2012 ATP Stuttgart, Bastad, Umag Previews
By Steen Kirby, TennisEastCoast.com
The ATP World Tour will divide by 4 this week, with events in Umag, Croatia, Bastad, Sweden, Stuttgart, Germany and of course Newport, where my colleague Steve Fogleman will have on site coverage of the event there. In the meantime, here are short previews for the other 3 European clay court events.
ATP Umag
Vegeta Croatia Open
ATP World Tour 250
Umag, Croatia
July 7-15, 2012
Prize Money: €358,425
Top 4 seeds
1: Fernando Verdasco
2: Marin Cilic
3: Alexandr Dolgopolov
4: Marcel Granollers
1st round matchups to watch:
Ivan Dodig vs. Carlos Berlocq
Dodig, who has been in pretty good form recently, will seek to upset clay court favorite Berlocq. Berlocq always performs well on the dirt.
Top Half:
Verdasco, who hasn’t been at his sharpest recently, will open up with the man who beat Berdych at Wimbledon, Ernie Gulbis or a qualifier and then likely faces fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, who will be looking to make a nice run here.
Marcel Granollers, another clay court talent, begins with Potito Starace or a qualifier and then either Matthias Bachinger of Germany, Joao Sousa of Portugal wild card Alijaz Bedene or 7 seed Martin Klizan.
Bottom Half:
Cilic made the 4th round of Wimbledon and has been playing pretty well, along with being the finalist last year. He will play Daniel Brands or a qualifier and then likely the 8 seed Edouard Roger-Vasselin. Blaz Kavic and Wayne Odesnik also lurk.
Alex Dolgopolov, who hasn’t made it past the quarters of any clay court event this year but took the title here last year, will face the dangerous Fabio Fognini or a qualifier and then likely 7 seed Berlocq.
Dark Horse: Fabio Fognini
Fognini has played pretty well this year, and he made the finals on clay in Bucharest. He has a nice draw if he can get past the slumping Dolgopolov. Cilic also poses a threat but he has been somewhat inconsistent.
Predictions:
Semis:
Granollers d. Ferrero
Cilic d. Fognini
Final:
Cilic d. Granollers
ATP Bastad
Skistar Swedish Open
Bastad, Sweden
ATP World Tour 250
July 7- July 15 2012
€ 358,125
Top 4 seeds (who all receive 1st round byes)
1: David Ferrer
2: Nicolas Almagro
3: Albert Ramos
4: Jarkko Nieminen
Top Half:
Ferrer, coming off a quarterfinals run at Wimbledon, will face either Simone Bolelli or Paul Capdeville of Chile. He could then run into 8 seed Adrian Ungur of Romania.
Albert Ramos, another Spaniard, will open with a qualifier and then quite possibly Grigor Dimitrov in what could be a great quarterfinals match up.
Bottom Half:
Almagro will face a qualifier or fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista-Agut and then take on another Spaniard, Daniel Gimeno-Traver, the 5 seed Mikhail Kukushkin, Michael Berrer of Germany or a qualifier. Nothing too tricky for him.
Jarkko Nieminen has struggled recently after having a great start to his year. He will face Jan Hajek or Fredrico Delbonis and then could face Estonian challenger veteran Jurgen Zopp or 7 Filippo Volandri.
Dark Horse: Jurgen Zopp
Zopp recently lost a 5 setter in the 1st round of Wimbledon and just recently broke into the top 100. He plays well on clay and is due for a breakthrough, and since Jarkko Nieminen and Volandri are the seeds in his section of the draw, he has a good chance to make some noise.
Predictions:
Semis:
Ferrer d. Dimitrov
Almagro d. Zopp
Final:
Ferrer d. Almagro
ATP Stuttgart
Mercedes Cup
ATP World Tour 250
Stuttgart, Germany
€ 410,175 (and a Mercedes)
Top 4 seeds (who all receive 1st round byes)
1: Janko Tipsarevic
2: Juan Monaco
3: Bernard Tomic
4: Pablo Andujar
1st Round Matchups to watch:
Lukas Rosol vs. Robin Haase
The magical man who knocked off Nadal will take on Haase, who will be trying for some magic himself. Haase is seeded, but we all know Rosol has game.
Top Half:
Tipsarevic will face either Steve Darcis or dirtballer Albert Montanes and then could confront the Rosol/Haase winner, Bjorn Phau or a qualifier.
Bernie Tomic, who has been struggling recently, will play either Thomaz Bellucci (who will be gunning for an upset), or German wild card Robin Kern. 7 seed Lukasz Kubot will face young German Cedrik Marcel-Stebe in what should be a good one. He would then take on the winner of Jeremy Chardy and a qualifier.
Bottom Half:
Juan Monaco will open against either Flavio Cipolla or Tobias Kamke and then could see dangerous 8 seed Tommy Haas (who is seeded again).
Pablo Andujar gets a Spaniard with a long name, either Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo or Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and then could see either Phillip Petzschner, Benoit Paire or veteran Nikolay Davydenko.
Dark Horse: Lukasz Kubot
Kubot, who is known slightly more for his skill in doubles, but is also a very respectable singles player, has a good draw if he can get through home favorite Stebe. Tomic is playing below his seed level. Tipsarevic also isn’t at his sharpest the past couple of weeks, so he could earn the upset there as well with some luck.
Predictions:
Semis:
Tipsarevic d. Kubot
Monaco d. Andujar
Final:
Monaco d. Tipsarevic
Tennis Atlantic 
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