ATP Rosmalen

ATP Veterans Roger Federer and Richard Gasquet Start Grass Season With Titles
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

ATP Stuttgart

Roger Federer again reclaimed the #1 ranking by virtue of his title in Stuttgart that came 6-4 7-6 in the final against a resurgent Milos Raonic. Federer had some tough matches to open his grass court season in Germany, but he got past Mischa Zverev in 3, Guido Pella in straights, and Nick Kyrgios in a tight third set tiebreak earlier in the week, along with the Raonic victory.

Raonic had his best run of the year defeating Mirza Basic, Marton Fucsovics, Tomas Berdych, and Lucas Pouille without dropping a set or having his serve threatened en route to the final.

Germany’s Petzschner and Puetz defeat Lindstedt/Matkowski in the Mercedes Cup doubles final.

ATP Rosmalen

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31 year old Richard Gasquet defeated his fellow over 30 French countryman Jeremy Chardy to win the Libema Open title in the Netherlands on grass. Gasquet claimed his first championship of the season 6-3 7-6 after previously winning matches against Evgeny Donskoy, Stefanos Tsitsipas and surprise semifinalist Bernard Tomic to reach the final.

Chardy moved to 9-1 on grass this season after defeating Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Adrian Mannarino, Mackenzie McDonald and Matt Ebden to reach the final, he could be a dark horse at Wimbledon.

Inglot/Skugor defeated Klaasen/Venus in the doubles final.

Grass Court Season Kicks off With Libema Open 250 in the Netherlands
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

If you are tired of the red clay, you’re in for a treat starting Monday. The ATP grass court season begins with the 250 stop in the Netherlands that is a joint event with the WTA. Here is your look at the field with predictions for the week ahead.

Top Half:

The second round match between Frenchmen Adrian Mannarino and Jeremy Chardy looks to be a great one. Chardy has to defeat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez first to get there. I’ll go with Mannarino to find his form back on a faster surface and reach the quarters. At that stage Italy’s Andreas Seppi should be his opponent. Seppi will need to edge Mackenzie McDonald and Vasek Pospisil or Alex Bolt to get that far. Mannarino is my pick to reach the semis.

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Matt Ebden is my dark horse pick this week. Pierre-Hugues Herbert comes off a doubles final in Paris and Gilles Muller is struggling (his round 1 and 2 opponents). Presuming he beats Muller he should defeat fellow journeyman Yuichi Sugita in the quarters. Sugita gets Nikoloz Basilashvili in round 1 (he struggles on grass), with Marius Copil or Aljaz Bedene to follow, both beatable opponents.

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Bottom Half:

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Tournament favorite Richard Gasquet draws Evgeny Donskoy or qualifier Franko Skugor in round 2. Gasquet should win and also defeat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarters. The Greek opens with local wild card Tallon Griekspoor, Malek Jaziri or Max Purcell will follow.

Ivo Karlovic vs. Robin Haase looks like a crucial round 1 match. I’ll back the struggling veteran Karlovic to win that and also defeat Marcos Baghdatis or Bernard Tomic to reach the quarters. Tomic has a great chance in theory, but he’s far from consistent these days. Look for Karlvoic to face Daniil Medvedev in the quarters. Medvedev is good on grass and should upset Fernando Verdasco in round 2 after defeating Yuki Bhambri in round 1. I’ll back Karlovic to reach the semis.

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Predictions

Semis
Mannarino d. Ebden
Gasquet d. Karlovic

Mannarino beating Gasquet would be an upset but I’m not convinced Gasquet’s entirely fit and Mannarino is the type of player who badly needs points at the faster court tournaments like this.

Final
Mannarino d. Gasquet

Pouille and Muller Claim Second ATP Titles of the Season
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

ATP Stuttgart

A great comeback for Frenchman Lucas Pouille secured his second ATP title of the season, the first final of the 2017 grass court season was decided 4-6 7-6 6-4, as Pouille was pushed to the limit in the second set tiebreak, and after taking that, battled hard in the third to break Lopez’s effective grass court serve and volley and hold his own serve to secure the title. Pouille barely got out of his opening match, winning close second and third set tiebreaks and saving a match point to defeat J.L. Struff, he went on to defeat Philipp Kohlschreiber and Benoit Paire in close matches, showing his mental toughness this week.

