Marco Cecchinato claimed his second ATP title to continue his record setting year. The rapidly rising Italian eased past Guido Pella 6-2 7-6 after previously dropping just a set against Jiri Vesely prior to the final. Cecchinato defeated Vesely, Laslo Djere, and Marco Trungelliti to reach the final.
Pella for his part reached his first final of the season after wins against Taro Daniel, Aljaz Bedene, Dusan Lajovic, and Robin Haase. He dropped the opening set in his first two matches and had to battle hard to reach the final stage. Haase and Matwe Middelkoop defeated Jebavy/Vesely in the doubles final.
Steve Johnson won a fourth career ATP title and his second on grass with a 7-5 3-6 6-2 win against first time finalist Ramkumar Ramanathan. Ramanthan put up a spirited fight in the biggest match of his career, but it was the veteran Johnson who prevailed in the deciding set. Johnson also claimed wins against Christian Harrison, Dudi Sela, and Marcel Granollers in straight sets to reach the final.
The 23 year old Ramanthan defeated Victor Estrella, Denis Kudla, Vasek Pospisil, and Tim Smyczek, dropping just a set against Kudla en route to the final. He’s hoping there will be more success to come this season after the maiden final breakthrough.
Erlich/Sitak defeated Arevalo/Reyes-Varela in the doubles final with ease.
Fabio Fognini continued to add to what has been a highly accomplished season for the Italian veteran. Fognini claimed his second title of the year defeating Richard Gasquet 6-3 3-6 6-1. It was a good tournament for both players as Fognini defeated Mikael Ymer, Federico Delbonis, and Fernando Verdasco to reach the final, dropping a set in every match except against Delbonis.
Gasquet dropped his opening set of the tournament against Gerald Melzer (winning in 3) then went on to defeat Casper Ruud and Henri Laaksonen to reach the final. Fognini moved closer to the top 10, while Gasquet moved closer to returning to the top 25 with the victory. Peralta/Zeballos defeated Fognini and Simone Bolelli in the doubles final, denying Fognini a pair of titles from the same tournament.
Grass Court Season Concludes With ATP 250 Newport Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
The ATP 250 in Newport at the Tennis Hall of Fame concludes the grass court season and begins the North American summer of tennis. Here is your look at all the action.
Top Half:
Adrian Mannarino will begin against James Duckworth or Jordan Thompson, Mannarino is a great grass court player so he should beat Thompson and Gilles Muller to reach the semis. Muller’s path is Marcos Baghdatis, then Marcel Granollers or a qualifier. While Muller is usually good on grass, his poor form means Mannarino has a decided edge.
Steve Johnson did not have a good grass court season, but back in the States he should get past a qualifier or Christian Harrison before running into Alex De Minaur, one of the breakthrough young guns this year and a player who did have a great grass season. De Minaur should eke past the big serving Ivo Karlovic, then defeat Dudi Sela or a qualifier, with De Minaur favored to emerge from this section.
Mischa Zverev should ease past Donald Young/Vasek Pospisil and then defeat Denis Kudla after Kudla defeats Ruben Bemelmans and Ramkumar Ramanathan/qualifier. Zverev has won a title on grass this year and he has a great shot to do it again if he can get past a tough grass court player in Kudla.
Matt Ebden faces Bjorn Fratangelo or Tim Smyczek then should run into Sergiy Stakhovsky in the quarters. Stako will face Jason Jung, coming off success on the challenger tour, then Nicolas Mahut or Ryan Harrison, with Harrison likely falling victim to a tough section full of good grass court players. Ebden vs. Zverev is my bottom half semifinal.
Any of these four players could emerge as champion on this surface, but Mannarino and Zverev should make the final with Zverev continuing his recent success to lift another title.
Veterans Ferrer and Isner, Young Gun Rublev Claim ATP Titles Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
ATP Bastad
David Ferrer grinded his way to his first ATP title in two years, claiming a third career Bastad title 6-4 6-4 over Alexandr Dolgopolov, who also sorely needed the ranking boost gained from reaching an ATP final, even at the 250 level. Ferrer’s record turned positive this year overall after wins against Federico Delbonis, Dustin Brown, Henri Laaksonen and Fernando Verdasco, as since reaching the third round of Wimbledon he’s looking much better in terms of form.
