2-4-8! Who Do We Appreciate? Three Seeded Players In Delray Beach Open Quarterfinal Play Today
Steve Fogleman in Delray Beach
January 11–-John Isner, Hubert Hurkacz and Frances Tiafoe are clearly the ones to beat in this tournament at the moment. Those seeded Delray Beach Open seeds have a lot of contenders at their tails. Sebastian Korda, who beat John Isner at Roland Garros last year, is set for the challenge against the second seed nig man Isner.
Roberto Quiroz, the 28-year-old Ecuadorean with deep pro tennis roots and in his first ever ATP quarterfinal, will square off against the 4 seed, Hubert Hurkacz. Hurkacz hopes to be the 7th 4 seed to win this tournament. It’s been tours since his last semifinal berth, but former Texas Christian University standout Cameron Norrie will do his best to move on against 8 seed and 2018 champion Frances Tiafoe.
Finally, you’ve got a match this afternoon that will result in an automatic underdog advancing to the semifinals between Christian Harrison and Gianluca Mager. This is Harrison’s first quarterfinal and Mager beat his brother Ryan to open the main draw of the tournament. In fact, Mager is looking to defeat his third American in a row after a win over Sam Querrey in the second round.
I’ve said it many times and it seems to hold true. At the lower level tournaments, seeding means little.The experience and confidence the players earn on the courts prior to the main draw are often enormously valuable.
As far as coronavirus and social distancing protocols here, there seems to be a ramped-up enforcement. With fewer fans in attendance on Friday, there were more groups together in the upper areas of the stadium and plenty of chin-strapping. I looked at the ushers on the concourse below and was worried that these mature-aged volunteers wouldn’t be up to the task. Meanwhile, Delray Beach Police Officers were all over the facility and didn’t seem interested in managing the new rules. By the weekend, that had changed. Frequent announcements were made that all fans were required to be in their assigned seats and that ushers would be coming around to check those seat assignments. Seats were sold in blocks of 2 or 4 with alternating rows and the protocols appeared to be enforced more stringently. Though it’s completely understandable, my heart sunk a little during announcements that fans were prohibited from asking for selfies or autographs from the players. And that photo of Frances Tiafoe above? He says he requested it. The only reason his mask was down was because he’d just finished answering a few questions for me twelve feet away. Throughout the weekend, the announcer made a point to inform the fans that they were about to be part of a national telecast on Tennis Channel, as if to remind them that they didn’t want to give their own town a bad look on TV. Maybe that was the trick.
More Delray Beach Open Seeds Fall on Saturday; Four Quarterfinal Spots Left
Steve Fogleman in Delray Beach
January 10, 2021–The seeds kept dropping on Saturday at the Delray Beach Open in Delray Beach, Florida. Gianluca Magher, the man who defeated Rio Open top seed Dominic Thiem last March, continued his underdog magic with a rude dismissal of #6 seed Sam Querrey, 7-6(8), 6-1.
Next up was Christian Harrison, and Christian’s Mission continued as he handled the tournament’s top seed Cristian Garin, 7-6, 6-2. He continues to marvel at his run in Delray Beach, where as a child he first saw pro tennis played in person.
Following up on Harrison’s heroics, Sebastian Korda advanced over #5 seed Tommy Paul. The tournament’s highest remaining ranked player, John Isner, served his way past Thiago Monteira in the night cap in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6(4).
Those results set up a quarterfinal square-off between Magher and Harrison and an All-American match with Isner and Korda. The top half of the singles draw has now lost two of its seeded players, leaving only #4 Hubert Hurkacz in the driver’s seat. In that top half, either Harrison or Magher will reach the semifinals and play on Tuesday. All eyes will be on Hurkacz in today’s day session when he will play his first ever match at Delray Beach following his first round bye.
