Tennis Atlantic 2015 ATP Draw Challenge Week 2 (Auckland and Sydney)
Staff, Tennis Atlantic

Auckland  (draw)

Steen Kirby’s predictions

Round 2 Matches: Robredo vs. Gonzalez, Ramos vs. Lu, Bautista Agut vs. Mannarino, Falla vs. Giraldo, Johnson vs. Coric, Thiem vs. Anderson, Garcia-Lopez vs. Young, Vesely vs. Gulbis
Quarterfinals: Robredo vs. Lu, Bautista Agut vs. Giraldo, Johnson vs. Anderson, Garcia-Lopez vs. Gulbis
Semifinals: Lu vs. Bautista Agut, Johnson vs. Gulbis
Final: Bautista Agut vs. Johnson
Champion: Bautista Agut

Chris de Waard’s predictions

Round 2 Matches: Robredo vs. Gonzalez, Lorenzi vs. Lu, Bautista Agut vs. Mannarino, Falla vs. Giraldo, Johnson vs. Coric, Thiem vs. Anderson, Garcia-Lopez vs. Young, Bellucci vs. Gulbis
Quarterfinals: Robredo vs. Lu, Bautista Agut vs. Giraldo, Coric vs. Thiem, Young vs. Gulbis
Semifinals: Robredo vs. Bautista Agut, Coric vs. Gulbis
Final: Bautista Agut vs. Gulbis
Champion: Gulbis

Courtney Massey’s predictions

Round 2 Matches: Robredo vs. Gonzalez, Lorenzi vs. Lu, Bautista Agut vs. Mannarino, Falla vs. Giraldo, Johnson vs. Coric, Thiem vs. Anderson, Garcia-Lopez vs. Young, Bellucci vs. Gulbis
Quarterfinals: Robredo vs. Monaco, Bautista Agut vs. Giraldo, Coric vs. Thiem, Soeda vs. Gulbis
Semifinals: Robredo vs. Bautista Agut, Coric vs. Gulbis
Final: Bautista Agut vs. Gulbis
Champion: Gulbis

Niall Clarke’s predictions

Round 2 Matches: Robredo vs. Gonzalez, Lorenzi vs. Lu, Bautista Agut vs. Delbonis, Falla vs. Giraldo, Johnson vs. Coric, Thiem vs. Anderson, Garcia-Lopez vs. Young, Bellucci vs. Gulbis
Quarterfinals: Robredo vs.Lu , Bautista Agut vs. Giraldo, Johnson vs. Thiem, Garcia-Lopez vs. Gulbis
Semifinals: Robredo vs. Bautista Agut, Thiem vs. Gulbis
Final: Bautista Agut vs. Gulbis
Champion: Bautista Agut

Jeff McMillan’s predictions

Round 2 Matches: Robredo vs. Gonzalez, Lorenzi vs. Lu, Bautista Agut vs. Mannarino, Falla vs. Giraldo, Johnson vs. Coric, Thiem vs. Anderson, Garcia-Lopez vs. Young, Bellucci vs. Gulbis
Quarterfinals: Robredo vs. Lu, Mannarino vs. Giraldo, Johnson vs. Anderson, Young vs. Bellucci
Semifinals: Lu vs. Giraldo, Anderson vs. Young
Final: Lu vs. Anderson
Champion: Anderson

RBA and Gulbis appear to be relatively consensus picks to do well this week, perhaps we will get another rivalry matchup between the two in the final, in addition Borna Coric, Rendy Lu and Tommy Robredo are favored to have good weeks.

Sydney (draw)

Steen Kirby’s predictions

Round 2 Matches: Fognini vs. Del Potro, Istomin vs. Almagro, Benneteau vs. Pospisil, Janowicz vs. Becker, Querrey vs. Muller, Tomic vs. Kohlschreiber, Klizan vs. Nieminen, Bolelli vs. Goffin
Quarterfinals: Del Potro vs. Istomin, Pospisil vs. Janowicz, Muller vs. Tomic, Klizan vs. Goffin
Semifinals: Istomin vs. Pospisil, Tomic vs. Klizan
Final: Pospisil vs. Klizan
Champion: Pospisil