Dolgopolov also went above .500 this season overall, he defeated Leonardo Mayer, Horacio Zeballos, Karen Khachanov, and Andrey Kuznetsov, looking healthy in the process.
Julian Knowle and Philipp Petzschner defeated Sander Arends and Matwe Middelkoop in the doubles final.
ATP Newport
Overall, John Isner would have preferred more from his grass court season, but the 32 year old won Newport, and in the process gained his first ATP title in two years. His victims at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships were Sam Groth, Dennis Novikov, Bjorn Fratangelo, and surprise finalist Matt Ebden 6-3 7-6.
Ebden, a 29 year old qualifier, reached his first ever ATP final, Rajeev Ram, Lukas Lacko, Tobias Kamke, and Peter Gojowczky were the players he defeated en route, as Newport has a habit of generating interesting upsets. Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi and Rajeev Ram beat Matt Reid and J.P. Smith in the doubles final.
ATP Umag
Andrey Rublev was much more than a lucky loser in Umag, he now wears the title of champion, as he won his maiden ATP title over Paolo Lorenzi 6-4 6-2. Rublev defeated Carlos Berlocq, Andrej Martin, Fabio Fognini, and Ivan Dodig as well last week. Lorenzi beat Aljaz Bedene, Jiri Vesely, and Alessandro Giannessi, it was his second ATP final this season, although he’s lost both.
Guillermo Durán and Andres Molteni defeated Tomislav Draganja and Marin Draganja in the doubles final.
Martin Klizan won his second ATP 500 title of the season in Hamburg. In a big boost since returning from injury, Klizan upset Pablo Cuevas in straight sets 6-1 6-4, after defeating journeyman Stephane Robert in the semifinals in straight sets. Klizan also posted wins over Igor Sijsling, Louis Wessels, and Daniel Gimeno-Traver last week, all without dropping a set, with a textbook power tennis performance.
Cuevas beat Renzo Olivo, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Thiago Monteiro, and Florian Mayer this week, as he continued his great clay court season. Henri Kontinen and John Peers took home the doubles title over Daniel Nestor and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi.
ATP Newport
37 year old Ivo Karlovic served well for four straight matches and took home the title in Newport, adding a big result to his poor season overall. Karlovic defeated fellow big server Gilles Muller 6-7 7-6 7-6 in the final, after posting previous wins against Frank Dancevic, Marco Chiudinelli, and Marcos Baghdatis earlier in the week. Muller defeated Victor Estrella, Adrian Mannarino, and Donald Young to reach the final. Sam Groth and Chris Guccione beat Jonathan Marray and Adil Shamsadin in the doubles final. Karlovic continues to be a tremendous threat on fast surfaces.
ATP Bastad
Albert Ramos won his first ever ATP title in Bastad, upsetting Fernando Verdasco 6-3 6-4. Ramos beat multiple Spaniards last week in Sweden, Roberto Carballes Baena was his first victim, then he defeated Andrea Arnaboldi in three sets, and David Ferrer in straights to reach the final. Ferrer had never lost to Ramos before, but he upped his game, and his spin, to defeat his higher ranked countryman.
Verdasco defeated Henri Laaksonen, Albert Montanes, Facundo Bagnis, and Gastao Elias, all without dropping a set. Marcel Granollers and David Marrero defeated Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Demoliner in the doubles final to make it all-Spanish champions in Bastad.
Qualifiers In @TennisHalloFame; Main Draw Underway Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic
I normally don’t like Mondays at a tennis tournament. You get leftover qualifying rounds and a few first round matches. The real red meat of the tournament always starts later in the week. So Monday is tennis subsistence day. Like watching Lucas Lacko, who reached the third round of Wimbledon, flame out in the first round at Newport. The best part of that match was learning that the victor, Dudi Sela, was traveling with his 2 year old and 7 month old, and he looked really busy after the match, like “we need you now” busy. Sela faces off against defending champ Rajeev Ram in the second round.
Ram cruised over Mackenzie McDonald later in the day to set up the second round match. As for McDonald, the UCLA champ was in great spirits just to have had the opportunity to play on Center Court in Newport. That made Monday better.
The first sign that it wasn’t going to be the usual Monday were the qualifiers: Old hands Frank Dancevic and Alex Kuznetsov advancing in three grueling, up-and-down sets.
