2015 Dallas-1, Burnie and Glasgow Challenger Previews & Predictions
Chris De Waard, Tennis Atlantic

A full on hardcourt schedule this week, spread all over the world in the States, Australia and Scotland.

The RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas

2015 Dallas Challenger-1 Preview

ATP Challenger Tour
Dallas, Texas, USA
2-7 February 2015
Prize Money: $100,000

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Mikhail Kukushkin (51)
2: Teymuraz Gabashvili (67)
3: Blaz Rola (80)
4: Tim Smyczek (112)
5: Denis Kudla (123)
6: Victor Hanescu (134)
7: Rajeev Ram (140)
8: Gastao Elias (143)

The last direct acceptance is Daniel Nguyen, ranked 302nd. Mardy Fish is also back in action, playing his first tournament since August 2013, in the doubles draw together with Mark Knowles. They will play top seeds James Cerretani and James Cluskey in the first round.

By the time I am writing this, a highly controversial first round encounter between Denys Molchanov and Agustin Velotti has already taken place. There is no doubt that Molchanov fixed the match. Velotti started out as the underdog, but as he LOST the first set 7-5, his odd had dropped to 1.16. Unexpectedly, Velotti went on to win the next two sets, with $900,000 getting matched on Betfair and Molchanov putting on an awful acting performance as he acted disappointed after missing some ridiculously easy shots. You can watch the entire match here and see the spectacle for yourself: http://new.livestream.com/ATP/dallas2015court1/videos/75819670

Unfortunately, I have been following match-fixing in tennis since 2007 and the offenders get away with it in pretty much every instance. All we can do is spread the word after every case and hope things will finally change, urging the ITF and their Tennis Integrity Unit to do their jobs.

First Round Match-Up To Watch

Rhyne Williams – Ryan Harrison

This will be an interesting encounter between two bad boys, hotheads, whatever you want to call it. Fact is they are often their own worst enemy, losing their cool on the court and losing matches because of it. Both had a good start to the season, but immediately regressed after that. Harrison won the Happy Valley Challenger, after which he lost first rounds to Wayne Odesnik and Dennis Novikov, while Williams got through the qualifying draw of Brisbane, but lost to world #877 Sandro Ehrat in the second round of the Maui Challenger last week.

Top Half

The second section here is a really exciting one, with loads of interesting players having a shot to advance to the semi-final. Tim Smyczek, James McGee, Rhyne Williams, Ryan Harrison and Denis Kudla all fit that profile. Smyczek undoubtedly will be full of confidence after his showing against Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open, which also got him praise for a supreme moment of sportsmanship. There is a very good chance this will be the tournament that launches him back into the top 100 again.

Bottom Half

It’s hard to look past second seed Teymuraz Gabashvili here. He landed in a section with a couple of low ranked players and is projected to face #6 seed Victor Hanescu in the quarterfinal, who has been on the way back for quite some time now. In the top section Rajeev Ram and Blaz Rola are likely to battle it out for a place in the semi-final, which should be a close encounter.

Predictions

Semis:

Smyczek d. Elias
Gabashvili d. Rola

Final:

Smyczek d. Gabashvili

McDonald’s Burnie International

ATP Challenger Tour
Burnie, Australia
2-7 February 2015
Prize Money: $50,000

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: James Duckworth (120)
2: Yuichi Sugita (136)
3: Somdev Devvarman (139)
4: Hiroki Moriya (146)
5: Bradley Klahn (150)
6: John Millman (151)
7: Luke Saville (164)
8: Hyeon Chung (169)

The last direct acceptance is Maverick Banes, ranked 353rd.

Second round match-up to watch

(8) Hyeon Chung – Radu Albot

18 year old Chung is a big prospect, who will undoubtedly crack the top 100 within a couple of years. He reached the semi-final of the Hong Kong Challenger last week, where he lost to Tatsuma Ito. With a lot of seeds going out early here in Burnie this week, he has an excellent chance to go far and crack the top 150 for the first time in his career.

Top Half

Top seed James Duckworth should be able to go deep in this tournament and at the very least reach the final. That could create a very big result for him, as a tournament victory would give him a top 100 position for the first time in his career. He had a great start of the year, reaching the quarterfinal of Brisbane after beating Gilles Simon and Jarkko Nieminen, plus reaching the second round at the Australian Open. In the bottom section home player Alex Bolt has an excellent opportunity to come through and face Duckworth in the semi-final.

Bottom Half

As mentioned, Hyeon Chung has a great shot at reaching the final. For that to happen he will likely have to go through the winner of last week’s Hong Kong Challenger, Kyle Edmund, in the quarterfinal and Matthew Ebden in the semi-final.

Predictions

Semis:

Duckworth d. Bolt
Chung d. Ebden

Final:

Duckworth d. Chung

Aegon GB Pro-Series Glasgow – The Scottish Championships

ATP Challenger Tour
Glasgow, United Kingdom
2-7 February 2015
Prize Money: $42,500

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Aleksandr Nedovyesov (128)
2: Michal Przysiezny (170)
3: Ruben Bemelmans (173)
4: Andrej Martin (175)
5: Andrea Arnaboldi (178)
6: Julian Reister (181)
7: Tim Puetz (183)
8: Matteo Viola (190)

The last direct acceptance is Yann Marti, ranked 267th.

First Round Match-Up To Watch

(3) Ruben Bemelmans – Adam Pavlasek

Pavlasek got an opportunity to play the Hopman Cup last month, giving him some excellent practice against high ranked players like John Isner, Fabio Fognini and Vasek Pospisil. He even managed to beat Fognini, although that unfortunately isn’t really a feat these days. Bemelmans is erratic as ever, but he did well to qualify for the Australian Open, before losing in straight sets to Ivo Karlovic in the first round.

Top Half

Top seed Aleksandr Nedovyesov is a bit of a headcase, but if he can keep his composure this time around, it’s an excellent opportunity to reach the semi-final. The other seed in his section is Andrea Arnaboldi, who is a lot more comfortable on clay courts. In the other section, Tim Puetz should be marked a favorite to reach the semi-final. The German reached a new career high ranking of #163 after reaching the first round of the Australian Open, falling in four sets to Donald Young, and could well break the top 150 in this event. If he faces Nedovyesov that could prove to be a cracker, given they already played each other this year at the Happy Valley Challenger, with Nedovyesov winning in a third set tiebreak.

Bottom Half

Second seed Michal Przysiezny leads the pack here and should be able to reach the semi-final without getting himself into a lot of trouble. Although that of course is easier said than done, given his form in recent times, which saw him slip from inside of the top 60 to outside of the top 180 within a year. In the top section I would give Julian Reister, Adam Pavlasek and Ruben Bemelmans all a fair shot to reach the semi-final, but given the quick conditions Bemelmans has to be favored.

Predictions

Semis:

Puetz d. Nedovyesov
Bemelmans d. Przysiezny

The conditions here are faster than during their Happy Valley marathon match, so this time around I would give Puetz the slight edge, who is better on faster surfaces. Bemelmans – Przysiezny is a coin toss between two of the most erratic players on tour, which at the same time makes it a highly interesting encounter to hope for.

Final:

Bemelmans d. Puetz