Make it Eight Straight Sets for Duque-Marino as she advances to TinsleyClassic Final in Charlottesville
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Mariana Duque-Marino made it four straight matches without dropping a set at the 2018 Boyd Tinsley Women’s Clay Court Classic in Charlottesville, Virginia with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over American Jennifer Brady. Both players came out tentatively, and Duque-Marino even gave up a break on a
double-fault before settling down to take the first set and the match. “I think I did a lot of double faults because she was pressuring me with her forehand,” she told me after the match. “So if I didn’t put the first serve on the court, I would have to run–a lot. That’s why I was trying to force the second serve a little bit,” she continued. “My forehand was very good and with my slice, very happy today.”
Boyd Tinsley Women’s Clay Court Classic Trophy
Duque-Marino will put her 8 set win streak on the line tomorrow against either Taylor Townsend or Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine. Townsend beat Duque-Marino in 3 sets last week in the Dothan final. I pointed out the Boar’s Head trophy, which stood nearby and asked if she’d like to take the glass and metal violin trophy home with her tomorrow.
“It’s different. I never had one of those ones, but tomorrow I hope to play the same like the matches before.” she said with a smile.
2015 Orleans, Tiburon, Pereira, Agri, Rome and Porto Alegre Challenger Recaps
Chris De Waard, Tennis Atlantic
Orleans
Jan-Lennard Struff’s ranking has taken a big hit in the past year. Just a year ago he was ranked inside of the top 50, while at the start of this tournament he found himself at #136. However, he would take a big step towards the top 100 at Orleans. He started off by very nearly beating fifth seed Ivan Dodig in the second round, 3-6 7-6(5) 6-2, after which he surprised by beating top seed Sergiy Stakhovsky without breaking a sweat, 6-4 6-2. Kenny De Schepper, who beat third seed Marsel Ilhan in the second round, couldn’t break Struff’s run either in the semi-final, 6-2 3-6 6-3.
In the bottom half the seeds held up better, with three of them making the quarterfinals. There eighth seed Iliya Marchenko beat fourth seed Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4 6-4, while second seed Jerzy Janowicz beat Franko Skugor 6-1 2-6 6-4. The semi-final was a tight affair, but Janowicz overcame Marchenko in three sets, 6-1 2-6 6-4. In the final Janowicz was up a set and a break twice, but eventually couldn’t stop Struff’s dream run, who took down his second Challenger title of the year and third overall. He made a big jump in the rankings, rising thirty-one spots to #105, while Janowicz improved seven spots to #61.
Tiburon
Fourth seed Dustin Brown took a big hit in the first round, falling 6-2 7-5 to qualifier Sekou Bangoura. There was a little bit of controversy in the beginning of the match, with Bangoura hitting a winner off his chest, which wasn’t seen by the umpire.
Bangoura couldn’t take his run further, as he fell in a third set tiebreak to wildcard Mackenzie McDonald, who in his turn had a lucky break against sixth seed Bjorn Fratangelo in the next round, who had to retire after losing the first four games due to a lower back injury. In the semi-final top seed Denis Kudla was just too strong, despite McDonald hitting the shot of the tournament early in the third set, 6-2 6-1 6-4.
In the bottom half second seed Kyle Edmund had an early first round exit against fellow Brit Brydan Klein, 6-4 6-1. Fifth seed Ryan Harrison fell to Marek Michalicka in the second round, 7-6(4) 4-6 6-3. In the following round third seed Tim Smyczek had no troubles with Michalicka, 6-3 6-1, after which he came up with the exact same scoreline to beat Quentin Halys for a place in the final. There an absolutely spectacular encounter between Smyczek and Kudla followed, with Smyczek saving four match points during his 1-6 6-1 7-6(7) triumph. Smyczek moved back into the top 100 with his second Challenger title of the year and his fifth overall, rising fourteen spots to #98. Kudla rose six spots to a career high ranking of #67.
