Halle

Big Weekend for Croatia as Marin Cilic and Borna Coric Score Final Upsets
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

ATP Queens

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Marin Cilic defeated Novak Djokovic 5-7 7-6 6-3 to capture the Queens Club title, the result is a big one for Cilic as he won the match despite a steep h2h disadavantage against the Serbian superstar and he came back from a set down to win.

Cilic claimed his first title of 2018 after wins against Fernando Verdasco, Gilles Muller, Sam Querrey, and Nick Kyrgios to reach the final. He dropped sets to Muller and Djokovic but all in all put together a tremendous week on grass against solid competition that suggests he could win the Wimbledon title in a few weeks time.

Djokovic is rounding into form on grass as he blitzed past John Millman, Grigor Dimitrov, Adrian Mannarino, and Jeremy Chardy to reach the final without dropping a set. Alongside Cilic he will have a great chance of winning Wimbledon.

Henri Kontinen and John Peers defeated Murray/Soares in the doubles final.

ATP Halle

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Croatia’s Borna Coric stunned Roger Federer 7-6 3-6 6-2 in Halle to claim his second career ATP title, this time on grass as a massive underdog. Coric didn’t drop a set until the final as he blitzed past Alexander Zverev, Nikoloz Basilashvili, Andreas Seppi, and Roberto Bautista Agut.

Federer struggled while reaching the final, as he was challenged by Aljaz Bedene, Benoit Paire, Matthew Ebden, and Denis Kudla. Coric was his toughest opponent of the tournament and at that point he finally suffered a loss. His first on grass this season.

Kubot/Melo beat the Zverev brothers to win the doubles final.

Roger Federer Looks to Keep It Rolling at ATP Halle 500
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The Gerry Weber Open, an ATP 500 event on grass in Halle, Germany is a pivotal warmup on the road to Wimbledon. Here is your look at all the action that is ahead.

Top Half:

Roger Federer should ease past Aljaz Bedene and Benoit Paire/Steve Johnson to reach the quarterfinals. Australia’s Matt Ebden is solid on grass and I have him meeting Federer in the quarters after defeating Malek Jaziri and Philipp Kohlschreiber or Marton Fucsovics. Federer should reach the semis regardless.

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Dominic Thiem, who wants to compete at Wimbledon, should be good enough on grass to defeat Mikhail Youzhny and Max Marterer or Yuichi Sugita to reach the quarters. Lucas Pouille has a tough opening match against Stefanos Tsitsipas but if he wins that he should defeat Denis Kudla/Lukas Lacko and then upset Thiem in the quarters to setup a semi against Federer.

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Bottom Half:

Alexander Zverev faces off with Borna Coric in a highlight worthy round 1 contest the relatively in-form home favorite should see off Coric and countryman Peter Gojowczyk (or Rudolf Molleker) to reach the quarterfinals. Rosmalen champ Richard Gasquet looks set to defeat Florian Mayer and Andreas Seppi/Matteo Berrettini to reach the quarters opposite Zverev, who I’ll back as the favorite.

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With just Matthias Bachinger and Mischa Zverev or Karen Khachanov in his path, Kei Nishikori looks set to reach the quarters and defeat Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut at that stage. RBA opens with J.L. Struff, Robin Haase or Joao Sousa will follow.

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Predictions

semis
Federer d. Pouille
Zverev d. Nishikori

Look for Germany’s Zverev to have a nice run at home but Federer should take home the title and retain #1 regardless.

final
Federer d. Zverev

Fan Favorites Federer and Lopez Use Vintage Form To Capture Grass Titles
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

ATP Halle

Roger Federer banked his ninth Halle title, and made a case for renaming the tournament after him as he dominated on German grass yet again to defeat Alexander Zverev 6-1 6-3 in the final. Federer moves to 24-2 on the year, shaking off an early loss on grass last week and not dropping a set in Halle as he drubbed Yuichi Sugita, Mischa Zverev, Florian Mayer, and Karen Khachanov to reach the final. Federer being one of the few ATP players to defeat a pair of brothers en route to a title.

the younger Zverev moved to 33-12 on the season, reaching a fourth final this season by fighting past Roberto Bautista Agut, and Richard Gasquet in consecutive fashion, both wins needing three sets. Earlier in the week he flexed his skills against Paolo Lorenzi and Philipp Kohlschreiber. Both finalists sohuld perform well at Wimbledon, with Federer strengthening his case to be the favorite at SW19 in one week’s time.

Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo defeated the Zverev brothers in the doubles final, as Alexander Zverev was a double runner-up this week.

ATP London Queen’s

Feliciano Lopez has reached consecutive grass court finals, and is enjoying the best part of his season, this time in the final he didn’t let the chance at a title pass him by, winning ATP title #6 4-6 7-6 7-6 as the underdog against Marin Cilic. Playing in his second final of the year, only the closest margins denied Cilic, who had a match point, the champions trophy. He still had a good week, defeating Gilles Muller in the semifinals (three sets), and three Americans, John Isner, Stefan Kozlov, and Donald Young, all without dropping a set, as Cilic would not be someone the USA would want to face in Davis Cup.

Lopez had a much tougher draw, but he didn’t let it phase him. His serve clicked and he got past Stan Wawrinka, Jeremy Chardy, Tomas Berdych, and Grigor Dimitrov, three of those four victories, plus the one against Cilic all coming against some of the best players in the men’s game right now. Simply put, no one wants to draw Lopez early at Wimbledon, as he should be able to do damage.

The home fans enjoyed Jamie Murray teaming with Bruno Soares to take the doubles title against Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

2017 ATP Halle Preview and Predictions
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

Halle is the other 500 level grass court tournament on the ATP calendar. Roger Federer has reigned supreme at this German tour stop, will that change this year?

Gerry Weber Open
ATP World Tour 500
June 19-25, 2017
Halle, Germany
Surface: Grass
Prize Money: €1,836,660

Top 4 seeds (ATP Ranking in parentheses)
1: Roger Federer (4)
2: Dominic Thiem (9)
3: Kei Nishikori (7)
4: Alexander Zverev (21)

First round matches to watch:

Mischa Zverev vs. (Q)Lukas Lacko

The qualifier Lacko is a difficult test for the Stuttgart semifinalist Zverev. The German has advanced beyond the tour fringes, while Lacko has not, but the quality of ball striking between these two is much closer than their ranking. I have Zverev winning, but I don’t count Lacko out.

Jan-Lennard Struff vs. (6)Lucas Pouille

Struff lost after having a match point, coming up just short in his bid to upset the Stuttgart champion Pouille. Fresher than his French rival, and hungry for revenge, Struff could knock off the Frenchman. Pouille’s form has been rising though, and he’s a deserving favorite.

(3)Kei Nishikori vs. Fernando Verdasco

Nishikori has two wins against Verdasco this season, and should be good to go in this one, Verdasco is no slouch on grass though, and if he gets to firing winners, Nishikori could get exposed on his serve. Nishikori has been somewhat of a disappointment as of late, and although he has the skillset to change that, I’ll go with Verdasco to pull off a surprising upset.

Bernard Tomic vs. (WC)Tommy Haas

A quarterfinalist in Stuttgart, Haas has refused to go quietly into retirement, Tomic by contrast has faded from being a serious ATP contender, and is an afterthought on tour at this point. Haas on paper should be close in terms of quality with Tomic, but his fighting spirit and wise play should help him slide past the Australian.

Top Half:

The eight-time Halle champion Roger Federer was shocked by Haas in Stuttgart, he didn’t play that poorly though, and Federer should kick off the rust and defeat the challenging Zverev/Lacko winner in round 2. Pouille should beat his quarterfinal opponent, after Struff, The Frenchman will face Benoit Paire or defending champion Florian Mayer. Mayer is in terrible form and is unlikely to come close to repeating. Federer could fall at any stage, but he loves playing in Halle and I have him making at least the semifinals this week.

Nishikori/Verdasco will square off with Karen Khachanov/Gilles Simon in round 2, Simon is in awful form, so I have Verdasco beating Khachanov before falling to Ivo Karlovic in the quarters. Dr. Ivo comes off the Rosmalen final and will face qualifier Mikhail Youhzny in a tricky round one match, before running into either Andrey Rublev or Albert Ramos. This isn’t an easy prediction to make, but I’ll go with Karlovic over Verdasco in this section.

Bottom Half:

Dominic Thiem has made huge strides this season, and that success should transfer onto grass. The Austrian faces Max Marterer first up, with David Ferrer or Robin Haase to follow. I have Thiem defeating Tommy Haas in the quarters, after facing Tomic, Haas will look to continue his success against either Richard Gasquet or Gael Monfils, both of whom could use some form before Wimbledon.

