ATP Geneva Predictions

Home Hero Stan Wawrinka Hopes to Capture The 2018 Geneva Open
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The Geneva Open, an ATP 250 on clay in Switzerland, is one of two final tuneups before Roland Garros, this small tour stop features veterans Sam Querrey, Fabio Fognini, Stan Wawrinka, and David Ferrer as the top four seeds. Here is your full preview with predictions.

Top Half:

Sam Querrey is in poor form but features in a section that features 2 qualifiers, Steve Johnson/Marius Copil, Guido Pella, and Jiri Vesely, all of whom are struggling. I’ll back Pella over Querrey with Johnson reaching the quarters with wins over Copil, and a qualifier. Vesely is currently in a challenger final and should be fatigued. Pella over Johnson is my quarterfinal pick.

The winner of Jared Donaldson/Denis Istomin will snap a long losing streak, then face home favorite Stan Wawrinka in round 2. With Wawrinka still slowly returning from injury, he should fall to Albert Ramos in the quarterfinals. Ramos needs to defeat Marton Fucsovics, then Frances Tiafoe/Ryan Harrison. Tiafoe has had a good clay season, but Ramos is more accomplished on the surface overall.

Bottom Half:

Rome quarterfinalist Fabio Fognini is a heavy favorite to win his section, as Marcos Baghdatis/qualifier, and Mischa Zverev is his likely path. Zverev should defeat Mirza Basic and Tennys Sandgren/Andreas Haider-Maurer but Fognini is the strongest player by far in this group, and he’s in the best form.

David Ferrer will begin against Peter Gojowczyk/Ivo Karlovic, I have him winning that before falling to Marco Cecchinato in the quarters. Cecchinato has found form on clay this season and should beat countryman Andreas Seppi, then Florian Mayer/qualifier before edging Ferrer in the quarters.

Predictions

Semis
Ramos d. Pella
Fognini d. Cecchinato

Semifinal #2 should be an all-Italian affair with Fognini grabbing the win, Spain’s Ramos looks set to reach the final as well.

Final
Fognini d. Ramos

Fognini should triumph ahead of Paris if he can back up his Rome results.

2017 ATP Geneva and Lyon Preview and Predictions
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The final tuneups for Roland Garros 2017 are 250 stops in Geneva and Lyon as some of the ATP’s best players still feel the need to get in some match practice before Paris, while others are battling for critical ranking points. Here is your preview, with predictions.

ATP Geneva

Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open
ATP World Tour 250
Geneva, Switzerland
May 21-27, 2017
Surface: Clay
Prize Money: €482,060

Top Half:

Top seed and defending champion Stan Wawrinka should survive an opening match against either a struggling Joao Sousa or Rogerio Dutra Silva. Sousa has lost five straight while RDS comes off a challenger final. Wawrinka has been poor on clay this year, going 2-3, but he should defeat veteran Tommy Robredo in the quaterfinals. The veteran dirtballer will face Franko Skugor, then Sam Querrey or qualifier Daniel Altmaier, a German teen making his ATP debut. Querrey is a bit of a dark horse this week as he did win some matches in Rome, but Wawrinka over Robredo is a sensible choice.

Although he’s lost two straight matches, Albert Ramos has been good on clay this year and faces Andrey Kuznetsov first up. In the quarterfinals he could face a resurgent Ryan Harrison, although Harrison as a difficult round 1 match against Janko Tipsarevic, who has been hot at the challenger tour level. Germany’s J.L. Struff and Cedrik-Marcel Stebe are also here, with Harrison my choice for the quarters, falling to Ramos at that stage.

Bottom Half:

Kei Nishikori, 6-3 on clay this year, should ease past either Mikhail Kukushkin or qualifier Roberto Marcora, who is making his ATP debut at 27 years old. Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi, the consummate dirtballing grinder, will face big server Kevin Anderson in an interesting round 1 matchup. Anderson is in better form, but Lorenzi can’t be discounted on clay and I have him winning in an upset, going on to defeat either Jared Donaldson or struggling veteran Victor Estrella to reach the quarterfinals. Presuming he doesn’t tank for Paris, Nishikori should reach the semis.

