After an exciting and dramatic two weeks at Wimbledon which saw Serena Williams complete the second ‘Serena Slam’, the WTA tour heads back to the clay for a pair of International events in Romania and Sweden.
The biggest news heading in to the weeks proceedings is the world number one’s participation in Bastad. She is the top seed in a draw that features Sam Stosur, Barbora Strycova and Mona Barthel. Just days removed from Wimbledon it is hard to see Serena taking this tournament too seriously, but we have seen before that the 33 year old does not even have to be at her best to win titles- Just look at the French Open.
If she does end up withdrawing then it could open the door for Strycova or Stosur to get their season’s on track by claiming the title. The Aussie is the second seed and will be looking for better results on the clay after a disappointing 6-2, 6-0 loss at Wimbledon to Coco Vandeweghe. Third seeded Strycova failed to defend her quarter final points at SW19 after a first round loss to Sloane Stephens. The Czech has dropped out of the top 30 as a result, so she will be looking to get back in to the seeding positions in time for the US Open.
A trio of Germans also find themselves seeded in this tournament. Carina Witthoeft will be looking to continue her good form after winning an ITF last week. The 20 year old will be gunning for her first WTA title this week. Tatjana Maria has made herself a main tour regular this season with some impressive results. She too will be looking for her first WTA title along with Witthoeft. Barthel has tasted that success, but the talented German has struggled with consistency. She has failed to really break through so maybe she can kick start a launch towards the top 20 with a title victory in Bastad?
The Bucharest field is slightly weaker, but still features former French Open finalist Sara Errani as the top seed. The Italian is just ranked inside the top 20 at the moment, but still has aspirations of once again making the top 10. A win a Bucharest will hold her in good stead.
Former doubles partner Roberta Vinci is still in decline though she will be hoping for another title run in Bucharest as the second seed. Third seed Monica Niculescu will be looking to build off an impressive run to the fourth round of Wimbledon when she hits the clay courts. The Romanian’s tricky slices are more suited to grass however.
Germany’s Julia Goerges and Annika Beck both have good shots at winning the title. Anna Schmiedlova has also proved herself to be a clay specialist and will be one of the title favourites. Alexandra Dulgheru and Tereza Smitkova complete the seeding line-up.
Yaroslava Shvedova will be a name to watch from qualifying as she will be hungry to get back in the top 100 after Wimbledon. Teliana Pereira is another name to look out for with the Brazilian showing excellent form on clay this year. She defeated Shvedova in Bogota earlier on in the year to capture the title.
2014 ATP Clay Court Season In Review Steen Kirby, Tennis East Coast
In review: The 2014 ATP Clay Court Season
After Kitzbuhel concluded last week, the clay court calendar portion of the 2014 ATP season came to an end. With that conclusion, we can now review which players performed the best, and which players underachieved on the dirt this season. Clay courts comprise a large portion of the ATP calendar so there is a much larger sample size to draw from compared to, say, the grass court season.
27 year old journeyman Argentine Leonardo Mayer has transformed himself into a top 30 player this season and his best results have come on clay. He posted 18 wins on the surface compared to just 10 losses this season at the ATP level and scored wins over household names David Ferrer, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Joao Sousa and Tommy Robredo on the surface; he also pushed top 6 player Tomas Berdych to three sets in Oeiras.
He reached his first career final in Vina Del Mar, but fell short against Fabio Fognini there, and he finally got his maiden title in Hamburg over Ferrer in 3 sets. Winning that final set tiebreak ended a long journey to the top 30 for Leo and he remains an under recognized and underappreciated Argentine player. With Del Potro perpetually injured and Nalbandian now retired, Argentine will have to look to the likes of Mayer to carry Davis Cup and national hopes for a while. He reached the third round of the French Open and had quarterfinal appearances in both Oeiras and Nice to round out his best results on clay for 2014.
Honorable mentions for clay court surprise: Carlos Berlocq, Santiago Giraldo, Kei Nishikori, Roberto Bautista Agut
Carlos Berlocq joins his countryman Mayer as a surprising player this season. He won an ATP title for the second year in a row, this time coming in Oeiras where he upset and outlasted Tomas Berdych. The loud and flamboyant dirtballer also posted quarterfinals in Nice and a semifinal in Bastad to compliment his win in Oeiras. This highlights an overall 16-9 record on clay at the ATP level for 2014. He tends to get overmatched in the masters level and grand slam events but against a 250 level field he often flourishes. Notable opponents he defeated this year on clay include Andreas Seppi, Milos Raonic, Ferrer and Lleyton Hewitt at the French, along with the aforementioned Berdych.