Pereira
Top seed Paolo Lorenzi was the only top 100 player in the draw and expected to win here, with second seed Joao Souza in a big slump and fourth seed Alejandro Falla uncomfortable on clay. Lorenzi cruised through the draw, beating fifth seed Guilherme Clezar 6-4 6-2 in the quarterfinal and Marcelo Arevalo, who beat Falla in the second round, 6-1 6-3 in the semi-final to reach the final without dropping a set.
In the bottom half Souza and Gonzalez managed to get through to the semi-final, although Souza showed the confidence in his game is still low, needing three sets on two occasions against much lower-ranked opponents. Gonzalez took advantage of his slump, beating him 6-2 6-7(4) 6-3 to reach the final. There another long match followed, but Lorenzi managed to come out on top this time, 6-2 6-7(4) 6-3. It’s the third Challenger title of the year and fifteenth overall for the 33-year-old Italian. The win saw him rise three ranking spots to #83, while Gonzalez rose twelve spots to #110.
Second seed Malek Jaziri withdrew citing an ankle injury, keeping up his acting performance from last week, when he retired alongside Denys Molchanov while 8-9 down in the supertiebreak of the Izmir Challenger final. The retirement was solely because they had a bet on themselves to win, which would be voided with a retirement. In Agri it resulted in a very ironic situation where Jaziri’s accomplice of last week, Molchanov, took advantage of the draw opening up because of the withdrawal, with him beating Dennis Novak 7-6(4) 6-2 for a place in the semi-final. There eighth seed Saketh Myneni was just too strong, 6-3 3-6 7-6(1).
In the top half fifth seed Konstantin Kravchuk managed to oust top seed Ruben Bemelmans in the quarterfinal, 6-3 6-4. In the semi-final sixth seed Farrukh Dustov was too strong, however, 7-6(4) 6-2, meaning Dustov reached the final without dropping a set. He kept it up in the final, beating Myneni 6-4 6-4 to win his second Challenger title of the year and fifth overall. He rose twenty-four ranking spots to #129, while Myneni rose thirty spots to a career high ranking of #168.
World no.153 Farrukh Dustov wins the inaugural Agri Challenger beating Saketh Myneni 6-4, 6-4 in the final. #AgriCHpic.twitter.com/SywXKrH3Gm
A strong line-up arrived in Rome, with five players ranked inside of the top 100 competing. Second seed Daniel Gimeno-Traver was the only one of them to lose before the quarterfinal, falling 6-3 5-7 6-3 to Thiemo de Bakker in the second round. Top seed Federico Delbonis beat eighth seed Albert Montanes 7-5 6-1 in the quarterfinal, after which he ousted third seed Dusan Lajovic as well in the following round, although it was a much harder encounter, 7-6(8) 7-6(5).
In the bottom half fifth seed Filip Krajinovic beat De Bakker 6-1 6-3 for a place in the semi-final, where fourth seed Marco Cecchinato awaited, who beat sixth seed Inigo Cervantes 6-1 6-4. After a tight two-set encounter Krajinovic advanced to the final, beating Cecchinato 7-5 6-4. In the final Delbonis was too strong eventually, beating Krajinovic 1-6 6-3 6-4 to claim his third Challenger title of the year and his seventh overall, posting a perfect 3-0 record in finals this year. His ranking improved ten spots, landing at #57. Krajinovic rose eleven spots to #87, just one spot shy of his career high ranking of #86.
Porto Alegre
Top seed Diego Schwartzman managed to reach the final, but it was far from easy. In the quarterfinal eighth seed Maximo Gonzalez took him to 6-1 1-6 7-5, after which fourth seed Carlos Berlocq made it even closer in the semi-final, 3-6 6-3 7-6(0). In the bottom half Rogerio Dutra Silva kept up his remarkable run of form, beating third seed Kimmer Coppejans 6-2 6-4 in the second round, after which he followed it up with a win over fifth seed Facundo Arguello, 2-6 6-4 6-4. Second seed Guido Pella was too strong in the semi-final, however, beating the Brazilian 6-1 5-7 6-1.