Coming off Semis in Rome, John Isner should beat Robin Haase or Mischa Zverev, who opted for qualifying in Geneva, Horacio Zeballos and Steve Johnson look set for a great round 2 match, Zeballos form is superior, while Johnson is finally in Europe for clay. Zeballos probably has the edge over Isner in the semis given it’s clay, but it will be a difficult match to predict, and this whole section is interesting in terms of form.

Dark Horse: Horacio Zeballos

The unseeded Zeballos has a semifinal and a quarterfinal on clay in his last two tournaments and is a skilled clay courter. He’s not the most talented player on tour but he fights hard for every point, and with other players perhaps looking ahead to Paris, Zeballos is the type of relative journeyman that would focus on trying to take a 250 title over competing in a slam, where he can’t expect to make a deep run. Look for Zeballos to have a good week that could finish with a trophy.

Predictions

Semis
Ramos d. Wawrinka
Zeballos d. Nishikori

Typically I wouldn’t pick Ramos and Zeballos as winners against elite players like Wawrinka and Nishikori, but they should be more focused on this 250 and are great on clay. Ramos being the favorite for the title if this is the result we end up with.

Final
Ramos d. Zeballos

ATP Lyon

Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon
ATP World Tour 250
Lyon, France
May 21-27, 2017
Surface: Clay
Prize Money: €482,060

Top Half:

It’s hard to not anticipate a quarterfinal match between Milos Raonic, the top seed, and Juan Martin Del Potro, a quarterfinalist in Rome. Raonic has had a productive clay season, reaching a final and a quarterfinal in recent outings, Raonic will face Thanasi Kokkinakis or Denis Istomin, Kokkinakis returning to tour after injury woes. Del Potro gets Marcel Granollers, who is a poor singles player these days, followed by either Gastao Elias or Radu Albot. Del Potro should probably defeat Raonic in the quarterfinals given the surface, but it’s a close match to tip either way.

The good but not great Tomas Berdych will face either qualifier Hyeon Chung, or Donald Young. Berdych should watch out as Chung reached quarters in Barcelona and the semis in Munich and is a dark horse in this tournament. The winner of Berdych/Chung will get either a struggling Gilles Simon/Daniil Medvedev or Kyle Edmund/Thiago Monteiro, with Edmund well positioned to reach the quarterfinals before falling to Berdych at that stage.

Bottom Half:

Another home hero, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, is the #2 seed, presuming he’s healthy he should beat Steve Darcis/Carlos Berlocq, although Darcis is coming off a clay challenger title and has been playing well. This is a weak section as Jordan Thompson upset Benoit Paire and awaits the Karen Khachanov/Nicolas Mahut winner, with Tsonga likely to beat Khachanov in the quarterfinals as long as his shoulder is sorted out.

Nick Kyrgios would love to have a great week in France, while Nikoloz Basilashvili awaits the Andreas Seppi/Damir Dzumhur winner after upsetting Borna Coric round 1. Kyrgios, who has played just one tournament on clay this year, should beat Dustin Brown/Nicolas Kicker and then any of his quarterfinal opponents, as I have Basilashvili defeating the veteran Seppi, after Seppi beats Dzumhur.

Dark Horse: Hyeon Chung

If Chung can defeat Berdych he should reach at least the semifinals, and perhaps could have a career best week, as other players will be focusing on Roland Garros. Chung has the talent, and the mentality to be great, he’s just had to develop his game to move up the ATP ladder.

Predictions

Semis
Del Potro d. Berdych
Tsonga d. Kyrgios

Del Potro and Tsonga should have good weeks, although a Berdych/Kyrgios final would not surprise me. Presuming Tsonga is healthy, he should be the favorite playing in France with the crowd behind him, but don’t count out Del Potro’s power.

