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2015 WTA Bogota (@CopaWTABogota) Preview, Predictions

Posted by Admin on April 13, 2015

Posted in: Niall Clarke, WTA. Tagged: 2015, Bogota, Claro Open, Colsanitas, Elina Svitolina, picks, predictions, preview, shelby rogers, South America, Womens Tennis, wta, Yarsolava Shvedova. 2 Comments

2015 WTA Bogota (@CopaWTABogota) Preview, Predictions
Niall Clarke, Tennis Atlantic

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I’m back (Imagine that in a Schwartznegger voice). Unfortunately, a change of house meant that I couldn’t access the internet for a week, but I’m back in time for the Claro Open Colsanitas in Bogota.

The Claro Open Colsanitas was upgraded to a WTA-level event in 1998 after being an ITF level event for five years. It’s since become one of the WTA’s most prestigious Latin America tournaments. Bogota’s own Fabiola Zuluaga holds the tournament record with 4 titles. Caroline Garcia took home the crown of Bogota champion last year defeating Jelena Jankovic in the final.

Claro Open Colsanitas
Tier: International
Location: Bogota, Colombia
Surface: Clay
Prize Money: $ 250,000
Date: April 13th- April 19th
The 8 seeded players (ranking)
1. Elina Svitolina (29)
2. Monica Puig (51)
3. Ajla Tomljanovic (60)
4. Francesca Schiavone (69)
5. Yaroslava Shvedova (78)
6. Shelby Rogers (80)
7. Timea Babos (87)
8. Irina Falconi (88)

The field is fairly weak with only one top 50 player competing in the tournament. But what that does is open the draw up nicely for a player to gain confidence with a title win.

First round matches to watch:

Sorana Cirstea vs (8) Irina Falconi
With such a depleted draw, it’s hard to really find a mouth-watering first round match-up, but this one stuck out. The reason being that Cirstea Is a former top 30 player who’s struggle with injuries has seen her plummet to 145 in the world. The Romanian has failed to win a single match since the US Open first round last year, so the 25-year-old will be looking to kick start her season in Bogota. Falconi, on the other hand, has seen her form rise in recent weeks with impressive victories over fellow Bogota seeds Ajla Tomljanovic and Monica Puig. The American even pushed Ana Ivanovic to three sets before eventually losing 6-3 in the final set. Cirstea does have one thing going for her, and that is the head to head, which reads 1-0 in favour of the Romanian. Their sole meeting came five years ago however, so it’s not much to go by. Falconi should win this match, but if Cirstea can channel her top 30 form, then the American could very well be taking an early flight home.

Alexandra Panova v (3) Ajla Tomljanovic
It is rare that a player outside the top 150 makes my ‘three to see’, but with this draw I suppose it was inevitable. The name Alexandra Panova might ring a bell to a lot of people. That is because the Russian pushed compatriot Maria Sharapova all the way to three sets at the Australian Open, even having match points to seal the upset. Since that great performance however, it has gone downhill for the 26-year-old, who now finds herself on a six match losing streak. Ajla Tomljanovic’s final run in Pattaya looked like it would get her season going, as she pursues the top 50. Unfortunately for the Croatian, she also found herself on a losing streak before winning in the opening round of Charleston last week. It is clear that both players will be using this tournament to play themselves back into form, and with the weak field, a deep run might be in order for the winner. Tomljanovic is rightfully the favourite, but streaks are there to be broken.

(4) Francesca Schiavone vs Teliana Pereira
Former Roland Garros champion Francesca Schiavone will be glad not to see Lin Zhu at the other side of the net after back to back losses to the Chinese player. After a struggle on the hard courts (minus a quarterfinal run in Antwerp), the Italian will be glad to get on the clay courts. This surface brought the fourth seed her biggest career success at the French Open five years ago, where she went all the way to become champion. That must feel like a long time ago, because the 34-year-old is now declining, and currently ranks 70 in the world. Teliana Pereira will be heading in to Bogota in good form and spirits after claiming an ITF title on clay last week. The Brazilian has found her form since hitting the clay courts two months ago, and she’ll see this as a good chance to claim the scalp of a former grand slam champion. With Pereira’s confidence sky high, an upset is likely in this match, so keep a close eye on this one.

Top Half Analysis
Top seed Elina Svitolina is the most striking name in the top half of the draw. The Ukrainian is the only top 50 player playing this week, and she’ll rightfully be the favourite to win the tournament. The world number 29 shouldn’t face any problems at all until at least the quarter finals where she’ll likely meet Irina Falconi. The American holds a clay court victory over the top seed, but Svitolina is a much improved player since then and should level their head to head here.