Santiago Giraldo, a shotmaking Colombian with a huge forehand, has also had some of the best success of his career this season. He went 19-11 on clay and though he did not win a title, he reached the final in Barcelona, his second career final, along with semis in Houston and Vina Del Mar, and a pair of quarterfinals in Madrid and Stuttgart. Giraldo beat top players Tommy Robredo, Andy Murray, Nicolas Almagro, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga this season. Giraldo joins Mayer as a first time top 30 player after success on clay.
Kei Nishikori had an underappreciated clay court season this year, partially due to the fact that he had to battle injuries during that portion of the season, He played just three tournaments but posted a 10-2 record in them with a title in Barcelona and a final in Madrid, where he took a set off Nadal but had to retire during the third set of the match. He had top tier wins over Roberto Bautista Agut, Marin Cilic, Ferrer, Ernests Gulbis, and Raonic among his 10 overall and should he be able to stay healthy he has shown himself to be a threat on clay.
Bautista Agut is the last player I’ll discuss. He went 12-5 on clay and won his first title on the surface in Stuttgart over Lukas Rosol. Success on clay has helped him reach the top 20 for the first time in his career and he beat Robredo, Fernando Verdasco, and Fognini this year on the surface. RBA doesn’t play prototypical Spanish tennis but he’s still a top performing Spaniard on red clay.
Biggest upset: ATP Barcelona quarterfinals: Nicolas Almagro d. Rafael Nadal 2-6 7-6(5) 6-4
The powerful Spaniard Almagro had been outclassed by his much more successful countryman Nadal eight previous times on clay. Finally, Nico was able to get a victory against perhaps the greatest clay courter of all time. The first set was a routine affair, but Almagro fought back hard and Rafa played poorly, resulting in Nadal’s first loss on clay after winning the first set in over six years. Nadal had his chances to close out the match in the second, and didn’t face break points himself, but he couldn’t convert and the tiebreak went against him, giving Almagro an opening he took advantage of by winning a decisive fifth and final break in the third set to seal the victory. Nadal struggled to win his service points, and at the time, many were deeply worried about how he was playing going into the French Open. The fact Rafa did win the French perhaps makes this victory by Almagro look even more improbable and top quality, given Rafa showed his career wasn’t in serious decline yet.
Clay court breakthroughs: Dominic Thiem, Alex Zverev and Dusan Lajovic
A trio of young players found maiden ATP success on clay, while new Austrian number one Dominic Thiem was a mere 12-8 on clay at the ATP level. He went 4-0 in qualifying matches on the surface and won multiple main draw matches in Barcelona, Madrid and Hamburg. He finally reached his first career ATP final on home soil in Kitzbuhel and appears very close to his first career ATP title. Thiem had notable wins over Radek Stepanek and Stan Wawrinka this year on clay.
Alex Zverev, a teenager, notably made the semifinals in Hamburg, a one off showing but clearly a sign of things to come for the young German. Zverev had wins over Mikhail Youzhny and Giraldo en route. I have a feeling Thiem vs. Zverev may develop into a clay court rivalry in the future. Both players have things to work on but we could have a Germany vs. Austria French Open final come 2018 or beyond.
Dusan Lajovic established himself as a top 70 player with a strong clay court season. He also established himself as the Serbian number 2 behind Djokovic and should feature on their Davis Cup team for quite some time. He went 14-11 in both ATP main draw action and qualifying on clay this season and along with quarters in Hamburg and Bastad, he reached the round of 16 at the French Open, his best ever result in a major. He didn’t beat many top names this season but he still proved he can grind out matches to increase his ranking.
Clay Court Disappointments: Tommy Robredo, Stan Wawrinka, Gilles Simon, Joao Sousa and Andreas Seppi
The well-liked veteran Spaniard Robredo went just 15-12 this year on clay after going a tremendous 25-10 on the surface in 2013. His age may finally be catching up with him as he reached just one final, one semi and one quarterfinal this season along with posting seven early round exits. Once he finishes this season he will have a lot to think about going into to 2015.