Final
Tsonga d. Del Potro

2016 ATP Geneva Preview and Predictions
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The final tune ups for the 2016 French Open will take place this week as the ATP has clay court 250 stops in Geneva, Switzerland, and Nice, France. Here is a preview of year 2 for the ATP Geneva Open.

Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open
ATP World Tour 250
Geneva, Switzerland
May 15-21, 2016
Surface: Clay
Prize Money: €499,645

Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes)
1: Stan Wawrinka (4)
2: David Ferrer (9)
3: Marin Cilic (11)
4: John Isner (16)

Geneva features a strong field for a 250 level tournament, the top players are all in the top 20.

First round matchups to watch:

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(6)Federico Delbonis vs. (WC)Janko Tipsarevic

Former top 10 player Janko Tipsarevic is playing just his third tournament of the season after a limited 2015 season where he struggled mightily. Tipsarevic hasn’t had a full season on tour since 2013 and he’d love to just gain some confidence in this match against the solid clay courter Delbonis. The Argentine has reached the semifinals in his last two clay court tournaments, and also has a title on clay this season, so he should advance rather easily into the next round.

(8)Sam Querrey vs. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez

Querrey has never lost to Garcia-Lopez (5-0, all matches on hard court). On clay, GGL is likely a slight favorite, but he’s underperformed thus far on the dirt, posting a semifinal, and a pair of quarterfinals as his best showings, all of those results coming in 250 level tournaments. Querrey reached the quarterfinals in Houston, and the third round in Madrid, showing he’s clearly improved his game on clay. The American could pull off a minor upset in this one and advance into the next round.

Top Half:

A struggling Stan Wawrinka badly needs to find form, and confidence, as he takes to the courts in Geneva just a week away from defending his French Open title at Roland Garros. Wawrinka is just 1-2 in his last three matches on clay, and 3-3 overall on the surface this year, a miserable showing for a top 5 player. The Swiss favorite is likely to contend with the Spanish top spinner Albert Ramos in his first match, presuming Ramos dumps out Teymuraz Gabashvili for his fifth loss in a row. Ramos hasn’t been fantastic by any standard this season, and thus Wawrinka likely advances, but he could tumble out early if his poor play continues.

Philipp Kohlschreiber is who I have toppling Wawrinka in the quarterfinals, the German opens with Inigo Cervantes, with either Pablo Carreno Busta or a qualifier to follow. Cervantes qualified in Rome, then promptly lost to Kohlschreiber, who went on to run into Rafael Nadal in his next match. Kohlschreiber was a semifinalist in Barcelona, and won Munich. He’s a steady veteran who will give it his best in this tune up tournament. PCB was a finalist in Estoril and can’t be counted out as well, the Spaniard is aiming to climb into the top 40, but I have Kohlschreiber winning, and then getting his first win over Wawrinka (0-4 h2h) in the quarterfinals. Wawrinka slipped past Kohlschreiber in Monte Carlo this year on clay in a close two set match.

Americans John Isner and Steve Johnson are the surprising seeds at a clay court tournament in Europe. Isner will face Lukas Rosol or a qualifier, while Johnson opens with the veteran Mikhail Youzhny, and Andrey Kuznetsov/Dudi Sela on deck. Isner is playing for the first time on European clay this season. He was a semifinalist in Houston and I do have him defeating a struggling Rosol/qualifier to reach the quarterfinals. Rosol is ranked outside the top 70 and has been losing even challenger matches on clay as of late.

Johnson is unlikely to make it that far, as Kuznetsov is the favorite in this section. Johnson’s first opponent Youzhny is 3-4 on clay as of late , while Johnson is 0-3. Kuznetsov, a quarterfinalist in Barcelona, should defeat Sela, who much prefers hard courts, and in fact comes off a challenger hard court final. I have Kuznetsov over Youzhny, and then Kuznetsov over Isner for a spot in the semifinals. The Russian should have the highest motivation for points, and a better clay court game than others in this section.