The second quarter is interesting with the possibility of an early exit for fourth seed Francesca Schiavone. The former Roland Garros champion will face an in-form Teliana Pereira in the opening round. As I touched upon in my matches to watch section, this has upset potential and could open the draw up for a surprise semi-finalist. Shelby Rogers will be looking to rubbish that notion however. The sixth seed faces a tough test against Lourdes Dominguez Lino in round one. The Spaniard recently won an ITF title on clay, and is well tested on this surface in 2015, so an upset is also possible here. All things considered the American should make the quarterfinals, but with the draw as it is, there could be first round exits for both seeds in this quarter.

Bottom Half Analysis
The bottom half of the draw seems to bring the more interesting potential quarterfinal matches with the likes of Monica Puig, Yaroslava Shvedova and Ajla Tomljanovic headlining this section. Tomljanovic will open against Alexandra Panova, before facing Glushko or a lucky loser/qualifier. You would expect with that draw the Croatian to make the quarter finals, but stranger things have happened in the WTA. Seventh seed Timea Babos will be her likely opponent, even though she faces a tough round two test against Tatjana Maria. The German recently made the round of 32 in Miami, defeating Eugenie Bouchard along the way. Despite that result, Babos will be the favourite and likely winner.

Puig
The bottom quarter could provide us with the most interesting potential quarterfinal match in the draw. Second seed Monica Puig is just outside the top 50, so the Puerto Rican will be looking to end the week on the right side of that benchmark. Yaroslava Shvedova recently returned from an injury, so this will be good preparation for her as we head into the Kazakh’s favourite part of the season. Providing everything goes according to ‘plan’, we should see a good match in the quarterfinals between these two. Nicole Gibbs in round two is the toughest test for Puig in the opening rounds, whilst Shvedova has a very kind draw. Shvedova leads the head to head 2-0 against Puig, including a victory at the Australian Open earlier in the year. With this being Shvedova’s best surface, I expect the Kazakh to advance providing she holds up well physically.

Predictions
Semi finals:
Svitolina def. Rogers in 2 sets
Shvedova def. Tomljanovic in 3 sets

Final:
Svitolina def. Shvedova in 3 sets

I believe the top seed will win this tournament. Svitolina is a consistent player and despite some dangerous players in the draw, she should use that trait to overcome the competition. Shvedova will have a good run to the final, but the Ukrainian’s consistency will shine through in three sets.

Niall Clarke (Sofia)

2014 ATP Hamburg, Bogota Previews & Picks

Posted by Admin on July 14, 2014

Posted in: ATP. Tagged: 2014, atp, Bet at Home, Bogota, Claro Open, Colombia, germany, hamburg, mens, picks, predictions, preview, tennis.

2014 ATP Hamburg, Bogota Previews & Picks
Steen Kirby, Tennis East Coast

Clay will be the surface for the 500 series event in Hamburg, which should still be in a euphoric mood after Germany won the World Cup. Meanwhile, the 250 event on hard court in Bogota will take place for the second consecutive season, providing some nice variety in the ATP Tour entrée offerings this week.

ATP Hamburg
bet-at-home Open
ATP World Tour 500
Hamburg, Germany
July 14-July 20, 2014
Prize Money: €1,190,700

Top 8 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: David Ferrer (7)
2: Fabio Fognini (15)
3: Tommy Robredo (18)
4: Alex Dolgopolov (19)
5: Mikhail Youzhny (22)
6: Roberto Bautista Agut (23)
7: Philipp Kohlschreiber (26)
8: Marcel Granollers (28)

Just one top 10 player for the 500 series event in Hamburg. Regardless, there is a lot of parity with the seeds and the top 16 seeds all get byes into round 2.

First round matchups to watch:

Robin Haase vs. (WC)Alex Zverev
The young Zverev nearly beat eventual finalist Lukas Rosol as a wild card last week in Stuttgart. This week in Hamburg, where he again receives a wild card, he will face a potentially easier opponent, Robin Haase, who comes off a round 2 loss at a clay challenger in Holland and has not been that great all season. Zverev is rising quickly and this is a great chance for him to earn his maiden ATP main draw win on home soil.