Lopez chip and charge helped him reach his first tour final of the season, the Spaniard, happy to be on grass, got past Gilles Simon, Jeremy Chardy, Tomas Berdych, and Mischa Zverev, all of those matches going three sets except for his contest against Simon as the Mercedes Cup featured a lot of close matches this week.

Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares defeated Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic to take the doubles title.

ATP Rosmalen

34 year old Gilles Muller continued his best season on tour, winning a second title this year 7-6 7-6 in narrow fashion over fellow big server Ivo Karlovic at the Ricoh Open. Muller won tiebreaks this week against Andreas Seppi and Alexander Zverev, also winning in three sets against Aljaz Bedene to reach the final as his serve and volley game was lethal on grass.

Karlovic, 38, reached his first final this season, the veteran upset Marin Cilic in three sets in the semifinals, Daniil Medvedev and Stefan Kozlov were his other victims on the week, as both players will be difficult early round opponents at Wimbledon.

Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo continued the trend of veteran success in Rosmalen as they defeated Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram.

Serve and Volleyer Mahut Claims Second ATP Topshelf Open Title

Posted by Admin on June 14, 2015

Posted in: ATP, Steen Kirby, Topshelf Open. Tagged: 2015 ATP Den Bosch, 2015 ATP Rosmalen, 2015 ATP S'Hertogenbosch, 2015 Topshelf Open, atp, ATP Den Bosch, ATP Rosmalen, ATP S'Hertogenbosch, david goffin, Nicolas Mahut, Topshelf Open. Leave a comment

Serve and Volleyer Mahut Claims Second ATP Topshelf Open Title
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

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Nicolas Mahut added to his memorable results on grass with a routine 7-6 6-1 win over David Goffin in the ATP Den Bosch final. Mahut became the lowest ranked winner of an ATP title this season, as he captured his second Topshelf Open trophy as a qualifier.

Mahut dropped just two sets this week, one in qualifying against Kenny De Schepper, and the other in the semifinals against Dutchman Robin Haase, his toughest match of the tournament. Prior to wins over Goffin and Haase, Mahut rolled past Lleyton Hewitt, Roberto Bautista Agut, the defending champion, and Adrian Mannarino with relative ease, as his throwback serve and volley game proved to be an insurmountable hazard for his rivals.

The 33 year old had an excellent week, and he now has three career ATP titles on grass, making him a dangerous dark horse in the Wimbledon draw. The 24 year old Goffin as also strong, posting his best ever result on grass as the undersized ball striker defeated Jurgen Melzer, Illya Marchenko, and Gilles Muller, a serve and volleyer, this week, dropping just a set against Marchenko.

Ivo Karlovic and Lukasz Kubot, a pair of big serving serve and volleyers defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Mahut for the doubles title, as Mahut was prevented from taking home two championship trophies in the same week. Mahut tends to only rise up on grass but he’s a joy to watch when clicking.

Steen Kirby (Marseille)

2015 ATP Draw Challenge Week 21 (Stuttgart and Den Bosch)

Posted by Admin on June 9, 2015

Posted in: 2015 ATP Draw Challenge, ATP, Chris De Waard, Jeff McMillan, Joe Craven, Niall Clarke, Steen Kirby, Stuttgart, Topshelf Open. Tagged: 2015 ATP Den Bosch, 2015 ATP Rosmalen, 2015 ATP S'Hertogenbosch, 2015 ATP Stuttgart, 2015 ATP Stuttgart Picks, 2015 ATP Stuttgart Predictions, 2015 Mercedes Cup, 2015 Topshelf Open, 2015 Topshelf Open Picks, 2015 Topshelf Open Predictions, atp, ATP Den Bosch, ATP Rosmalen, ATP S'Hertogenbosch Picks, ATP S'Hertogenbosch Predictions, ATP S'hertongenbosch, ATP Stuttgart, ATP Stuttgart Picks, ATP Stuttgart Predictions, mercedes cup, Mercedes Cup Picks, Mercedes Cup Predictions, Topshelf Open, Topshelf Open Picks, Topshelf Open Predictions. Leave a comment

