2014 Pune, Cordoba Challenger Previews & Picks
Chris De Waard, Tennis East Coast
A repeat of last week’s schedule, with one hardcourt event in India and one on clay in Argentina.
KPIT MSTLA Challenger
ATP Challenger Tour
Pune, India
20-25 October
Prize Money: $50,000
Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Aleksandr Nedovyesov (118)
2: Alexander Kudryavtsev (125)
3: Somdev Devvarman (143)
4: Yuichi Sugita (146)
5: Hiroki Moriya (154)
6: Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (162)
7: Yuki Bhambri (183)
8: Kimmer Coppejans (202)
The last direct acceptance is Toshihide Matsui, ranked 419th.
First round match-ups to watch
Sanam Singh – Stefano Travaglia
Singh took out #2 seed Alexander Kudryavtsev last week on his way to the quarterfinal, while Travaglia had a good week as well, reaching the semi-final. Travaglia should be the favorite, but the Indians have shown themselves to play better than their rankings in their home country.
(4) Yuichi Sugita – Ramkumar Ramanathan
The same thing applies here: Ramanathan is a promising 19 year old who reached the semi-final last week and could well repeat that great result by upsetting the #4 seed in the first round.
Top Half
After he made the final last week, top seed Nedovyesov has a tricky draw. He is lined up to face the man against whom he lost last week in the final, Saketh Myneni, but this time even sooner, in the quarterfinal. Given their respective forms, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the winner of this encounter taking a decisive spot in the final.
Bottom Half
Despite his early loss last week, second seed Alexander Kudryavtsev should be a favorite in this half, especially given his easy draw to the quarterfinal with a wild card and two qualifers being placed in his section. In the top half, Kimmer Coppejans and Somdev Devvarman are scheduled to battle it out for a semi-final spot, which is a difficult match-up to predict.
Predictions
Semis:
Nedovyesov > Bhambri
Devvarman > Kudryavtsev
Final:
Devvarman > Nedovyesov
This is all very hypothetical given Devvarman’s form, but he has played Kudryavtsev and Nedovyesov on hardcourt earlier this year and those matches ended in respectively 6-3 6-3 and 6-3 6-1, so that speaks greatly in his favor.
Copa Gobierno de Cordoba
ATP Challenger Tour
Cordoba, Argentina
20-26 October
Prize Money: $40,000
Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Diego Schwartzman (89)
2: Alejandro Gonzalez (97)
3: Horacio Zeballos (99)
4: Joao Souza (104)
5: Maximo Gonzalez (113)
6: Facundo Bagnis (119)
7: Facundo Arguello (140)
8: Jason Kubler (152)
The last direct acceptance is Andrea Collarini, ranked 260th. Two brothers of well known players are in as well, Federico Coria on a wild card and Martin Cuevas through qualifying.
First round match-ups to watch
(1) Diego Schwartzman – Guido Andreozzi
It’s safe to say that Andreozzi would be ranked a lot higher without Schwartzman. This is the fifth time they face off this year, with Schwartzman winning all prior meetings. Three of them ended in a third set, of which two in a third set tiebreak, including their quarterfinal match last week.
(5) Maximo Gonzalez – Gianni Mina
It has been a while since Gonzalez has played on clay, playing on hardcourt since his first round loss at the San Marino Challenger in the first week of August. He hasn’t had much success, seeing his ranking drop from #83 to his current ranking of #114. Mina has had good results in the past weeks with two semi-finals, so he might be able to surprise a rusty Gonzalez here.
Top Half
Top seed Schwartzman should be a clear favorite once again, especially since he had a first round loss in between his three finals, so fatigue shouldn’t be kicking in yet. However, he has a tough draw with Andreozzi, Nicolas Jarry and Maximo Gonzalez on his road to the semi-final. His semi-final might even be less challenging, since he is likely to face Horacio Zeballos or Facundo Arguello, who are both in dodgy form.
Bottom Half
#4 seed Joao Souza can be marked the favorite here, especially after he reached the final last week, absolutely trashing the current #2 seed Alejandro Gonzalez 6-1 6-1 on his way. Perhaps #8 seed Jason Kubler can cause a surprise by taking out Gonzalez himself in the quarterfinal, although he has a tough opener against the veteran in his second life, Andre Ghem.
Predictions
Semis:
Schwartzman > Zeballos
Souza > Kubler
Final:
Schwartzman > Souza
This repeat of last week’s San Juan final would mean Schwartzman’s fifth Challenger title of the year, tying Gilles Muller.
Tennis Atlantic 