Jiri Vesely vs. Dominic Thiem
A match between young players (1993 generation) brimming with potential: Vesely was poor in Bastad last week, losing in round 1, but he had a good Wimbledon, while Thiem struggled on grass but has otherwise had an exceptional season. As a result of his efforts as an ATP qualifier earlier in the season, he is ranked a few spots higher than Vesely, and is in the top 60, which is what Vesely is gunning to make. Vesely beat Thiem at a futures event in 2012 on clay, but Thiem should be happy to be playing on the dirt again and has to be favored at least slightly here.

Top Half:

David Ferrer, who was shocked by Carlos Berlocq early in Bastad, and has had some inexplicable losses throughout the 2014 season, showing that he is in a noticeable decline, opens with Mikhail Kukushkin or Marsel Ilhan. Assuming he wins, he will face one of Andreas Seppi/Pere Riba/Juan Monaco in round 3, with a potential quarterfinal against Bastad semifinalist Fernando Verdasco awaiting. Verdasco must first beat Pablo Carreno Busta/Dustin Brown and then he should get a mouthwatering third round match with Stuttgart champion Roberto Bautista Agut, who opens with Mate Delic/Pablo Andujar.

RBA is in great form and has been all season, but he played some long matches in Stuttgart and may be running out of steam by the time round 3 rolls around. Ferrer is in a weak section, so even in poor form, he should get to most likely Verdasco in the quarters, but Nando could prove trouble for him at the stage.

Alex Dolgopolov will open part 2 of his clay court campaign this season against Jerzy Janowicz or Albert Ramos.

Janowicz was again awful in Bastad, and Dolgopolov, while never the most reliable, should be good enough to beat him or Ramos and get to round 3, where Federico Delbonis should await him, assuming the Argentine gets past Tobias Kamke/Jarkko Nieminen in round 2.

Delbonis reached quarterfinals in Stuttgart, and he could capitalize if Dolgopolov loses form, but I’m personally favoring Dolgo to reach the quarterfinals out of his section.

Santiago Giraldo and Mikhail Youzhny are on a collision course in the section below, for the right to face Dolgopolov or another player in the quarterfinals. Giraldo opens with Andrey Golubev/Benoit Paire, both of whom are struggling, especially Paire, who has been very disappointing this season. Youzhny faces the winner of Zverev/Haase, and he finally posted a good result last week making the semis in Stuttgart. Time will tell if he can back up that result with more quality play or if his downward trend this year will continue on after a blip of improvement. Youzhny is 3-0 against Giraldo in his career with a win on clay, but the quarterfinalist in Stuttgart last week has been more consistent this season, and I’m favoring Santi to reach the quarters. Zverev could also make a shock run out of this section, so don’t count him out either.

Bottom Half:

Fabio Fognini, who exited in the semifinals in Stuttgart, and is currently a struggling defending champion, will face JL Struff or Serb Filip Krajinovic in round 2. In round 3, he could get Bastad semifinalist Carlos Berlocq.

Berlocq just needs to beat Dusan Lajovic/Kenny De Schepper. Fognini beat Berlocq in Davis Cup action on clay this season in 4 sets, and unless he totally loses his composure and gives up again, he should make the quarterfinals and continue on with a chance to defend his title.

Fognini/Berlocq could face a variety of quarterfinal opponents. 10 seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez narrowly lost to RBA in Stuttgart and has had good results on clay this season. He faces Peter Gojowczyk/Leo Mayer in round 2. Also, the winner of Vesely/Thiem has a case for the quarterfinals. One of them will face Marcel Granollers in round 2.

GGL/Thiem is my pick for round 3 and the quarterfinalist there is a toss-up.

Tommy Robredo is struggling like his compatriot Ferrer. He was shocked by Renzo Olivo in Bastad, and will face Teymurz Gabashvili/Daniel Gimeno-Traver in round 2. Still assuming he gets past that, Bastad finalist Joao Sousa or Stuttgart finalist Lukas Rosol should await him in round 3. Rosol has to beat Julian Reister along with Sousa to reach that stage. Given Rosol played considerably better than Sousa in his final against a better opponent, Rosol, if fit, should get past both Sousa and Robredo and reach the quarterfinals.

The struggling seeds Philipp Kohlschreiber and Gilles Simon highlight the section above Robredo. Both veterans would wish to forgot 2014 thus far and will be looking to build momentum back this week in Hamburg, as the second half of the season has begun. Kohli faces Gastao Elias/Albert Montanes in round 2. Assuming he wins, he will face Simon or Martin Klizan/Igor Sijsling. Klizan has been a player on an upward trend this season who played well on clay in the first part of the season, thus I’m tipping him as a surprise quarterfinalist here.

