Georgia Tech Senior Chris Eubanks won the second ATP match of his career, upsetting American young gun Jared Donaldson 6-4 4-6 6-2 in the second round of the 2017 BB&T Atlanta Open. The local favorite Eubanks backed up his round 1 win against Taylor Fritz, and again showed off fantastic power on the forehand side, and excellent footwork. Eubanks pushed Donaldson around the court in the first and third set. In the first he came back from a break down, securing two breaks in total to take the set. Donaldson hung tight though, breaking and then holding serve without incident in set 2. Even though the momentum was with the top 60 player, it was Eubanks who would break early in the third set, and then after saving a break point and holding for 5-2, he broke Donaldson on his third match point to take the match, rather quickly for a three setter. Although he’s unlikely to turn pro until after he completes college, his performance this week puts him in the conversation as one of the top young American men in tennis. After the win he reacted with pure joy, running around and high fiving spectators in a victory lap.
American men had a great day on Thursday in Atlanta, in the late match Jack Sock backed up his place as the top seed 6-4 6-3. His forehand and serve were too strong for Sela, who lacked the weaponry to compete with the American #1. Sela, who kept a positive attitude throughout the contest was broken in the opening game, and although Sock faced a bit of pressure, he managed to maintain his serve for the first set. In the second set Sela was again broken from the start, and although he had chances in two different Sock service games to break back, he couldn’t take them. Losing momentum, Sock broke late to finish off the match. It wasn’t the cleanest performance for Sock, but it gets him to the quarterfinals.
Ryan Harrison also kept his seeding, defeating John Millman 6-7 7-6 7-5. Harrison was cranky through the first two sets, but finally found his mojo. The first set featured a long rain delay, as both players traded breaks and ended up in a first set tiebreak. Millman faced pressure on his serve in the first set, but Harrison choked when he had a break point on his racquet. A poor tiebreak put Harrison under the pump. He responded well though, Millman would go up a set and a break, but Harrison used his power and defensive skillset to claw back. Millman was kept behind the baseline, and was broken serving for the match after having a break point/match point at 3-5 in the second set. Harrison would take an ensuing tiebreak to take things into a third set.
Lacking weaponry, Millman was overpowered in the third set, Harrison continued to struggle on break points, but he did save two on his serve at 2-3 in the third, and finally broke through to go up 6-5 in the third, and then serve out the match. Like Sock, Harrison was sloppy at times on return in particular, but a win is a win, especially in the Atlanta heat.
On the grandstand Kyle Edmund came back from a set down to defeat Peter Gojowczyk 2-6 6-4 7-5. The match was disrupted by a rain delay, but Gojowczyk played a much better first set. In the second set Edmund saved a break point and then broke Gojowczyk in the final game of the set to force a third. Edmund would be under heavy pressure in an up and down third set, he saved three break points at 1-1, lost his serve at 2-2 but broke back, and then finally broke through, breaking Gojowczyk to take the third set 7-5 on his second match point chance. Edmund has a solid chance at claiming the title this week if he can improve his form a bit.
In the doubles Koolhof/Sitak beat Molteni/Shamasdin, and Millman/Ratiwatana beat Qureshi/Ratiwatana in a matchup between brothers, where Millman found some joy despite the singles loss.
Georgia Tech’s Christopher Eubanks claimed his first ever ATP main draw match victory, upsetting ATP young gun Taylor Fritz 7-6 6-4. Eubanks showed his power, controlling the match against the struggling Fritz. The first set was nip and tuck, with neither player facing a breakpoint. Eubanks lost one point on serve in the ensuing tiebreak, but Fritz lost two, and with that, the set. In the second set Eubanks went up a break, and then saved the only break point Fritz created the whole match, going on to serve it out 6-4. Fritz struggling on return to make any inroads.
Joining Eubanks in the second round is Atlanta’s own Donald Young, the home favorite dominated Tim Smyczek 6-4 6-2, playing the same comfortable and smooth tennis that has seen him post one of his best seasons on tour in years, Smyczek never made inroads.
Three young Americans weren’t as lucky on day 2 of main draw action. Reilly Opelka had eight match points in the second set, but his serve fell apart in the third set and he ended up losing to veteran Malek Jaziri 5-7 7-6 6-1. The loss is yet another for Opelka, who has struggled this year to close out matches at the tour level, with just one win on tour this year.
Vasek Pospisil won a nip and tuck battle against Bjorn Fratangelo 7-5 4-6 7-6. With the ball flying in the heat, Pospisil took the first set with the only break point chance of the set, he failed to break Fratangelo despite three chances in the second set, and Fratangelo stayed alive with a late break. Pospisil faced a break point in the opening service game of the third, and three more serving 4-4, the American never saw a match point though, failing to take his chances on Pospisil’s service games, he would lose the tiebreak 7-3 in the third set.
American Frances Tiafoe hit with power and moved well for three sets, but fell to the more experienced John Millman. Millman winning 5-7 6-4 7-6 in over two hours. Millman struggled on serve in the opening set late on, he saved two break points at 4-4, but then was broken and dropped the set from 5-5. Tiafoe wasn’t able to keep up his momentum in set 2, he was broken twice, once early on, and even though he got back on serve when Millman was serving for the set, he would get broken in the next game for a third set to ensue. Tiafoe served for the match in the third set, but never had a match point. Millman would break back and then snatch the tiebreak by a narrow margin.
The other singles winners on the day were Kyle Edmund, Peter Gojowczyk, and Dudi Sela. Edmund beat a struggling Marcos Baghdatis 6-3 7-5. Edmund was the better mover, and in the heat Baghdatis wilted a bit, failing to create chances in his return games. Gojowczyk kept up his momentum from a positive week in Newport, he won a later afternoon battle with Guido Pella 4-6 6-3 7-6 even though he was down a set and a break to open the match. The tiebreak was close, but only Gojowczyk had a match point. In a match that was not serve centric, the underpowered Sela beat Konstantin Kravchuk 7-5 6-2, coming back from a break down in the opening set.
