Tennis Atlantic

2016 BMW Open Midweek Update
Marc Imperatori, Tennis Atlantic

Juan Martin Del Potro is one of the stars at this year’s BMW Open, and he’s now into the quarterfinals, after a strong pair of wins. On Monday he stated he’s a long way from being 100% with his wrist, but he’s feeling better each month, and he’s going to stick with a two-handed backhand.

Snow was also one of the big topics of the tournament thus far, as multiple matches this week saw white flakes landing onto the red clay. This didn’t do much to help Canadian Vasek Pospisil, as he was foiled by Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff in his opening match, after winning the first set. Pospisil was seen frequently practicing in the cold weather though, and must feel at home.

Credit: ATP World Tour.com

Gael Monfils withdrew from the BMW Open for the third time, as he’s suffering from a groin injury, and in his place, lucky loser Jozef Kovalik has made it into the quarterfinals with a win over qualifier Igor Sijsling.

The remaining seeds are holding true to form, top seed David Goffin may not be 100% but he battled back to defeat Victor Estrella and reach the quarters, Alexander Zverev dominated Lukas Rosol, after getting his revenge from Barcelona against Malek Jaziri. Dominic Thiem beat  Santiago Giraldo, and next faces Ivan Dodig, after Dodig scored wins over Thomaz Bellucci and Ernests Gulbis without dropping a set.

Kovalik will face Fabio Fognini, in a match Fognini is heavily favored to win. The Italian had no trouble against young wild card Max Marterer, and then handled Mikhail Kukushkin in a similarly easy fashion to reach the quarters.

Del Potro will face veteran home favorite Philipp Kohlschreiber in the match of the day tomorrow. After wins over Dustin Brown, and Struff, he’s showing some great form. Kohlschreiber beat countryman Florian Mayer, one of his good friends, and has stated in press that he’s still hungry for success, even as he gets older. He also expressed disappointment for the ATP stripping points away from Davis Cup participation. Kohli has never beaten Del Potro, but on home clay he still may be the favorite.

Goffin vs. Zverev will also be a great match, with the home fans likely to be backing Sascha against the seemingly vulnerable Belgian #1.

In doubles, the semifinals are Oliver Marach/Fabrice Martin against Henri Kontinen/John Peers, and Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah against Julian Knowle and Alexander Peya. The top seeds Marcelo Melo/Jean-Julien Rojer were defeated by Marach/Martin earlier in the week.