Bottom Half:

David Ferrer is just 8-4 on clay this year, and is almost certain to end up with more losses this season than last on the surface. The Spaniard is still a top 10 player though, and at 34 he’s still going to fight to hold onto his now precarious ranking. Ferrer lost in the round of 16 at both of the clay court Masters this year but he should dispatch a struggling Denis Istomin/qualifier, and Querrey/Garcia-Lopez in the quarters. The Querrey/GGL winner gets a qualifier or Rajeev Ram, who is poor on clay, in round 2. I have Ferrer over Garcia-Lopez for a spot in the semis.

Marin Cilic and Federico Delbonis are likely to compete for the remaining semifinal spot, unless defending champion Thomaz Bellucci can recapture the form of last season and defeat both Mikhail Kukushkin, and Delbonis (or Tipsarevic) for a spot in the quarterfinals. Bellucci did snap a poor run of form to reach the third round in Rome, and he’ll be the favorite over Rome qualifier Kukushkin, who went on to reach the second round there. Delbonis should beat them both though, while Cilic, playing on clay for the first time this year, is still the favorite against either Ernests Gulbis or Ricardas Berankis. The erratic Gulbis qualified in Rome, but he’s still far from his best. I have Delbonis over Cilic simply because the Croatian lacks the body of work on clay this season.

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Dark Horse: Andrey Kuznetsov

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I have the Russian, who has had a breakthrough season in 2016, reaching the semifinals, and he could even walk away with his first ever ATP title if he plays some of his best tennis of the season. This young gun should continue his rise up the rankings this week.

Predictions

Semis
Kohlschreiber d. Kuznetsov
Ferrer d. Delbonis

Kohlschreiber is 3-0 on clay against Kuznetsov, Ferrer is 2-0 against Delbonis, and thus they should be favorites for the final.

Final
Kohlschreiber d. Ferrer

Ferrer has never lost to Kohlschreiber on clay, but with his game slumping a bit, I have Peppo capitalizing and winning the title.

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Steen Kirby (Marseille)

2015 ATP Draw Challenge Week 18 (Nice and Geneva)
Staff, Tennis Atlantic

The ATP Tour makes pit stops on clay in France and Switzerland with a pair of 250s before Roland Garros, and here are our expert picks.

Nice

Open de Nice Cote d’Azur Predictions

Steen Kirby’s picks

Round 2 matches: Simon vs, Kokkinakis, Coric vs. Tomic, Mayer vs. Pouille, Bemelmans vs. Monaco, Kyrgios vs. Thiem, Dolgopolov vs. Gulbis, Sock vs. Carreno Busta, Johnson vs. Isner

Quarterfinals: Simon vs. Coric, Pouille vs. Monaco, Thiem vs. Dolgopolov, Sock vs. Isner
Semifinals: Coric vs. Monaco, Thiem vs. Isner
Final: Monaco vs. Isner
Champion: Isner

Niall Clarke’s picks

Round 2 matches: Simon vs, Kokkinakis, Coric vs. Tomic, Mayer vs. Pouille, Querrey vs. Paire, Kukushkin vs. Estrella, Dolgopolov vs. Gulbis, Sock vs. Carreno Busta, Johnson vs. Isner
Quarterfinals: Simon vs. Coric, Mayer vs. Paire, Estrela vs. Dolgopolov, Sock vs. Isner
Semifinals: Simon vs. Paire, Dolgopolov vs. Isner
Final: Simon vs. Isner
Champion: Isner

Chris de Waard’s picks

Round 2 matches: Simon vs, Kokkinakis, Coric vs. Tomic, Mayer vs. Pouille, Querrey vs. Paire, Kyrgios vs. Thiem, Dolgopolov vs. Gulbis, Sock vs. Carreno Busta, Johnson vs. Isner
Quarterfinals: Simon vs. Coric, Pouille vs. Paire, Kyrgios vs. Dolgopolov, Sock vs. Isner
Semifinals: Coric vs. Paire, Dolgopolov vs. Sock
Final: Coric vs. Dolgopolov
Champion: Dolgopolov

Opinions are very mixed on this tournament, though John Isner is presumed to do well. Benoit Paire already lost to Juan Monaco, who could have a good week, and Borna Coric and Gilles Simon should also challenge if healthy.