Wawrinka did not have a terrible clay court season, but he underachieved after high expectations were placed on him after winning his first grand slam in Australia at the start of the year. He won Monte Carlo, but that was the only highlight of his 6-3 clay court season. He had a trio of surprising early exits in Madrid, Rome and the French Open, and next season he will have much to gain during the clay court portion of the year. He posted a 43-17 record on clay over the previous two seasons before this one and has the ability to do much better than he did in 2014.
Veteran Frenchman Gilles Simon has struggled to stay healthy in 2014 and he had a disappointing clay court season that has contributed to his fall from the top 30. He won consecutive matches in a clay court tournament just twice this season and failed to beat any players ranked above him on the surface. He also had bad losses to Teymuraz Gabashvili, Lukasz Kubot and Pablo Andujar. He was a subpar 8-9 on the surface overall in 2014. ‘
After a breakthrough 2013, top Portugese player Joao Sousa was a disappointing 7-13 on clay in 2014, struggling against ATP level competition on the surface. He reached one quarterfinal and one final but suffered ten opening match exits and eleven early round exists overall with multiple losses to players ranked below him. Sousa will need to improve considerably and adjust his game if he hopes to be more successful on clay in the future.
After struggling on clay in 2013, Italian veteran Andreas Seppi did so again in 2014. He is just 18-22 on the surface over the past two seasons and was 11-12 this season. He failed to reach a semifinal in any clay court tournament this year.
First time winners: Federico Delbonis, David Goffin and Pablo Cuevas
23 year old Argentine Federico Delbonis won his maiden title in Sao Paulo and has been successful on clay overall this season, posting an 18-13 ATP record. He later made a final in Nice, semifinals in Casablanca and a quarterfinal in Stuttgart to complement his Sao Paulo victory. Delbonis also showed his prowess on the red stuff last season when he reached the final in Hamburg and he should be a name to watch in many clay court tournaments to come.
David Goffin snagged a maiden title in Kitzbuhel at the tail end of the clay court season after getting red hot on the ATP Challenger Tour prior. Goffin, who had that run to the fourth round as a qualifier at the 2012 French Open, and has seen his once promising career fade from the spotlight since then, returned to the challenger tour to find his game and hopefully he will be able to keep himself at the ATP level this time. Goffin is undersized and many players were able to hit him off the court at the top level but perhaps he has rediscovered a path to success for himself given the limitations of his physical stature.
Lastly, Pablo Cuevas, who has overcome multiple knee and shoulder injuries and built his ranking back up to ATP status from the challenger tour, won his maiden title at 28 years old in Bastad, then followed it up with a title in Umag a couple of weeks later. Cuevas makes his living on clay and has been rapidly improving as of late. He pushed Fernando Verdasco to five sets at the French Open and has wins over Robredo, Fognini, Seppi, Sousa, and Verdasco this season. Cuevas’ rise is a testament to his tenacity and the work he has put into his game.
Bautista Agut Wins 2nd ATP Title of Season, Cuevas Wins Maiden Title in Bastad
Stuttgart
ATP Stuttgart
Roberto Bautista Agut won his second title in as many months in Stuttgart, and his first on clay, in 3 sets over Lukas Rosol 6-3 4-6 6-2. The Spaniard will be ranked in the top 20 soon, and he had some hard fought victories this week. Continuing his career season, he beat Louk Sorenson in 3 sets, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in a third set tiebreak, coming back from a set down, and defending champion Fabio Fognini to reach the final.
Rosol beat Mikhail Youzhny in the semis and Feliciano Lopez in a third set tiebreak in what was a great quarterfinal match. Before that, he beat Philipp Kohlschreiber in straights and Alex Zverev in two close tiebreaks. Stuttgart had some scheduling problems this week because of inclement weather.
Mateusz Kowalczyk/Artem Sitak won the doubles title over Garcia-Lopez and Philipp Oswald.
ATP Bastad
Playing with a protected ranking, Pablo Cuevas won his maiden ATP title in Bastad. He will now be ranked in the top 60 after crushing Joao Sousa 6-2 6-1 to claim the trophy. The Uruguayan number one had some excellent victories this week, including a 6-2 6-2 drubbing of the seeded Jeremy Chardy, and a semifinal upset over Fernando Verdasco in straight sets. In between those matches, he beat Christian Lindell in 3 sets and Renzo Olivo in 2 sets.
Sousa, already top the Portugese player, continues to rise up the rankings as well. He beat Pere Riba, Elias Ymer, Dusan Lajovic and Carlos Berlocq this week, the Berlocq win coming in 3 sets.
