2014 Szczecin, Istanbul, Banja Luka, Biella & Seville Challenger Recaps Chris De Waard, Tennis East Coast
Szczecin
Only one seed in the bottom half survived the first two rounds, as #6 seed Pere Riba lost in the first round of a Challenger for the third week in a row, #4 seed Albert Montanes lost a third set tiebreak in the second round against Lucas Pouille and #5 seed Andreas Beck lost in the first round. Only Dustin Brown lived up to his seeding, going all the way to the final. There he went up against his doubles partner, Jan-Lennard Struff, who reached the final after a strange match against Facundo Arguello, 1-6 6-0 6-2. Brown won the final 6-4 6-3, which saw Struff’s record in Challenger finals drop to a very bad 1-9. For Brown this was a highly important win, as he dropped out of the top 100 last week all the way to #119. This win propels him back to the 96th spot. For Struff the result means a new career high ranking of #61, rising ten spots.
Istanbul
The highly anticipated second round match-up between Jimmy Wang and Alexander Zverev ended in a 6-4 4-6 6-3 victory for the veteran Wang. He couldn’t build on the win, however, as he lost in a third set tiebreak to Tatsuma Ito in the next round. Ito went on to the final after beating Philipp Petzschner in the semi-final. The final ended in an anti-climax, unfortunately, as Ito had to retire due to a left knee injury when the score was 6-0, 2-0 in Adrian Mannarino’s favor. Mannarino had an easy tournament, not dropping a single set en route to the title.
Banja Luka
No shocking results at Banja Luka, with the top 4 players advancing to the semi-finals. Yes, Viktor Troicki was among them as an unseeded player, but we all know how good he is. Troicki beat #4 seed Aljaz Bedene in the quarterfinal 6-4 7-6(5). He wasn’t done yet, as he also beat top seed Blaz Rola 6-2 6-4 to reach his second Challenger final of the year. There he faced Albert Ramos-Vinolas, against whom he fought an epic battle and eventually came out of it the victor 7-5 4-6 7-5. Of course this resulted in another big ranking jump, rising 68 positions to the 170th ranking spot.
Biella
With top seed Benoit Paire withdrawing because of a knee injury, an opportunity was created for some lower ranked players to make a deep run. Funny enough, the lucky loser who replaced Paire, Benjamin Balleret, made it all the way to the semi-final, where he missed a match point before losing to Matteo Viola 6-7(7) 7-6 6-3. Viola took on second seed Filippo Volandri in the final and won that match as well 7-5 6-1. A big result for Viola, winning his third Challenger title and rising 44 ranking spots to #182.
Seville
A second round match was the scene of a remarkable incident, when Lorenzo Giustino received a penalty of three games in his match against David Vega Hernandez, which ended 7-6(4) 6-7(7) 7-6(4) in Vega Hernandez’s favor. Giustino started cramping at 2-1 in the third set, went down, got back up and still broke Vega Hernandez. Giustino went down again and had to receive medical attention on the court, but as you officially can’t receive treatment for cramping he received a time penalty afterwards, which went up all the way to three games due to the lenghty lay-off of five minutes. Therefore, the score went from 3-1 in his favor to 3-4. A tricky matter and opinions vary widely if this was a correct decision from the umpire.
Top seed Pablo Carreno Busta survived two tricky three setters in his first three matches, but after that he cruised to the title after straight set victories against Inigo Cervantes in the semi-final and Taro Daniel in the final. Daniel beat Daniel Munoz-De La Nava in a lengthy match in the quarterfinal 2-6 7-5 7-5. Munoz-De La Nava absolutely hammered second seed Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the first round 6-0 6-3. The final meant a new career high ranking for Daniel, rising 13 spots to #159. Carreno Busta jumped to #63, an improvement of 11.
2014 Szczecin, Istanbul, Bana Luka, Biella and Seville Challenger Previews Chris De Waard, Tennis East Coast
A clay oriented week on the Challenger circuit, as only Istanbul will be played on hardcourt.
Pekao Szczecin Open
ATP Challenger Tour
Szczecin, Poland
8-14 September
Prize Money: €106,500
Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Jan-Lennard Struff (77)
2: Dustin Brown (97)
3: Aleskandr Nedovyesov (107)
4: Albert Montanes (114)
5: Andreas Beck (115)
6: Pere Riba (116)
7: Facundo Arguello (120)
8: Marton Fucsovics (152)
The last direct acceptance is Ivo Klec, ranked 334th. Last week’s Brasov finalist Guillaume Rufin entered the tournament as a special exempt. Grzegorz Panfil and Christian Garin received a wild card. This will be Garin’s first tournament with Fernando Gonzalez as his coach.