Chris De Waard’s predictions

Round 2 Matches: Fognini vs. Stakhovsky, Istomin vs. Almagro, Benneteau vs. Pospisil, Kyrgios vs. Mayer, Chardy vs. Groth, Tomic vs. Kohlschreiber, Klizan vs Andujar, Bolelli vs. Goffin
Quarterfinals: Stakhovsky vs. Almagro,, Pospisil vs. Kyrgios, Chardy vs. Tomic, Klizan vs. Goffin
Semifinals: Almagro vs. Kyrgios, Tomic vs. Goffin
Final: Kyrgios vs. Goffin
Champion: Goffin

Courtney Massey’s predictions

Round 2 Matches: Fognini vs. Stakhovsky, Istomin vs. Cuevas, Benneteau vs. Seppi, Kyrgios vs. Becker, Chardy vs. Groth, Tomic vs. Kohlschreiber, Klizan vs. Nieminen, Matosevic vs. Goffin
Quarterfinals: Stakhovsky vs. Istomin, Seppi vs. Kyrgios, Chardy vs. Tomic, Klizan vs. Goffin
Semifinals: Istomin vs. Kyrgios, Chardy vs. Goffin
Final: Istomin vs. Chardy
Champion: Chardy

Niall Clarke’s predictions

Round 2 Matches: Fognini vs. Stakhovsky, Istomin vs. Almagro, Benneteau vs. Seppi, Kyrgios vs. Mayer, Chardy vs. Groth, Tomic vs. Kohlschreiber, Klizan vs Nieminen, Matosevic vs. Goffin
Quarterfinals: Fognini vs. Almagro, Benneteau vs. Kyrgios, Chardy vs. Kohlschreiber, Klizan vs. Goffin
Semifinals: Fognini vs. Kyrgios, Kohlschreiber vs. Goffin
Final: Kyrgios vs. Goffin
Champion: Goffin

Jeff McMillan’s predictions

Round 2 Matches: Fognini vs. Del Potro, Istomin vs. Almagro, Benneteau vs. Seppi, Kyrgios vs. Mayer, Chardy vs. Groth, Tomic vs. Kohlschreiber, Klizan vs Andujar, Matosevic vs. Goffin
Quarterfinals: Fognini vs. Istomin, Seppi vs. Mayer, Groth vs. Tomic, Klizan vs. Goffin
Semifinals: Istomin vs. Seppi, Tomic vs. Goffin
Final: Istomin vs. Goffin
Champion: Goffin

Three of our five experts have David Goffin winning the title this week, while opinions are mixed on Denis Istomin, Nick Kyrgios and Vasek Pospisil among others, it’s a week before a slam and this tournament has a wide open field.

Week 1 standings

Brisbane
1:  Chris (128 points) (+250 ranking points overall)
2: Courtney (122 points) (+150 ranking points overall)
3: Steen (96 points) (+90 ranking points overall)
4: Niall (92 points) (+90 ranking points overall)
5: Jeff (72 points)  (+45 ranking points overall)

everyone had perfect semis except Jeff, while Chris outdid Courtney in the early rounds and given the fact they both had Federer as champion, they finished 1/2 in Brisbane this week. Shout out to Courtney for picking Duckworth over Simon in a big upset no one else picked.

Doha
1: Steen (72 points) (+250 ranking points overall)
2: Jeff  (60 points) (+150 ranking points overall)
3: Chris (56 points) (+90 ranking points overall)
4: Courtney (52 points) (+90 ranking points overall)
5: Niall (46 points) (+45 ranking points overall)

Steen finished first and Jeff finished second because they were the only two who had Berdych in the final, Steen had Ferrer in the semis and that was the difference.

Chennai
1: Niall (104 points) (+250 overall)
2: Courtney (102 points) (+150 overall)
3: Steen (72 points) (+90 overall)
4: Chris (62 points) (+90 overall)
5: Jeff (60 points) (+45 overall)

Having Wawrinka as the champ and RBA in the semis made the difference for Niall as he won the Chennai tournament this week. Courtney also had Wawrinka as the champ and outpaced the rest of the field, with the difference between the top two being the fact Niall did one pick better in round 2.

Overall standings (after week 1)
1: Chris: 430 ranking points
2: Steen: 430
3: Courtney: 390
4: Niall: 385
5: Jeff: 240

Chris and Steen both took titles and got semifinal points in two other tournaments, which puts them out in the lead, while Courtney getting final points from two events puts her in third. A dual champion could add 500 points to their total this week.