Dark Horse: Martin Klizan
Alex Zverev and Dominic Thiem will both have chances to produce great results as dark horses, but Klizan gets the official designation because he already has a title on clay this season, and with Sijsling/Simon and likely Kohlschreiber his first three opponents, his route to the quarterfinals, even as an underdog in terms of ranking, seems entirely doable. Then with Rosol/Robredo/Sousa in the quarters, he will again have a great shot at victory. With last weeks clay court finalists coming off tiring weeks of tennis, and Robredo in poor form. I’m predicting a Klizan-Fognini semifinal, and Klizan beat Fognini in Munich this year on clay already, so in short I have the unseeded Slovak in the final this week.

Predictions
Semis:
Verdasco d. Giraldo
Klizan d. Fognini

Verdasco beat Santi in Houston on clay this season, and I feel he’s in the right sort of form to capitalize on the right sort of draw and get through to the final this week, past Ferrer and either Giraldo or Dologopolov.

As mentioned above, Klizan did beat a competitive Fognini in Munich already this year, and that was on clay. I don’t see why he wouldn’t do it again with Fognini struggling. He also beat Fognini in 2012 on indoor hard in an ATP final.

Final:
Verdasco d. Klizan

Dasco and Klizan have never met, and this would be a competitive final in which both players would have their chances, but Verdasco has more experience and a better pedigree, so I like him to take home the title in what will be a competitive event this week.

ATP Bogota
Claro Open Colombia
ATP World Tour 250
Bogota, Colombia
July 14-July 20, 2014
Prize Money: $663,610

Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Richard Gasquet (14)
2: Ivo Karlovic (29)
3: Vasek Pospisil (34)
4: Radek Stepanek (39)

A rather weak field for Bogota. With just one top 20 player and none of the seeds being very strong, its anyone’s tournament this week.

Top Half:

Richard Gasquet will be a featured player at both Bogota this week. The Frenchman struggled at Wimbledon and has not been entirely healthy for most of the season, so he is looking for a bit of a fresh start. However, he could very well face trouble in his first match, as Sam Groth needs to just beat wild card Juan Sebastian Cabal to set up a meeting with the top seed. Groth, who has a powerful serve that will help him even more in the Colombian altitude, comes off his first career ATP semi in Newport, and he would love to beat top 15 player Gasquet in what would be a career best win.

The winner of that will face one of Victor Estrella/qualifier(x2)/Peter Polansky in the quarterfinals, in one of, to be frank, the weakest ATP level tournament sections I have seen yet. Anyone has a chance, and none of them are ATP quarterfinal caliber players. However, Polansky has the best hard court pedigree.

Vasek Pospisil, who has suffered through a miserable season, will face Alex Kuznetsov/Adrian Mannarino up first, even though he has been so poor this season since injuring his back. His draw is so weak he should still make the quarterfinals to face Alejandro Falla or Bernard Tomic. The defending finalist Falla plays Tatsuma Ito, while the wild card Tomic plays Farrukh Dustov.

If Tomic is going to show he’s working to be a serious professional again, he has a great chance to put up a big result this week in the weak field.

Bottom Half:

Newport finalist and defending Bogota champ Ivo Karlovic will face Dudi Sela/Facundo Arguello in round 2. The veteran may have to fight through fatigue, but his serve will help him keep points short and he should reach the semis to face one of Matt Ebden/qualifier/Michal Przysiezny/Jimmy Wang. Once again, this is an average challenger level section and anyone has a chance. Przysiezny has the h2h edge over Wang, so it will likely be a Karlovic/Przysiezny quarterfinal, with a fatigued Karlovic as the favorite.

Another veteran, Radek Stepanek, will face Eduardo Struvay/Guido Pella in round 2. Pella announced he was taking a leave of absence from tennis a little while ago, but now he’s back, hopefully having found the motivation and drive to excel that he said his game was lacking when he took the sabbatical. Stepanek will face one of Alejandro Gonzalez/Evgeny Donskoy/Thiemo De Bakker/qualifier in the quarters, and should easily dispatch any of those four players in what is yet another incredibly weak section for an ATP event.

Dark Horse: Bernard Tomic
Everyone could well be a dark horse this week, given the event is filled with players in poor form and clay courters, but Tomic best wears the designation. There are plenty of reasons to rag on him and he’s earned much of the ill repute he has on tour right now with the media, fans, and many of his fellow players for his poor work ethic and other issues, but he’s starting from the bottom again as a wild card. With Farrukh Dustov, Ito/Falla and Pospisil/Mannarino/Kuznetsov as his potential first three matches, talent wise at least, he has a great shot at the semifinals or better and could walk away with an ATP title this week out of nowhere.