SUNDAY SCHEDULE
STADIUM – start 11:00 am
[WC] C. Harrison (USA)/R. Harrison (USA) vs O. Marach (AUT)/L.D. Martinez (VEN)
Not before 12:30 pm
[4] H. Hurkacz (POL) vs D.E. Galan (COL)
Not before 2:30 pm
[8] F. Tiafoe (USA) vs B. Fratangelo (USA)
Night Session – Not before 6:00 pm
[Q] R. Quiroz (ECU) vs I. Karlovic (CRO)
Not before 8:00 pm
C. Norrie (GBR) vs [3] A. Mannarino (FRA)
Court 1 – start 2:00 pm
A. Krajicek (USA)/S. Querrey (USA) vs A. Molteni (ARG)/H. Nys (MON)
Not before 4:00 pm
N. Monroe (USA)/F. Tiafoe (USA) vs [PR] M. McDonald (USA)/T. Paul (USA)
Christian’s On A Mission: Harrison Sets Up Clash with Top Seed Cristian Garin
Steve Fogleman in Delray Beach
January 9. 2021–-For years, it was young Cristian Harrison who came to Delray Beach to watch his older brother, Ryan, compete in this ATP 250 tournament tucked inside this idyllic beach town. Yesterday, as Cristian Harrison warmed up on the outer court for his first round main draw match, there were only a few fans scattered around the bleachers. Among them was Ryan Harrison, who’d been eliminated from the singles draw on the opening day of the event.
“I’m feeling good. I’m playing a lot of qualies because I don’t have much of a ranking right now,” the younger Harrison said after his straight sets win over Tomas Etcheverry, 6-4, 6-2. After seasons of injuries and more surgeries than you can count on one hand, he knows that court time is precious. “It’s very special,” he told me after the match. “Honestly, to do it in Delray just because some of my first pro tennis memories when I was 13 or 14, coming to this tournament to watch my brother play. I love it here, I love Atlantic Avenue. It sucks that we can’t see it this year with everything going on. It’s special to this in Florida, where I live.”
After getting through the qualifying final in a tiebreak, he breezed through the first round yesterday. Harrison opened the qualifying tournament by knocking out Chile’s Marcelo Barrios Vera. Today, he’ll face the Open’s top seed and #1 Chilean, Cristian Garin, who is currently ranked #22 in the world. “I’ve obviously never played him, but I’ve seen him a lot, in a lot of other tournaments,” he told me. “I don’t think we’ve ever practiced but he’s had a lot of good results.”
He expounded on his fraternal bond with Ryan. “I know how he always wanted it for me, so it sucked for him whenever I was out a lot,” he said. “He could feel my pain when I couldn’t play these tournaments. Now that we’re getting theses chances to be in the same place, we’re making the most of it.”
Indeed, they made the most of it yesterday. After Christian’s singles win, the pair defeated the Texas Twins—Hunter and Yates Johnson, 6-4, 7-6(2), to advance to the quarterfinals in doubles.
SAT., JAN 9 ~ Day Session
11:00am: (2) M. Daniell (NZL) / P. Oswald (AUT) vs A. Molteni (ARG) / H. Nys (MON)
12:30pm: (6) Sam Querrey (USA) vs G. Mager (ITA)2:30pm: (1) Cristian Garin (CHI) vs C. Harrison (USA)
Andy Murray (Photo: Mike Renz for Tennis Atlantic)
A Delray Beach Open Wild Card for Andy Murray Strengthens the Field for Western Hemisphere’s First Tournament of 2021
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – Andy Murray, a 46-time winner on the ATP Tour who has been ranked No. 1 in the world, has been awarded a wild card for the season-opening Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com that will take place January 4-13.
The three-time Major champion joins four former tournament winners – Reilly Opelka (2020), Frances Tiafoe (2018), Sam Querrey (2017) and Kei Nishikori (2008) – in the field.
Murray will make his Delray Beach Open debut during Session 8, which will take place Friday night, Jan. 8. Additional headline matches have also been announced, including Opelka beginning his title defense on Thursday night, Jan. 7. The top-ranked American, John Isner, will headline the Saturday night session on Jan. 9, while Milos Raonic, who is projected to be the top seed, will play on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 10.
“I am looking forward to starting the 2021 season in Delray Beach.” Murray said. “This event will be a good test for me and I’m excited to be back playing on the tour”
Murray will be the 11th of the 26 players to have ever held the ATP’s No. 1 ranking to play the Delray Beach Open, joining Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Jim Courier, Lleyton Hewitt, Ivan Lendl, Carlos Moya, Pat Rafter, Marcelo Rios, Andy Roddick and Mats Wilander.
“We are looking forward to Andy joining us for our season-opening tournament,” said Tournament Director Mark Baron. “He is a champion at every level and among the greatest fighters our sport has ever seen. It will be thrilling to see him play here.”