The final was won by Pella as well, after an excellent 6-3 7-6(5) victory over Schwartzman. It’s Pella’s third Challenger title of the year, racking up a 3-1 record in finals this year and a very impressive 9-2 overall. He rose seventeen ranking spots to #77, just two shy of his career high ranking. Schwartzman rose five spots to #72.
ATP Genova, Alphen aan den Rijn, Medellin Challenger Previews, Predictions Chris De Waard, Tennis East Coast
AON Open Challenger
ATP Challenger Tour
Genova, Italy
2-7 September
Prize Money: €85,000
Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Albert Ramos-Vinolas (95)
2: Dustin Brown (97)
3: Benoit Paire (98)
4: Albert Montanes (114)
5: Andreas Beck (115)
6: Damir Dzumhur (119)
7: Aljaz Bedene (133)
8: Gastao Elias (142)
The last direct acceptance is Pedro Sousa, ranked 312th. Viktor Troicki entered this tournament on a special exempt after his victorious run last week and plays second seed Dustin Brown in the first round.
First round match-ups to watch
(2) Dustin Brown – (SE) Viktor Troicki
Obviously. This is a match that easily could’ve taken place at Grand Slam or 500 level, but in a way it’s better for us on Challenger level since we are now guaranteed a stream. Brown must hate his draw. Not only did he as the second seed draw someone who won a Challenger last week, he is the defending champion and now there is a very reasonable chance he crashes out in the first round. Brown currently sits just inside the top 100 at #97, but if Troicki beats him he would drop out of the top 120, so it’s a crucial match for him. He has to hope for one of his good days, since he’ll need to overpower Troicki while keeping the unforced error count lower than he usually does.
Top Half
#4 seed Albert Montanes starts off with a tricky match against Marton Fucsovics, a man who is twelve years his junior and is well capable of upsetting him. However, after moving away from the main tour, Montanes has picked up his results again, winning the Cordenons Challenger two weeks ago, so he should still be favored to get past Fucsovics. After that, a potential meeting with Gastao Elias awaits him should the Portuguese beat Volandri, who beat him 6-4 6-3 at Hamburg earlier this year. Top seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas should be able to get through his section, although seventh seed Aljaz Bedene may put up some stiff resistance. After all, the last clay Challenger Bedene played he won, in Italy, even: Todi in early July.
Bottom Half
This is an interesting one. Second seed Brown could fall to Troicki and with third seed Benoit Paire, you never know what you are going to get. Put some dangerous floaters like Marco Cecchinato and Potito Starace in the mix and it becomes a very difficult half to predict. The other two seeds, Damir Dzumhur and Andreas Beck, are in pretty good form as well, so it’s basically anyone’s final to reach. Nevertheless, I have to pick someone, but I wouldn’t advise putting your house on it.
Predictions
Semis:
Ramos-Vinolas > Elias
Paire > Dzumhur
Final:
Ramos-Vinolas > Paire
Ramos-Vinolas has played Elias twice already this year, with Ramos-Vinolas winning both matches in three sets. He also played against Paire, in Umag, where he beat him 7-5 6-3, so Ramos-Vinolas has to be favored over his opponents partially due to this 2014 head to head advantage.
TEAN International 2014
ATP Challenger Tour
Alphen aan den Rijn, The Netherlands
2-7 September
Prize Money: €42,500
Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Robin Haase (70)
2: Igor Sijsling (72)
3: Daniel Gimeno-Traver (101)
4: Thiemo de Bakker (140)
5: Victor Hanescu (150)
6: Axel Michon (180)
7: Matteo Viola (193)
8: Roberto Carballes Baena (212)
The last direct acceptance is Inigo Cervantes, ranked 303rd.