Predictions
Semis:
Gasquet d. Pospisil
Stepanek d. Karlovic

This tournament is hard to predict in most of the sections, but Gasquet should be able to reach the final out of sheer talent, even in 60% form. Stepanek, meanwhile, has a 4-1 h2h advantage over Karlovic and has a win against him this season. Karlovic should be fatigued, so look for the Czech to advance.

Final:
Stepanek d. Gasquet

Stepanek leads the h2h 3-1 against Gasquet and 3-0 on fast surfaces (2-0 on hard courts). As his form has been better recently, and he’s had a good season overall, the veteran has at least one more ATP singles title left in the tank, and he should earn it this week in Bogota.

November Challenger Recap: Seppi, Nieminen Winners, Volandri Victorious at Tour Finals, Ebden Finishes Strong

Posted by Admin on November 25, 2013

Posted in: ATP, USTA. Tagged: 2013, andrea, atp, Bogota, bratislava, challenger, Champaign, guayaquil, helsinki, lima, mens, November, ortesei, recap, tennis, tiumen, Tour, toyota, yeongwol, yokohama.

November Challenger Recap: Seppi, Nieminen Winners, Volandri Victorious at Challenger Tour Finals, Ebden Finishes Strong

Bogota Challenger (November 4-November 10, 2013)

This 125k clay court challenger was won by Victor Estrella who beat Thomaz Bellucci in the final of the Bolivar Open. Bellucci will be seeking to return to the top 100 next year and finished the year strong with a title and a final in a pair of challengers. Bellucci beat Alejandro Falla in the semis while Estrella took care of Guilherme Clezar. Estrella also notably took out seeded players Horacio Zeballos and Guido Pella before the semis.

Bratislava Challenger (November 4-November 10, 2013)

Lukas Lacko won the battle of the Lukases with a 3 set win over Lukas Rosol in the final of this indoor hard court challenger. The win comes at home for the Slovak Lacko, where he beat Igor Sijsling in the semis while Rosol beat JL Struff. 2 seed Bernard Tomic, who surprisingly entered this event, was knocked out in the opening round by Ilya Marchenko.

Ortisei Challenger (November 4-November 10, 2013)

Andreas Seppi beat Simon Greul on hard courts in Italy to take this title in his home nation at the end of the season. Seppi beat Teymuraz Gabashvili in the semis while Greul beat Dustin Brown in the semis after knocking out 3 seed Dudi Sela in the opening round.

Yeongwol Challenger (November 4-November 10, 2013)

American Bradley Klahn is now a top 100 player after a great year of tennis that was capped with this victory in South Korea on hard courts. Klahn improved his total this year to 1 futures title, 1 futures final, 3 challenger finals, and 2 challenger titles. He also put in a bunch of quality quarterfinal and semifinal appearances in 2013 challengers. Klahn’s victory came over Taro Daniel in the final, after he beat Di Wu in the semis. On the flipside, Daniel beat James McGee in the semis.

ATP Challenger Tour Finals (November 11-November 17, 2013)

This special event in Brazil on clay was primarily made up of top performing challenger players in 2013 along with a couple of wild cards. It was won by Filippo Volandri and it followed the same format as the ATP World Tour finals, with similar prize money bonuses for performance. Volandri beat Alejandro Gonzalez in the final after round robin play. The win gave him 3 challenger titles on the year and 12 total in his career. Volandri finishes 2013 in the top 70 and Gonzalez finishes 2013 in the top 100.

Good year end finishes for them both.

Champaign Challenger (November 11-November 17, 2013)

For a while it seemed like Tennys Sandgren’s pro career was getting off to a slow start as he hasn’t had the same breakthrough year or runs at the ATP level that a few of his fellow American youngsters have had. That has all changed. Sandgren seems to be keeping pace now as he won his first career challenger title in Champaign in 3 sets over Aussie Sam Groth. He is now at a career high ranking of 187 and is poised to improve on that in 2014 if he can keep up the same level of play he showed here. Sandgren scored upset wins over Filip Peliwo and Jack Sock in round 1 and 2 and beat qualifier Dan Smethurst to reach the final while tournament runner-up Groth beat Denis Nevolo in the semis.

Guayaquil Challenger (November 11-November 17, 2013)

Leo Mayer beat Pedro Sousa on clay in Ecuador to claim this challenger win. Mayer beat the up and coming youngster Gianluigi Quinzi in the semis while Sousa beat David Souto.