Kuzentsov
Dudi had a Baby
Then it was Brian Baker’s turn. Baker, after spending only 25 minutes on court yesterday due to the retirement of Jan Hernych, had a closer match against Great Britain’s Brydan Klein. Baker looked like his old self again, and he closed out the match to qualify in straights/ Seeing him out there was enough to make my Monday.
As he heads to the Olympics next month to represent the U.S., Baker told Tennis Atlantic, “I feel great. I’m getting fitter and better each week. I just need to get some more matches. This year has been a little bit of a struggle just because coming back from so much time off, and playing the bigger events with my protected (ranking), if you’re not winning a ton, you’re just not getting a lot of matches. It’s nice this week to already get two matches under my belt and hope to get more”.
One good thing about Mondays is a chance to see young players on the rise and local players of interest. Today, the crowds got to see Rhode Island’s own Jared Donaldson. In fact, they wouldn’t have been much of a press corps here today without Donaldson on the schedule. Donaldson is an intense young player with a bright future. I will let the entire local press corps tell you all about him, because going against the grain is what Mondays are all about. I will tell you that he lost in straights to Donald Young, but that is all.
2016 ATP Newport Preview and Predictions Steen Kirby and Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic
The only ATP tournament on Grass in the USA is at the Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, where Tennis Atlantic once again has on-site coverage. Here is a preview with predictions for this ATP 250 stop in the balmy northeast.
Hall of Fame Tennis Championships
ATP World Tour 250
Newport, RI, USA
July 11-17, 2016
Surface: Grass
Prize Money: $515,025
Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Steve Johnson (29)
2: Ivo Karlovic (32)
3: Gilles Muller (39)
4: Marcos Baghdatis (40)
Newport lacks elite players but it does have a host of serve and volleyers, alongside Americans seeking an ATP title.
First round matchups to watch:
Benjamin Becker vs. (WC)Stefan Kozlov
Becker has eight wins on grass this year while Kozlov has struggled since reaching the quarterfinals in Den Bosch. Kozlov is a great young talent, and he does enjoy playing in Newport, but the experienced Becker likely has an edge in this one.
Defending champion Rajeev Ram has been in shockingly poor form on grass, as he has just one win, and five losses on the surface this year. Ram tends to find form in Newport however, and American Mackenzie McDonald has limited experience on tour this year, and just turned pro in June after becoming an NCAA champion at UCLA. Given McDonald’s limited experience on grass, Ram is the favorite.
Top Half:
With a 10-3 record on grass, an ATP title on the surface, and a second week result at Wimbledon already on his resume this year, Steve Johnson is both the tournament favorite, and the top seed. The American will open with Yuichi Sugita or a qualifier, he should win that match, then end up opposite Becker/Kozlov, or Jared Donaldson/Donald Young. Young or Becker should be the favorites for the quarters as Donaldson hasn’t played on grass this year. I have Johnson defeating Becker in my bracket.
Gilles Muller could have some opposition as he looks to reach the semifinals. Still, the seed has the most experience on grass in his section, and he posted both an ATP final and semifinal on the surface in recent weeks. Muller should beat Dennis Novikov, a Wimbledon qualifier, or Victor Estrella, with Adrian Mannarino ending up opposite him in the quarterfinals. Mannarino faces a struggling James Duckworth after a successful enough grass court season. Mannarino also has the big serving Sam Groth, or a qualifier in round 2. Groth has failed to capitalize on big serve and win notable results on grass this year. I favor Muller over Mannarino by a small margin in the quarters.
Ivo Karlovic is yet another big server in the Newport draw, the Croatian should cruise past a qualifier or Ryan Harrison, and face Vasek Pospisil in the quarterfinals. Pospisil is a big server as well, the Canadian has been struggling lately, but Marco Chiudinelli isn’t that tough of an opponent in round 1. In round 2 it will be J.P. Smith or Jordan Thompson for Pospisil. He could be troubled by Thompson, who has shown flashes of skill on grass, but I have it Karlovic over Pospisil in the quarters even though Karlovic has been average at best on grass this year.
