ATP Istanbul Predictions

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Newlywed Marin Cilic The Top Seed @IstanbulOpen

Posted by Admin on April 29, 2018
Posted in: ATP, Istanbul, Steen Kirby. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Newlywed Marin Cilic The Top Seed at the Istanbul Open
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The clay 250 in Istanbul features newlywed Marin Cilic as it’s top seed, he’s joined by hungry group of ATP players seeking form ahead of the bigger clay court stops to come. Here is your full preview, with predictions.

Top Half:

Marin Cilic will open with Malek Jaziri or Marsel Ilhan, with a qualifier likely awaiting in the quarters. Neither Jiri Vesely nor Gerald Melzer are in good form, and I’d expect qualifiers Daniel Gimeno-Traver and Thiago Monteiro to knock them off, with Cilic edging Gimeno-Traver in the quarters. DGT is in good form at the challenger level.

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Budapest semifinalist Andreas Seppi will face Laslo Djere or Denis Istomin in round 2, while Paolo Lorenzi should defeat Cem Ilkel before facing a qualifier, either Marco Trungelliti or Elias Ymer. Yet again I have a qualifier in the quarters, as Trungelliti is in far better form than Lorenzi. Seppi should reach the semis.

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Bottom Half:

Damir Dzumhur is in poor form and will open against Thomas Fabbiano or Mikhail Youzhny. I’m not confident but I’ll put Dzumhur into the quarters opposite Jeremy Chardy. Chardy has a challenging opening match against Nikoloz Basilashvili, and then will face either Budapest finalist John Millman, or Dusan Lajovic, probably Lajovic given Millman’s fatigue. Chardy is my semifinalist from this weak section.

Aljaz Bedene, a semifinalist in Budapest, will face Matteo Berrettini or Taro Daniel in round 2, I have him winning that and advancing to the quarters opposite Rogerio Dutra Silva. The Brazilian should take advantage of a weak path of Radu Albot and Viktor Troicki/Bernard Tomic to reach the quarters. Tomic and Troicki are a shell of their abilities. Bedene should win the section.

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Predictions

semis
Cilic d. Seppi
Bedene d. Chardy

Form could be a question for Cilic, but he’s the best player in this field and should take home the title. Bedene has a great shot as well.

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final
Cilic d. Bedene

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2017 ATP Istanbul Preview and Predictions (@Istanbulopen)

Posted by Admin on April 30, 2017
Posted in: ATP, Istanbul, Steen Kirby. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

2017 ATP Istanbul Preview and Predictions
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The third year in a row the ATP has a tournament in Istanbul on clay, here is your preview with predictions for Turkey’s only ATP tournament.

TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open
ATP World Tour 250
Istanbul, Turkey
May 1-7, 2017
Surface: Clay
Prize Money: €439,005

Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Milos Raonic (6)
2: Marin Cilic (8)
3: Diego Schwartzman (34)
4: Paolo Lorenzi (38)

Istanbul has a solid top 2 but it drops off from there into the parity of the ATP’s top 40.

First round matchups to watch:

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Nikoloz Basilashvili vs. Karen Khachanov

Basilashvili leads Khachanov 2-1 in the h2h but on clay the Russian will be favored.  A quarterfinalist in Barcelona, Khachanov’s form is also slightly better, although Basilashvili has had a great season overall. Both of these players are rising, and this is an interesting test as to who is the better player right now.

Damir Dzumhur vs. (Q)Stefanos Tsitsipas

Greek young gun Tsitispas will get his third shot at a maiden ATP main draw win against Dzumhur who is in average form at best. Tsitsipas came through qualifying, and he has enough of a game to win this, Dzumhur can be a tough customer but I’ll back the young gun to get it done.

Top Half

A winner of sixteen of his last seventeen matches, Aljaz Bedene should ease past Marton Fucsovics and then get a big match with top seed Milos Raonic. Raonic, 11-2 this year, hasn’t played since Miami, but is usually competitive on clay, although not elite. Presuming Raonic is healthy he should put away Budapest finalist Bedene and then defeat Rogerio Dutra Silva in the quarters. RDS opens with Riccardo Bellotti and neither Radu Albo or Bernard Tomic, one of whom will await in round 2, are great on clay or in good form. Raonic has a pretty easy path to the semis excluding Bedene.