Helsinki Challenger (November 11-November 17, 2013)

Jarkko Nieminen was another ATP regular to capture a title in his home country in the month of November as he beat Ricardas Berankis to win the Helsinki challenger on hard courts. Nieminen beat top performer JL Struff in the semis while Berankis beat Henri Laaksonen.

Lima Challenger (November 11-November 17, 2013)

Horacio Zeballos beat Facundo Bagis on clay in Peru to capture this challenger title. Zeballos beat Martin Alund and will finish the year top 60 while Bagnis will finish in the top 130. Bagnis beat Ricardo Hocevar in the semis

Yokohoma Challenger (November 11-November 17, 2013)

Top seed Matt Ebden beat Go Soeda on hard courts in Japan and the Aussie continued his strong finish to the season. Ebden beat the in-form Bradley Klahn in the semis as well, while Soeda beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Andria Challenger (November 18-November 24, 2013)

Marton Fucsovics kept Dustin Brown from getting a direct entry spot in the Australian Open by beating him in the final and winning this carpet challenger in Italy. Fucsovics beat Frank Dancevic in the semis while Brown beat Yann Marti.

Tyumen Challenger (November 18-November 24, 2013)

Andrey Golubev beat Andrey Kuznetsov on hard courts in Russia to take this challenger title and cap off his season with a win. Golubev beat Teymuraz Gabashvili in the semis while Kuznetsov handled Ilya Marchenko.

Toyota Challenger (November 18-November 24, 2013)

Matt Ebden should be right up to his career high ranking again in the top 70 after yet another challenger title in the final event of the year. Ebden finishes the year with 4 challenger titles, along with 2 challenger finals and a handful of other good semis and quarterfinal results. Ebden beat yet another Japanese player on his home court, Yuichi Sugita, to win this carpet challenger and beat Blaz Rola in the semis while Sugita beat Sam Groth.

The Challenger tour season has now concluded along with the ATP season, and things will start back up come January, I hope everyone enjoyed the coverage for the year of tennis that was 2013. It’sbeen a blast for us at Tennis East Coast!

—Steen Kirby, Tennis East Coast

2013 ATP Hamburg, Bogota Recap: Fognini, Karlovic Make Some Noise on Different Continents

Posted by Admin on July 21, 2013

Posted in: ATP. Tagged: atp, Bogota, Copa Clara, Delbonis, Fabio Fognini, ivo karlovic, open, recap, roger federer. Leave a comment

ATP Hamburg and Bogota Recap: Fognini, Karlovic Make Some Noise on Different Continents

ATP Hamburg

Fabio Fognini followed up his maiden title with yet another in Hamburg, surviving 3 match points against qualifier Federico Delbonis to win 4-6, 7-6, 6-2. Delbonis probably should have won, but the Italian, who is playing liberated tennis at the moment, simply got it done.

Fognini beat Albert Ramos, Marcel Granollers, Tommy Haas and Nicolas Almagro, all without dropping a set and not showing any signs of fatigue before the final.

The 22-year-old Delbonis beat Julian Reister, Tommy Robredo in 3 sets, Dmitry Tursunov, Fernando Verdasco in 3 sets and Roger Federer in straights, all after qualifying.

Marcin Matkowski and Mariusz Fyrstenberg beat Alex Peya and Bruno Soares for the doubles title, their first of the year.

ATP Bogota

Ivo Karlovic was not broken the entire tournament, as he blitzed Alejandro Falla 6-3, 7-6 in just over an hour to take home a title that gives him one on every ATP surface (indoor and outdoor hard, grass and clay) It also returns him to the top 100.

The Croat has been amazing in his return from meningitis, battling past Juan Londero, Igor Sijsling, Adrian Mannarino and Kevin Anderson to reach the final.

Big Ivo, Big Comeback of the Year

Falla did well at home in the altitude of Bogota, beating Xavier Malisse, Matt Ebden, Janko Tipsarevic in 3 sets and Vasek Pospisil in 3 sets.

Purav Raja and Divij Sharan beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Igor Sijsling for the doubles title.

—Steen Kirby, Tenniseastcoast.com

2013 ATP Hamburg and Bogota Previews, Predictions

Posted by Admin on July 15, 2013

Posted in: ATP. Tagged: atp, Bet at Home, Bogota, hamburg, Predicitons, previews, roger federer. Leave a comment

2013 ATP Hamburg and Bogota Previews

The ATP entrée choices this week are a 500 on clay in Hamburg with some history and a brand new 250 on hard courts in Bogota that will try to make some new history. ATP tennis returns to Colombia for the first time in 11 years.