Murray has won his 46 ATP titles from 68 finals during his career. Those tournament wins include being a two-time champion at both Wimbledon (2013, 2016) and the Olympics (2012, 2016). He was also the winner at the 2012 US Open and in 2016 at the ATP Finals, which was his ninth title of that season.
During his career, Murray has spent 41 weeks ranked as the World No. 1. At the end of January 2019, he underwent a hip resurfacing surgery. In June of that year, he returned to the Tour and immediately won the doubles title at Queen’s Club in London. He returned to singles action in August, and in October, won the title at Antwerp.
The 33-year-old and his wife, Kim, have two daughters and one son. Last year, he was knighted by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace.
His brother Jamie, who is one year older, has been ranked No. 1 in doubles and won the 2008 Delray Beach title.
Originally scheduled for February, the 2021 Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com will now take place January 4-13. The ATP Champions Tour legends event will begin the action Jan. 4-6. ATP 250 qualifying matches will take place Jan. 5-6. The main draw for the ATP 250 tournament, which will feature 16 doubles teams in addition to the 28-player singles field, will begin Thursday, Jan. 7 with two sessions each day until the finals are contested during a single session on Wednesday, Jan. 13.
All tickets for the “Physically Distanced, Forever Social” event at the historic downtown tennis center are on sale now at www.yellowtennisball.com or by phone at +1 561-330-6000. In order to accommodate spacious conditions in the stadium and throughout the venue, attendance for each session at the 2021 tournament will be capped at 2,000 people, just under 25 percent of the outdoor stadium’s total capacity.
Fans who act quickly can take advantage of a special Holiday Sale on tickets if purchasing before midnight on Dec. 31. Using the promo code CHAMPION, a discount of 30% will be applied to individual box and reserved seats for Sessions 1-4 (ATP Champions Tour matches). For discounted tickets to see the ATP 250 matches, fans can use the code JINGLE to get 10% off individual box seats for Sessions 5-14 (excluding Session 8), while the code BELLS will provide a 20% discount on individual reserved seats for Sessions 5-14 (excluding Session 8).
Last year, Delray Beach resident Opelka served a tournament record 99 aces during the week in which he won his second career ATP Tour title. In doubles Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan captured their sixth Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com title and their 119th as a team. It was the final tournament for the twin brothers who announced their retirement in August. In the opening weekend’s ATP Champions Tour matches, Team Europe, led by Tommy Haas and David Ferrer, earned a 5-2 win over the James Blake-led Team World. This marked the third straight defeat for the home nation in ATP Champions Tour competition at Delray Beach.
In an ever-changing world the tournament will maintain the highest level of health and safety standards for fans, players and staff alike. Please remain updated on our measures at https://yellowtennisball.com/faq/
2021 Delray Beach Open Kicks Off Tour With Milos Raonic and Former Champs Kei Nishikori, Frances Tiafoe, Reilly Opelka and Sam Querrey
Seriously. It’s been too long. The last time we saw the men duke it out for an outdoor title was at the 2019 US Open. Our pale skin will be tested under the sun at the Delray Beach Open, the ATP 250 tournament taking place on January 4-13 in Delray Beach, Florida. The event marks the first time in decades that the men’s tour begins in the United States, with the Australian Open’s retreat into February setting the stage for Delray Beach and Antalya, Turkey having the honors of serving as the inaugural events on the annual calendar.
Fans will be held at 25% capacity along with mandatory mask use throughout the grounds.. Tickets must be purchased in isolated blocks of 2 to promote distancing between members of different households. If you are thinking about attending the tournament, you would be well advised to purchase tickets now, I have an unadvertised tip to relate: Due to COVID-19, all former general admission seats are now reserved seating and available for about $25 a piece.
It’s a strong 250 field, with former champion Kei Nishikori and former finalist Milos Raonic headlining, joined in the hunt by the American platoon of Isner and former champions Opelka, Tiafoe and Querrey.
The Delray Beach Open was slated to start in mid-February, so tournament organizers are scrambling at break-neck speed to advance an international event by a staggering 5 weeks. That’s an impressive feat even without the threat of a global pandemic.
This news is a gift to American fans after the year we’ve had.
Busy Month on ATP Tour Sees Federer Claim Title #100, Monfils Return to Form Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
After Novak Djokovic claimed the Australian Open title, the ATP season roared into February with multiple 500 level events and a number of 250s on clay and hard courts across the globe. Here is your look at all the action for the month that was.