Roberto Bautista Agut will begin against dirtballer Carlos Berlocq, he should face an in-form Vasek Pospisil in round 2, presuming Pospisil’s bid isn’t ended by shotmaker Dustin Brown. Pospisil, 6-1 on grass this year, is a dangerous opponent, but RBA is the safer bet. I have Rosmalen semifinalist Alexander Zverev defeating Paolo Lorenzi, and then Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber in round 2, after Kohli defeats Joao Sousa. German fans should enjoy that round 2 match, and they’ll like Zverev’s win over RBA in the quarterfinals even more.

Dark Horse: Vasek Pospisil

11-1 in his last twelve matches, the big serving Canadian Pospisil is a fallen ATP star that is looking to move his way back to the tour level. Although I don’t have him getting past round 2 in Halle, he has every chance to upset Bautista Agut, and possibly Zverev to reach the semifinals.

Predictions

Semis
Federer d. Karlovic
Thiem d. Zverev

I’ll go with Federer’s consistency, and Thiem’s improvements this season, picking them both to make the final. Zverev will have every chance, but I feel Thiem is slightly more developed than his counterpart right now. Federer should take home another Halle title.

Final
Federer d. Thiem

2016 ATP Grass Court Season Recap: Murray and Thiem Soar
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The last four ATP grass court tournaments after the French Open featured most of the top players looking to get practice before Wimbledon, and a host of players making strong runs. Many of these players will likely find themselves wishing their was more grass court tennis after Wimbledon, while others are already ready for hard court action.

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ATP Stuttgart

Austrian superstar Dominic Thiem has moved into the top 8 after his fourth title of the season was won in Stuttgart at the Mercedes Cup. Thiem has won titles on all of the surfaces (hard court, clay, and grass) already this season and has clearly demonstrated his all-court prowess. Thiem beat Sam Groth, Mikhail Youzhny, and grass court legend Roger Federer, before toppling Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber in the final. Only against Groth did Thiem not drop a set, but he showed great fight to prevail in his matches. Kohlschreiber had defeated Thiem earlier this season in a clay final, so the Austrian got his revenge.

The German defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Denis Kudla, Radek Stepanek, and Juan Martin Del Potro to reach the final. Del Potro showed great form as he continues his return from serious wrist injuries.

Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak defeated Fabrice Martin and Oliver Marach in the doubles final.

ATP ‘s-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch)

Nicolas Mahut won a second consecutive, and a third overall Den Bosch title as he defeated fellow big server Gilles Muller in the final. Mahut defeated Lukas Lacko, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Bernard Tomic, and Sam Querrey en route to the final, surviving in three sets against all but Lacko and Muller. The Frenchman clearly enjoys playing in Holland.

Muller contested his second career ATP final as he defeated Robin Haase, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, David Ferrer, and Ivo Karlovic to get that far. Both Ferrer and Tomic disappointing. At 33 he’s still looking for an elusive first ATP title.

Mate Pavic and Michael Venus defeated Dominic Inglot and Raven Klaasen in the doubles final as New Zealanders won both doubles titles on offer last week.

ATP Halle

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Florian Mayer stunningly captured his first title since 2011 as the oft-injured German will return to the top 100. Mayer defeated countryman Alexander Zverev in the final, the passionate Zverev simply didn’t have consistency to prevail in the third set. Mayer with his funky game has seen a resurgence in his tennis on grass this season. The 32 year old defeated Brian Baker, got a walkover against Kei Nishikori, and then defeated Andreas Seppi, and the in-form Dominic Thiem to reach the final.

The 19 year old Zverev dropped his second career ATP final after posting wins over Viktor Troicki, Benjamin Becker, Marcos Baghdatis, and most surprisingly, Roger Federer in three sets. Federer will now enter Wimbledon without a grass court title, though he entered two events. The Swiss legend hasn’t won an ATP title this season.

Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram defeated Alexander Peya and Lukasz Kubot in the doubles final.

ATP London Queen’s

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Andy Murray was a set and a break down against Milos Raonic before he fought back to capture a fifth career London Queen’s title. Murray defeated Nicolas Mahut, Aljaz Bedene, Kyle Edmund, and Marin Cilic, as he dropped sets against Edmund and Cilic, along with Raonic. Murray has been in tremendous form as he moved to 33-6 on the season with two ATP titles. Murray hasn’t lost a match before the final since Monte Carlo.