ATP Hamburg
bet-at-home Open-German Tennis Championships
ATP World Tour 500
Hamburg, Germany
July 15-July 21, 2013
Prize Money: €1,230,500

Top 8 seeds (top 16 seeds receive first round byes)
1: Roger Federer
2: Tommy Haas
3: Nicolas Almagro
4: Jerzy Janowicz
5: Juan Monaco
6: Andreas Seppi
7: Alex Dolgopolov
8: Jeremy Chardy

The addition of Federer this time, as he tries to make up ranking points, makes this solid 500 even more notable.

First round matchups to watch:

(wc) Alexander Zverev vs. Roberto Bautista Agut

Alexander Zverev is the 16-year-old brother of journeyman pro Mischa Zverev and the son of a former Soviet tennis player from the 80s also named Alex Zverev. He will be playing his first career ATP match against Stuttgart semifinalist Roberto Bautista Agut. Zverev is currently the #2 junior in the world and made the final of the Junior French Open, where he lost to another prodigy, Christian Garin of Chile (he also lost to Stefan Kozlov of Newport fame at Junior Wimbledon). This is clearly a big step up, but it will be interesting what he can do against the Spaniard.

Top Half:

Federer needs points here, having slipped to number 5, and will play Paolo Lorenzi or Daniel Brands at the start. After that he could meet qualifiers Lukasz Kubot or Jan Hajek or the 15 seed Ernests Gulbis, who fell to Tommy Haas in Hamburg in another 3 set match.

Alex Dolgopolov starts against Florian Mayer or Nikolay Davydenko and then could get wild card JL Struff, Leo Mayer, or 11 seed Feliciano Lopez.

Wimbledon semifinalist Jerzy Janowicz will play Robin Haase, who comes off a challenger final, or qualifier Diego Sebastian Schwartzman. He could then meet 14 seed Fernando Verdasco, the Bastad finalist, if Verdasco beats the Zverev/Bautista winner.

Jeremy Chardy, coming off an opening match loss in Bastad, plays Pablo Andujar or Dmitry Tursunov followed by Tommy Robredo, who suffered an early loss in Bastad, or qualifier Federico Delbonis/wild card Julian Reister.

Bottom Half:

Haas, who was blitzed by Fognini in Stuttgart, will play Blaz Kavcic or Stuttgart semifinalist Victor Hanescu. The winner gets 16 seed Martin Klizan, Bastad winner Carlos Berlocq, or wild card Matthias Bachinger.

Andreas Seppi plays Marcel Granollers or Thomaz Bellucci, with Bellucci looking ok coming off injury, winning a round in Stuttgart and doing well in the doubles. Seppi could meet his countryman and Stuttgart champion Fabio Fognini, if Fognini beats Albert Ramos/Horacio Zeballos. Zeballos has been atrocious since the golden swing, while Ramos made quarters in Bastad.

Bastad quarterfinalist Nicolas Almagro awaits Tobias Kamke or an inconsistent Lukas Rosol. The winner gets Mikhail Youzhny or a pair of Spaniards, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez/Daniel Gimeno-Traver.

Bastad quarterfinalist Juan Monaco will play Stuttgart quarterfinalist Gael Monfils or Andrey Golubev in a solid 2nd round match, with the winner meeting 9 seed Benoit Paire or Paul-Henri Mathieu/Albert Montanes. Montanes is coming off a bad opening round loss in Stuttgart.

Dark Horse: Victor Hanescu

There are many players including Gulbis, Struff, Verdasco, Monfils and Bellucci who could make noticeable runs at this event, but I’ll give the veteran Romanian Hanescu top billing as he is good on clay, and in form. If he beats Kavcic and upsets Haas, who is a solid player but was noticeably unsteady in Stuttgart, it should be smoother sailing against Klizan, a tired Berlocq or Bachinger. In the quarters he could see a tired Fognini, an off Seppi or someone else such as Bellucci, all of whom are beatable.

Predictions:

Quarters:
Federer d. Mayer
Janowicz d. Robredo
Almagro d. Monfils
Haas d. Seppi

Federer should have more to worry about with Brands and Gulbis early, but I’ll pick the unseeded Mayer as his quarterfinal opponent because neither Dolgo or Lopez are trustworthy seeds. Struff may not be experienced enough yet.