Budapest semifinalist Laslo Djere should beat Daniel Brands before falling to Paolo Lorenzi, who is 9-6 on clay this year and makes his living grinding away in 250’s like this. Marcos Baghdatis is not great on clay, and Viktor Troicki should win his round 1 match against a fellow veteran and then beat the winner Basilashvili/Khachanov winner. Lorenzi is the favorite to reach the semis in this section.

Bottom Half

Marin Cilic has struggled this year but on clay he should be good enough to reach the quarters past Tsitsipas or Dzumhur. Cilic should then run into Jiri Vesely, as Vesely is the clear favorite over Marcel Granollers, and the winner of Steve Darcis/Dudi Sela. Vesely will have a punchers chance against Cilic, but Marin is the veteran favorite for a reason.

Monte Carlo quarterfinalist Diego Schwartzman, the defending champion, looks set to defeat either qualifier Adrian Menendez-Maceiras or young gun Jordan Thompson, then edge past Borna Coric in the quarters, presuming Coric defeats Dusan Lajovic and Mikhail Youzhny or local favorite Cem Ilkel. It’s a tough call between DSS and Coric, but I back Schwartzman’s form barely right now.

Dark Horse: Jiri Vesely

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If Cilic puts up another poor performance Vesely should be the player to take advantage, he has a great shot to reach at least the semifinals, and could perhaps take this title. The Czech has underperformed in his young career after entering the main tour with promise, but it’s not too late to turn that around.

Predictions

Semis
Raonic d. Lorenzi
Cilic d. Schwartzman

The top 2 seeds should be favorites over dirtballing specialists in the semifinals.

Final
Cilic d. Raonic

On clay I give Cilic the slightest edge to take this title.

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2016 ATP Istanbul Preview and Predictions (@istanbulopen)

Posted by Admin on April 24, 2016
Posted in: ATP, Istanbul, Steen Kirby. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

2016 ATP Istanbul Preview and Predictions
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The third ATP tournament this week is a clay 250 in Istanbul, Turkey. This tournament is in the second year of its existence, and is one of the few tournaments in the Middle East.

TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open
ATP World Tour 250
Istanbul, Turkey
April 25-May 1st, 2016
Surface: Clay
Prize Money: €426,530

Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Bernard Tomic (21)
2: Grigor Dimitrov (28)
3: Ivo Karlovic (29)
4: Federico Delbonis (40)

This is the weakest ATP tournament this week with two of the top four seeds likely to exit early.

First round matchups to watch:

Facundo Bagnis vs. Diego Sebastian Schwartzman

Schwartzman leads the h2h with Bagnis 2-1, and it’s a battle of rising Argentines. Bagnis has a quarterfinal in Casablanca on his recent record, while DSS has just one win in his last five matches. I favor Bagnis to prevail in a tough battle.

Top Half:

Bernard Tomic is the top seed, but he’s terrible on clay and I have him losing to either DSS or Bagnis in the second round. Current Bucharest finalist Lucas Pouille has to play Monday in Romania, and then travel to Istanbul to face Illya Marchenko. He should win that match and continue his good form, but I have Damir Dzumhur beating Teymuraz Gabashvili, and then Pouille, for a spot in the quarterfinals, due to fatigue for Pouille. Dzumhur isn’t a great player, but Gabashvili is in poor form, and Bagnis is my semifinalist from an open first section.

Federico Delbonis is 10-5 on clay this season and just made the semis in Bucharest, after taking the title in Casablanca. Delbonis will open with Dudi Sela, or qualifier Andrey Rublev in round 2. Rublev is better on clay than Sela, but Delbonis has the edge to reach the quarterfinals. Albert Ramos isn’t in great form, but he’s better on clay than Adrian Mannarino, he’ll have a tough match wild card Karen Khachanov in round 2, after Khachanov defeats Aljaz Bedene. Given it’s clay, I have Delbonis defeating Ramos for a semifinal spot.

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Bottom Half:

Grigor Dimitrov is the most talented player in this field, and he should roll to the quarterfinals, with a win over Filip Krajinovic, or qualifier Adrian Ungur. Jiri Vesely is 5-2 in recent clay court matches, and stands in the way of Dimitrov in the quarterfinals. Vesely opens with Thiemo De Bakker, with Roberto Carballes Baena, or wild card Marsel Ilhan to follow. Dimitrov beat Vesely on clay last year, and thus I have him reaching the semifinals of a tournament for the third time this season.