Raonic defeated Nick Kyrgios, Jiri Vesely, Roberto Bautista Agut, and Bernard Tomic to reach his third ATP final of the season. The Canadian has established himself as a possible Wimbledon dark horse.

Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert defeated Chris Guccione and Andre Sa in the doubles final as they will perhaps be the Wimbledon men’s doubles favorites given their prowess on grass and great success this season as a team.

Gulbis Continues Resurgence By Triumphing In Qualifying @GerryWeberWorld; Sugita Qualifies

Posted by Admin on June 12, 2016

Posted in: Adam Addicott, ATP, ATP Qualifying, Halle. Tagged: 2016, ATP World Tour, benjamin becker, ernests gulbis, germany, Gerry Weber Open, Halle, results, Sergiy Stakhovsky, Yuichi Sugita. Leave a comment

Ernests Gulbis Continues Resurgence By Triumphing In Qualifying At Halle; Sugita Qualifies
Adam Addicott, Tennis Atlantic

Ernests Gulbis grass season

Ernests Gulbis has continued his recent spike in form with a successful qualifying campaign at the 24th Gerry Weber Open.

The Latvian entered Halle with a fresh burst of confidence after reaching the fourth round of the French Open, his best grand slam performance for two years. Following his run in Paris, Gulbis returned to the top-60 for the first time since May 2015. Opening up his German campaign against home player Michael Berrer, Gulbis eased to a 6-4, 6-4, victory without being broken.

Next in Gulbis’ qualifying draw was another German, Peter Gojowczyk. The 26-year-old enjoyed a promising start to his grass season by reaching the semifinals at last week’s Manchester Challenger before succumbing to Dustin Brown. In what was a roller coaster meeting between both players, Gulbis overcame a second set blip to win 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. The victory elevates the world No.59 to his 13th ATP main draw of the year.

Gulbis was one out of only two seeded players to triumph in qualifying. The other was seventh seed Sergiy Stakhovsky. Since being troubled by a back injury earlier in the year, the 30-year-old won his first Challenger title in two years in South Korea last month. In his most recent tournament Stakhovsky reached the quarter-finals at the Manchester Challenger. Starting his Halle campaign with a 52-minute 6-3, 6-1, win over Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, Stakhovsky faced tough opposition against fourth seed Rajeev Ram. 32-year-old Ram has won two ATP titles in his career, both of which were on grass (Newport 2009 and 2015). Despite converting only 3/11 break points, the world No.100 took the win 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-2, to book his place in the main draw in Halle for the fourth time in his career. Stakhovsky is yet to win a main draw match at the tournament.

Benjamin Becker

The only home sucess story was for unseeded Benjamin Becker, a former top-40 player. Facing second seed Denis Istomin in the first round, the 34-year-old edged past the Uzbek player 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. It was only the second time that Becker has defeated Istomin in their eight encounters on the tour. The shock win set Becker up with a showdown against Robin Haase, a player who has reached two ATP quarter-finals this year. Despite being ranked 34 places lower, Becker sealed a main draw place by dismissing the Dutch player 6-3, 6-3, in less than an hour.

Sugita at Newport 2013, TennisEastCoast.com

Finally, Japanese player Yuichi Sugita was the only player able to progress to the main draw without dropping a set. Kicking-off his Halle campaign with a 6-3, 6-1, win over Nikoloz Basilashvili, he faced compatriot Tatsuma Ito in the final round. Ito knocked out third seed Lukas Rosol in his opening match. Winning 74% of his service points, Sugita eased past Ito 6-2, 6-4. Focusing mainly on the Challenger tour this year, Halle will be Sugita’s first appearance in the main draw of an ATP event since the Australian Open.

Maiden Title Mania in Halle and Queen’s as Klaasen/Ram and Mahut/Herbert win their first ATP level titles as a team
Joe Craven, Tennis Atlantic

It was a week of maiden titles on the ATP doubles tour as both the Halle and Queen’s titles were won by teams who had never won an ATP level title before. Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram were able to capture the title in Halle, whilst Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert were victorious at Queen’s.

