2017 ATP Munich Preview and Predictions
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
One of Germany’s numerous ATP tournaments, this is perhaps the strongest ATP 250 stop on clay this week. Here is your preview with predictions.
BMW Open by FWU
ATP World Tour 250
Munich, Germany
May 1-7, 2017
Surface: Clay
Prize Money: €482,060
Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Gael Monfils (17)
2: Roberto Bautista Agut (18)
3: Alexander Zverev (21)
4: Fabio Fognini (29)
Although it lacks a top 10 player, the BMW Open field has the most depth of any tournament this week.
First round matchups to watch:
Embed from Getty ImagesHoracio Zeballos vs. Andreas Seppi
A battle between veterans, Seppi leads Zeballos 2-1 in the h2h, but Zeballos is coming off the semifinals in Barcelona and has shown good form on clay. If Zeballos is going to repair his ranking and move towards the top 50 he’s going to need to back up his play last week and win matches like this against a pedestrian Seppi.
(5)Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. (WC)Casper Ruud
Defending and three-time champion Kohlschreiber shouldn’t be overly troubled by the young gun Ruud but this is a great form check for Ruud, who qualified and reached the second round in Barcelona. Kohlschreiber recently made the final in Marrakech.
Top Half
Gael Monfils has had a flat season this year and would love to kickstart his tennis in Munich. He’ll open with either Max Marterer or Hyeon Chung, who qualified in Barcelona and made the quarterfinals. Presuming Monfils gets past the upset alert match against Chung he should be favored against Budapest quarterfinalist Martin Klizan, who opens with Nicolas Kicker, and then will face either Dustin Brown or Mischa Zverev, who will have a serve and volley battle in round 1 on clay.
Kohlschreiber should beat Ruud and Zeballos/Seppi, Fabio Fognini lurks in the quarterfinals, presuming he can defeat Guido Pella (or Cedrik-Marcel Stebe) in round 2. Kohlschreiber is better than Fognini right now, despite Fognini’s ability to play peak tennis.
Bottom Half
Roberto Bautista Agut looks set to face Thomaz Bellucci in the quarters, he’ll face either Thiago Monteiro or Marius Copil in round 2, after starting the season 2-2 on clay. Houston finalist Bellucci should ease past either Gerald Melzer or ATP main draw debutante Yannick Hanfmann, with RBA favored against Bellucci in the quarters.
Sascha Zverev should have enough quality to defeat either veteran Jeremy Chardy or Jozef Kovalik in round 2, Jan-Lennard Struff is a narrow favorite to make it an all-German quarterfinal, presuming he beats Daniel Masur and either Sergiy Stakhovsky or the ageless Tommy Haas, who should beat Stako on clay. Zverev is the clear favorite to make the semifinals.
Embed from Getty ImagesDark Horse: Tommy Haas
Embed from Getty ImagesHaas likely has at least one more ATP tournament run left in him and it could come at home in Germany. Haas already has two ATP wins this year and has fifteen career ATP titles, the last of his trophies coming in 2013. This is not the most difficult draw, and the likes of Zverev and Struff are certainly beatable, even though he’s a clear underdog.
Predictions
Semis
Kohlschreiber d. Monfils
Zverev d. Bautista Agut
Final
Kohlschreiber d. Zverev
I’ll back Kohlschreiber and Zverev to reach the final in Germany, with the veteran Kohli deserving of a fourth Munich title.
Tennis Atlantic 