A healthy Marcos Baghdatis looks set to have a good week in Newport after posting a pair of ATP quarterfinals this grass court season. The Cypriot ball striker will face Austin Krajicek or a qualifier in round 2, with most likely the Dudi Sela/Lukas Lacko winner to follow in the quarters, unless Ram or McDonald find form. Lacko showed a sudden burst of form as a Wimbledon qualifier, as he reached the third round. Sela was terrible in London, bowing out in round 1, but he dominates the h2h against Lacko. The flaky Lacko is my pick to reach the quarters, before falling to Baghdatis.
Lacko has always had the talent, but he has usually failed to live up to it. After qualifying and reaching the third round at Wimbledon he showed not only his overall tennis ability, but also his potential on grass. Given this wide open field, the unseeded Lacko could leave Newport a surprise winner, or lose in the first round.
Predictions
Semis:
Johnson d. Muller
Karlovic d. Baghdatis
Johnson is my pick for tournament champion, while Baghdatis can struggle at times against big servers, like he did against John Isner at Wimbledon.
Final:
Johnson d. Karlovic
On American soil, Johnson is the clear favorite to win this title, which would be the second ATP title of his career.
Serve and Volley Specialist Rajeev Ram Serves Up Second ATP Newport Title Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
After an exciting week of wacky results in Newport the serve and volley specialist Rajeev Ram prevailed in the final over the veteran Ivo Karlovic, who brought his own massive serve to the match. Ram, who boosted himself into the top 90 with the title victory, is the lowest ranked ATP World Tour champion this year after his 7-6(5) 5-7 7-6(2) win. Ram had to save three match points this week but Karlovic couldn’t generate any of those today. He narrowly lost the first set tiebreak, got a break in the second set, but played a poor third set tiebreak that doomed him to defeat.
Just like last year, Karlovic finishes as a finalist in Newport, while Ram took his second title in Rhode Island. He’s primarily a serve and volley doubles specialist, and a challenger tour level player, but he brought his ATP game to play this week, and much credit to the veteran Indian-American.
In the doubles final Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Johnny Marray slipped past Nick Monroe/Mate Pavic 10-8 in a third set super tiebreak.
2015 ATP Draw Challenge Week 26 (Newport) Staff, Tennis Atlantic
The final grass court tournament of 2015 on the ATP world tour will take place in Newport, Rhode Island at the Tennis Hall of Fame, and it’s a 250 level tournament.
Newport
2015 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships Predictions
Steen Kirby’s picks
Round 2 matches: Isner vs. Sugita, Roger-Vasselin vs. Mannarino, Tomic vs. Donaldson, Ito vs. Johnson, Hernych vs. Falla, Lacko vs. Sock, Querrey vs. Brown, Jaziri vs. Karlovic Quarterfinals: Isner vs. Mannarino, Tomic vs. Johnson, Falla vs. Sock, Brown vs. Karlovic Semifinals: Isner vs. Tomic, Sock vs. Brown Final: Isner vs. Brown Champion: Isner
Niall Clarke’s picks
Round 2 matches: Isner vs. Harrison, Roger-Vasselin vs. Mannarino, Tomic vs. Donaldson, Rubin vs. Johnson, Smyczek vs. Falla, Lacko vs. Sock, Querrey vs. Brown, Jaziri vs. Karlovic Quarterfinals: Isner vs. Mannarino, Tomic vs. Johnson, Falla vs. Sock, Querrey vs. Karlovic Semifinals: Isner vs. Tomic, Falla vs. Querrey Final: Isner vs. Querrey Champion: Querrey
Joe Craven’s picks
Round 2 matches: Isner vs. Harrison, Roger-Vasselin vs. Haas, Tomic vs. Donaldson, Rubin vs. Johnson, Smyczek vs. Falla, Lacko vs. Sock, Querrey vs. Brown, Jaziri vs. Karlovic Quarterfinals: Isner vs. Haas, Tomic vs. Johnson, Falla vs. Sock, Brown vs. Karlovic Semifinals: Isner vs. Tomic, Sock vs. Karlovic Final: Isner vs. Karlovic Champion: Karlovic
Chris de Waard’s picks
Round 2 matches: Isner vs. Sugita, Roger-Vasselin vs. Mannarino, Tomic vs. Donaldson, Ito vs. Johnson, Smyczek vs. Falla, Lacko vs. Sock, Querrey vs. Brown, Jaziri vs. Karlovic Quarterfinals: Isner vs. Mannarino, Tomic vs. Johnson, Falla vs. Sock, Querrey vs. Karlovic Semifinals: Isner vs. Tomic, Sock vs. Querrey Final: Tomic vs. Querrey Champion: Tomic
Everyone in the competition this week has picked a different champion, and one of those players, Bernard Tomic, has already been eliminated from the tournament. Quite simply, anything could happen in Newport.
