Tennis Atlantic

Tennis Atlantic 2015 ATP Draw Challenge Week 12 (Houston and Casablanca)
Staff, Tennis Atlantic

The clay season kicks off in earnest with a pair of 250 events in North Africa and the USA, as our analysts make their picks.

Houston

Steen Kirby’s Picks

Round 2 Matches: Lopez vs. Estrella, Young vs. Querrey, Isner vs. Smyczek, Arguello vs. Verdasco, Lajovic vs, Hewitt, Delbonis vs.  Anderson, Giraldo vs. Tipsarevic, Sock vs. Bautista Agut
Quarterfinals: Lopez vs. Young, Isner vs. Verdasco, Lajovic vs. Delbonis, Giraldo vs. Souza
Semifinals: Lopez vs. Isner, Delbonis vs. Giraldo
Final: Isner vs. Delbonis
Champion: Isner

Chris de Waard’s Picks

Round 2 Matches: Lopez vs. Estrella, Young vs. Querrey, Isner vs. Smyczek, Chung vs. Verdasco, Chardy vs, Hewitt, Delbonis vs.  Anderson, Giraldo vs. Tipsarevic, Sock vs. Bautista Agut
Quarterfinals: Estrella vs. Young, Isner vs. Verdasco, Chardy vs Anderson, Giraldo vs. Sock
Semifinals: Young vs. Verdasco, Anderson vs. Sock
Final: Verdasco vs. Anderson
Champion: Verdasco

Jeff McMillan’s Picks

Round 2 Matches: Lopez vs. Estrella, Johnson vs. Querrey, Isner vs. Gabashvili, Chung vs. Verdasco, Chardy vs, Soeda, Delbonis vs.  Anderson, Giraldo vs. Qualifier, Sock vs. Bautista Agut
Quarterfinals: Lopez vs. Johnson, Isner vs. Verdasco, Chardy vs Delbonis, Giraldo vs. Bautista Agut
Semifinals: Johnson vs. Verdasco, Delbonis vs. Bautista Agut
Final: Verdasco vs. Bautista Agut
Champion: Verdasco

Fernando Verdasco is perhaps the favorite in Houston, but watch out for the big servers either Isner or Anderson.

Casablanca

Steen Kirby’s Picks

Round 2 Matches: Garcia-Lopez vs. Haase, Gimeno-Traver vs. Ramos, Vesely vs. Youzhny, Bedene vs. Schwartzman, Haider-Maurer vs. Andujar, Mathieu vs. Granollers, Berlocq vs. Almagro, Kuznetsov vs. Klizan
Quarterfinals: Garcia-Lopez vs. Ramos, Vesely vs. Schwartzman, Haider-Maurer vs. Granollers, Almagro vs. Klizan
Semifinals: Ramos vs. Schwartzman, Haider-Maurer vs. Almagro
Final: Almagro vs Ramos
Champion: Almagro

Joe Craven’s Picks

Round 2 Matches: Garcia-Lopez vs. Haase, Gimeno-Traver vs. Kukushkin, Vesely vs. Youzhny, Gonzalez vs. Schwartzman, Haider-Maurer vs Kamke, Dzumhur vs. Granollers, Berlocq vs. Almagro, Brown vs. Klizan
Quarterfinals: Garcia-Lopez vs. Kukushkin, Vesely vs. Schwartzman, Kamke vs. Granollers, Almagro vs. Klizan
Semifinals: Garcia-Lopez vs. Schwartzman, Granollers vs. Almagro
Final: Garcia-Lopez vs. Almagro
Champion: Almagro

Chris de Waard’s Picks

Round 2 Matches: Garcia-Lopez vs. Ouahab, Gimeno-Traver vs. Ramos, Vesely vs. Youzhny, Gonzalez vs. Schwartzman, Haider-Maurer vs. Andujar, Dzumhur vs. Granollers, Carreno Busta vs. Almagro, Brown vs. Klizan
Quarterfinals: Garcia-Lopez vs. Ramos, Youzhny vs. Schwartzman, Haider-Maurer vs. Dzumhur, Almagro vs. Klizan
Semifinals: Ramos vs. Schwartzman, Haider-Maurer vs. Almagro
Final: Ramos vs. Almagro
Champion: Almagro

Jeff McMillan’s Picks

Round 2 Matches: Garcia-Lopez vs. Ouahab, Gimeno-Traver vs. Ramos, Vesely vs. Youzhny, Gonzalez vs. Schwartzman, Haider-Maurer vs. Kamke, Dzumhur vs. Granollers, Berlocq vs. Almagro, Brown vs. Klizan
Quarterfinals: Garcia-Lopez vs. Ramos, Vesely vs. Schwartzman, Haider-Maurer vs. Granollers, Almagro vs. Klizan
Semifinals: Garcia-Lopez vs. Schwartzman, Granollers vs. Klizan
Final: Garcia-Lopez vs. Klizan
Champion: Garcia-Lopez

Nicolas Almagro is the favorite in Casablanca this week.

Miami
1: Joe (664 points) (+1000 overall)
2: Steen (608 points) (+600 overall)
3: Chris (542 points) (+360 overall)
4: Niall (518 points) (+360 overall)
5: Jeff (0 points) (+0 overall)

Joe wins his first event by a sizable margin.

Overall standings (after week 11)

1: Steen: 5820 ranking points (+600 points overall)
2: Niall: 4980 points (+360 points overall)
3: Joe 4360 points (+1000 points overall)
4: Chris: 3860 points (+360 points overall)
5 Jeff: 3630 points (+0 points overall)

Joe jumps into third rather quickly, while Steen extended his lead on Niall with a second place finish, Courtney is now scratched.