Ivo Karlovic is 0-6 on the season and thus I have qualifier Renzo Olivo defeating Dusan Lajovic, and then Karlovic for a quarterfinal spot. Monte Carlo quarterfinalist Marcel Granollers should defeat local favorite Cem Ilkel and then qualifier Carlos Berlocq, or Hyeon Chung to reach the quarterfinals. I have Granollers showing his veteran talent to reach the semis over Olivo.

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Dark Horse: Facundo Bagnis

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Bagnis could win the title here, but I do have him going as far as the semifinals, given he’s in a very winnable section. This young Argentine could have a breakthrough this week.

Predictions

Semis
Delbonis d. Bagnis
Dimitrov d. Granollers

Delbonis leads Bagnis 3-2 in the h2h, Dimitrov has a clay win over Granollers and should prevail in that matchup as well.

Final
Dimitrov d. Delbonis

Delbonis could win the title, but Dimitrov has to be the favorite this time.

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Steen Kirby (Marseille)

 

2015 ATP Draw Challenge Week 15 (Estoril, Munich, and Istanbul)

Posted by Admin on April 28, 2015
Posted in: 2015 ATP Draw Challenge, ATP, Estoril, Istanbul, Joe Craven, Munich, Niall Clarke, Steen Kirby. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

2015 ATP Draw Challenge Week 15 (Estoril, Munich, and Istanbul)
Staff, Tennis Atlantic

A trio of clay 250s in Europe are on the offering this week, and here are the picks of our experts, to compliment the rest of our full week of credentialed media coverage.

Estoril

2015 Estoril Open Predictions

Steen Kirby’s picks

Round 2 matches: Lopez vs. Haase, Krajinovic vs. Ramos, Robredo vs. Carreno Busta, Montanes vs. Muller, Gasquet vs. De Schepper, Almagro vs. L. Mayer, Coric vs. Sousa, Garcia-Lopez vs. Anderson
Quarterfinals: Lopez vs. Ramos, Robredo vs. Muller, Gasquet vs. Almagro, Coric vs. Garcia-Lopez
Semifinals: Ramos vs. Robredo, Almagro vs. Coric
Final: Robredo vs. Almagro
Champion: Almagro

Niall Clarke’s picks

Round 2 matches: Lopez vs. Haase, Gonzalez vs. Kyrgios, Robredo vs. Carreno Busta, Montanes vs. Muller, Gasquet vs. De Schepper, Almagro vs. L. Mayer, Coric vs. Sousa, Garcia-Lopez vs. Anderson
Quarterfinals: Lopez vs. Kyrgios, Robredo vs. Muller, Gasquet vs. Almagro, Sousa. vs. Garcia-Lopez
Semifinals: Lopez vs. Robredo, Gasquet vs.Garcia-Lopez
Final: Robredo vs. Gasquet
Champion: Gasquet

Joe Craven’s picks

Round 2 matches: Lopez vs. Haase, Krajinovic vs. Kyrgios, Robredo vs. Carreno Busta, Montanes vs. Silva, Gasquet vs. Elias, Almagro vs. L. Mayer, Chardy vs. Sousa, Garcia-Lopez vs. Anderson
Quarterfinals: Lopez vs. Kyrgios, Robredo vs. Montanes, Gasquet vs. Almagro, Chardy vs. Garcia-Lopez
Semifinals: Lopez vs. Robredo, Almagro vs. Garcia-Lopez
Final: Robredo vs. Almagro
Champion: Almagro

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Robredo is a consensus pick to reach the final, but nobody has him winning it, as Almagro-Gasquet is a pivotal quarterfinal matchup, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez is also expected to do well.

Munich

2015 BMW Open by FWU AG Predictions

Steen Kirby’s picks

Round 2 matches: Murray vs. Struff, Stakhovsky vs. F. Mayer, Bautista Agut vs. Stepanek, Estrella vs. Tipsarevic, Kohlschreiber vs. A. Zverev, Bolelli vs. Goffin, Fognini vs. Thiem, Andujar vs. G. Melzer
Quarterfinals: Murray vs. Mayer, Bautista Agut. vs Estrella, Kohlschreiber vs. Goffin, Fognini vs. Andujar
Semifinals: Murray vs. Bautista Agut, Kohlschreiber vs. Fognini
Final: Murray vs. Kohlschreiber
Champion: Murray