Veteran Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won an all French final in this indoor 250 6-4 6-2 against Pierre-Hugues Herbert. The veteran beat Gilles Simon, Jeremy Chardy and Radu Albot in consecutive matches to reach the final, overall he defeated four French players to win the tournament. PHH upset Denis Shapovalov and Tomas Berdych to reach the final.
Bulgaria’s only ATP event was won by the in-form Daniil Medvedev 6-4 6-3 against Marton Fucsovics. Fucsovics had a breakthrough after upsetting Andreas Sepi and getting a walkover against Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarters (then edging Matteo Berrettini in the semis). Medvedev got past Gael Monfils in the semis and prior to that he scored wins against Robin Haase and Martin Klizan in consecutive matches. Medvedev’s win helped him reach the top 15, he’s now 1-1 in ATP finals this year.
ATP Cordoba
On clay in Argentina home hero and wild card Juan Ignacio Londero won his first ever ATP title prevailing against Guido Pella 3-6 7-5 6-1 in a huge moment for him. Londero’s breakthrough pushed him to a new career high in the top 70 and he beat clay courters Nicolas Jarry and Federico Delbonis most notably to make the final. Pella had a good month edging Paolo Lorenzi, Diego Schwartzman, Albert Ramos, and Pablo Cuevas to reach the final in what was a tough path for a 250.
ATP New York
The first ATP 250 in the States this year saw Reilly Opelka lift his first title in three sets 6-1 6-7 7-6 against maiden finalist Brayden Schnur, a Canadian. Opelka also upset top American John Isner, while Schnur edged Sam Querrey in the semis. Opelka’s powerful serve was a difference maker and he should be a factor in Indian Wells and Miami coming up.
ATP Buenos Aires
The 250 on clay in Buenos Aires resulted in Marco Cecchinato’s third career ATP title 6-1 6-2 against home player Diego Schwartzman. Schwartzman upset Dominic Thiem and also beat Aljaz Bedene and Albert Ramos to reach the final. Cecchinato beat Christian Garin, Roberto Carballes Baena, and Guido Pella to reach the final, three accomplished clay courters. This was a great result for Cecchinato outside of Europe.
Gael Monfils returned to form winning his 8th career title 6-3 1-6 6-2 against fellow veteran Stan Wawrinka. It was a thrilling moment played in good spirits and filled with joy for both players who have overcome injuries and adversity to return to the top of the game. Monfils 500 level title included wins against Daniil Medvedev, and David Goffin. Wawrinka upset Milos Raonic, Denis Shapovalov, and Kei Nishikori before falling short in the final. Both players would love to contend at the slam level again.
The Rio 500 on clay was the top event on the Golden Swing and Serbia’s Laslo Djere claimed his first title 6-3 7-5 against young gun Felix Auger-Aliassime. FAA played well but Djere was the player of the week, as he upset Dominic Thiem and also claimed wins against clay courters Casper Ruud and Aljaz Bedene to reach the final. FAA defeated Fabio Fognini, Christian Garin, Jaume Munar, and Pablo Cuevas to reach the final, showing his all court talent that is set to make him a top 20 player in the near future. Djere broke into the top 40 with the win, the tournament was filled with upsets.
ATP Marseille
Young gun Stefanos Tsitsipas found form and got past Mikhail Kukushkin 7-5 7-6 in the final after defeating David Goffin, and Sergiy Stakhovsky in the late rounds to reach the final. Kukushkin upset Denis Shapovalov and Andrey Rublev before getting a winnable semi against Ugo Humbert. This indoor hard court 250 saw some early round upsets but in the end the #1 seed Tsitsipas won his second career title.
Radu Albot made history, winning his first career title and breaking into the top 60 with a 3-6 6-3 7-6 win against Dan Evans in a battle of journeymen in the Delray 250 hard court final. Evans edged John Isner in the semis and upset Frances Tiafoe in round 1 while Albot got past big servers Ivo Karlovic and Nick Kyrgios before nipping Americans Steve Johnson and McKenzie McDonald to reach the final.
Roger Federer won his 100th career title at the Dubai 500 6-4 6-4 on hard courts against the in-form Stefanos Tsitsipas. Federer found form late in the tournament after dropping sets against Philipp Kohlschreiber and Fernando Verdasco in the first two matches. Marton Fucsovics and Borna Coric were his quarterfinal and semifinal opposition, while Tsitsipas had a relatively easy path until Gael Monfils was his semifinal opponent and he prevailed in that match in a third set tiebreak. The young Greek played well but Federer was just too good.