Johan Brunstrom and Nick Monroe won the doubles title over Chardy/Olivier Marach.
2014 ATP Bastad, Stuttgart Previews & Predictions Steen Kirby, Tennis East Coast
It’s post-Wimbledon and that means a trio of 250s this week: one on grass in the states and two on clay in Europe. Here is a preview of the two Euro clay 250s for those looking to get their tennis fix post-Wimby.
ATP Bastad
SkiStar Swedish Open
ATP World Tour 250
Bastad, Sweden
July 7-July 13, 2014
Prize Money: € 426,605
Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: David Ferrer (7)
2: Tommy Robredo (22)
3: Fernando Verdasco (24)
4: Jerzy Janowicz (25)
Bastad has been able to attract four top 25 players to return to clay, a solid field for a 250 event.
First Round matchups to watch:
(7)Carlos Berlocq vs. Julian Reister
Berlocq, who is a solid 12-6 on clay this season, and is the defending champ, will face a possibly difficult opening round tilt with Reister, who has struggled on the main tour but done well on the challenger circuit on almost exclusively clay this season. Reister has a 1-1 h2h on clay with the Argentine.
Berlocq should prevail, but don’t be too surprised if Reister pulls an upset.
Albert Montanes vs. Dusan Lajovic
Montanes beat Lajovic last year in Umag on clay, but the now top 90 Serbian has been rising up the rankings and has improved considerably. He even upset Guillermo Garcia-Lopez at Wimbledon and of course made the second week of the French Open. Montanes has seen his career decline as he is now out of the top 100 and has not played a match since the French Open.
He is still a good defensive dirtballer, but Lajovic, who is skilled on clay, should win this and could do well this week.
Mikhail Kukushkin vs. (WC)Elias Ymer
The veteran Kazahk Kukushkin will face former top 5 junior Elias Ymer, an 18 year old playing on home soil in Sweden. Kukushkin should prevail, even though he’s a journeyman player, but this is a good test for Ymer, who took Grigor Dimitrov to 3 sets in Bastad last year and is working his way through the challenger and ATP qualies level, It will be the first look at Ymer on the pro level for many.
Top Half:
David Ferrer, who struggled at Wimbledon, but seems to play well in Bastad as a two time champion, will face Pablo Andujar or Victor Hanescu in round 2. In the quarterfinals, he should face defending champion Berlocq, who must beat Reister and then qualifier/Kenny De Schepper.
Suprisingly, Ferrer and Berlocq have only met once, in 2011 where Ferrer decimated him on clay. The match should be closer this time, but I have Ferrer getting through to the semifinals from his section.
Jerzy Janowicz, who improved a little at Wimbledon but has been awful all season, will face Montanes/Lajovic and Lajovic has a strong chance at the quarterfinals or better, assuming Janowicz continues his poor form. Look for Lajovic/Janowicz to face Joao Sousa in the quarterfinals. The Portugese has to beat Pere Riba, who has been playing well on the clay court challenger circuit as of late, and then Kukushkin/Ymer. Sousa has had periods of struggle, but I tip him or Lajovic to make the semifinals as Sousa beat Lajovic at the 2012 French Open in qualifying.
Bottom Half:
Two time Bastad champ Tommy Robredo will open with Paul-Henri Mathieu or a qualifier. Mathieu comes off a challenger final on clay in Germany. The quarterfinalist there is set to face most likely Jeremy Chardy/Pablo Cuevas, who face the winner of a qualifier vs. Swedish wild card Christian Lindell in round 2. Robredo, Mathieu and Cuevas are all veteran clay courters capable of periods of good play, and Robredo comes off the Wimbledon fourth round after struggling for periods this year. He leads the h2h on clay with PHM 2-0, and Cuevas plays stronger on the challenger circuit these days, so I tip Robredo through to the semifinals.
Fernando Verdasco, a finalist last year, will face a qualifier or Jiri Vesely, who made the Wimbledon third round and has been hot on the clay challenger circuit, in round 2. Vesely-Verdasco is a match to anticipate, and with Verdasco having lost two straight matches, Vesely could pounce and reach the quarterfinals. Vesely/Verdasco should face Pablo Carreno Busta, who has also found some great form on the clay challenger circuit, in the quarters. PCB opens with Dustin Brown, then Markus Eriksson, a Swedish wild card, or Paolo Lorenzi. PCB/Vesely would be interesting as they have never met before. Both have been strong on the challenger circuit and both have dark horse potential.