In the doubles, the Bryan Brothers avoided being knocked off by Matt Reid and J.P. Smith via a super tiebreak. Qureshi/Ratiwatana beat Donald Young and Nick Monroe in a very close nightcap match, and Koolhof/Sitak beat Cox/Reinberg in yet another super tiebreak.
2015 Vancouver, Cordenons and Meerbusch Challenger Recaps Chris De Waard, Tennis Atlantic
Vancouver
Strange times on the Challenger circuit. Last week I wrote about how all the seeds in Aptos made it to the quarterfinals. This time it was the exact opposite in Vancouver, with none of the seeds managing to get there. The top half only started with two of them to begin with, as #5 Go Soeda and #6 Kyle Edmund withdrew before their first round matches. Third seed Ernests Gulbis pulled off what perhaps is the biggest contrast ever in back to back weeks. After reaching the quarterfinal of the Montreal 1000 tournament, missing two match points against world number one Novak Djokovic, he lost in the first round here to Iliya Marchenko, 6-3 6-7(5) 7-6(2).
Dudi Sela came out as the winner in the top half, although it didn’t come easy. He survived his first three matches 6-4 7-6(3), 6-7(4) 7-5 1-0 ret. and 6-4 6-7(4) 6-4. His semi-final against Yuki Bhambri was a lot more convincing, 6-2 6-4. In the bottom half qualifier Daniel Evans, who slipped to #417 in the rankings, showed he might be on the way back to his old form, which saw him reach the top 125 in early 2014. He beat Radek Stepanek 6-4 6-1 in the first round, after which he saved five match points in a remarkable comeback against seventh seed Taro Daniel, coming back from *0-5 down in the third set to win 4-6 6-3 7-6(6). An equally remarkable win followed in the quarterfinal against Brydan Klein, 7-6(1) 6-7(7) 6-0. John-Patrick Smith was too strong in the semi-final, however, beating Klein 4-6 6-2 6-3.
Sela just edged out the final in two tight sets, 6-4 7-5. It meant his fourth Vancouver title and eighteenth Challenger titles, which are incredible numbers. Not only that, the victory put him back inside of the top 100 at exactly #100, rising thirty spots. Smith rose to a career high ranking of #121, rising fifteen spots.
There were little results that can be marked as shocking. Perhaps one in the quarterfinal, where top seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas lost to sixth seed Roberto Carballes Baena, 4-6 6-2 6-3. His semi-final opponent was Adrian Ungur, who beat fourth seed Kenny De Schepper 6-4 7-6(7) in the quarterfinal. Ungur also beat Carballes Baena in the semi-final, 4-6 6-4 6-2. Perhaps I should retract my earlier statement, because the bottom half had two results that were pretty shocking. Second seed Paolo Lorenzi double bageled Pedja Krstin in the first round, with Filip Krajinovic doing the same against Erik Crepaldi in the second round. They faced each other in the semi-final, with Krajinovic winning 7-6(5) 6-4.
The final was a high quality affair and turned out to be an entertaining fight. Unfortunately it ended on a down note, with Krajinovic winning after retirement in the third set, 5-7 6-4 4-1, claiming his second title of the year and fourth overall. The problem lay in Ungur’s upper right leg. There was one absolutely spectacular rally in the second set which is a must watch, see the video attached below. Krajinovic rose twenty-two spots to #98, while Ungur rose eighty-one spots to #246.
Meerbusch
Top seed Andreas Haider-Maurer started the tournament rusty, needing three sets against qualifier Philipp Davydenko, but after that he started to get into his groove, not dropping another set on his way to the final. In the semi-final he dispatched third seed Facundo Arguello 6-4 6-4. In the bottom half the ever erratic second seed Dustin Brown got upset by Marek Michalicka in the second round, 2-6 6-3 6-1. Pere Riba took advantage, beating Michalicka 7-5 6-3 for a place in the semi-final. There he met Carlos Berlocq, who was having his first good run in ages, having struggled with injury for a good part of the year. Berlocq was clearly too strong for Riba, 6-3 6-3. In the final Haider-Maurer continued his great run of form, however, once again not dropping a set to win the match 6-2 6-4, claiming the ninth Challenger title of his career. He also rose to #52 in the rankings, an improvement of nine spots. Berlocq rose ten spots to #141. And as if the ATP felt Haider-Maurer’s title coming, they released their ATP World Tour Uncovered video about him a couple of days prior to his victory.
2015 ATP Montreal QualifyingPreview Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
photo credit: CBC
The ATP Rogers Cup for 2015 will take place in Montreal, Quebec and the strong Masters level field means that the qualifying draw is strong, and features many recognizable names both veteran and young gun, along with players in between those categories. Here is a preview of the weekend action set to come, as Tennis Atlantic is proud to have credentialed coverage of the tournament this year with our writer Leich Sinha.
Top 7 qualifying seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Nicolas Mahut (66)
2: Thanasi Kokkinakis (72)
3: Alexandr Dolgopolov (73)
4: Donald Young (75)
5: Yen-Hsun Lu (76)
6: Hyeon Chung (77)
7: Denis Kudla (79)
Seven qualifying spots are up for grabs, as all of the qualifying seeds have had ATP success this year and it makes for a competitive draw.
Gulbis, now down to #81 in the world, has endured a rough season, and he’s now reduced to having to play ATP qualifying again. The Latvian is just 5-17 this year after going 41-20 last season and he’s failed to win consecutive matches at any tournament this year. The lack of consistency and high error counts has hurt him mentally and his first round opponent isn’t an easy win.
Rola, an Ohio State product, has the ability to be top 100 and played well in Washington, beating Denis Kudla and losing to Leonardo Mayer, both in three sets. His NCAA experience built up his hard court abilities, and it’s hard to tell how this match will go. Gulbis is a name with star power, but Rola may well get the win in the end.