2015 ATP Draw Challenge Week 21 (Stuttgart and Den Bosch)
Staff, Tennis Atlantic

The grass court season starts now on the ATP tour with a pair of 250 tournaments, and it’s perhaps the hardest part of the season to predict, but our analysts will try their hand below as they make their predictions for the tournaments in Germany and The Netherlands.

Stuttgart

2015 Mercedes Cup Predictions

Steen Kirby’s picks

Round 2 matches: Nadal vs. Rosol, Haas vs. Tomic, Monfils vs. Haider-Maurer, Brown vs. Kohlschreiber, Troicki vs. Pavic, Groth vs. Lopez, M. Zverev vs. Becker, Gojowczyk vs. Cilic
Quarterfinals: Nadal vs. Tomic, Monfils vs. Kohlschreiber, Troicki vs. Lopez, Becker vs. Cilic
Semifinals: Tomic vs. Monfils, Lopez vs. Cilic
Final: Monfils vs. Cilic
Champion: Cilic

Niall Clarke’s picks

Round 2 matches: Nadal vs. Rosol, Kukushkin vs. Tomic, Monfils vs. Haider-Maurer, Janowicz vs. Kohlschreiber, Troicki vs. Pavic, Stakhovsky vs. Lopez, Thiem vs. Seppi, Bachinger vs. Cilic
Quarterfinals: Nadal vs. Tomic, Monfils vs. Kohlschreiber, Troicki vs. Lopez, Seppi vs. Cilic
Semifinals: Tomic vs. Kohlschreiber, Lopez vs. Cilic
Final: Kohlschreiber vs. Cilic
Champion: Cilic

Joe Craven’s picks

Round 2 matches: Nadal vs. Baghdatis, Kukushkin vs. Tomic, Monfils vs. Haider-Maurer, Janowicz vs. Dolgopolov, Coric vs. Pavic, Groth vs. Lopez, Thiem vs. Becker, Bachinger vs. Cilic
Quarterfinals: Nadal vs. Tomic, Monfils vs. Janowicz, Pavic vs. Lopez, Thiem vs. Cilic
Semifinals: Nadal vs. Janowicz, Lopez vs. Cilic
Final: Janowicz vs. Lopez
Champion: Lopez

Chris de Waard’s picks

Round 2 matches: Nadal vs. Rosol, Haas vs. Tomic, Monfils vs. Haider-Maurer, Janowicz vs. Kohlschreiber, Troicki vs. Pavic, Stakhovsky vs. Lopez, Thiem vs. Becker, Bachinger vs. Cilic
Quarterfinals: Rosol vs. Tomic, Monfils vs. Kohlschreiber, Troicki vs. Lopez, Becker vs. Cilic
Semifinals: Tomic vs. Monfils, Lopez vs. Becker
Final: Tomic vs. Lopez
Champion: Tomic

Stuttgart could go a variety of ways, Marin Cilic is the pick of half of our analysts, but Feliciano Lopez and Bernard Tomic get nods as well. Kohlschreiber-Monfils should be a decisive match, and nobody is decided on how far Nadal will go.

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Den Bosch

2015 Topshelf Open Predictions

Steen Kirby’s picks

Round 2 matches: Karlovic vs. Ito, Haase vs. Verdasco, Bautista Agut vs. Mahut, Paire vs. Mannarino, Pospisil vs. Muller, Nieminen vs. Garcia-Lopez, Sousa vs. Youzhny, De Schepper vs. Goffin
Quarterfinals: Karlovic vs. Verdasco, Bautista Agut vs. Mannarino, Muller vs. Garcia-Lopez, Sousa vs. Goffin
Semifinals: Verdasco vs. Bautista Agut, Muller vs. Goffin
Final: Bautista Agut vs. Muller
Champion: Muller