ATP London Queens

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Mahut and Herbert sealed their first ATP level doubles title as a team by beating the team of Nenad Zimonjic and Marcin Matkowski in the final. Even though Mahut and Herbert were seeded lower then their opponents in the Final, the Frenchmen had the advantage going into the match as they played their Semi Final on Friday, whilst Zimonjic and Matkowski had to play theirs on the same day as the Final. Mahut and Herbert only faced three break points against their serve and were able to seal a 6-2 6-2 victory in just 47 minutes.

The pair didn’t drop a set all tournament, notching wins against the teams of Hewitt/Kokkinakis, Anderson/Chardy and Peya/Soares on their way to the Final. This win certainly meant a lot to the Frenchmen and after falling short in both the Australian Open Final earlier on in the year and the s’Hertogenbosch Final last week, Herbert described the win as “a dream”. The 24 year old who had never played at Queen’s Club before this year went on to say that “Everything we did was working. We know that if we play well, it will be difficult for our opponents, so we just focused on what we could do.”. After steady success this year the pair now sit 6th in the doubles race to the ATP World Tour Finals and for Mahut, who had grass court success in singles last week winning s’Hertogenbosch, it’s definitely a target, which the frenchman stating that “We hope to have a good run in the next few weeks, but for sure the goal is to come back to London later this year.”

Herbert will now play in the Wimbledon Singles Qualifying draw, whilst Mahut will have time to prepare for the main draw of both singles and doubles, after being awarded wildcard into the singles competition last week.

ATP Halle

The fresh pairing of Klaasen and Ram were able to capture the Halle title on Sunday. Playing only their second ATP level event as a team, they were able to defeat the team of Florin Mergea and Rohan Bopanna 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the final. The road to the Final wasn’t wasn’t easy for the pairing, despite only dropping one set throughout the tournament they had to play a tiebreak in 5 out of the 8 regular sets they played, all of which they won. Klaasen and Ram defeated the teams of Tipsarevic/Tomic, Cuevas/Marrero in the 1st and 2nd rounds respectively, before saving two match points against Rojer/Tecau in the Semi Final.

After only teaming up recently, the team has already flourished, with a Final at the Challenger level in Manchester as well as a Quarter Final in S’Hertogenbosch. It was the first ATP level doubles title for Ram in over 3 years (St Petersburg 2012) who said that the team “started the match a little bit slowly”, however things got easier for the pair as the match went on with Ram going onto explain that “we played very clean [in the second set]. We communicated well and we were ready for our opportunities.” The experience of playing on Centre Court seemed to make Klaasen enjoy the occasion even more, with the South African stating that “Playing on the Centre Court was something special” and that he will “definitely be coming back”.

The pairing will now head straight to the ATP 250 event in Nottingham to continue their preparations for Wimbledon, a tournament which they’ll be confident about doing well in.

Joe Craven TA Watermark

Big Four ATP Title Weekend as Murray, Federer Claim Titles in London Queens and Halle
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

ATP London Queens

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It was title #4 for home hero Andy Murray at London Queens as he pulled double duty and won a pair of matches on Sunday to earn the trophy. Murray won the final 6-3 6-4 over Kevin Anderson. Though Anderson was strong on serve, he had nothing to trouble Murray on the return, and Murray got the breaks he needed for a routine win. Previously in the day, the British #1 defeated Viktor Troicki 6-3 7-6. Troicki, who was in good form, was tied at 3-3 in the first set before rain came on Saturday, delaying the match, and he lost three straight games on the trot, before recovering to challenge Murray in a tight second set, the tiebreak ending 7-4.

Murray, who has had an excellent season and now has three titles, with trophies on both grass and clay, will enter Wimbledon as a co-favorite after defeating Rendy Lu, and Fernando Verdasco without dropping a set, and Gilles Muller in three sets, from a set down, before the semifinal against Troicki. Muller dispatched defending champion Grigor Dimitrov in round 2 without dropping a set.

Anderson survived going down a set and a break against Lleyton Hewitt, as he clawed back to win in three sets in round 1. Big Kev used that big win as a springboard to upset Stan Wawrinka in two tiebreaks, and then Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in straights, and Gilles Simon in three sets in the semis. When his game is clicking, he’s a great player, and this week the South African was firing his serve and his forehand on point.

Look for a report on the doubles tournament from Joe Craven coming soon!