(2)Thanasi Kokkinakis vs. Pierre-Hugues Herbert
Thanasi Kokkinakis has been struggling since the French Open and he put together a poor Davis Cup showing in his last outing. That said, the young Australian is still 9-12 at the tour level this year, and 21-1 below it, as he’s been fantastic in ATP qualifying. He has great skills for hard courts, and still should be a minor favorite over Herbert.
The Frenchman who has shown flashes of talent worthy of the ATP level has had more success in doubles than singles this year and he’s just 1-2 at the ATP main draw level, though he qualified for Wimbledon in his last tournament entry. It’s hard to tell how his form will be on hard courts, but he has a solid serve. I see Kokkinakis advancing from this is he can find form.
(3)Alexandr Dolgopolov vs. Dudi Sela
An interesting hard court matchup that should feature solid shotmaking, Dolgopolov has been inconsistent, but he won a pair of matches in Washington and he’s clearly under ranked given his abilities. The veteran Sela reached the quarterfinals in Atlanta, but didn’t fare well in Washington losing in a blowout, and his form is thus questionable. You never know what you’re going to get with Dolgo, but he’s a likely favorite to advance.
An All-American battle that should favor the seeded Kudla over the formerly more accomplished Harrison. Kudla has been in fantastic form since the grass court season, as working with Billy Heiser seems to be paying off for him. The counterpunching ball striker who is solid from both wings reached the Semis in Atlanta to start his US Open Series, and though he lost his first match in Washington that may have been due to fatigue.
Harrison lost to Kudla in a third set tiebreak in Atlanta, in what was a tight match featuring a lot of balls hit back and forth, and though he qualified in Washington his form hasn’t been the best since the Spring. If something is up with Kudla, Harrison could win, but Kudla appears to have outpaced Harrison in development and form at this point in their careers, and I see him advancing.
Top Half:
Well-traveled veteran Nicolas Mahut is the top seed, but he’s 0-4 on outdoor hard courts this year and will look to improve against Canadian wild card and former Indian Hoosier Isade Junea. Junea is also 0-4 on hard courts this year and seems to prefer clay, thus Mahut is a heavy favorite over the futures level player. From there it should be Mahut against Rola/Gulbis to qualify, with Rola/Gulbis a favorite. I have Rola qualifying from section 1.
Section 2 has Kokkinakis/Herbert facing the winner of J.P. Smith/Mikhail Youzhny in the final round of qualifying. Youzhny, a loser of seven straight matches, is in awful form as he seemingly heads towards retirement. The former ATP regular who is just 1-5 on outdoor hard this year should go out to Smith who is 13-11 and qualified in Washington. In a possible battle between Aussie’s Kokkinakis has more talent, but Smith may be in better form, overall I see Kokkinakis as the favorite to qualify.
Section 3 is Dolgopolov/Sela against against Alejandro Falla or James Ward. Falla hasn’t played since Bogota but he’s 14-10 on an outdoor hard court this season. That match would be more entertaining on grass, but all the same Wardy is seeing the wheels come off his game right now and he’s lost four straight since Wimbledon. Ward tends to peak for the British part of the season on grass, and things aren’t looking up for him, so look for Dolgopolov over Falla in a shotmakers special to qualify.
Donald Young will look to break out of his funk against Edouard Roger-Vasselin in section 4. Young, after a hot start to the season, won his first ATP main draw match since Miami in Washington, where he upset Tommy Haas, but otherwise the American has been a disaster since career best results in Memphis and Delray Beach back to back (semis and final). He struggled at home in Atlanta, and though he’s a hard court player, he could well crash out here as well. ERV, now 31, isn’t a great singles player, but he’s 9-4 on outdoor hard below the tour level this year, and if his form is even halfway decent, I have the French speaker knocking out Young in Quebec.
The winner of Young/ERV will face Canadian Peter Polansky or veteran serve and volleyer Rajeev Ram in round 2. If it’s ERV vs. Ram it’ll be a battle of the doubles experts. Ram won Newport on grass and played well in Bogota but he was injured for Washington and Polansky at home may have an edge. Peter is 3-0 in the h2h and since returning from injury he’s played just two tournaments this season. This is a weak section, but I have Roger-Vasselin over Polansky to qualify.
Bottom Half:
Rendy Lu will be a strong favorite in section 5. Lu opens with 17 year old Canadian wild card David Volfson, who plays futures and has never faced an opponent up to Lu’s level. The 31 year old veteran is then likely to meet Belgium’s Ruben Bemelmans in the final qualifying round. Bemelmans won a match in Washington and is a solid 18-5 below the tour level this year on indoor hard. He’ll open with Canadian wild card and NCAA player (North Carolina) Brayden Schnur. Schnur isn’t up to his level, but Lu vs. Bemelmans should be a battle. Lu doesn’t have a lot of weapons but his steadiness should see him through qualifying.
Young gun Hyeon Chung of South Korea highlights section 6, Chung should roll past Canadian futures player Kelsey Stevenson and setup a meeting with Alejandro Gonzalez/Tim Smyczek. Chung won a main draw match in Washington and was competitive against Marin Cilic, a top 10 player, in round 2. The 19 year old is solid on both hard courts and clay and has a lot of game, thus I see him qualifying. Gonzalez is a pedestrian hard court player and Smyczek is in poor form (5 straight losses). Chung has a non-traditional game in some respects, he’s a good server and he whips his backhand.
Last but not least, Kudla/Harrison will face Illya Marchenko or James Duckworth in an interesting hard court section. Duckworth has a 2-0 h2h over Marchenko, who has lost three straight, and the Aussie is in good form, as he beat Harrison in Washington and pushed top 10 player Kei Nishikori to three sets before succumbing. Kudla and Duckworth, the likely matchup, have a 1-1 h2h and both are in good form, so it’s a hard match to predict, but I’m going with Kudla to qualify.