Niall Clarke’s picks

Round 2 matches: Karlovic vs. Berankis, Kavcic vs. Verdasco, Bautista Agut vs. Hewitt, Paire vs. Mannarino, Pospisil vs. Muller, Copil vs. Garcia-Lopez, Istomin vs. Marchenko, Melzer vs. Goffin
Quarterfinals: Karlovic vs. Verdasco, Bautista Agut vs. Paire, Muller vs. Copil, Marchenko vs. Goffin
Semifinals: Verdasco vs. Paire, Muller vs. Goffin
Final: Verdasco vs. Goffin
Champion: Goffin

Joe Craven’s picks

Round 2 matches: Karlovic vs. Berankis, Haase vs. Verdasco, Bautista Agut vs. Hewitt, Paire vs. Mannarino, Pospisil vs. Muller, Copil vs. Garcia-Lopez, Sousa vs. Youzhny, Melzer vs. Goffin
Quarterfinals: Karlovic vs. Verdasco, Hewitt vs. Mannarino, Muller vs. Garcia-Lopez, Sousa vs. Goffin
Semifinals: Verdasco vs. Mannarino, Muller vs. Goffin
Final: Verdasco vs. Muller
Champion: Verdasco

Jeff McMillan’s picks

Round 2 matches: Karlovic vs. Ito, Haase vs. Verdasco, Bautista Agut vs Mahut, Paire vs. Lu, Pospisil vs. Muller, Nieminen vs. Garcia-Lopez, Istomin vs. Youzhny, Melzer vs. Goffin
Quarterfinals: Karlovic vs. Verdasco, Bautista Agut vs. Paire, Muller vs. Garcia-Lopez, Istomin vs. Goffin
Semifinals: Karlovic vs. Bautista Agut, Garcia-Lopez vs. Goffin
Final: Karlovic vs. Garcia-Lopez
Champion: Garcia-Lopez

Chris de Waard’s picks

Round 2 matches: Karlovic vs. Berankis, Kavcic vs. Verdasco, Bautista Agut vs. Hewitt, Paire vs. Lu, Matosevic vs. Muller, Nieminen vs. Garcia-Lopez, Istomin vs. Youzhny, Melzer vs. Goffin
Quarterfinals: Karlovic vs. Verdasco, Bautista Agut vs. Lu, Muller vs. Garcia-Lopez, Istomin vs. Goffin
Semifinals: Karlovic vs. Bautista Agut, Garcia-Lopez vs. Goffin
Final: Bautista Agut vs. Garcia-Lopez
Champion: Garcia-Lopez

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez was picked by two of our writers, but like in Stuttgart, there is no cler fear favorite in Den Bosch, with opinions mixed on Gilles Muller, Roberto Bautista Agut and Fernando Verdasco among others.

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Week 19/20 Standings

French Open
1: Niall (534 points) (+2000 overall)
2: Steen (500 points) (+1200 overall)
3: Joe (472 points) (+720 overall)
4: Jeff (442 points) (+720 overall)
5: Chris (346 points) (+360 overall)

Niall and Steen, the top two contestants in the draw challenge finished 1 and 2 at the French as Niall claims the crown backed by his favorite player Wawrinka taking the title. They have now captured the first two slams of the season, as Steen won the AO, and Niall won Paris. Jeff whose draw can be found here, our apologies for not posting it on the picks page, took fourth as Chris slumped into last, continuing to struggle.

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Overall standings (after week 20)

1: Steen: 10,260 ranking points (+1200 points overall)
2: Niall: 9270 points (+2000 points overall)
3: Joe 7520 points (+720 points overall)
4: Jeff: 6710 points (+720 points overall)
5: Chris: 6600 points (+360 points overall)

The standings are the same as the French Open standings were except as the top, as Steen kept his lead, but Niall cut into it a bit, gaining 800 points overall on the leader. Chris slumped into last, while everything else held pretty constant.

ATP Draw Challenge (London Queens)