ATP Halle

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Murray’s 4 titles at Queens pale in comparison to the domination Roger Federer has found in Halle, as he the Swiss legend claimed his 8th title at the German grass court venue with a 7-6 6-4 win over Andreas Seppi. Seppi couldn’t upset Federer like he did in Australia, though he put up a good effort, and he’s struggled to get over the title hump in a topsy turvy 2015.

The Swiss maestro was match points down against Philipp Kohlschreiber in round 1, but survived in a third set tiebreak, as Kohli’s serve failed him under pressure, and his groundstrokes soon followed with Federer’s stern responses on the ground. Federer would go on to defeat Ernests Gulbis, and funky Florian Mayer without dropping a set, and in the semis he survived Ivo Karlovic, while barely winning any points on Dr. Ivo’s serve, only taking the advantage when needed in a pair of tiebreaks. Karlovic doctored his way past Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals.

Seppi scored some big wins this week, as he defeated veterans Tommy Haas and Tommy Robredo, the first in straights, and the second in three sets, and then got retirement wins over Gael Monfils, and Kei Nishikori, who both pulled out mid-match as precautionary moves before Wimbledon. The Italian veteran truly has a diverse all-court game.

Look for Joe Craven’s doubles update soon!

Steen Kirby (Marseille)

2015 ATP Draw Challenge Week 22 (London Queens and Halle)
Staff, Tennis Atlantic

A pair of 500 level tournaments are up for grabs as the grass court season on the ATP Tour continues on with a strong field of top players at tournaments in both England and Germany.

London Queens

2015 Aegon Championships Predictions

Steen Kirby’s picks

Round 2 matches: Murray vs. Verdasco, Muller vs. Dimitrov, Cilic vs. Troicki, Isner vs. Lopez, Goffin vs. Chardy, Gasquet vs. Raonic, Nadal vs.Garcia-Lopez, Anderson vs. Kyrgios
Quarterfinals: Murray vs. Dimitrov, Cilic vs. Lopez, Chardy vs. Gasquet, Nadal vs. Kyrgios
Semifinals: Murray vs. Cilic, Gasquet vs. Kyrgios
Final: Murray vs. Kyrgios
Champion: Murray

Niall Clarke’s picks

Round 2 matches: Murray vs. Verdasco, Muller vs. Dimitrov, Cilic vs. Troicki, Isner vs. Lopez, Goffin vs. Chardy, Gasquet vs. Raonic, Nadal vs. Garcia-Lopez, Anderson vs. Wawrinka
Quarterfinals: Murray vs. Dimitrov, Cilic vs. Lopez, Chardy vs. Gasquet, Nadal vs. Kyrgios
Semifinals: Murray vs. Cilic, Raonic vs. Nadal
Final: Murray vs. Nadal
Champion: Murray

Joe Craven’s picks

Round 2 matches: Murray vs. Verdasco, Muller vs. Dimitrov, Cilic vs. Troicki, Isner vs. Lopez, Simon vs. Kokkinakis, Bolelli vs. Raonic, Nadal vs. Garcia-Lopez, Anderson vs. Kyrgios
Quarterfinals: Murray vs. Dimitrov, Cilic vs. Lopez, Kokkinakis vs. Raonic, Nadal vs. Kyrgios
Semifinals: Murray vs. Lopez, Raonic vs. Kyrgios
Final: Murray vs. Kyrgios
Champion: Murray

Jeff McMillan’s picks

Round 2 matches: Murray vs. Verdasco, Muller vs. Dimitrov, Cilic vs. Troicki, Isner vs. Lopez, Simon vs. Chardy, Gasquet vs. Raonic, Nadal vs. Garcia-Lopez, Anderson vs. Wawrinka
Quarterfinals: Murray vs. Dimitrov, Cilic vs. Isner, Chardy vs. Raonic, Nadal vs. Wawrinka
Semifinals: Murray vs. Isner, Raonic vs. Nadal
Final: Murray vs. Raonic
Champion: Murray

Chris de Waard’s picks

Round 2 matches: Murray vs. Bautista Agut, Muller vs. Dimitrov, Cilic vs. Troicki, Isner vs. Lopez, Simon vs. Kokkinakis, Gasquet vs. Raonic, Nadal vs.Garcia-Lopez, Anderson vs. Kyrgios
Quarterfinals: Murray vs. Dimitrov, Cilic vs. Lopez, Simon vs. Gasquet, Nadal vs. Kyrgios
Semifinals: Murray vs. Cilic, Gasquet vs. Kyrgios
Final: Murray vs. Kyrgios
Champion: Murray

Andy Murray is the consensus favorite to take the title, while the Stan Wawrinka/Nick Kyrgios match will play a huge role in deciding the finalist from the bottom half.