Look for our on-site reports from the ATP Montreal Rogers Cup this week!
2015 ATP Washington D.C. (@CitiOpen) Preview and Predictions Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
The next ATP 500 series event is the joint ATP/WTA hard court tournament in the American capital city Washington D.C. Most of the ATP players from the first stop of the North American hard court Summer in Atlanta will be making the trek up to D.C., joined by a host of other big names, as many of the top players begin their US Open prep.
2015 ATP Washington D.C. Preview
Citi Open
ATP World Tour 500*
Washington D.C., USA
August 3-August 9, 2015
Prize Money: $1,508,815
*denotes joint ATP/WTA tournament
Top 8 seeds (top 16 seeds receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Andy Murray (3)
2: Kei Nishikori (5)
3: Marin Cilic (8)
4: Richard Gasquet (13)
5: Kevin Anderson (14)
6: Grigor Dimitrov (16)
7: Feliciano Lopez (19)
8: John Isner (18)
9 of the top 20 players in the world on the ATP side are in playing in D.C. this year as it’s one of the best fields they have ever had for this tournament, headlined of course by the three top 10, and two top 5 names in the draw, Murray, Nishikori, and Cilic.
First round matchups to watch:
Ricardas Berankis vs. Yen-Hsun Lu
Berankis is 6-2 in his last eight hard court matches and comes off of the quarterfinals in Atlanta where he lost to eventual champion John Isner. He’s once more been spending time on the challenger tour this year but he’s still always had the talent to do better than that. Lu, the steady baseline ball striker, suffered a tough round 2 loss to Vasek Pospisil in Atlanta and his form is somewhat questionable. Lu is predictable and ranked slightly higher, but Berankis will have his chances to advance from this competitive contest.
Donald Young, a loser of six straight, will take on the wild card Tommy Haas who is still working on his injury recovery tour (2-4 record since returning to tour). Haas is aging but always a talent, and Young appears entirely devoid of confidence at the moment, though he’s playing on his favored North American hard courts. Haas hasn’t played a hard court match since March 2014, but he will have a good chance of advancing from this match regardless.
Alexander Zverev vs. (Q)Yoshihito Nishioka
A battle between young guns, Zverev, 19, is just 1-4 in ATP level hard court matches this year but he’s a respectable 9-5 below that level, qualifying for both Marseille and Miami this year. The German much prefers clay and recently reached a semi in Bastad. The 18 year old Nishioka, who combines speedy footwork with solid power for his small frame has a much stronger hard court record of 16-9 on the year and came through qualifying with a pair of solid wins. The Delray Beach quarterfinalist Nishioka is better on this surface, and thus look for him to beat his young rival.
The 19 year old Chung is another of the young guns in the DC draw this year, but he’s struggling, just 1-5 since reaching a hard court challenger final in South Korea. Sela, the Israeli veteran who lacks power in his game but rallies well, comes off quarterfinals in Atlanta and should be used to the hot conditions. Chung has a lot of talent, but I’m not sure he’ll be able to outwit the wise Sela.
Top Half:
Andy Murray is the top seed, and he’s a fantastic 44-7 on the season with a very strong hard court record to go with that. This year only Gilles Simon and Borna Coric have beaten him outside of the top 10, and with that in mind the in-form Murray is a strong favorite to go as far as the final here. Murray’s first match is sure to come against a veteran, either Benjamin Becker or Teymuraz Gabashvili. Gabashvili hasn’t played since Wimbledon but was in good form on the challenger tour prior to that, while Becker won his first match in a while in Atlanta but still may not entirely be healthy. I have Becker winning round 1 but losing to Murray, setting the UK #1 up with a match against Berankis/Lu for a spot in the quarters.
14 seed Pablo Cuevas gets a bye but he’s just 2-4 on hard courts this year, and rarely plays hard court matches in general as he’s a clay court specialist. Murray is 2-0 against Becker, and beat Berankis, who I have reaching round 3, in the 2013 Australian Open, overall he honestly shouldn’t drop a set en route to the quarters.
Atlanta champion John Isner was serving up aces and firing winners as he dominated the field in his title run, and presuming he doesn’t have too much fatigue he should continue that in D.C. on the same surface. Isner is twice a finalist in Washington and should have no trouble against Nicolas Jarry/Victor Estrella in round 2. Jarry is a clay court specialist but gets a wild card, while Estrella is merely an average player on hard courts. From there Isner is likely to face Atlanta semifinalist Vasek Pospisil, presuming Pospisil can physically recover from a grueling tournament in which he suffered cramping in the heat. Pospisil defends final points this year and will face Young/Haas round 2, Haas could trouble him, but I see Isner reaching the quarters and knocking him out. Pospisil is 2-1 against Isner but all of their matches have been close and Isner seems to have the form edge. Both players are big servers, but if Isner continues to win tiebreaks like he did in Atlanta that’ll be the difference.
Richard Gasquet should be in upset alert in his first match however, as Gilles Muller, the big serving veteran, is in excellent hard court form and could shock him. Muller, a semifinalist in singles and finalist in doubles in Atlanta, will face a struggling Malek Jaziri round 1 and has to win that before facing Gasquet. He also holds a 2-1 hard court record over the Frenchman, and presuming he’s not fatigued I have Muller upsetting Gasquet and then beating Jack Sock to reach the quarters. Sock struggled in the Atlanta heat and played poorly there but he’s still an American hard court talent with his dangerous forehand. His play in Atlanta aside he should beat Ruben Bemelmans/Marinko Matosevic in round 2, as Matosevic finally qualified and reached a main draw. Bemelmans has a solid hard court record but almost all of it comes below the main tour level and Matosevic has a h2h edge, his awful form this year aside. Sock should beat Bemelmans/Matosevic and then lose for a second time this year to Muller, as he also lost in a third set tiebreak in Indian Wells.