Dark Horse: Jiri Vesely
Lajovic could also make a dark horse run this week, but my official selection is Vesely. If he beats Verdasco and PCB, Robredo is also beatable and he could find himself in his first career ATP final.
Predictions Semis:
Ferrer d. Sousa
Robredo d. Carreno Busta
Ferrer was upset by Sousa in Kuala Lumpur last season, but on clay, experience and skill favors the Spaniard. Robredo has beaten PCB twice this season, so the trend has to be expected to continue on the same surface of clay.
Final:
Ferrer d. Robredo
Ferrer and Robredo have split Bastad meetings, but Ferrer has won the last five meetings, all on clay, and dominates the h2h. He isn’t as consistent as he used to be, but on clay with a weak field, he should be last man standing at the end of the week.
Stuttgart
ATP Stuttgart
MercedesCup
ATP World Tour 250
Stuttgart, Germany
July 7-July 13, 2014
Prize Money: € 426,605
Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Fabio Fognini (15)
2: Mikhail Youzhny (16)
3: Roberto Bautista Agut (23)
4: Feliciano Lopez (26)
A very balanced field in Stuttgart, with just three top 25 players, and many who can post good results on clay. This will be an interesting week.
First Round matchups to watch:
Lukas Rosol vs. (WC)Alex Zverev
The most noteworthy match of the first round this week will be the match between Rosol, who comes off a loss to Nadal at Wimbledon, and the young Alex Zverev, who just won his first career challenger title in Germany on clay, beating some solid ATP level players along the way. Zverev is the first 17-year-old challenger winner in quite a while, and he’s a talented kid, being the former number 1 junior. Given fatigue also being a factor, Rosol, who isn’t shabby on clay, should win, but if Zverev can keep the scoreline close he’ll have acquitted himself well against another ATP regular.
Top Half:
Defending champ Fabio Fognini is the top seed. He’s struggled some as of late, but should be favored against Andrey Golubev/Philipp Petzschner, and then against Santiago Giraldo or Blaz Rola/qualifier in the quarters. It is good to see Petzschner back on the ATP tour, as he gets a wild card this week. Fognini has a 2-1 record against Giraldo on clay and both players, when hot, can do a lot of damage. This section is a toss-up between them. Former NCAA player Rola is also improving.
Roberto Bautista Agut faces Igor Sijsling or a qualifier, and then one of Guillermo Garcia-Lopez/qualifier/Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the quarterfinals. RBA has been hot this season, and GGL may be cooling off, so I’m going with RBA into the semis over Garcia-Lopez here.
Bottom Half:
Mikhail Youzhny appears to be in decline, and he could have trouble against Leo Mayer in round 2, assuming Mayer beats Michael Berrer. Under the radar, Mayer has been improving his results, albeit on an inconsistent basis, and he’s best on clay. Federico Delbonis/Juan Monaco/Benjamin Becker/Benoit Paire are the quarterfinal options here. Monaco and Becker are both veterans who have been struggling for a while to return to their previous form. Paire has been in terrible form all season and has been a disappointment. This section is another toss-up.
Feliciano Lopez, who has been red hot on grass this year, will return to clay against Peter Gojowczyk/Daniel Gimeno-Traver, and then one of Rosol/Zverev/JL Struff/Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarters. Kohli has been struggling lately, so I like Lopez over the defending finalist to get out of the section, Rosol could also make the quarters.
Dark Horse: Leonardo Mayer
Mayer has an ATP final and 2 ATP quarterfinals on clay, plus a third round at the French and a fourth round at Wimbledon this season. With Youzhny struggling and the players above him not in good form either, Mayer should sneak his way into the semifinals, or at least the quarterfinals this week.
Predictions Semis:
Bautista Agut d. Giraldo
Lopez d. Mayer
RBA beat Giraldo in Madrid this year on clay, and I’m going with Lopez as the player in the best form right now to reach the final.
Final:
Bautista Agut d. Lopez
Both players had strong grass court campaigns, and I’m going with RBA to win their first career meeting and win his first clay court title this week.
Berlocq and Fognini Win Maiden ATP Titles in Bastad and Stuttgart
Carlos ‘The Warlocq’ Berlocq won his first career ATP title at the age of 30, 7-5 6-1 over Fernando Verdasco on clay in Bastad. It was a long first set that was followed up by a brisk second set for the Argentine.