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Halle

2015 Gerry Weber Open Predictions

Steen Kirby’s picks

Round 2 matches: Federer vs. Gulbis, Struff vs. Tomic, Berdych vs. Young, Nieminen vs. Karlovic, Robredo vs. Haas, Vesely vs. Monfils, Janowicz vs. Falla, Brown vs. Nishikori
Quarterfinals: Federer vs. Tomic, Berdych vs. Karlovic, Haas vs. Monfils, Janowicz vs. Nishikori
Semifinals: Federer vs. Berdych, Monfils vs. Nishikori
Final: Federer vs. Nishikori
Champion: Federer

Niall Clarke’s picks

Round 2 matches: Federer vs. Stakhovsky, Struff vs. Tomic, Berdych vs. Young, A. Zverev vs. vs. Karlovic, Robredo vs. Haas, Kukushkin vs. Monfils, Janowicz vs. Falla, Brown vs. Nishikori
Quarterfinals: Federer vs. Tomic, Berdych vs. Karlovic, Haas vs. Monfils, Falla vs. Nishikori
Semifinals: Federer vs. Berdych, Monfils vs. Nishikori
Final: Federer vs. Nishikori
Champion: Federer

Joe Craven’s picks

Round 2 matches: Federer vs. Stakhovsky, Struff vs. Tomic, Berdych vs. Young, A. Zverev vs. vs. Karlovic, Berankis vs. Seppi, Kukushkin vs. Rosol, Janowicz vs. Falla, Brown vs. Nishikori
Quarterfinals: Federer vs. Tomic, Berdych vs. Karlovic, Berankis vs. Rosol, Janowicz vs. Nishikori
Semifinals: Federer vs. Berdych, Rosol vs. Nishikori
Final: Federer vs. Rosol
Champion: Federer

Jeff McMillan’s picks

Round 2 matches: Federer vs. Stakhovsky, Struff vs. Tomic, Berdych vs. Young, A. Zverev vs. Karlovic, Berankis vs. Seppi, Vesely vs. Monfils, Janowicz vs. Lacko, Brown vs. Nishikori
Quarterfinals: Federer vs. Tomic, Berdych vs. Karlovic, Seppi vs. Monfils, Janowicz vs. Nishikori
Semifinals: Tomic vs. Berdych Monfils vs. Nishikori
Final: Berdych vs. Monfils
Champion: Berdych

Chris de Waard’s picks

Round 2 matches: Federer vs. Stakhovsky, F. Mayer vs. Tomic, Berdych vs. Young, A. Zverev vs. Karlovic, Berankis vs. Seppi, Vesely vs. Monfils, Janowicz vs. Lacko, Brown vs. Nishikori
Quarterfinals: Federer vs. Tomic, Berdych vs. Karlovic, Seppi vs. Monfils, Janowicz vs. Nishikori
Semifinals: Federer vs. Berdych, Seppi vs. Nishikori
Final: Federer vs. Nishikori
Champion: Federer

Federer-Nishikori is a near consensus pick for the final in Halle.

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Week 21 standings

Stuttgart
1: Steen (54 points) (+250 overall)
2: Niall (44 points) (+150 overall)
3: Joe (42 points) (+90 overall)
4: Chris (40 points) (+90 overall)
5: Jeff (0 points) (+0 overall)

Den Bosch
1: Niall (66 points) (+250 overall)
2: Joe (48 points) (+150 overall)
3: Jeff(48 points) (+90 overall)
4: Steen (46 points) (+90 overall)
5: Chris (28 points) (+45 overall)

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Overall standings (after week 21)

1: Steen: 10,600 ranking points (+340 points overall)
2: Niall: 9670 points (+400 points overall)
3: Joe 7760 points (+240 points overall)
4: Jeff: 6800 points (+90 points overall)
5: Chris: 6735 points (+135 points overall)

No movement in the standings, but Steen and Niall continue to pull away from everyone else after both winning titles this week. Joe and the others will need to step up to make this a race.