Grigor Dimitrov will have an easy round 2 match, as Atlanta finalist Marcos Baghdatis is nursing a leg injury, while qualifier Guido Pella prefers clay. It’s hard to predict that round 1 match, but regardless Dimitrov, who is a rather pedestrian 9-6 on hard courts this year, should first be tested in round 3 against either Steve Johnson or Bernard Tomic, both of whom could upset him. Tomic, the Bogota champion, will face Johnson in round 2, presuming Stevie J beats Lukas Lacko for the second week in a row. Their match in Atlanta went to three sets. Tomic is always hard to predict and he lost to Johnson on grass this year, but judging from his play in Bogota I have him reaching round 3 and then upsetting Dimitrov, who he is 0-2 against. Dimitrov simply seems to be in a malaise this year, and I feel Tomic is actually playing better.
Kei Nishikori is 17-5 on outdoor hard courts in 2015 and a solid 38-9 on the year overall, he may struggle in the heat but I still see him advancing past Ryan Harrison in his first match, presuming the qualifier Harrison beats James Duckworth. Nishikori has twice beaten Harrison this year as he simply does what Harrison does better from the baseline, along with being quicker. Kei should be on a minor upset alert in round 3 however, as Denis Kudla is in the form of his career and is on track to face him. Kudla, a semifinalist in Atlanta, has been on fire since he hired Billy Heiser as his coach, and appears to be fully committed to playing his best tennis. Denis, who is from D.C., should roll past Blaz Rola, then upset the seed Leonardo Mayer, who prefers clay (5-4 on hard courts in 2015), before facing Nishikori. Kei has a lone h2h win over Kudla, and Kudla is sort of a poor man’s Nishikori, still the heat factor may sway the match in the American’s favor. I don’t have him winning it, but I do see him coming close, though Nishikori is a quarterfinalist in my bracket.
Former finalist Viktor Troicki is in good form but he could have some trouble against the massive server Sam Groth in round 2. Troicki beat Groth this year on grass though, and the Aussie will need to defeat Thomaz Bellucci, who comes off of European clay where he posted solid results, in round 1. I have Troicki over Groth, and then past another great server, Feliciano Lopez, to reach the quarterfinals. Lopez comes off a semifinal on Gstaad clay, but he’s just 7-5 on hard courts this year, and could struggle in the hot conditions. The Spanish lefty will open with either Lleyton Hewitt or qualifier J.P. Smith as Hewitt continues his farewell tour against his in-form countryman. It’s hard to predict how Hewitt will do, but I still see him slipping past Smith before losing to Lopez. Hewitt is 4-1 against Lopez but he’s not the same player he once was. Troicki beat Lopez this year on clay, and otherwise has been in better form all season.
Marin Cilic, the defending US Open champion, has hardly played any hard court tennis this season, but his form has been improving steadily since returning from injury, and he appears to be back in top 20ish form in the least. Cilic should advance with relative ease over Sela/Chung but Sam Querrey could trouble him in the third round. Cilic is 3-0 against Querrey, but Querrey has been in good form while playing World Team Tennis for the local Washington Kastles. He’s actually an awful 1-6 on outdoor hard at the ATP level this year but he should beat Go Soeda/qualifier Darian King to reach round 3. King is making his ATP main draw debut at 23, while Soeda comes off a quarterfinal result in Atlanta. Look for Querrey over Soeda, and then Cilic past Querrey to secure a quarterfinal berth.
Big servers dominate the section above Cilic’s, as Kevin Anderson and Ivo Karlovic are seeded. Anderson is an excellent 11-4 over his last 15 matches (and 15-8 on hard courts this year). Presuming the South African is healthy and can maintain the form that nearly saw him upset Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, he should dispatch Nishioka/Zverev and setup a meeting with Karlovic in round 3. Dr. Ivo was reportedly “crammed into a coach seat” on a flight to D.C. but hopefully he can stretch out against 2012 Champion Alexandr Dolgopolov/Tim Smyczek. Dolgo beat Smyczek this year in Delray (2-0 h2h), and though he comes off a tough loss in Atlanta, Smyczek is in atrocious form and thus the Ukrainian has the edge. Dolgo has two previous hard court h2h wins over Ivo but he lost to him in a close Wimbledon 5 setter this year, and Karlovic was a Newport finalist and Bogota semifinalist in recent weeks, showing his good form. Prior to that he also reached the quarters in Den Bosch and the semis in Halle.
Anderson is 3-1 against Karlovic in the h2h and their styles are very similar, with both using big serves to setup the rest of their game, except two or three tiebreaks as being a strong possibility, but Anderson is higher ranked and should reach the quarters by doing the same thing, at a higher level.
I have the big serving Muller, who also has crisp volleys and returned better than he usually does in Atlanta, dealing with hot conditions once more and reaching yet another ATP semifinal in D.C., getting farther than that will be a tough ask, but the veteran has a great chance to continue to post good results and earn ranking points this week. He’ll have to upset Gasquet and likely Tomic/Dimitrov to get that far, but it’s a doable result given how much pressure he places on his opponents to hold their serves.
Predictions
Quarters:
Murray d. Isner
Murray, one of the best pure returners in the game, is 4-0 against Isner, and though it should be a close match it’s hard to justify anyone but Murray reaching the semifinals in the first section this week.
Muller d. Tomic
If we do get a Muller vs. Tomic quarter, rather than Gasquet (6-4 on outdoor hard in 2015), Dimitrov or another name, Muller has the decided edge as he leads the h2h 4-0 and beat Tomic this year in Sydney. It’s a tough section to predict, but Muller has been impressive as of late and I see him making a shock run to the semifinals.
Cilic d. Anderson
Cilic is 5-1 against Anderson and though they aren’t that far apart in terms of ranking, Cilic has never lost to Kev on a hard court. Look for the Wimbledon quarterfinalist to follow up that result with a semifinal in D.C.