First round match-ups to watch
(SE) Guillaume Rufin – Potito Starace
Rufin made a dream run last week, reaching the final of the Brasov Challenger after qualifying. Starace is a tricky opponent, but there will be chances if Rufin can build on his good form. Last week Starace lost 6-4 6-1 to Christian Lindell in the first round of the Genova Challenger.
(2) Dustin Brown (WC) Grzegorz Panfil
Panfil is a mysterious player à la Attila Balazs. He created quite the buzz for himself at the Hopman Cup in the beginning of this year, where he beat Andreas Seppi and Milos Raonic in straight sets and lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in three sets. But since then his best result at Challenger level has been a second round appearance and he is ranked lower than where he started the year: 357th. Perhaps a relatively high profile player like Brown can inspire him, resulting in a very entertaining match.
Top Half
Top seed Jan-Lennard Struff reached the second round of the US Open, where he lost to John Isner. He should be able to comfortably reach the quarterfinal here, but after that he is well capable of losing to guys like Marton Fucsovics, Christian Garin or Facundo Arguello, although he will still be the favorite to advance to the final. Upset-wise, I can see Garin beating third seed Aleksandr Nedovyesov in the second round.
Bottom Half
Dustin Brown leads this half and will look to make a start with battling himself back into the top 100, after falling out of it this week. He is projected to play fifth seed Andreas Beck in the quarterfinal, who has been solid in clay Challengers as of late, reaching two semi-finals and a final in his last five events. However, Brown won their only clay encounter last year comfortably in straight sets, so the second seed should still be favored here. #6 seed Pere Riba will try to overcome his disappointing first round loss of last week and will most probably face #4 seed Albert Montanes in the quarterfinal.
Predictions
Semis:
Struff > Garin
Riba > Brown
Final:
Struff > Riba
Riba leads the head to head over Brown 3-0, including a 7-6(6) 7-5 victory earlier this year in Kitzbühel. Struff will prove too strong in the final, however.
Amex-Istanbul Challenger
ATP Challenger Tour
Istanbul, Turkey
8-14 September
Prize Money: $75,000
Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Tobias Kamke (73)
2: Malek Jaziri (88)
3: Adrian Mannarino (89)
4: Tatsuma Ito (126)
5: Yuichi Sugita (128)
6: James Ward (131)
7: Jimmy Wang (132)
8: Marsel Ilhan (144)
The last direct acceptance is Yaraslav Shyla, ranked 577th.
First round match-ups to watch
(1) Tobias Kamke – Vincent Millot
A tough draw for Kamke, coming up against someone who reached a Challenger final last week and probably feeling good. In his last four main draw matches on hardcourts, Kamke lost against someone outside of the top 80, so there are definitely chances for an upset here.
Alexander Kudryavtsev – Yoshihito Nishioka
Two players, who, in terms of their game, might as well have been seeded. Both qualified at the US Open, with Kudryavtsev also winning his opening round in the main draw. Nishioka went on to win his first Challenger title last week, so this is bound to be a very interesting encounter.
Top Half
#3 seed Adrian Mannarino has a favorable draw and with top seed Kamke already being in danger of going out in his first round match, he might be able to take advantage and go all the way to the final. In the semi-final, he might face #6 seed James Ward, who has been in good form lately and currently sits on a career-high ranking.
Bottom Half
The bottom section here is especially interesting, with seeds Marsel Ilhan and Malek Jaziri being complemented by Kudryavtsev, Nishioka and Philipp Petzschner, all of which are capable of going through. In the other section, Jimmy Wang, Alexander Zverev and Tatsumo Ito will battle it out for a semi-final spot.
Predictions
Semis:
Mannarino > Ward
Jaziri > Wang
Final:
Mannarino > Jaziri
Banja Luka 2014
ATP Challenger Tour
Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
8-14 September
Prize Money: €64,000
Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Blaz Rola (87)
2: Albert Ramos-Vinolas (95)
3: Andreas Haider-Maurer (110)
4: Aljaz Bedene (133)
5: Ante Pavic (138)
6: Chase Buchanan (158)
7: Jaroslav Pospisil (195)
8: Nikola Mektic (218)
The last direct acceptance is Boris Pashanski, ranked 432nd. Marko Djokovic received a wild card into the main draw.
First round match-ups to watch
(3) Andreas Haider-Maurer – Tristan Lamasine
The young Frenchman reached the semi-final of the Alphen Challenger last week, losing to the eventual winner Jesse Huta Galung, while Haider-Maurer took the title in Brasov. What makes this match even more interesting is the fact that they played each other in the quarterfinal of Meerbusch last month, which ended up being an absolutely epic encounter. Lamasine won 5-7 7-6(5) 7-6(9) and hopefully we will have another match in that category here.
