April)

 

Istanbul – Singles

Grigor Dimitrov – 148 wins

 

Munich – Singles

Simone Bolelli – 97 wins

Victor Estrella Burgos – 49 wins

 

Munich – Doubles

Leander Paes – 698 wins

 

Estoril – Singles

Leonardo Mayer – 99 wins

 

Birthdays

 

27 April – Nick Kyrgios (20)

27 April – Horacio Zeballos (30)

29 April – Bob Bryan (37)

29 April – Mike Bryan (37)

1 May – Tommy Robredo (33)

 

(Courtesy of the ATP and Original Link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2015/04/17/Corona-ATP-Slice-20-April-2015.aspx )

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