Nishikori d. Troicki
Nishikori is 4-1 against Troicki and has two wins against him this year, suggesting a matchup mismatch more than anything else. If Kei gets this far, he should reach the semis.
Semis: Murray d. Muller
Cilic d. Nishikori
Murray is 3-0 against Muller with two wins against him this year, same as was true against Isner, he’s one of the bets returners in the game and can neutralize big servers. Regardless of who faces in the semis, he’s a clear favorite for the final, and in fact the title itself.
We could have a rematch of the US Open final in the semis as Nishikori holds a 5-3 edge over Cilic in their rivalry, but Cilic has won all three of his matches on outdoor hard court (twice at the US Open). It’s hard to predict either way, but I feel Cilic is grooving into form and the conditions will favor him to reach the final.
Final: Murray d. Cilic
Murray is 10-2 against Cilic, and thus Nishikori would actually have a better chance to upset him in the final, regardless, look for Murray to claim his fourth ATP title this year, which would also be his first on hard courts. The absence of Djokovic and Federer makes this his tournament to lose as he preps for the US Open.
Undersized Berankis and Sela Pull off Big 2015 BB&T Atlanta Open Victories (Thursday Recap) Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
Two of the smallest players on the ATP World Tour, Ricardas Berankis and Dudi Sela pulled off big wins on Thursday at the 2015 BB&T Atlanta Open.
Berankis reached just his second ATP quarterfinal of the season with a surprisingly dominant upset of world #48 Steve Johnson 6-4 6-2 in just over an hour. The first set was cagey and close with two early breaks of serve but Johnson was the one who blinked in a crucial moment at the end of the first set, as he was broken to go down 5-4 and the tenacious Lithuanian ball striker followed that break up with a love hold to take the first set.
Berankis in action
There was a rain delay that last less than a half hour in between sets, and Johnson cmae out struggling in the second, as he promptly went down a double break and 4-0, and looked entirely rattled, firing errors off his forehand side and failing to do damage with his serve. By contrast Berankis was moving well, striking the ball with both speed and slice, and his serve was a tough customer as Johnson shanked a lot of returns. The American failed to recover from a slow restart and slumped to a 6-2 second set loss.
Defending finalist Dudi Sela of Israel reached his first ATP quarterfinal of 2015 as he scored a quality win over fellow veteran Benjamin Becker for the second year in a row in Atlanta. Played on the sunbaked grandstand Sela prevailed 7-5 6-3.
Sela
The match began with consistent and routine holds of serve by both players, Becker had the stronger serve and was untroubled through three games, while Sela did well with is one handed backhand and mixed in variety 3-3. At 3-4 Sela had to save a break point in what was a long and tough deuce game with the first set hanging in the balance. Becker simply lacked consistency on his groundstrokes and wasn’t rallying well on the day, as he failed to break, and broken in his own right at 5-5, eventually dropping the first set 7-5.
In the second Sela continued to battle away and keep the pressure on Becker, as the German’s level dropped considerably. Becker got broken for 2-1, had to save 5 break points from 0-40 down at 2-4, and then was broken one final time to drop the second set 6-3. His back didn’t seen to be bothering him, but Sela showed superior fight and had a more interesting game. In the final game of the match he approached the net on a netcord and hit a no look volley. The Israeli, who has a full team this with him this week, clearly enjoys playing in Atlanta as he stays alive in the quest to defend his final points from 2014.
Sela with fans in Atlanta
Two Americans also advanced in singles, John Isner edged out two tough tiebreaks against Radek Stepanek 7-6(3) 7-6(7) in two hours of play. The first set featured multiple rain drop interruptions as Stepanek couldn’t hold onto an early break. Stepanek had to save two break points at 5-5, and had a half chance at a break up 6-5 but he couldn’t convert and Isner played a more consistent and superior tiebreak.
Isner on serve
The Czech’s first serve was lacking, and he had more double faults than aces. Given Isner applies a lot of pressure on his opponents by holding serve nearly every time, Stepanek was consistently under the gun when he had to serve up so many second serves. Additionally Stepanek, who normally plays an aggressive brand of tennis and enjoys coming to net, was pushed back, and kept back to the baseline by Isner’s imposing size. Stepanek, who hasn’t played a lot of matches this year, didn’t seem comfortable in his rallying abilities side to side and thumped more groundstroke errors than you’d normally see from him. Forced back, and facing a serve that kicked and spun at or above his head on a constant basis, he appeared frustrated and searching for answers, answers that he never found as he was clearly out of sorts.
Stepanek vs Isner as fans watch on
Stepanek, as in the first set, went up an early break in the second and was 4-2 up, with two chances at a 5-2 double break lead, however Isner beared down and with the fans behind him kept fighting in the set. He broke on his third break point chance in the game for 4-4, then with the momentum swinging in his favor forced Stepanek to save two match points serving 4-5.
Going into the tiebreak it seemed likely Stepanek’s inconsistent serve would let him down, and that it did as the only minibreak went to Isner, and he went on to serve out the tiebreak 9-7, his match win boosted by 33 aces. The twice defending champion remains not only a fan favorite, but a top talent in this tournament, and a difficult opponent to get past.
#3 seed Jack sock proved to not be a difficult opponent to get past for his countryman Denis Kudla. Kudla may well be in the best form of his career as he upset Sock 7-6(6) 6-3. The match began with the players trading breaks, and they would do that handoff once more as it went to 5-5. From there Kudla had to save three break points to prevent Sock from being able to serve from the set, and then it went to a tiebreak. The baseline battler Kudla was hitting the ball with flat pace, while Sock appeared rushed for time on his returns, and his forehand especially was posting uncharacteristic errors and shanks.
Sock vs. Kudla
Both players had weak serves and the tiebreak was all about rallying and return, Kudla had to save a set point, but he did so comfortably and took a lead over Sock he wouldn’t relinquish.