Top Half
Viktor Troicki made it into the draw without receiving a wild card or having to play qualifying and he is likely to at least make the semi-final, in which he would probably face top seed Blaz Rola. Last week, Troicki lost to Mate Delic in a third tiebreak in the quarterfinal, so he isn’t unbeatable, but he should still be marked a favorite in fields like these.
Bottom Half
The first round match between Haider-Maurer and Lamasine will most probably determine the semi-finalist of the top section. However, there, one of them is likely to face second seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who is in excellent form and convincingly won the Genova Challenger last week. That should be too much for the two as Ramos-Vinolas is simply the better clay court player between them.
Predictions
Semis:
Troicki > Rola
Ramos-Vinolas > Lamasine
Final:
Ramos-Vinolas > Troicki
Back-to-back titles for Ramos-Vinolas as he ousts Troicki in the final, but this would be an excellent result for Troicki as well in his battle to return to old heights.
Challenger Pulcra Lachiter Biella
ATP Challenger Tour
Biella, Italy
8-14 September
Prize Money: €42,500
Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Benoit Paire (98)
2: Filippo Volandri (148)
3: Marco Cecchinato (160)
4: Andrea Arnaboldi (172)
5: Matteo Viola (193)
6: Jason Kubler (197)
7: Henri Laaksonen (280)
8: Dennis Novak (281)
The last direct acceptance is Walter Trusendi, ranked 453rd. Benoit Paire was by far the highest ranked player here, but he withdrew, citing a left knee injury. Benjamin Balleret takes his place in the draw.
First round match-ups to watch
(7) Henri Laaksonen – Alessandro Giannessi
This is bound to become a three set encounter. Both players have spent 2014 mixing up promising results with flops, eventually being unable to make their way up the rankings. This is a nice chance for both players to make a dent, especially considering they’re in the quarter of which top seed Paire withdrew.
Top Half
There are some other players who are looking to go deep here, of whom I give #5 seed Matteo Viola the biggest shot. He is projected to play #4 seed Andrea Arnaboldi in a quarterfinal, but his countryman is on a seven match losing streak. Viola isn’t in his greatest form either, but he leads the clay head to head 2-1 and should be able to profit. A Laaksonen – Viola semi-final is the most likely scenario here, with a healthy chance of Giannessi being in Laaksonen’s spot.
Bottom Half
This half is really open, with Dennis Novak, Jason Kubler, Marco Cecchinato and Filippo Volandri all having a good shot at making the final. Neither of them has displayed good form recently, so it is hard to predict who will take advantage. Last week, Kubler barely lost to Fucsovics in the quarterfinal of Genova, so when you absolutely have to pick one based on recent form you might go for him.
Predictions
Semis:
Viola > Laaksonen
Kubler > Volandri
Final:
Viola > Kubler
Pretty much a coin toss, this final, so I’m going for the easy way out and pick Viola because of the home advantage.
Copa Sevilla
ATP Challenger Tour
Seville, Spain
8-14 September
Prize Money: €42,500
Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Pablo Carreno Busta (74)
2: Daniel Gimeno-Traver (101)
3: Pierre-Hugues Herbert (136)
4: Gerald Melzer (145)
5: Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (159)
6: Taro Daniel (186)
7: Roberto Carballes Baena (212)
8: Flavio Cipolla (225)
The last direct acceptance is David Perez Sanz, ranked 362nd.
First round match-ups to watch
(2) Daniel Gimeno-Traver – Daniel Munoz-De La Nava
A very tricky draw for the second seed against the man who comes off a final in Alphen last week, where Gimeno-Traver himself lost in the quarterfinal. However, Munoz-De La Nava is known to be very inconsistent, so it won’t be surprising either if he throws in a horrific performance here. Gimeno-Traver leads the head to head 5-1.
Top Half
It’s hard to look past Carreno Busta. He surprised everyone by reaching the third round at the US Open and should be even more comfortable at this clay Challenger, considering his immense success at these events in the past. One has to wonder how long he will keep up playing them. #3 seed Herbert played an event on hardcourts last week, so he might well go out against one of the six Spaniards in his section.
Bottom Half
The deciding match of this half will probably be played in a quarterfinal between Taro Daniel and Daniel Gimeno-Traver, with the Japanese perhaps being able to surprise. He lives in Valencia and is very comfortable on Spanish clay, while Gimeno-Traver has been looking shaky as of late, having dropped almost 40 ranking spots compared to the start of 2014. The other two seeds, Flavio Cipolla and Gerald Melzer, have been in bad form and are unlikely to pose a threat, just like any of the unseeded players in that section.
Predictions
Semis:
Carreno Busta > Cervantes
Daniel > Gimeno-Traver
Final:
Carreno Busta > Daniel
Carreno Busta is simply too strong at the moment and it wouldn’t even surprise me if he won the tournament without dropping a set.