First round match-ups to watch
(1) Robin Haase – Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo
Haase has been playing on hardcourt in past weeks and his last clay court match didn’t leave him with pleasant memories, as he lost 6-2 6-3 to Paolo Lorenzi in Kitzbühel, a tournament where he normally excels. To play a solid veteran grinder like Ramirez Hidalgo isn’t ideal when you have a lack of rhythm and he might make Haase pay here. Haase’s previous Dutch Challenger didn’t end all that well either, as he needed three sets to beat world #494 Dino Marcan in the first round and fell in straights to Jesse Huta Galung in the next round.
Top Half
There is quite the ranking difference between the two top seeds, Haase and Gimeno-Traver, and the rest of the field, making them the clear favorites to face off against each other in the semi-final. The second highest seed, Michon, is ranked eighty ranking spots below Gimeno-Traver and a massive 110 above Haase. That said, Haase is projected to play Huta Galung in the second round, who beat him at the Sport1 Open in July. Although Huta Galung pulled out injured in his qualifying match at the US Open, when he is healthy he may well beat Haase.
Bottom Half
Thiemo de Bakker is in a perfect position to make a run here, with two relatively easy first rounds and a projected match against slumping fifth seed Victor Hanescu or Hans Podlipnik-Castillo in the quarterfinal. Second seed Igor Sijsling, despite his form crisis, should be the slight favorite to reach the semi-final from the other section, but against De Bakker he will be the underdog, as De Bakker is quite clearly the more natural clay court player.
Predictions
Semis:
Gimeno-Traver > Huta Galung
De Bakker > Sijsling
Final:
Gimeno-Traver > De Bakker
This final would be a repeat of last year’s semi-final, when Gimeno-Traver managed to oust De Bakker in three sets. Top seed Haase has a tricky draw with Ramirez Hidalgo and Huta Galung back to back, with especially his countryman being a real danger as shown in past meetings.
Claro Open Medellin 2014
ATP Challenger Tour
Medellin, Colombia
2-7 September
Prize Money: $50,000
The last direct acceptance is Martin Cuevas, ranked 376th.
First round match-ups to watch
(7) Gonzalo Lama – Kevin King
Not only does his name remind one of his legendary countryman Fernando Gonzalez, Gonzalo Lama’s game shows similarities as well, most notably his forehand, on which he can create similar rotation. The 21 year old won his first Challenger title in Colombia in April of this year, so he should feel comfortable coming back to the country. He plays Kevin King, who made an interesting choice coming here to play on clay, a surface which he hasn’t played on since April, when he reached the second round of the San Luis Potosi Challenger in Mexico.
Top Half
Top seed Alejandro Gonzalez should cruise through his section, which contains #8 seed Austin Krajicek, who isn’t impressive on clay in the slightest. #4 seed Guido Pella might look threatening in name, but has been struggling with injury for quite some time and probably isn’t ready yet to pose a serious challenge. It should, however, be an interesting battle between him and Wayne Odesnik for a semi-final spot.
Bottom Half
#2 seed Facundo Bagnis performed above expectations at the US Open, coming through the qualification draw and falling to Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first round. He most likely will face Lama in the quarterfinal, a match which I’m looking forward to very much. They have already played earlier this year at Caltanissetta in Italy, with Bagnis winning 6-4 6-4. In the other section third seed Joao Souza will probably get through to the semi-final, considering the good form he is in. In his last three Challenger events he made two semi-finals and a quarterfinal.
Predictions
Semis:
Gonzalez > Pella
Bagnis > Souza
Final:
Bagnis > Gonzalez
In a match-up between Bagnis and Gonzalez, it’s hard to ignore their previous match, played at a Challenger in Santiago last year, where Bagnis absolutely hammered Gonzalez 6-0 6-3.
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.