Niall Clarke’s picks

Round 2 matches: Murray vs. M. Zverev, Stakhovsky vs. Rosol, Bautista Agut vs. Stepanek, Estrella vs. Tomic, Kohlschreiber vs. A. Zverev, Bolelli vs. Goffin, Fognini vs. Pospisil, Andujar vs. G. Melzer
Quarterfinals: Murray vs. Rosol, Bautista Agut. vs Tomic, Kohlschreiber vs. Goffin, Fognini vs. Andujar
Semifinals: Murray vs. Bautista Agut, Kohlschreiber vs. Fognini
Final: Bautista Agut vs. Kohlschreiber
Champion: Kohlschreiber

Joe Craven’s picks

Round 2 matches: Murray vs. Struff, Stakhovsky vs. Rosol, Bautista Agut vs. Dustov, Estrella vs. Tipsarevic, Kohlschreiber vs. A. Zverev, Bolelli vs. Goffin, Fognini vs. Pospisil, Andujar vs. G. Melzer
Quarterfinals: Murray vs. Rosol, Bautista Agut. vs Estrella, Kohlschreiber vs. Goffin, Fognini vs.Andujar
Semifinals: Murray vs. Bautista Agut, Kohlschreiber vs. Fognini
Final: Murray vs. Fognini
Champion: Murray

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With the withdrawal of Monfils, Fognini or Kohlschreiber should reach the final from the bottom half, while Murray and RBA will fight it out in the top half.

Istanbul

2015 TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open Predictions

 

Steen Kirby’s picks

Round 2 matches: Federer vs. Ilhan, Gimeno-Traver vs. Nedovyesov, Giraldo vs. Rublev, Darcis vs. Schwartzman, Bellucci vs. Paire, Kuznetsov vs. Cuevas, Haider-Maurer vs. Kokkinakis, Golubev vs. Dimitrov
Quarterfinals: Federer vs. Gimeno-Traver, Giraldo vs. Darcis, Paire vs. Cuevas, Haider-Maurer vs. Dimitrov
Semifinals: Federer vs. Giraldo, Paire vs. Dimitrov
Final: Federer vs. Dimitrov
Champion: Federer

Niall Clarke’s picks

Round 2 matches: Federer vs. Ilhan, Gimeno-Traver vs. Kukushkin, Giraldo vs. Rublev, Melzer vs. Schwartzman, Bellucci vs. Paire, Gabashvili vs. Cuevas, Haider-Maurer vs. Lajovic, Golubev vs. Dimitrov
Quarterfinals: Federer vs. Kukushkin, Giraldo vs. Schwartzman, Paire vs. Cuevas, Haider-Maurer vs. Dimitrov
Semifinals: Federer vs. Giraldo, Paire vs. Dimitrov
Final: Federer vs. Dimitrov
Champion: Federer

Joe Craven’s picks

Round 2 matches: Federer vs. Ilhan, Gimeno-Traver vs. Kukushkin, Giraldo vs. Rublev, Melzer vs. Schwartzman, Bellucci vs. Paire, Kuznetsov vs. Cuevas, Dodig vs. Lajovic, Golubev vs. Dimitrov
Quarterfinals: Federer vs. Gimeno-Traver, Giraldo vs. Schwartzman, Bellucci vs. Cuevas, Dodig vs. Dimitrov
Semifinals: Federer vs. Schwartzman, Bellucci vs. Dimitrov
Final: Federer vs. Bellucci
Champion: Federer

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Everyone has a Federer sweep, while opinions are mixed on Paire, Bellucci, and Dimitrov.

Week 14 standings

Barcelona
1: Niall (228 points) (+500 overall)
2: Steen (146 points) (+300 overall)
3: Jeff (140 points) (+180 overall)
4; Joe (82 points) (+180 overall)
5: Chris (76 points) (+90 overall)

Bucharest
1: Niall (64 points)(+250 overall)
2: Jeff (50 points) (+150 overall)
3: Chris (48 points) (+90 overall)
4: Steen (38 points) (+90 overall)
5: Joe (0 points) (+0 overall)

A solid week for Niall as he claimed two more titles this season.

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Overall standings (after week 13)

1: Steen: 6990 ranking points (+390 points overall)
2: Niall: 5660 points (+500 points overall)
3: Jeff: 5360 points (+330 points overall)
4: Joe 4990 points (+180 points overall)
5: Chris: 4800 points (+180 points overall)

Steen and Niall extended their lead further, as Chris and Joe lag behind, and Jeff still is within striking distance of second place.

ATP Draw Challenge (London Queens)