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Geneva

Geneva Open Predictions

Steen Kirby’s picks

Round 2 matches: Wawrinka vs. Rosol, Gabashvili vs. Haider-Maurer, Andujar vs. Berlocq, Dzumhur vs. Sousa, Bellucci vs. Tipsarevic, Ramos vs. Becker, Struff vs. Giraldo, Rublev vs. Cilic
Quarterfinals: Wawrinka vs. Haider-Maurer, Andujar vs. Sousa, Bellucci vs. Ramos, Giraldo vs. Cilic
Semifinals: Wawrinka vs. Andujar, Bellucci vs. Cilic
Final: Wawrinka vs. Bellucci
Champion: Wawrinka

Niall Clarke’s picks

Round 2 matches: Wawrinka vs. Lu, Delbonis vs. Haider-Maurer, Andujar vs. Berlocq, Dzumhur vs. Sousa, Bellucci vs. Tipsarevic, Ramos vs. Becker, Youzhny vs. Giraldo, Rublev vs. Cilic
Quarterfinals: Wawrinka vs. Haider-Maurer, Andujar vs. Berlocq, Bellucci vs. Ramos, Giraldo vs. Cilic
Semifinals: Wawrinka vs. Berlocq, Bellucci vs. Giraldo
Final: Berlocq vs. Bellucci
Champion: Bellucci

Jeff McMillan’s picks

Round 2 matches: Wawrinka vs. Rosol, Gabashvili vs. Haider-Maurer, Andujar vs. Berlocq, Dzumhur vs. Sousa, Bellucci vs. Tipsarevic, Ramos vs. Becker, Youzhny vs Giraldo, Rublev vs. Cilic
Quarterfinals: Wawrinka vs. Gabashvili, Andujar vs. Sousa, Bellucci vs. Ramos, Giraldo vs. Cilic
Semifinals: Wawrinka vs. Andujar, Bellucci vs. Giraldo
Final: Andujar vs. Giraldo
Champion: Giraldo

Chris de Waard’s picks

Round 2 matches: Wawrinka vs. Rosol, Delbonis vs. Haider-Maurer, Andujar vs. Berlocq, Dzumhur vs. Sousa, Bellucci vs. Tipsarevic, Ramos vs. Becker, Struff vs. Berankis, Rublev vs. Cilic
Quarterfinals: Wawrinka vs. Haider-Maurer, Andujar vs. Sousa, Tipsarevic vs. Ramos, Struff vs. Cilic
Semifinals: Haider-Maurer vs. Andujar, Tipsarevic vs. Cilic
Final: Haider-Maurer vs. Cilic
Champion: Cilic

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Surprisingly, four different champions were picked this week by our analysts, and the top seed Stan Wawrinka was only picked by Steen. It really seems to be a toss-up in Switzerland this week as to who will claim the inaugural title at this tournament.

Week 17 Standings

Rome
1: Steen (270 points) (+1000 overall)
2: Chris (269 points) (+600 overall)
3: Niall (262 points) (+360 overall)
4: Joe (247 points) (+360 overall)
5: Jeff (244) (+180 overall)

In our narrowest margin of the season, Steen edged Chris by just a single point, and everyone did well this week given Djokovic was a consensus pick for champion, and took the title.

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Overall standings (after week 17)

1: Steen: 8660 ranking points (+1000 points overall)
2: Niall: 6870 points (+360 points overall)
3: Joe 6800 points (+360 points overall)
4: Chris: 6000 points (+600 points overall)
5: Jeff: 5900 points (+180 points overall)

Chris edged out Jeff and broke the 6,000 mark, while Steen padded his lead and is now almost certain to still be in first place no matter what happens at Roland Garros in two weeks time.

ATP Draw Challenge (London Queens)