Tennis Atlantic

2013 ATP Bangkok & Kuala Lumpur Previews & Predictions

The Asian swing of the ATP world tour starts with strong fields for 250s in Bangkok, Thailand and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, both on indoor hardcourts.

ATP Bangkok
Thailand Open
ATP World Tour 250
Bangkok, Thailand
September 23-September 29, 2013
Prize Money: $567,530

Top 4 seeds (Who all receive first round byes)
1: Tomas Berdych
2: Richard Gasquet
3: Milos Raonic
4: Gilles Simon

The original top seed, Andy Murray, withdrew earlier this week and will probably be out the rest of the year due to much-needed back surgery.

First round matchups to watch:

Ivo Karlovic vs. Bernard Tomic

Not a whole lot of first round showdowns for this tournament, but this one could be interesting. Karlovic lost to Sam Querrey in Metz, while Tomic comes off helping the Aussies make the DC world group. He has had a poor year, dogged by personal issues, and this one could honestly go either way based upon the unpredictable form of both players.

Top Half:

Tomas Berdych starts against Roberto Bautista Agut or a qualifier. Assuming he wins that, a probably easier match against one of Rendy Lu, Evgeny Donskoy, Lukas Rosol or Lukasz Kubot will be in order. Rosol was finally able to win back-to-back matches in St. Petersburg.

Metz champion Gilles Simon faces the Tomic/Karlovic winner and then most likely Jarkko Nieminen in the quarters, assuming the Fin beats a slumping Igor Sijsling, and Robin Haase/Daniel Gimeno-Traver.

Bottom Half:

Defending champ Richard Gasquet will play Lukas Lacko or a qualifier. Mikhail Youzhny awaits in the quarters, as the Russian needs to beat Paolo Lorenzi and Denis Istomin or Suk-Young Jeong, an up and coming wildcard from Korea.

Milos Raonic will face Marinko Matosevic or wild card Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul. In all likelihood, Raonic will duel Feliciano Lopez in the quarters. Lopez just has to get wins over wildcard Laslo Djere and a qualifier.

Dark Horse: Roberto Bautista Agut

Bautista Agut beat Berdych in Chennai at the start of this year and played well in St. Petersburg. His punchy style can force the Czech into errors if his form is off and he opens with a qualifier. If he upsets Berdych, the field is weak until the semis, where Simon/Nieminen would be his likely opponent, another winnable match.

Predictions

Semis:
Berdych d. Nieminen
Raonic d. Gasquet

Nieminen beat Berdych once indoors, but Berdych has won every other meeting, and I have Nieminen in the semis. Although his form wasn’t great before the US Open, he has had a break and plays well indoors. Simon will probably be tired. Gasquet beat Raonic at the US Open a few weeks ago, but indoors, I think the pendulum swings in favor of the Canadian with his serve.

Final:
Raonic d. Berdych

Raonic won their only head to head meeting in Cincy last year, and I just think he has a slight edge indoors, though this could go either way. Raonic is also fighting for a spot in the ATP World Tour Finals.

ATP Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Open
ATP World Tour 250
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
September 23-September 29, 2013
Prize Money: $875,500

Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes)
1: David Ferrer
2: Stanislas Wawrinka
3: Nicolas Almagro
4: Jurgen Melzer

First round matchups to watch:

(WC)Ryan Harrison vs. Joao Sousa

Harrison needed a wild card to enter the field here, as his ranking is back outside the top 100. He will get an interesting match against Sousa, who has had a great year and made the semis indoors in St. Petersburg. Depending on Sousa’s fatigue level, he may be a slight favorite.

(WC)Pablo Carreno-Busta vs. Alex Bogomolov

Carreno-Busta has had an amazing year and will begin transitioning to consistent ATP tour tennis at this point, starting with a wild card here to face Bogomolov. Bogey has inconsistent form while PCB is mostly known for his clay court prowess with no idea how his game will hold up indoors.

Top Half:

David Ferrer opens with a qualifier, then one of Harrison/Sousa, Nikolay Davydenko/Pablo Cuevas in the quarters. Davydenko could be streakily dangerous, but otherwise not a bad start for Ferrer.

Jurgen Melzer will face Horacio Zeballos or a qualifier, then one of Vasek Pospisil/Victor Hanescu/Federico Delbonis/Hyeon Chung in the quarters. Pospisil has a nice underdog chance to make a run here, otherwise it should be Melzer.

Bottom Half:

Stan Wawrinka will face Carlos Berlocq or Marcos Baghdatis to start. He beat Baghdatis at the US Open. In the quarters, Carreno-Busta/Bogomolov or Dmitry Tursunov/Qualifier await. Not the easiest draw, but not the worst either.

Nicolas Almagro was a sad sack 0-3 during the US Summer swing and is back for indoors in the fall against Daniel Brands or Adrian Mannarino, both of whom can be dangerous. The winner gets one of Julien Benneteau/Michal Przysiezny/Grega or Zemlja/Pablo Andujar in the quarters. Przysiezny comes off semis in St. Petersburg and Benneteau is struggling.

Dark Horse: Vasek Pospisil

Daniel Brands could also qualify for this honor, but I will give it to Pospisil. Let’s assume he can beat Hanescu and Delbonis/Chung, both of whom will be favored indoors. His test with Melzer would be big but is also winnable. Pospisil has the talent. The consistency is still lacking. His quality play in Canada’s Davis Cup ties indoors cannot be discounted. Melzer is unpredictable himself and has lost 3 straight matches.

For the Canadian, the semis are quite possible. They met last year In Kuala Lumpur, but Melzer retired early in set 2.

Predictions

Semis:
Ferrer d. Pospisil
Wawrinka d. Brands

Ferrer should probably cruise his way to the final. Wawrinka doesn’t have that tough of a draw and the other section is weak. I say Brands will get out of it.

Final:
Wawrinka d. Ferrer

Ferrer won their only indoor meeting, and has a solid edge in the h2h, but Wawrinka seems to be in great form and I think he will continue that and notch a title here.