Tennis Atlantic

2015 ATP Draw Challenge Week 35 (Metz, St. Petersburg)
Staff, Tennis Atlantic

A pair of indoor hard court 250’s on European soil kicks off the 2015 ATP World Tour Fall swing and our experts are on hand to make their bracket predictions.

Metz

Steen Kirby’s picks

Round of 16 matches: Wawrinka vs. Brown, Darcis vs. Kohlschreiber, Tsonga vs. Carreno Busta, Mahut vs. Mannarino, Mathieu vs. Pospisil, Herbert vs. Garcia-Lopez, A. Zverev vs. Muller, Roger-Vasselin vs. Simon
Quarterfinals: Wawrinka vs. Kohlschreiber, Tsonga vs. Mahut, Mathieu vs. Garcia-Lopez, Muller vs. Simon
Semifinals: Wawrinka vs. Tsonga, Garcia-Lopez vs. Simon
Final: Wawrinka vs. Simon
Champion: Wawrinka

Niall Clarke’s picks

Round of 16 matches: Wawrinka vs. Brown, Darcis vs. Kohlschreiber, Tsonga vs. M. Zverev, Mahut vs. Mannarino, Klizan vs. Pospisil, Herbert vs. Garcia-Lopez, A. Zverev vs. Muller, Roger-Vasselin vs. Simon
Quarterfinals: Wawrinka vs. Kohlschreiber, Tsonga vs. Mannarino, Klizan vs. Garcia-Lopez, Muller vs. Simon
Semifinals: Kohlschreiber vs. Tsonga, Klizan vs. Simon
Final: Tsonga vs. Simon
Champion: Tsonga

Chris de Waard’s picks

Round of 16 matches: Wawrinka vs. Ram, Lorenzi vs. Millman, Tsonga vs. Carreno Busta, Mahut vs. Mannarino, Mathieu vs. Pospisil, Herbert vs. Garcia-Lopez, A. Zverev vs. Muller, Roger-Vasselin vs. Simon
Quarterfinals: Ram vs. Millman, Tsonga vs. Mahut, Pospisil vs. Garcia-Lopez, Muller vs. Simon
Semifinals: Millman vs. Tsonga, Garcia-Lopez vs. Simon
Final: Tsonga vs. Simon
Champion: Tsonga

Stan Wawrinka, Gilles Simon, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga all expected to do well in Metz this week.

St. Petersburg

Steen Kirby’s picks

Round of 16 matches: Berdych vs. Bolelli, Kokkinakis vs. Sousa, Thiem vs. Haider-Maurer, Golubev vs. Kukushkin, Paire vs. Berankis, Gabashvili vs. Bautista Agut, Robredo vs. Baghdatis, Donskoy vs. Raonic
Quarterfinals: Berdych vs. Kokkinakis, Thiem vs. Kukushkin, Paire vs. Bautista Agut, Robredo vs. Raonic
Semifinals: Berdych vs. Kukushkin, Bautista Agut vs. Raonic
Final: Berdych vs. Raonic
Champion: Berdych

Niall Clarke’s picks

Round of 16 matches: Berdych vs. Rublev, Kokkinakis vs. Sousa, Thiem vs. Haider-Maurer, Becker vs. Kukushkin, Paire vs. Pouille, Gabashvili vs. Bautista Agut, Robredo vs. Gulbis, Sidorenko vs. Raonic
Quarterfinals: Berdych vs. Sousa, Thiem vs. Kukushkin, Paire vs. Bautista Agut, Robredo vs. Raonic
Semifinals: Berdych vs. Thiem, Bautista Agut vs. Raonic
Final: Berdych vs. Bautista Agut
Champion: Berdych

Joe Craven’s picks

Round of 16 matches: Berdych vs. Rublev, Kokkinakis vs. Sousa, Thiem vs. Haider-Maurer, Becker vs. Istomin, Janowicz vs. Berankis, Gabashvili vs. Bautista Agut, Robredo vs. Gulbis, Donskoy vs. Raonic
Quarterfinals: Berdych vs. Kokkinakis, Thiem vs. Istomin, Janowicz vs. Bautista Agut, Gulbis vs. Raonic
Semifinals: Berdych vs. Thiem, Janowicz vs. Raonic
Final: Berdych vs. Raonic
Champion: Berdych

Chris de Waard’s picks

Round of 16 matches: Berdych vs. Rublev, Granollers vs. Sousa, Thiem vs. Haider-Maurer, Golubev vs. Istomin, Paire vs. Berankis, Shyla vs. Bautista Agut, Robredo vs. Gulbis, Donskoy vs. Raonic
Quarterfinals: Berdych vs. Sousa, Thiem vs. Kukushkin, Paire vs. Bautista Agut, Robredo vs. Raonic
Semifinals: Berdych vs. Kukushin, Bautista Agut vs. Raonic
Final: Berdych vs. Raonic
Champion: Raonic

Tomas Berdych and Milos Raonic, St. Petersburg’s #1 and #2 seeds are the clear favorites to take the title.

Week 34 standings

US Open

1: Niall (624 points) (+2000 points overall)
2: Jeff (610 points) (+1200 points overall)
3: Steen (592 points) (+720 points overall)
4: Chris (570 points)  (+720 points overall)
5: Joe (506 points) (+360 points overall)

Overall standings (after week 34)
1: Steen: 15,750 ranking points (+720 points overall)
2: Niall: 15,050 points (+2000 points overall)
3: Joe 12,630 points (+360 points overall)
4: Chris: 11,985 points (+720 points overall)
5: Jeff: 11,100 points (+1200 points overall)

Niall’s winning US Open performance has made the final push for points at the end of the season matter as he’s back within striking distance of Steen with two Masters series events left to go.