Berlocq beat Horacio Zeballos, Blaz Kavcic, Albert Ramos and surprise semifinalist Thiemo De Bakker before the final. De Bakker knocked off Tomas Berdych in the quarters.
The Spaniard Verdasco defeated Andreas Vinciguerra, JL Struff, Nicolas Almagro and Grigor Dimitrov to reach the final, the latter two matches both going a full 3 sets and close battles throughout.
Nicolas Monroe and Simon Stadler beat Berlocq and Albert Ramos for the doubles title.
ATP Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Fabio Fognini was also a first time winner on the ATP tour this week, in 3 sets over Philipp Kohlschreiber 5-7 6-4 6-4. Fogna moved to 1-2 in career ATP titles and recovered from losing a lead in the first set to break in the 2nd, and carried that into the 3rd where he went up 4-1 and eventually closed it out.
The Italian rolled past Alex Ward, Leo Mayer, Tommy Haas and Roberto Bautista Agut to make the final. He was so dominant in those matches that he only lost 4 or more games in a single set twice.
Kohli beat Nils Langer, Gael Monfils and Victor Hanescu all easily enough before losing to Fognini.
Facundo Bagnis and Thomaz Bellucci beat the Polish duo of Tomasz Bednarek and Mateusz Kowalczyk to take home the doubles trophy
2013 ATP Bastad, Stuttgart Previews and Predictions
The ATP will do the traditional return to clay after Wimbledon, with a pair of European 250s on the red stuff.
ATP Bastad
SkiStar Swedish Open
ATP World Tour 250
Bastad, Sweden
July 8-July 14, 2013
Prize Money: €433,770
Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes)
1: Tomas Berdych
2: Nicolas Almagro
3: Juan Monaco
4: Tommy Robredo
Solid seeds for a 250 event.
First round matchups to watch:
Jan-Lennard Struff vs. Sergiy Stakhovsky
The 23 year old German, Struff, is at a career high ranking of 115. He seems poised for a main level breakthrough, and his last match was a loss was in the 2nd round of a challenger. Stakhovsky has made a name for himself, this time for on court results rather than off-court commentary, with that huge upset of Roger Federer at Wimbledon. He followed that up with a 3rd round loss. Both players are in respectable form, but I’ll give a slight edge to JL Struff in this one. They have never met before.
Top Half:
Wimbledon quarterfinalist Tomas Berdych returns to the dirt against Martin Alund, who comes off an opening round challenger loss to Pere Riba, or Swedish wild card Markus Eriksson. In the quarters, he could meet 6 seed Viktor Troicki, a qualifier, Thiemo De Bakker or Joao Souza. None of them should be much of a bother.
A rejuvenated Tommy Robredo will enjoy his high seeding by opening with Albert Ramos or a qualifier. Ramos is coming off a bad 2nd round loss to wild card Thomas Fabiano at a clay court challenger in Italy. In the quarters, Tommy R could meet a qualifier, Carlos Berlocq, Horacio Zeballos or Blaz Kavcic. Kavcic had to retire in his last match at a challenger while Zeballos lost in the first round to Ivan Sergeyev at another challenger.
Bottom Half:
Nico Almagro will play Jan Hajek or Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, with Hajek coming off a disappointing 2nd round challenger loss to Maximo Gonzalez. GGL is coming off an opening round loss to Dustin Brown at Wimbledon. After that, Almagro could get a challenging quarterfinal match with a hopefully re-sparked Fernando Verdasco, who showed shades of his 2009 form en route to the Wimbledon quarterfinals and a 5 set loss to Andy Murray. Verdasco has had a poor year until now, but if he can beat wild card Andreas Vinciguerra and the Stakhovsky/Struff winner in the first couple of rounds he may continue to turn it around. The clay h2h between Verdasco and Almagro favors Verdasco 5-2.
Pico Monaco made the 3rd round of Wimbledon and now returns to comfortable clay against Paolo Lorenzi or a qualifier. Lorenzi comes off semis in the Todi Challenger in Italy on clay. The winner of that match will play Jurgen Zopp, Filippo Volandri, Swedish wild card Elias Ymer, or 5 seed Grigor Dimitrov.
Dark Horse: Fernando Verdasco
Dark Horse Verdasco
As mentioned, if Verdasco can continue playing like he did at Wimbledon, keeping the errors down, serving well and whipping his forehand, he will be a force to be reckoned with once again on tour. He has a solid chance to win this tournament and is arguably the most in form player here.