Chris and Jeff traded spots as the rankings tightened somewhat due to Joe’s grand slam victory. It now appears to be a three horse race as Steen added to his lead on Niall just a bit, but he maintains his second place position.
2015 ATP Newport Preview and Predictions Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
One final grass court tournament remains on the year, as the classic 250 in picturesque Newport, Rhode Island in the USA is next up for the ATP World Tour. Those looking for a final chance at points on grass have headed to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and Tennis Atlantic once again has on-site coverage this week of the tournament.
ATP Newport
2015 ATP Newport Preview
Hall of Fame Tennis Championships
ATP World Tour 250
Newport, RI, USA
July 13-July 19, 2015
Prize Money: $488,225
Top 4 seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: John Isner (17)
2: Ivo Karlovic (25)
3: Bernard Tomic (26)
4: Jack Sock (31)
One top 20 player is in the field for the final grass court tournament of 2015. The seed cutoff is #77, which is quite high, even for a 250 in what should be a wide open week in Newport.
Haas is 10 years older than the top 40 Mannarino and this match could be a great grass court classic, with a lot of smooth hitting and graceful play from both players. Haas is of course a skillful veteran with a one handed backhand a good grass court record. Since returning from injury he’s 2-3, and lost in the second round of Wimbledon to Milos Raonic. Mannarino has gone 4-4 on grass this year with a quarterfinal in Den Bosch as his best result. Haas has more talent, but Mannarino has a tricky game for an opponent lacking rhythm, and thus I give him a slight edge over the still rusty Haas.
Jared Donaldson vs. Austin Krajicek
An all-American battle, the 18 year old Donaldson can cement himself as the rise if he has a good showing here. 25 year old former Texas A&M player Austin Krajicek stands in his way round 1, and he’s beatable on grass as he went 0-4 on the surface this year, much preferring clay and slow hard courts. Donaldson is an aggressive American baseliner and he qualified at ATP Queens on grass already. This year he won an ATP main draw match in Memphis, and reached the semis of the Tallahassee challenger, along with taking the title in Maui at the challenger out there. With a versatile game, look for Jared to slip past his countryman and into round 2.
Sock should be the favorite with his powerful and aggressive game that is built around his forehand, but the serve and volleying 36 year old Stepanek can’t be counted out. Stepanek has been struggling this season since returning from injury though, and while grass suits his game, Sock isn’t poor on it either, excluding his round 1 loss at Wimbledon. Stepanek could snatch a set if Sock struggles like he did there, but look for Jack to pull this match out.
John Isner will face off with 2009 champion Rajeev Ram round 1, in what will be a battle of former champions (Isner won the title here in 2011 and 2012). Ram is a lighting in the bottle serve and volleyer who normally does better in doubles than singles at this stage in his career, but can catch fire on grass at any time. That said, Isner reached round 3 at Wimbledon and the quarterfinals at Queens so he should be able to continue his relatively good form and get into round 2 where I’d expect him to beat either Ryan Harrison or Yuichi Sugita. Harrison comes off the semis in the Winnetka challenger, while Sugita is solid on grass and qualified at Wimbledon. Given Harrison’s mental errors at times, Sugita will have a shot, and I have him advancing before falling to Isner.
Haas/Mannarino is almost certain to be Isner’s quarterfinal opponent, the winner of that should get past Edouard Roger-Vasselin or Blaz Kavcic, both of whom have struggled this season. ERV has a slight edge to get out of round 1 before falling to Haas/Mannarino, and I have an Isner vs. Mannarino quarterfinal lined up. Isner beat Mannarino at Newport in 2013, and I give him an edge to do so again and reach the semis on home soil.
