2014 Bangkok & Como Challenger Previews
Chris DeWaard, Tennis East Coast
It’s not only about the US Open this week, with two Challengers on the schedule. One in Thailand on hardcourt and the other in Italy, on clay.
Chang-Sat Bangkok Open 2014
ATP Challenger Tour
Bangkok, Thailand
August 25-31
Prize Money: $50,000
Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Go Soeda (107)
2: James Duckworth (155)
3: Luca Vanni (170)
4: Thomas Fabbiano (227)
5: Matt Reid (236)
6: Kyle Edmund (237)
7: Yasutaka Uchiyama (242)
8: Elias Ymer (244)
The last direct acceptance is exceptionally high here: Congsup Congcar, ranked 2078th.
First round match-ups to watch
Danai Udomchoke – Hyeon Chung
Udomchoke has had a long career in the shadow of Thailand’s most successful player, Paradorn Srichaphan, which saw him reach a career high ranking of #77 in early 2007. This happened after arguably the greatest tournament of his career, the Australian Open, where he beat 24th seed Juan Carlos Ferrero in the second round and took a set off Novak Djokovic in the third round. You can watch a great point he won against Djokovic in that match below. A year earlier, he pushed #3 seed David Nalbandian to the brink in their first round match, falling 2-6 2-6 6-1 7-6(4) 1-6.
2007 was also the last year in which the now 33 year old Udomchoke was ranked inside of the top 100. Currently he is ranked just outside the top 300 at #308 and one has to wonder how long he will keep playing. Perhaps he can make a final run at his home event here. He will take on the South Korean youngster Chung, who is fifteen years his junior and ranked 249th.
Top Half
Last week, top seed Go Soeda was involved in what arguably was the upset of the year, losing 6-3 6-3 as the second seed to Oscar Hernandez in the first round of qualifying at the US Open. Hernandez had been retired for four years and came back on a protected ranking to solely play the qualifying tournaments of Grand Slams. During his professional days, he was known to be awful on hardcourt (5-32 on the main tour), so his win was an enormous surprise and quite humiliating for Soeda. However, Soeda thrives at Challenger level and should be able to brush off that loss here with a deep run.
Perhaps eighth-seeded Elias Ymer can threaten him, although it is yet to be seen how he performs on hardcourt, since the strides he has made this year have solely come on clay. I can’t see the other two seeds, Thomas Fabbiano and Yasutaka Uchiyama, threatening Soeda. A run by Udomchoke is a possibility to consider and would be a nice surprise.
Bottom Half
James Duckworth heads this half and should be a comfortable favorite to reach the final, fighting it out with Kyle Edmund in the quarterfinal for that spot. Matt Reid and Luca Vanni will battle it out in the other section for a semi-final spot against a variety of low ranked Indian and Thai players, which should be no problem for them. However, against Duckworth or Edmund, I see them as a solid underdog.
Predictions
Semis:
Soeda > Udomchoke
Duckworth > Vanni
Final:
Duckworth > Soeda
Udomchoke lets his hometown inspire him to make a good run, but Soeda will simply be too solid for the veteran. The quarterfinal between Duckworth and Edmund will be the real final, as I can see Edmund beating Soeda in the final as well.
Citta Di Como 2014
ATP Challenger Tour
Como, Italy
August 25-31
Prize Money: €35,000
Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Facundo Arguello (121)
2: Pierre-Hugues Herbert (136)
3: Adrian Ungur (137)
4: Filippo Volandri (148)
5: Victor Hanescu (150)
6: Potito Starace (156)
7: Marco Cecchinato (160)
8: Andrea Arnaboldi (172)
The last direct acceptance is Christian Lindell, ranked 285th. Viktor Troicki is in the qualifying draw and is very likely to make it into the main draw.
First round match-ups to watch
(5) Victor Hanescu – Jan Hajek
Long time top 100 player Hanescu (33) looks to have dropped out of it for good this year and currently is barely holding onto a top 150 position at #150. Fellow veteran Hajek (31) has made an even bigger drop this year and currently resides exactly 200 spots lower at #350 after starting the year at #105. A big contrast to only a year ago, when he played Federer in the third round of a 500 event. This may very well be the last couple of months on tour for both gentleman and perhaps they can make something interesting out of this match, as both their previous encounters went into a dramatic decider, both won by Hanescu: 6-7(8) 6-4 7-5 and 5-7 6-1 6-4.
Top Half
As expected from a European Challenger the field is a lot more in balance than its Asian counterpart this week. Facundo Arguello heads the field and will be challenged by three Italian seeds in his half, Andrea Arnaboldi, Filippo Volandri and Potito Starace. Volandri and Starace are projected to battle it out in the quarterfinal, just like two weeks ago in Cordenons. However, it is yet to be seen if Volandri is fit enough, considering he retired from that match in the second set. I can’t see a lot of suprises coming from the non-seeded players, so an Arguello – Starace semi-final is very likely here. Unless, of course, Viktor Troicki qualifies and lands in this half, in which case anything can happen considering he would be among the top seeds. For my predictions, considering there is a 75% chance he draws a spot in the bottom half, I’m going to assume that will be the case.
Bottom Half
Pierre-Hugues Herbert leads this half, but he has been in poor form lately, so there might well be a surprise finalist coming out of this half. #7 seed Marco Cecchinato is projected to play him in the semi-final and I think the young Italian should be marked a favorite there. From the upper section, #3 seed Adrian Ungur should prevail over his countryman Hanescu. Ungur won a Challenger three weeks ago in San Marino, which should give him a confidence boost.
Predictions
Semis:
Troicki > Arguello
Cecchinato > Ungur
Final:
Cecchinato > Troicki
Top seed Arguello hasn’t had the best of showings on European clay this year, even losing in straight sets to world number 379 Roman Jebavy in his last tournament. If Troicki ends up in the bottom half, he plays Cecchinato in the semi-final, which would determine the winner of the tournament.
Cecchinato has been sniffing at main tour success lately, but coming up short in deciding sets on a lot of occasions. Here at a Challenger in his home country, he should feel less pressure and prevail. He has posted good results in Italy this year, with three semi-finals and a final in clay Challengers.
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