2014 Bucaramanga Challenger Preview Ryan Harmer, Tennis East Coast
Bucaramanga Open
Bucaramanga, Colombia
January 20-27, 2014
Prize money: $40,000
It wouldn’t be a challenger week without a clay court tournament in South America. This weeks tournament takes place in Colombia and sees arguably the weakest field of the Challenger week compete for the title and a share of a $40k prize pool.
Top 8 seeds:
1) Alejandro Gonzalez
2) Alejandro Falla
3) Guido Pella
4) Paolo Lorenzi
5) Joao Souza
6) Diego Sebastian Schwartzman
7) Facundo Arguello
8) Pere Riba
First round matchups to watch:
Guilherme Clezar v Guido Pella
The tie of the round pits the young Brazillian, Clezar, against a fellow youngster and third seed Pella. They faced off earlier in the year in Sao Paulo with Clezar throwing away a *4-0 lead in the first set only to level the match in the second before losing in a third set tie-breaker. However, that match was played on an outdoor hard court, whereas this is on a surface in which Clezar holds a 1-0 H2H lead. I cannot call the winner of this match with much confidence, but it will certainly be a close battle worth following.
Victor Estrella Burgos v Gastao Elias
An intriguing match up between a player enjoying the best run of his career (Burgos) against a young man who had a pretty poor year last year and really needs to get his career back on track. At their best, you expect Elias to have enough to win. However, nobody knows which Elias will turn up which makes this so interesting. Expect a lot of turns and twists in this match.
Top half:
It seems obvious to back the top seed, but it is hard to see how Alejandro Gonzalez doesn’t at least make the final, let alone win the whole tournament. He has a straight forward match versus fellow countryman Carlos Salamanca in the first round before either Burgos/Elias in the second. In the bottom half of this mini section, Joao Souza would be the favourite to proceed. He faces Andre Ghem, who is poor on clay, before a possible second round match versus either David Souto or Emilio Gomez. Souza v Gonzalez would be a repeat of the Sao Paolo final which Souza won, but given this is on clay Gonzalez is my first semi finalist.
In the second half of the top section, it looks a straight forward fight between Paolo Lorenzi and Facundo Arguello to face Gonzalez. Lorenzi should beat Maximo Gonzalez before likely facing Martin Alund, who should beat Gerald Melzer. Arguello faces a qualifier and if he proceeds will face Juan-Carlos Spir or wildcard Felipe Mantilla.
Bottom half:
Diego Sebastian Schwartzman is the marginal favourite in this section. He faces a qualifier in the first round before the winner of Nicolas Barrientos v Giovanni Lapentti. The other mini section is far more competitve and it is very difficult to call. Guido Andreozzi faces a qualifier with the winner to play Guilherme Clezar or Guido Pella. I cannot predict who goes through with any conviction but fancy it to be irrelevant as I expect Schwartzmann to triumph and reach the semi finals.
Second seed Alejandro Falla is the clear favourite in the bottom half. He faces American Chase Buchanan before a meeting with Renzo Olivo or Gonzalo Lama. Falla should stroll through and is likely to face Pere Riba in the quarter finals. Riba faces a qualifier with Jose Hernandez or Juan Litzarry unlikely to provide too much trouble in a second round clash.
All in all, this seems relatively straight forward for the seeds!
Semifinals
Alejandro Gonzalez d. Paolo Lorenzi
Gonalez will run out a comfortable winner here. Lorenzi is a fighter but Gonzalez had a really good 2013 on the clay and I expect that to continue.
Falla d. Schwartzman
Falla is a near certainty to make the final. It is hard to see who beats him, certainly not Schwartzman. Being at home always brings the best out of Falla and I predict another final for him.
Gonzalez d. Falla
This should be a coin flip with the bookmakers and I have thought hard before deciding that Gonzalez is my winner this week.
Two home favourites in the final will provide a great spectacle. The crowds tend to come out in force in South America, so we could potentially expect a great occasion should both of the top seeds make it.
Tennis Atlantic 