Bernard Tomic opens with his countryman J.P. Smith in round 1, Tomic, despite his frustrations with Tennis Australia, reached the third round at Wimbledon and the quarters in Stuttgart on grass, and has put together one of his most consistent seasons on tour thus far in 2015. Smith qualified for Wimbledon but he’s far less accomplished than Tomic at this level, and on grass, and thus Bernie is the favorite to win that one, and beat the Donaldson/Krajicek winner round 2. In the quarters, Steve Johnson is his likely opponent. Stevie J will face serve and volleyer Michael Berrer round 1, and then the winner of Noah Rubin/Tatsuma Ito round 2. Berrer has had a great season in his final season on tour thus far, qualifing for the French Open, Wimbledon and Stuttgart , but Johnson is on the rise overall and won matches at both Halle and Wimbledon.
Rubin is a young American, and at 19 has limited experience at this level, but he’ll have a chance against Ito, who qualified in Den Bosch and won a round, but otherwise has done little on grass. Look for Johnson to beat Berrer and Ito, and test Tomic, who he beat in Halle. I have a feeling that poor result from Tomic was more mental than anything else, and he’ll be able to recover and reach the semifinals with a win over Johnson.
Another veteran in this draw, the 36 year old Ivo Karlovic, continues to find success on grass regardless of his age, and he’s a favorite against his round 1 opponent Illya Marchenko, though the Ukrainian did reach the quarters in Den Bosch, a grass court event. Karlovic has had an excellent grass court season, reaching the quarters in Den Bosch, the semis in Halle (upset Tomas Berdych), and the fourth round at Wimbledon (upset Jo-Wilfried Tsonga). His massive and reliable serve, along with his experienced volleys should allow him to blitz past Marchenko, and a qualifier or Malek Jaziri, before facing Sam Querrey or Dustin Brown in the quarters.
the 6 seed Querrey played a decent match against Federer at Wimbledon, and can compete on grass. He opens with a qualifier, as does Brown, who upset Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in the performance of his career. Brown, a fan favorite, is my favorite to reach the quarters, as his game is best on grass, and Querrey tends to mentally struggle under relentless pressure, the type of pressure Brown can provide by net rushing and holding serve. Karlovic-Brown has historically been a close match, Karlovic won their Delray Beach meeting this year, while Brown won the two prior meetings, and each match has featured at least one tiebreak. Karlovic may be more fatigued, and thus I have Brown into the semifinals as a dark horse.
The Sock/Stepanek winner will become a semifinal favorite in a weak section of the draw. Sock should beat Stepanek, and then Lukas Lacko, a talented player whose achievements have been well, lacking, over his career. His round 1 opponent Niels Desein isn’t a great fan of grass. Sock beat Lacko in Atlanta last year, and he should be able to do so again, which would result in him reaching the quarters.
In those quarters, I’d consider Alejandro Falla his most likely opponent, Falla will face Adrian Menendez-Maceiras round 1. AMM isn’t a fan of grass, and Falla qualified for both Halle and Wimbledon this year, he’s also a previous finalist on grass in Halle. After AMM, Tim Smyczek or a qualifier will be his opponent. Smyczek doesn’t do great on grass, and thus should have a hard time this week.
Falla-Sock is an interesting quarterfinal, they have never met before, and both have had up and down results. Sock has more talent, and they both have huge forehands, while Falla will be able to hit from a left handed angle. It’s a tough call, but on US soil I favor Sock to reach the semis.
Dark Horse: Dustin Brown
Dreddy (photo credit: Tennis Atlantic)
The unseeded Brown already showed his skillset off in the shocking upset of Nadal, and with a batch of less talented and well-known players in the draw this week, he could romp if he finds his groove on grass. Dreddy will need to get past Querrey, Karlovic in the quarters, and Sock/Falla in the semis but all of those opponents are beatable if he keeps the pressure on and sticks his volleys with pinpoint accuracy. In the final his opponent is likely to be Isner or Tomic, who are tough, but beatable opponents, as he could walk away with his first ATP title this week, on the heels of the win of his career at Wimbledon. His problem has always been consistency, not talent, and thus we’ll have to see what happens.
Predictions
Semis: Isner d. Tomic
Brown d. Sock
Isner has beaten Tomic once previously, and he appears more focused at the moment. On grass I’d consider Tomic vulnerable to big servers with his less powerful game. As mentioned, I have the dark horse Brown reaching the final this week.
Final: Isner d. Brown
Brown beat Isner on clay in Houston last year, but I’d consider Isner the more consistent big server who is less likely to mix in a poor game, and with that in mind, I have him as the favorite to win a third Newport title. He has previous success here, and his form seems good another to win another American 250 level tournament.