The Acapulco 500 was won by the struggling big server Nick Kyrgios 6-3 6-4, as he defeated Alexander Zverev in a battle of talented finalists. Kyrgios was focused on the week, edging John Isner in the semis, Rafael Nadal in the second round, and Stan Wawrinka in the quarters while Zverev had a smooth path that included Alex De Minaur in the quarters and Cam Norrie in the semis. Kyrgios has always had the talent to be an elite player, if he can keep this form he will contend in both upcoming Masters tournaments, but that can’t be predicted.
ATP Sao Paulo
Argentina’s Guido Pella won his first ATP title, winning the 250 on clay to close the Golden Swing 7-5 6-3 against Christian Garin. Pella edged Laslo Djere in the semis, while Garin upset Ruud. Pella didn’t have the toughest draw (Roberto Carballes Baena and Marco Trungelliti) but it was still a massive accomplishment to win his first title.
Russia’s Karen Khachanov won his second career ATP title, taking the championship in Marseille 7-5 3-6 7-5 over Lucas Pouille. Khachanov beat Frenchman Julien Benneteau, veteran Tomas Berdych, Mischa Zverev, and Ruben Bemelmans on the week, dropping just a set against Pouille.
Pouille couldn’t make it 2/2 in French finals this year, but he did score tough wins over Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Filip Krajinovic. He beat Ilya Ivashka in the semis, Ivashka playing in his first ever semifinal at the ATP level after benefiting from drawing an injured Stan Wawrinka in the round of 16.
Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus defeated Marcus Daniell and Dom Inglot in the doubles final.
Frances Tiafoe lived up to the hype this week in Delray. The 20 year old defeated Peter Gojowczyk 6-1 6-4 in the final, capturing his first ATP title in what was an amazing week for the young American. He began his winning streak against Matt Ebden in the opening round, then upset Juan Martin Del Potro in 3 sets. In the quarterfinals and semifinals he beat fellow young guns Hyeon Chung and Denis Shapovalov, dropping a set to Chung but recovering well. Tiafoe’s game was more solid this week than it had been previously.
Germany’s Gojowczyk defeated Lukas Lacko, John Isner, Reilly Opelka, and Steve Johnson to reach the final, his second at the ATP level. Despite defeating three Americans, he couldn’t defeat a fourth in the final.
Jackson Withrow and Jack Sock beat Nick Monroe and J.P. Smith in the doubles final, completing an All-American sweep at the Delray 250.
Diego Schwartzman wrapped up a 500 level title in Rio with a routine 6-2 6-3 win against Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco. It’s the biggest title of the Argentine’s career and his second ATP title overall. He defeated Casper Ruud, Federico Delbonis, Gael Monfils, and Nicolas Jarry without dropping a set in any of his matches this week.
Verdasco turned back the clock a bit. The 34 year old showed his forehand range against Leonardo Mayer, Nicolas Kicker, Dominic Thiem, and Fabio Fognini. His wins against Thiem and Fognini, both in straight sets, was the best results he’s posted on tour in quite some time.
David Marrero joined with singles finalist Verdasco to win the doubles final against Nikola Mektic/Alexander Peya.
Juan Martin Del Potro and Milos Raonic Join Top Americans at ATP Delray Beach Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
The 250 stop in Delray Beach is event #2 on the USA’s ATP World Tour Schedule for 2018. Here is your full preview and predictions for this outdoor hard court tournament.
Top Half:
Top seed Jack Sock faces journeyman J.P. Smith in the opening round. Sock badly needs some wins but should have a tough customer in Ryan Harrison awaiting in round 2. Harrison needs to defeat American wild card Reilly Opelka in the opening round. Caught up in accusations of racism last week in New York, Harrison’s head may be somewhere else and I’ll go with Sock to find form and continue to demonstrate why he’s the American #1.
John Isner is struggling and faces an opponent he just lost to in New York, Radu Albot. As unlikely as it may be, I’ll go with Albot to defeat Isner again before falling to Peter Gojowczyk/Lukas Lacko in round 2. Isner is way out of sorts. Sock over Gojowczyk is my pick in the quarters.
