Tennis Atlantic

2012 ATP Nice Preview

by Steen Kirby, TennisEastCoast.com
 
 Open de Nice Côte d’Azur
ATP World Tour 250
Nice, France
May 20-May 26 2012
Prize Money: € 398,250
 
In the final tune up before Roland Garros, the pros head to the French coastal town of Nice. The field features 4 players ranked in the top 20 and all seeded players are in the top 50.
 
Top 4 Seeds (who all receive 1st round byes)
1: John Isner
2: Gilles Simon
3: Nicolas Almagro
4: Gael Monfils
 
 
1st round matchups to watch:
 
Nikolay Davydenko vs. Matt Ebden
 
In a battle of young vs. old, big vs. small, veteran Davydenko, a former top 10 player who continues his career slide but still manages to pull off a good win here and there, will take on the rising Aussie Ebden. Ebden could use a good run here.
 
Robin Haase vs. J.C Ferrero
 
Haase, the 6 seed, will take on wild card Ferrero, who  knocked off Kevin Anderson and Gael Monfils before falling to Federer in Rome.
 

Top Half:
 
John Isner, the top seed, will start against either Xaiver Malisse or Yen-Tsun Lu. 7 seed Denis Istomin faces the dangerous Alejandro Falla before a match-up with either Ebden or Davydenko.
 
Gael Monfils, who has struggled, is still seeded 4th and will be one of the home favorites. He will take on on Sergiy Stakhovsky or a qualifier before a likely match up with 5 seed Bernie Tomic. Tomic opens up against the lanky Slovak Lukas Lacko, and if he advances will take on either Mikhail Kukushkin or a qualifier.
 
Bottom Half:
 
Gilles Simon, the 2 seed, and the home favorite opens against either veteran Dudi Sela or a qualifier before a likely match-up with Haase or Ferrero (a qualifier and Donald Young are also an option).
 
Nicolas Almagro, the 3 seed and defending champ, will take on either Belgrade finalist Benoit Paire or Edouard Roger-Vasselin. Fabio Fognini, the 8 seed, opens up against Steve Darcis of Belgium before a match-up with either another Belgian, Olivier Rochus, or countryman Filippo Volandri.
 
 
 
Dark Horse: Bernard Tomic

 
Tomic has been under the radar for a while and doesn’t normally play his best tennis on clay, and yet, he is well primed for a good run in Nice. If he can get past Lacko and Kukushkin, he gets a struggling Gael Monfils in the quarters and a somewhat down John Isner in the semis. All are winnable matches for the Aussie, who is on the favorable side of the draw.
 
.
 
Predictions:
 
Semis:
Tomic d. Isner
Simon d. Almagro
 
 
 
Final:
Simon d. Tomic