2015 Quimper ATP Challenger Preview, Predictions
Chris De Waard, Tennis Atlantic
ATP Challenger Tour
Quimper, France
2-8 March 2015
Prize Money: €42,500
Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Farrukh Dustov (98)
2: Kenny De Schepper (103)
3: Andreas Beck (114)
4: Benoit Paire (118)
5: Iliya Marchenko (127)
6: Jurgen Zopp (157)
7: Liam Broady (181)
8: Matteo Viola (193)
The last direct acceptance is Enzo Couacaud, ranked 235th. Former world #51 Daniel Brands came through qualifying and will face Couacaud in the first round.
First round match-up to watch
Enzo Couacaud – (Q) Daniel Brands
A tough draw for both. Couacaud impressed last week by trashing Nicolas Mahut and reaching the semi-final as a wildcard at Cherbourg, which saw him almost crack the top 200 for the first time. Brands is slowly but surely recovering from his lengthy lay-off, but he has to come through qualifying every time, which is costing him a lot of energy. I would give Brands the edge in this match-up, but it will be an interresting encounter.
Top Half
Top seed Farrukh Dustov will try to recover from his upset loss in the first round of Cherbourg last week. Although his tournament win in Wroclaw, which saw him make the top 100 for the first time is likely to have had an impact on that. He should be able to reach the quarterfinal here, where it’s hard to predict who he will face, considering it’s a stacked section. Benoit Paire, Daniel Brands, Maxime Authom and Jurgen Zopp all have a chance to pull it of, although Paire has to be marked the favorite in his current form.
Bottom Half
I can see #5 seed Ilya Marchenko coming through here. His competitors haven’t shown steady form, while he has been consistent from the start of the year, playing to his potential. He will likely face off with #3 seed Andreas Beck for a spot in the semi-final, but the German hasn’t been looking great lately. #2 seed Kenny De Schepper has been up and down so far this year, and despite him probably being marked the slight favorite in a match-up with Marchenko, I suspect it will be the other way around in reality.
Predictions
Semis:
Paire d. Dustov
Marchenko d. De Schepper
Final:
Paire d. Marchenko