New York Open champion Kevin Anderson faces Evgeny Donskoy in the opening round. Donald Young/Ramkumar Ramanathan will follow. Anderson should be the favorite until he reaches the quarters. Milos Raonic should await at that stage. The Canadian is hoping to make a solid showing after struggling to start the season. Raonic faces Taro Daniel, Nikoloz Basilashvili/Steve Johnson will follow. I’ll back Raonic to reach the quarters and upset a tired Anderson at that stage.
Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Hyeon Chung is a potential quarterfinal matchup that fans will be eager to watch. Del Potro opens with Jeremy Chardy, Matt Ebden/Frances Tiafoe will follow. Chung opens with Cam Norrie, Franko Skugor/Alexander Bublik will follow. I’ll go with Del Potro to power past Chung. Both players are solid, but Del Potro is tough on a hard court.
I’ll back Canadian Denis Shapovalov to have a solid tournament. Shapovalov will have to get past Ivo Karlovic, but presuming he wins that match he’ll get Jared Donaldson or a tired Adrian Mannarino in round 2. New York finalist Sam Querrey faces Taylor Fritz, Dudi Sela/Mikhail Youzhny will follow. Shapovalov over a tired Querrey is my quarterfinal pick.
Tsonga and Sock Make it Two Titles For 2017 Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
ATP Marseille
Three of the four semifinalists in Marseille were Frenchmen, and that lead to an all French final as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga edged past Lucas Pouille 6-4 6-4 for his ninth straight match win, and his second straight title after winning Rotterdam the weak prior. A rejuvenated Tsonga eased past Illya Marchenko and Gilles Simon earlier in the week, with his toughest win coming against Nick Kyrgios in three sets.
The 23 year old Pouille snapped a losing streak and defeated Aljaz Bedene, Daniil Medvedev, and Richard Gasquet to reach the final as a bit of a surprise this week. The doubles champions were also French, as Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut beat Robin Haase and Dominic Inglot in the final, needing a third set super tiebreak to do it.
ATP Rio
An eight career ATP title was on tap for Dominic Thiem in Rio. The Austrian captured the 500 level tournament on clay without dropping a set all week. Pablo Carreno Busta was his victim in the final by a score of 7-5 6-4. Thiem also defeated Janko Tipsarevic, Dusan Lajovic, Diego Sebastian Schwartzman, and Albert Ramos over the course of the tournament.
PCB scored wins over Joao Souza, Victor Estrella, Alexandr Dolgopolov, and teenager Casper Ruud to reach the final. The young Ruud was poised to reach the final after winning the second set of their semifinal, but he collapsed in the third set, taking a bagel against the Spaniard. Singles finalist Carreno Busta paired with Pablo Cuevas to win the doubles title over Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.
ATP Delray Beach
Unable to physically compete, Milos Raonic dropped out of a slated Delray final with Jack Sock, handing Sock his second title of 2017, this one coming via walkover. Sock has just one loss this season and defeated Radu Albot, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Steve Johnson, and Donald Young to reach the final. His wins over Johnson and Young providing further evidence that he’s clearly the ATP tour’s best American right now.
Raonic defeated Tim Smyczek, Borna Coric, Kyle Edmund, and Juan Martin Del Potro before injuring his back. The Manitoba Missile continues to look good in 2017, but time will tell if the injury sets his season back.
Rajeev Ram and Raven Klaasen paired up to put away veterans Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi in the doubles final.
2017 ATP Delray Beach Preview and Predictions Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
The first of Florida’s two ATP World Tour stops, here is your preview with predictions for the 2017 Delray Beach Open.
Delray Beach Open
ATP World Tour 250
Delray Beach, FL, USA
February 20-26, 2017
Surface: Hard
Prize Money: $534,625
Top 4 seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Milos Raonic (4)
2: Ivo Karlovic (20)
3: Jack Sock (21)
4: Sam Querrey (29)
Delray boasts top 20 players, but otherwise it’s a pretty open field on the beach.
First round matches to watch
(8)Kyle Edmund vs. Adrian Mannarino
Mannarino has a h2h win, but this should be a very competitive hard court matchup. Both players could use a form boost, Mannarino’s shotmaking is a bit better than Edmund, which should make him the slightest of favorites.
Jared Donaldson vs. Mikhail Kukushkin
Donaldson has hit a skid, losing five straight matches. Kukushkin for his part has won three of his last four, reaching the semis in Memphis. The steady ATP veteran is never going to be an elite player, while Donaldson might be, but the young American seems listless right now, making Kukushkin a surprising favorite.