Predictions:
Semis:
Robredo d. Berdych
Verdasco d. Monaco
Robredo has beaten Berdych twice on clay, including at Barcelona this year, and Bastad back in 08, losing once to him on the surface. I don’t see either Robredo or Berdych being troubled before the semis.
Verdasco is in better form than Monaco, though the clay h2h favors Monaco 4-2. Monaco should get to the semis.
Final:
Verdasco d. Robredo
In a possible all-Spanish final, Robredo has the h2h on clay 3-2, including a victory against Verdasco in Bastad back in 2010, but Verdasco once again seems to be in better form. I give him the edge to take the title.
ATP Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Mercedes Cup
ATP World Tour 250
Stuttgart, Germany
July 8-July 14, 2013
Prize Money: €410,200
Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes)
1: Tommy Haas
2: Philipp Kohlschreiber
3: Jeremy Chardy
4: Benoit Paire
Some good talent will participate for a 250.
First round matchups to watch:
(8)Martin Klizan vs. Albert Montanes
Klizan has not had the best year as a full timer on the ATP circuit, sporting an 8-16 ATP level record and an 8-17 record overall. Montanes is a positive 12-11 ATP-wise and at the age of 32 is playing some good tennis. Clay is his best surface by far. They have met twice this year, with Klizan winning their meeting in Barcelona and Montanes winning their meeting in Rome. This rubber match should be quality, with an edge to Montanes.
Top Half:
Wimbledon 4th rounder Tommy Haas returns to Germany and will face Ernests Gulbis yet again or Marcel Granollers. After that, he could face Fabio Fognini, the 5 seed, Leo Mayer, a qualifier or Pablo Andujar.
Jeremy Chardy, coming off Wimbledon 3rd round, will play Michael Berrer or Dani Gimeno-Traver and the winner could face Klizan/Montanes, Roberto Bautista-Agut or Tobias Kamke. Kamke lost to Andrey Golubev in the 2nd round of a challenger last. This is a somewhat open section with some streaky players.
Bottom Half:
Philipp Kohlschreiber, who retired from his opening round Wimbledon match because of flu symptoms and general illness, will play a qualifier or Robin Kern and then could meet Braunschweig challenger champ Florian Mayer, Paul-Henri Mathieu or Gael Monfils, who returns to the tour this week after skipping Wimbledon for personal reasons. Mayer-Monfils could be a great round 2 match in what is a difficult section for Kohlschreiber.
Benoit Paire will play a qualifier or Nikolay Davydenko and the winner will face Lukas Rosol, Thomaz Bellucci (back from injury), Victor Hanescu or Dmitry Tursunov. This section is also quite open with streaky players.
Dark Horse: Albert Montanes
If Montanes can beat Klizan, he gets a winnable meeting with Kamke or Bautista-Agut, and Chardy or Gimeno-Traver in the quarters is also winnable. He would be a serious underdog against Tommy Haas in the semis.
Predictions:
Semis:
Haas d. Montanes
Monfils d. Rosol
Haas should ease past Gulbis and Fognini and then beat Montanes. I like Monfils chances coming off a layoff, as he should be well rested and get past Mathieu, Mayer, Kohlschreiber and Rosol. Hanescu and Paire could also make the semis.
Final:
Haas d. Monfils
Haas and Monfils have split career h2h 2-2 and they have split meetings this year, though this is their first on clay in 2013. It should be a tough match, but I’ll give a slight edge to Haas at home in Deutschland.
The ATP World Tour will divide by 4 this week, with events in Umag, Croatia, Bastad, Sweden, Stuttgart, Germany and of course Newport, where my colleague Steve Fogleman will have on site coverage of the event there. In the meantime, here are short previews for the other 3 European clay court events.
ATP Umag
Vegeta Croatia Open
ATP World Tour 250
Umag, Croatia
July 7-15, 2012
Prize Money: €358,425
Top 4 seeds
1: Fernando Verdasco
2: Marin Cilic
3: Alexandr Dolgopolov
4: Marcel Granollers
1st round matchups to watch:
Ivan Dodig vs. Carlos Berlocq
Dodig, who has been in pretty good form recently, will seek to upset clay court favorite Berlocq. Berlocq always performs well on the dirt.
