2014 Heilbronn Challenger Preview
Ryan Harmer, Tennis East Coast
Tennis East Coast is proud to announce a new contributor, Ryan Harmer, from across the pond in Great Britain. Ryan is an experienced tennis fan with a keen eye on the lower levels of the game. He’s looking for players on the rise, notices players on the comeback trail before they make it big, and studies those in decline.
Ryan will be covering the ATP Challenger Tour for us with Previews and Recaps of most every tournament, for what we expect to be the entire 2014 season. Look forward to some high quality coverage of the great, exciting, and often unheralded tennis that goes on on the ATP Challenger Tour and give Ryan a warm welcome on his first preview article this season.
2014 Heilbronn Challenger Preview
Intersport Heilbronn Open
ATP Challenger Tour
Talheim, Germany
January 20-January 26, 2014
Prize Money: € 106,500
Top 8 seeds
1) Igor Sisjling
2) Benjamin Becker
3) Jiri Vesely
4) Kenny De Schepper
5) Blaz Kavcic
6) Jesse Huta Galung
7) Dustin Brown
8) Jan Hajek
As is to be expected, the field for this years Heilbronn challenger is once again very strong. A big prizepool has brought together an excellent field and should provide an excellent weeks worth of tennis.
Michael Berrer is the defending champion, but few would expect him to repeat his success given the strong line-up.
First round match-ups:
(7)Dustin Brown v Peter Gojowyczk
Undoubtedly the tie of the round pits two Germans up against each other. Brown and Gojowyczk played each other in the quarter finals of ATP Doha earlier in the season, with the third set being a match full of swings back and forth in which both players served for the match before Gojowyczk took the tie-breaker 7-5. A disappointing defeat in the AO qualifiers for Brown arguably sees him as the underdog given Gojowyczk qualified and has been impressive thus far this season. Either way this will be great viewing and shouldn’t be missed.
Marius Copil v Adrian Ungur
This may be seen as a surprising choice, but a match between two fellow countrymen is always one that intrigues. Ungur is arguably much more comfortable on clay but is capable of big performances. Copil has started the season well and I am interested to see how this goes. You can almost certainly guarantee 3 very interesting sets here.
Top half:
The top half sees Igor Sisjling take on big serving Konstantin Kravchuk in the first round. Should he progress, you would expect him to face Evgeny Donskoy, who faces Nils Langer in the first round, then Blaz Kavcic is most likely in the quarters (over three qualifiers), before a possible semi-final versus Matthias Bachinger or Jan-Lennard Struff.
In trying to analyse the draw, it is hard to see beyond Sisjling for the top half unless Struff or possibly the huge serving Kenny De Schepper are capable of upsetting him. De Schepper and Struff meet in round 1, followed by the winner of the match between Marco Cecchinato and former top 100 regular Gilles Muller, who is playing under a protected ranking after a prolonged injury layoff. Bachinger plays Andrej Martin, and then most likely Jesse Huta Galung, who plays Andreas Beck round 1. He and Struff/De Schepper should meet in the quarters.
Bottom half:
The bottom half sees defending champion Michael Berrer take on a qualifier before a probable round two match up with compatriot Benjamin Becker, who opens with Marco Chiudinelli. You would expect to then see an all German quarter-final between Brown/Gojowczyk v Becker, which should give the home fans some excitement. Brown/Gojowczyk will meet Andrey Kuznetsov or a qualifier in round 2.
Jiri Vesely’s mini-section is probably the weakest. This is a good opportunity for the youngster to lay down a marker for the season. That said, Ruben Bemelmans and a possible round two tie vs Copil should possibly provide stern tests. Vesely is the most likely opponent for one of Jan Hajek/Paul-Henri Mathieu or Andreas Haider-Maurer/Robin Kern in the quarters.
Semi-finals:
Sisjling d. Struff
Top seed Sisjling is my pick here. I feel the Dutchman is a slight class above the rest and this is a great opportunity for him to pick up a title early in the season. Struff is a young German who is improving all the time, but I don’t see him winning here.
Gojowcyzk d. Copil
I fancy Gojowcyzk to have a big week here providing he can get by Brown. A probable quarter-final vs Becker is a tough test, but Peter has been immensly impressive thus far and I fancy the unseeded German to make the final.
Copil is certainly good enough but often lacks the consistency required. A run to the semi-final of a top quality challenger field would certainly not be a bad result for him, however.
Final:
Sisjling d.Gojowcyzk
Igor wins for me. The consistency he is able to show will be too much and I fully expect him to walk away the victor this week.
I look forward to watching the matches and invite you to do the same. You won’t be disappointed!