JJ may get a challenge from Verdasco, but I think he will be fresher and prevail if they meet. Robredo was terrible in Bastad, but has a weak draw before the quarters.

Almagro should reach the quarters and beyond, while I like Monfils over the seeds Monaco and Paire in that section. Almagro beat Monfils this year on clay in Houston.

Haas or Hanescu should beat Seppi, and I think Fognini will be too tired to do damage in this section. Same applies to Bellucci. Haas beat Seppi in Madrid this year on clay.

Semis:
Federer d. Janowicz
Almagro d. Haas

Federer beat JJ in Rome on clay this year, and the same result should occur here even with Federer being less reliable than he used to be.

Almagro has never beaten Haas (0-3), but they last met on clay in ’05 and their other two previous meetings on hard courts both went 3 sets.

Final:
Federer d. Almagro

Federer hasn’t played Nico in 6 years, and a lot has changed, but the 5-0 h2h speaks for itself. Federer wouldn’t play a 500 event like this if he wasn’t motivated to win it, and he still has enough skill to do just that.

ATP Bogota
Claro Open Colombia
ATP World Tour 250
Bogota, Colombia
July 15-July 21, 2013
Prize Money: $638,085

Top 4 seeds (Who all receive first round byes)
1: Janko Tipsarevic
2: Kevin Anderson
3: Igor Sijsling
4: Edouard Roger-Vasselin

The equivalent of a strong challenger field for a 250, and a great chance for some lower ranked guys to pick up points and prize money.

First round matchups to watch:

Vasek Pospisil vs. Michal Przysiezny

Vashy lost in 3 sets to Ivo Karlovic in Newport and has a great chance to make a big run here. Przysienzny made quarters in Newport, and has been solid this year.These two met in the final of the Johannesburg challenger on hard courts back in May and Pospisil came out the winner in 3 sets. I expect the same.

Top Half:

Janko Tipsarevic has been abysmal this year after the month of January, and he probably has gone out of his way to Bogota to try and fix that. He opens with Ruben Bemelmans or wild card Nico Barrientos. He should get past that, but literally nothing has been assured for Tipsy this year. Beyond that, one of Jimmy Wang/Matt Ebden/Xaiver Malisse/Alejandro Falla await in the quarters in what is literally a toss-up section.

Roger-Vasselin comes off an opening round Newport loss and gets Matteo Viola or Ilya Marchenko, then the Pospisil/Przysiezny winner or James Duckworth/Aljaz Bedene in the quarters. None of those players are really in spectacular form at the moment.

Bottom Half:

Big Kevin Anderson has a great draw, opening with a qualifier or wild card Eduardo Struvay. In the quarters it should be Evgeny Korolev, a qualifier, Santiago Giraldo or wild card Carlos Salamanca in another incredibly open section. Again, the home favorite Colombians will be trying to make a mark.

Newport quarterfinalist Igor Sijsling takes on a qualifier or fellow Newport quarterfinalist Ivo Karlovic, who looked great in his comeback event and with these fast courts could very well surprise. Quarterfinal opponents are one of a qualifier, Facundo Arguello, Adrian Mannarino or Alejandro Gonzalez.

Dark Horse: Vasek Pospisil

Vasek Pospisil

Everyone but the top 2 seeds are basically dark horses in such an open event, but I have Pospisil in the final so I’ll officially designate him. After Przysiezny, Duckworth/Bedene are beatable and Roger-Vasselin can be good but is streaky with his play. Tipsarevic, short of totally laying an egg, should make the quarters, but for some reason I just can’t see him winning this event. I say Vashy will upset him there to reach the final.

Pospisil is a talented Canadian on the verge of a breakthrough for a while now, and though injuries beset him and his climb has been slow and steady rather than meteoric, he still is very talented and makes his home on the hard courts. After a slow start to his season, he made a challenger final, a challenger semi, won a challenger and qualified for a slam (the French). Good signs for the future.

Predictions:

Semis:
Pospisil d. Tipsarevic
Anderson d. Sijsling

Already went through the first semi, and Anderson should have no trouble at the bottom of the draw with nothing even near threatening in his way. Sijsling should very well do the same right above him, though Karlovic is a dangerous floater who can’t be easily be predicted besides tiebreak tennis.

Final:
Anderson d. Pospisil

This is Anderson’s tournament to lose in my opinion: hard courts, well rested and as good of an ATP level draw as any top player is going to get. His final opponent could give him a bit of trouble, but with 2 ATP finals under his belt this year, look for him to get his first title of the year in Bogota.