ATP Draw Challenge (London Queens)

Falla, Bolelli, Rocket Into Main Draws in Halle and London Queens As Qualifiers
Steen Kirby and Adam Addicott, Tennis Atlantic

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Grass court qualifying in two places, both 500 level events with two rounds of qualifying action, took place over the weekend, as some interesting names booked their place in the main draw.

ATP Halle Qualifying

In Halle, defending finalist Alejandro Falla is the strongest of the qualifiers. Last year Falla made a surprise run to that final and he’s also reached the 3rd round at Wimbledon previously in his career. The veteran lefty has a game built for grass and he comfortably defeated Janko Tipsarevic and Tim Puetz, without dropping a set, to qualify.

Another of the four qualifiers in total is lefty Jarkko Nieminen who beat Filip Krajinovic and Tatsuma Ito without dropping a set. Nieminen isn’t a grass court specialist by any stretch of the imagination but he’s fast on his feet and plays aggressively.

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A pair of talented but underachieving players also qualified, Slovak Lukas Lacko, now 27,has an aggressive and powerful game built for grass and he beat two solid opponents, Peter Gojowczyk and Jurgen Melzer in three sets to qualify. Lacko faces Falla in round 1. 24 year old Ricardas Berankis upset Austin Krajicek in three sets, and Vasek Pospisil 6-3 6-3 to qualify. The undersized ball striker was a top junior but has been a bust as a pro.

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Berankis will have a winnable round 1 match against Tommy Robredo in round 1, while Nieminen could also advance as he faces Alexander Zverev, a wild card, in round 1.

ATP London Queens Qualifying

Sixteen players participated in the qualifying competition at the Aegon Championships, which is held at the Queen’s Club in London.

Italian world number 56 Simone Bolelli was the top seed in the qualifying draw and experienced little trouble. After a straight sets win over Lucas Pouille in the first round, he faced France’s Edouard Roger-Vasselin. The Frenchman produced an impressive performance at the tournament last year when he reached the third round in the singles draw as well as the semi-final in the doubles. Bolelli however, experience no trouble as he dropped his service once on his way to winning 7-6 (4), 6-3.

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In the main draw the Italian faces a tough encounter against Richard Gasquet. Bolelli has played Gasquet on five previous occasions and has lost all of them. Their most recent match was earlier this year at the Doha Open where Gasquet eased his way to a 6-3, 6-2, win. Gasquet could face pressure but I presume he’ll prevail.

Rendy Lu was pushed hard during his match against Denis Istomin. The second seed produced a straight sets win over the talented Luca Vanni in the first round whilst Istomin edged his way past Go Soeda. During the match there was only two breaks of serve, one each, as both sets went into tie-breaks with Lu winning 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5).

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The reward for Lu is a first round showdown against top seed Andy Murray. He has beaten Murray once before which was in the first round of the 2008 Beijing Olympic games. Since then, Murray has won their two most recent encounters (both in 2013) without dropping a set. Murray should blast through the weaponless Lu to reach round 2.

The biggest surprise was the impressive run by 18-year-old wild card Jared Donaldson. The American knocked out third seed and fellow countryman Tim Smyczek in the first round to face Tobias Kamke. Kamke has experienced a disastrous 2015 so far with only one main draw win to his name. His sole win was against Vincent Millot in Montpellier last February. The misery continued for the German as Donaldson cruised to take the match 7-5, 6-3. Donaldson is currently at a ranking high of 152 in the world and won his first Challenger title in Maui at the start of the year.

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Donaldson, the American number 12, will play America’s number 1 John Isner in the first round. Given Isner’s experience, he should win comfortably.

Finally hopes of a British winner in the qualification draw were ended after Paul-Henri Mathieu beat Brydan Klein during the battle of the wild card’s. The former world number 12 produced a three sets win over 4th seed Chung Hyeon in the first round. Mathieu, who hasn’t won a title since 2007, required just over an hour on the court to break the British world number 188 6-3,6-2.

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Mathieu will play Stuttgart finalist Viktor Troicki in the first round. Troicki’s run to the final in Germany has clearly demonstrated that the Serbian is currently in impressive shape, especially with his serve. On the other hand, there will be questions about how tired he will be coming into Queen’s. The two players have been drawn to play each other on three previous occasions but none of the matches got completed with one of the retiring (Troicki twice and Mathieu once). Presuming Troicki doesn’t retire and keep up the trend, his superior form should win him the day.

Adam Addicott TA Watermark