Top Half:
Verdasco, who hasn’t been at his sharpest recently, will open up with the man who beat Berdych at Wimbledon, Ernie Gulbis or a qualifier and then likely faces fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, who will be looking to make a nice run here.
Marcel Granollers, another clay court talent, begins with Potito Starace or a qualifier and then either Matthias Bachinger of Germany, Joao Sousa of Portugal wild card Alijaz Bedene or 7 seed Martin Klizan.
Bottom Half:
Cilic made the 4th round of Wimbledon and has been playing pretty well, along with being the finalist last year. He will play Daniel Brands or a qualifier and then likely the 8 seed Edouard Roger-Vasselin. Blaz Kavic and Wayne Odesnik also lurk.
Alex Dolgopolov, who hasn’t made it past the quarters of any clay court event this year but took the title here last year, will face the dangerous Fabio Fognini or a qualifier and then likely 7 seed Berlocq.
Dark Horse: Fabio Fognini
Fognini has played pretty well this year, and he made the finals on clay in Bucharest. He has a nice draw if he can get past the slumping Dolgopolov. Cilic also poses a threat but he has been somewhat inconsistent.
Predictions:
Semis:
Granollers d. Ferrero
Cilic d. Fognini
Final:
Cilic d. Granollers
ATP Bastad
Skistar Swedish Open
Bastad, Sweden
ATP World Tour 250
July 7- July 15 2012
€ 358,125
Top 4 seeds (who all receive 1st round byes)
1: David Ferrer
2: Nicolas Almagro
3: Albert Ramos
4: Jarkko Nieminen
Top Half:
Ferrer, coming off a quarterfinals run at Wimbledon, will face either Simone Bolelli or Paul Capdeville of Chile. He could then run into 8 seed Adrian Ungur of Romania.
Albert Ramos, another Spaniard, will open with a qualifier and then quite possibly Grigor Dimitrov in what could be a great quarterfinals match up.
Bottom Half:
Almagro will face a qualifier or fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista-Agut and then take on another Spaniard, Daniel Gimeno-Traver, the 5 seed Mikhail Kukushkin, Michael Berrer of Germany or a qualifier. Nothing too tricky for him.
Jarkko Nieminen has struggled recently after having a great start to his year. He will face Jan Hajek or Fredrico Delbonis and then could face Estonian challenger veteran Jurgen Zopp or 7 Filippo Volandri.
Dark Horse: Jurgen Zopp
Zopp recently lost a 5 setter in the 1st round of Wimbledon and just recently broke into the top 100. He plays well on clay and is due for a breakthrough, and since Jarkko Nieminen and Volandri are the seeds in his section of the draw, he has a good chance to make some noise.
Predictions:
Semis:
Ferrer d. Dimitrov
Almagro d. Zopp
Final:
Ferrer d. Almagro
ATP Stuttgart
Mercedes Cup
ATP World Tour 250
Stuttgart, Germany
€ 410,175 (and a Mercedes)
Top 4 seeds (who all receive 1st round byes)
1: Janko Tipsarevic
2: Juan Monaco
3: Bernard Tomic
4: Pablo Andujar
1st Round Matchups to watch:
Lukas Rosol vs. Robin Haase
The magical man who knocked off Nadal will take on Haase, who will be trying for some magic himself. Haase is seeded, but we all know Rosol has game.
Top Half:
Tipsarevic will face either Steve Darcis or dirtballer Albert Montanes and then could confront the Rosol/Haase winner, Bjorn Phau or a qualifier.
Bernie Tomic, who has been struggling recently, will play either Thomaz Bellucci (who will be gunning for an upset), or German wild card Robin Kern. 7 seed Lukasz Kubot will face young German Cedrik Marcel-Stebe in what should be a good one. He would then take on the winner of Jeremy Chardy and a qualifier.
Bottom Half:
Juan Monaco will open against either Flavio Cipolla or Tobias Kamke and then could see dangerous 8 seed Tommy Haas (who is seeded again).
Pablo Andujar gets a Spaniard with a long name, either Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo or Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and then could see either Phillip Petzschner, Benoit Paire or veteran Nikolay Davydenko.
Dark Horse: Lukasz Kubot
Kubot, who is known slightly more for his skill in doubles, but is also a very respectable singles player, has a good draw if he can get through home favorite Stebe. Tomic is playing below his seed level. Tipsarevic also isn’t at his sharpest the past couple of weeks, so he could earn the upset there as well with some luck.
Tennis Atlantic 