In the second Kudla went up an early break, and held easily to 4-3. Sock had two break point chances to dig himself back into the match there but oncemore he couldn’t convert, and with the unforced errors piling up Sock lost his fighting spirit and collapse out of the tournament in straight sets. For such a rising young talent, Sock has to be aiming for more in the rest of the Emirates US Open Series tournaments.
In doubles Fleming/Muller beat Baghdatis/Jaziri 7-6(8) 6-2, as Muller continues his winning ways. Additionally the Bryan brothers had a surprisingly tough 7-6(5) 7-6(4) win over Huey/Johnson. The Bryans started off on fire and clicking, 5-1 up, but Huey/Johnson fought their way back and had a legitimate chance at a shocking upset, however the chemistry and consistency of the brothers resulted in them winning the pair of tiebreaks.
Baghdatis-Pospisil Marquee Friday Match
Baghdatis
Four singles quarterfinals, and two doubles matches will take place on Friday. In doubles Eubanks/Young will face Krajicek/Monroe, and Fish/Roddick will look to continue their winning partnership over Butorac/Sitak.
The four singles quarterfinal matches are headlined by the first ever meeting between former top 15 veteran Marcos Baghdatis, and the tenacious Vasek Pospisil, who survived cramps to get this far. Pospisil is a battler with a big serve, and Baghdatis has been in excellent form this tournament, upsetting the big serving Sam Groth in the previous round.
Additionally the big serving Gilles Muller will look to move to 5-0 against defensive baseliner Go Soeda in a match that should be a style clash. Kudla will face the undersized Sela in a match that should feature variety ball striking, and Berankis will try to topple John Isner after a three set loss against him in Houston 2013.
Americans Kudla, Johnson, and Donaldson Reach 2015 BB&T Atlanta Open Round 2 (Tuesday Recap) Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
Kudla advances over Harrison
Tuesday at the 2015 BB&T Atlanta Open saw three American men book their spots into round 2, while four more in total were sent packing on a day in which all but one singles match featured at least one American player.
Denis Kudla narrowly survived Ryan Harrison 3-6 6-4 7-6(5), but all the same he continues his good form from Wimbledon and appeared happy to get the win coming from behind. Harrison got off to a strong start in the first set and was winning the baseline rallies with pace going 5-1 up before Kudla could start playing himself into the match.
Kudla started steadily improving as both players, but especially Kudla, who at times was rolling in 70 mph second serves, were leaving points to be won on rallies. The American rivals slapped the ball back and forth on the baseline, with Harrison mixing in the occasional 130+ mph plus serve when he could. Harrison was a fantastic counterpuncher on his best points of the match, lulling Kudla to sleep with his defensive slice and then delivering a stunning accelerating winner, but unfortunately he couldn’t maintain that level and had issues with his shot selection.
Given the difficult conditions it seemed both players were content to let their rival hold serve if they didn’t win the opening point of the service game as a returner. A pair of breaks in set 2 saw it go to 5-4 Kudla, and then Harrison was promptly broken under pressure to be forced into a third set 6-3 4-6.
The third set remained competitive and close, and though it went by quickly, Kudla had to save a break point and Harrison had to save two, as Kudla had a point to go 5-3 up in the third and serve for the match, but was quite unclutch in that moment. Eventually the match ground itself to a third set tiebreak and it was Kudla who was slightly steadier from the ground who won it.
Harrison’s footwork tended to be lacking and he slapped an easy forehand into the net on a crucial point as Kudla needed just 1 match point to close things out. All in both both players showed a relative lack of inventive shotmaking, and Harrison with his footwork troubles demonstrated why his ranking has slipped from where it used to be.
Steve Johnson played a sloppy second set tiebreak, but otherwise had the better of Lukas Lacko as he advanced 6-1 6-7(3) 6-2 in close to 2 hours. Johnson, who was effective with his serve, dominated a slow starting Lacko in the first set, going up 5-0 with minimal effort required before Lukas even woke up from his slumber. The talented but underachieving Lacko did wake up though, holding it together in set 2 after saving four break point chances at 2-2, and one more at 3-3 to eventually force a second set tiebreak. Johnson was tight and tense in that tiebreak, and Lacko forced a third set 7-3, after the tiebreak went to 3-3 even, the Slovak railed off four straight points.
Johnson serving against Lacko
Lacko, who hit some nice forehand winners, showed the ability to hit through and past Johnson, but Johnson was simply more consistent from both wings, as Lacko would hit a nice winner followed by multiple errors. The wheels really came off for Lacko at 2-3 in the third set, and he failed to win another game (though he had one more break point), as Johnson escaped what could have been a longer and more competitive battle.
Though pushed to three sets Kudla and Johnson both survived and advanced and appear to be in solid shape going into the next round.
This can also be said of Jared Donaldson, as the American teen moved his win streak to four matches in a row with a main draw win over Somdev Devvarman 6-1 3-6 6-4. Donaldson played incredible tennis in the first set against the steady but relatively weaponless Devvarman. The wheels came off for the Taylor Dent coached Californian in set 2, and he was dealing with cramping in the hot conditions, but in the end the fans seemed to pull him through. In the third set after a bunch of routine holds Donaldson had two match points from 15-40, Devvarman got lucky and saved one of them in incredible fashion with a defense to offense running forehand winner, but Donaldson won the next point, and earned a big win for his new career.
The composure that Donaldson showed in an ATP main draw match was not demonstrated by his fellow American teenager Frances Tiafoe, to the chagrin of Tiafoe’s many fans at Atlantic Station. Tiafoe fell to Sam Groth 7-6(3) 6-4 in a little under an hour and a half. As is to be expected Groth’s massive serve was present from the beginning of the match, and since it never left him, Tiafoe found himself frustrated and neutralized when returning. The D.C. area resident was solid on his own serve as Groth lacked much of a ground stroke game and moved poorly, but when it came down to crunch time Groth saved the only break point he faced serving 5-5 in the first set, and then slipped through the tiebreak.
