ATP Montpellier, Zagreb, Vina Del Mar Previews
Steen Kirby, TennisEastCoast.com
The ATP World Tour will fire back up after a week off with three 250 events: two on indoor hard in Europe, and one on South American red clay. Many top players will be in action and competing for titles.
ATP Montpellier
Open Sud de France
ATP World Tour 250
Montpellier, France
February 4-Feburary 10, 2013
Prize money: € 410,200
Top 4 seeds (who all receive 1st round byes)
1: Tomas Berdych
2: Janko Tipsarevic
3: Richard Gasquet
4: Gilles Simon
The top four seeds are all top 15 players and Montpellier features a strong home French contingent.
1st round matchups to watch:
(5) Nikolay Davydenko vs. Sergiy Stakhovsky
If Kolya Davydenko is going to continue to show signs of career resurgence, he needs to do well on surfaces that favor him, like indoor hard courts. It will start here against Stakhovsky, who is playing Davis Cup for Ukraine this weekend and has been pretty much below average to start his year off.
Gael Monfils vs. Ruben Bemelmans
Monfils continues to be one of the most frustrating players on the tour and if he is off his game a bit. He may get a tough match with the rising Bemelmans. I expect big things out of Bemelmans in the future. I wouldn’t call this an upset special, but you never know. Monfils was a finalist last year at this event and needs to defend points.
Top Half:
Defending champ Tomas Berdych comes off of DC duty and will take on a qualifier or more likely the dangerous Jarkko Nieminen, who is in some ways an indoors specialist at this point in his career. After that interesting 2nd round test, he could get another big match in the quarters if Davydenko can win his 1stround match and beat the winner of Tatsuma Ito/Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
The top French player in the draw, Gasquet is also coming off DC duty and will play the Monfils/Bemelmans winner. Thereafter, he likely faces Frenchman Julien Benneteau in the quarters, if Benny can get past Romanians Adrian Ungur and Victor Hanescu or a qualifier.
Bottom Half:
Janko Tipsarevic will hopefully be fully recovered from a foot injury he sustained in Melbourne that forced him to pull out of Davis Cup. Tipsy opens with Michael Llodra or a qualifier and then could meet countryman Viktor Troicki in the quarters if Troicki beats wild card Lucas Pouille and the winner of Dudi Sela/Jan Hajek.
Even if Tipsy isn’t 100%, this is a pretty easy quarter of the draw for him to survive.
Gilles Simon will play the winner of Paul-Henri Mathieu/Mikhail Kukushkin and Mathieu has a good shot at an upset there. The quarterfinalist could play Frenchman and 8 seed Benoit Paire, Steve Darcis, Adrian Mannarino or a qualifier.
Dark Horse: Paul-Henri Mathieu
PHM will be bidding to return to the top 50 here and he plays very well indoors, making the semis of the Heilbronn challenger this year along with an indoor challenger final last year and semi finals in Basel. If he knocks out compatriot Simon, the rest of the draw is quite open and likely semifinal opponent Tipsarevic is in questionable physical shape. He has a serious shot to win here.
Predictions
Semis:
Davydenko d. Monfils
Mathieu d.Tipsarevic
This is a wide open tournament. If Davydenko is in form and beats either Berdych or another possible dark horse, Nieminen, he should be well on his way. Meanwhile, Monfils should have a surface edge on Gasquet and Mathieu is set up for a good showing.
Final:
Mathieu d. Davydenko
About even odds here as well, but Davydenko may wear down like he did in the Doha final, so edge to PHM to get the win.
ATP Zagreb
PBZ Zagreb Indoors
ATP World Tour 250
Zagreb, Croatia
February 4-Febuary 10, 2013
Prize Money: € 410,200
This is the only ATP tournament city that starts with a Z and the tennis action is sure to be full of some zingers.
Top 4 seeds
1: Marin Cilic
2: Andreas Seppi
3: Mikhail Youzhny
4: Jurgen Melzer
Two top 20 players in the Zagreb field.
1st round matchups to watch:
Blaz Kavcic vs. Aljaz Bedene
Kavcic and Bedene are countrymen and Davis Cup teammates, and both are improving players. Bedene is the younger Slovenian at 23 while Kavcic is 25. They are four spots apart from each other in the rankings and they know each other’s games well. It all portends an intriguing match.
Top Half:
Two time Zagreb champ Cilic comes off Davis Cup action and will face the winner of Grega Zemlja vs. a qualifier. The winner of that could face Marcos Baghdatis, a semifinalist last year, or the Kavcic/Bedene winner. Baghdatis opens with Tobias Kamke and has a good draw here.