Two of the ATP’s most talented tall players, both of these players have been bit hard by the injury bug, and had their careers derailed in the process. Anderson hasn’t won a match this year, while Del Potro is making his season debut. Last year even a rusty Del Potro showed what a talented player he is. Remaining Argentina’s best player, JMDP has never lost to South Africa’s best Anderson (5-0 h2h), and presuming he can kick off the rust he should win his first match of 2017.
(6)Bernard Tomic vs. (Q)Steve Darcis
Tomic is just 2-3 this year, while Darcis has seven wins just this month. The veteran Belgian has never played the junkballing Tomic, it should be an interesting style contrast. Tomic is the better player, but he’s looked unfit in 2017, Darcis is playing quite well and at his best he should groove past a frustrated Tomic.
Taylor Fritz vs. (Q)Akira Santillan
Australian teen Santillan will be bidding for his first ever ATP win against American teen Fritz in this matchup of potential future ATP stars. Santillan has good form, having come through qualifying, but the more experienced Fritz should have a slight edge in this one, despite not having a great start in 2017. Be sure to check these young guns out before they get famous.
(2)Ivo Karlovic vs. Donald Young
Karlovic is 3-0 against Young, but he’s lost three straight matches, while Young reached the semifinals in Memphis. If Karlovic wins this, he could take home the Delray title, but Young also his eyes on a potential title here and won’t be broken easily. Karlovic, a former Delray champ, should win the tiebreaks to advance here.
Top Half:
Milos Raonic is the best player in this field and should blitz past Tim Smyczek, Borna Coric/Santiago Giraldo, and most likely Rendy Lu/Adrian Mannarino in his first three matches. Coric is slowly easing into form, but still won’t be able to deal with Raonic’s serve in his current form. Lu opens with wild card Bjorn Fratangelo, Mannarino/Edmund will be his round 2 opponent, with most likely Mannarino the slight favorite to reach the quarters given Lu hasn’t been in great form recently. Raonic will have lost focus if he doesn’t reach at least the semifinals here.
Sam Querrey looked awful in Memphis, but there are much worse draws in round 1 than Israeli veteran Dudi Sela, and the American should power into round 2 against Kukushkin (or Donaldson). I have the defending champion Querrey defeating Kukushkin before falling to another former champion, Del Potro, in the quarterfinals (2-1 h2h in favor of Del Potro). JMDP will face Memphis quarterfinalist Damir Dzumhur in round 2, after a win against Anderson, presuming Dzumhur continues his positive play against Konstantin Kravchuk.
Bottom Half:
The Karlovic/Young winner looks set to face Darcis or Tomic in the quarterfinals, unless the nearly retired former champion Tommy Haas or Memphis finalist Nikoloz Basilashvili interrupts that. Karlovic should serve past Young and Fritz/Santillan, while I have Darcis beating a tired Basilashvili, after the Georgian defeats Haas. It’s tough to pick between Karlovic and Darcis, form favors Darcis, but in Delray I’ll go with Karlovic.
Two of America’s best, Jack Sock and Steve Johnson should face off in the quarterfinals, presuming Johnson defeats his young countryman Stefan Kozlov, then Yoshihito Nishioka/Kimmer Coppejans and Sock eases past Radu Albot and Dustin Brown/Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Sock beat Johnson when they met in Auckland earlier this year, Sock will be the favorite to reach the semis. Brown is coming off a back injury, Garcia-Lopez continues to struggle, Kozlov is yet to reach an ATP caliber level, and both Coppejans and Nishioka are vulnerable to getting overpowered.
The qualifier Darcis has a shot at getting past Tomic, Basilashvili and the big serving Karlovic to reach the semifinals. He’s been playing some of the best tennis of his career lately, and it was a bit of a quirk that he had to go through qualifying in the first place. If a non-seed is going to exceed expectations, this veteran is a good choice to do it.
Predictions
Semis Raonic d. Del Potro
Sock d. Karlovic
Raonic has split meetings against Del Potro, but should be in better form, giving him an edge. Karlovic has consistently battled past Sock on hard courts, but the American’s form is too good to pass up, he has a great shot at reaching another ATP final.
Final Raonic d. Sock
6-2 this year, Raonic is playing well enough, should be fresh, and has an 8-2 h2h lead against Sock, making him a clear favorite to take home this ATP title.
Tennis Atlantic 