Defending champ Mikhail Youzhny will play either Igor Sijsling or Nikola Mektic and then could meet 7 seed Grigor Dimitrov, who opens with Ivo Karlovic, in the quarters. Dimitrov is more than likely the favorite in this quarter, and will also need to get past the winner of Benjamin Becker vs. Ivan Dodig.
Bottom Half:
The steady Andreas Seppi comes off DC duty and will have to make a surface adjustment from clay to hard as he opens with Mate Pavic or a qualifier before playing 5 seed Martin Klizan, a qualifier, Antonio Veic or Robin Haase.
Jurgen Melzer will play a qualifier or Somdev Devvarman, who could give him some early trouble as he struggled this weeked in Davis Cup action for Austria. The winner of that match should play last year’s finalist Lukas Lacko, who is off to a sharp start in 2013 and opens with Flavio Cipolla. Lukas Rosol and Lukasz Kubot, who is doing well in DC duty for Poland, are also options.
Dark Horse: Lukas Lacko
Lacko made the finals last year so he has shown he can do well here. He started 2013 with 2 straight quarterfinal appearances, then nearly beat Janko Tipsarevic in Melbourne, and played well in DC action this weekend. He has a good draw if he can slip past Kubot, as Melzer/Devvarman aren’t too imposing. The sky is the limit for Lacko in Zagreb.
Predictions:
Semis:
Dimitrov d. Baghdatis
Lacko d. Seppi
Dimitrov vs. Baghdatis would be a Brisbane semis rematch, won by Dimitrov in 3 sets. I’ll take Lacko over Seppi, simply because Seppi will be adjusting surfaces.
Final:
Dimitrov d. Lacko
Neither of these players has won an ATP title and both will have fine shots to win one this week. If Dimitrov is on point, he will be the favorite.
ATP Vina Del Mar
VTR Open
ATP World Tour 250
Vina Del Mar, Chile
February 4-February 10, 2013
Prize money: $ 410,200
The start of the golden swing on South American clay also coincides with the return of the Golden Clay Court King Rafael Nadal, who will make his return from knee problems in Chile and will have all eyes on him every time he strikes the ball.
Top 4 seeds
1: Rafael Nadal
2: Juan Monaco
3: Jeremy Chardy
4: Pablo Andujar
Outside of Nadal, who is also playing in the doubles side of the tournament, Vina has quite an eclectic field of players.
First round matchups to watch:
(8) Carlos Berlocq vs. Andrey Kuznetsov
Berlocq has helped Argentina clinch its Davis Cup tie with Germany and should be buzzing from that as he gets a tough test against the imposing Russian Kuznetsov. Kuznetsov plays very well on clay and is set for a breakthrough of his own. I expect a fantastic match.
Top Half:
Nadal will face either a qualifier or young Argentine Guido Pella in his first match back since losing to Rosol at Wimbledon. Then, it should get even easier against 7 seed and Spanish countryman Daniel Gimeno-Traver, Spaniard Albert Montanes, Joao Sousa or wild card Nicolas Massu.
AO quarterfinalist Jeremy Chardy will switch to clay and face a qualifier or Chilean wild card Christian Garin. The second round would find him facing Davis Cupper and 6 seed Paolo Lorenzi (a clay court specialist), Spanish vet Tommy Robredo, Pere Riba or a qualifier.
Bottom Half:
Monaco, the defending champ who was also part of the successful Argentine Davis Cup team this weekend, will play Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo or Guillaume Rufin. Following an opening round win, he should play the Berlocq/Kuznetsov winner, while Santiago Giraldo and Martin Alund are also options.
Pablo Andujar will face a qualifier or Horacio Zeballos in what could be an early upset special. After that, he could play 5 seed Albert Ramos (who plays Rogerio Dutra Silva). Leonardo Mayer and Filippo Volandri are also options.
Dark Horse: Andrey Kuznetsov
Kuznetsov is due for an ATP breakthrough and if he gets past Berlocq, things will be in his favor even if he has to face Monaco in the quarters. He just beat Monaco handily in Melbourne, albeit on a different surface. Andrey’s semi final opponent would be an even easier win.
Predictions
Semis:
Nadal d. Lorenzi
Kuznetsov d. Zeballos
Nadal should cruise to the semis, as this field is honestly so weak that he can probably beat most of the players on one leg on the clay. Lorenzi will have a tiny edge on Chardy.
Zeballos can also be considered a dark horse and he has a very weak section as Andujar and Ramos are both struggling.
Final:
Nadal d. Kuznetsov
If this match occurs, it will be tremendously interesting. So much depends on how Nadal is doing physically and what kind of rust is on his game. But, hey, this is a clay court 250. Nadal can probably win this thing on one leg.
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