Groth rocketed first serves past a stunned Tiafoe, while he used kick on his second serve to either finish points at the net, or force Tiafoe to concede an ace or reply with an error of a return. The 17 year old’s body language was awful, especially after losing the first set, he was slumping and moping about, and it was visible to everyone that his inability to mount any sort of a return game had infected his mind with doubts.
Tiafoe checked out in the second as he quickly went down 7-6 2-0 to Groth. He did avoid the double break and stayed in touch with Groth the rest of the match, but Groth appeared content to just hold serve like a silent assassin while Tiafoe, with his lost focus, slammed his racquet late in the second, and before you knew it it was Groth who was into round 2.
Groth vs. Tiafoe
Tiafoe showed promise with his abilities but he still has a lot to learn and improve upon in coming years, hopefully the challenger tour will help mold his game, including self-belief, and the mentality side of the pro game. His shot selection, with questionable drop shots, and his ability to pass a net-rusher like Groth also came accross as holes in his game.
Veterans Baghdatis, Sela Earn Wins
The match performance of the day goes to Marcos Baghdatis, the Cypriot veteran was given a noon time match, and it was clear he had little interest in staying on court for an extended period of time. Baghdatis comfortably went about his business dispatching qualifier Austin Krajicek 6-4 6-0. Krajicek simply lacked the weaponry to deal with a creative and aggressive shotmaker in Baghdatis. Marcos broke in the opening game with crafty play, and then held serve through the first set without facing a break point, even though he missed a chance to go up two breaks.
In the second Krajicek was broken in the opening game again, but had two break points to even things back up, he failed to do so, and from there it was routine one-way traffic for Baggy who had some great angles on his forehand and also played some quality drop shots.
Krajicek was forced to hit weak slices well behind the baseline as Baghdatis appears to be in great form for his next match. It’s also worth noting he appears to be fit, after previously lacking fitness in recent years, and he seems serious about playing tennis these days.
Baghdatis was in good spirits
Joining Baghdatis in round 2 is fellow veteran Benjamin Becker, Becker won the first set over Michael Berrer and then Berrer, who had spent the week in Bogota the week prior, retired 7-5 down. It appears that Becker is past the back injuries that were ailing him in recent weeks.
Last but certainly not least in Tuesday singles, Dudi Sela and Mardy Fish played the night session singles match, a match that would prove to be Fish’s final singles match in Atlanta as he lost 6-4 6-4. The defending finalist Sela was shaky at times in what was a sloppy error-strewn match from both players, but at the end of the day Fish, who hadn’t played an ATP match since March, was the rusty one.
Fish vs. Sela
The fan-favorite Fish found himself broken to go down 3-1 at the start, he broke back for 4-4, but then got broken once more as Sela held on to take the first 6-4. Very few rallies went longer than five shots as it was a serve+ short rally type of match with break points peppered throughout, as neither player featured a particularly strong serve, Fish simply rusty with his first serves, and Sela lacking weaponry.
Sela saved four break points in the second set in clutch fashion, while Fish saved two before again being broken late for 5-4 and then surrendering the match as he couldn’t break Sela in his final service game. Both players got ovations from the crowd post match, while Sela mused he wasn’t a big fan of the court conditions. It’s also worth noting Fish showed spark, even on his farewell tour, as he had a rather lengthy argument with the chair umpire during the second set.
Fish exchanged words with the chair
Pospisil/Sock Shocked in Doubles
In doubles, surprising results were the norm, the #4 seeds Pavic/Venus fell to Atlanta’s Young/Eubanks 6-2 3-6 10-5, Mannarino/Ebden were run out of the building by Butorac/Sitak 6-2 6-0, and the defending champion team of Pospisil/Sock were stunned by Fleming/Muller 6-4 4-6 10-6 as the draw opens up for that interesting pairing.
Pospisil to Feature on Wednesday in Singles, Big Servers Groth, Muller Return to Court
Matches on Wednesday include Vasek Pospisil against Rendy Lu in their first head to head meeting, Baghdatis against Groth in a battle of baseline attack against serve and volley, Ricardas Berankis and Tim Smyczek in a first round match, Chris Eubanks against Radek Stepanek in the other remaining round 1 match, Go Soeda, who appears to be rounding into form, against Adrian Mannarino, who may struggle in these conditions, and an in-form Gilles Muller against Jared Donaldson who may lack the ability to recover after four matches in four days this week.
A whole host of doubles matches will also take place as the first round gets going in earnest with the doubles draw as well.
2015 ATP Atlanta (@BBTAtlantaOpen) Preview and Prediction Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
Tennis Atlantic is pleased to have live coverage all week from the BB&T Atlanta Open, the first stop on the Emirates Airlines US Open Series, and an ATP 250 hard court event located in downtown Atlanta, Georgia at the live/work/play community of Atlantic Station. This American heavy field features young guns, and a variety of accomplished veterans all looking for an ATP title, ranking points, and prize money. Here is a preview
2015 BB&T Atlanta Open Preview
BB&T Atlanta Open
ATP World Tour 250
Atlanta, GA, USA
July 27-August 2, 2015
Prize Money: $585,870
Top 4 seeds (who all recieve first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: John Isner (19)
2: Vasek Pospisil (29)
3: Adrian Mannarino (27)
4: Jack Sock (35)
One top 20 player in what should be a rather wide open week with a lot of hard court specialists in the draw.
Mardy Fish has officially announced he will retire at the 2015 US Open after a lengthy absence from the ATP tour due to both a heart condition and anxiety disorder. Atlanta is the first tournament on his summer goodbye to American fans on US soil, and his first match in Atlanta, where he won the first two titles (2010 and 2011) will come against defending finalist Dudi Sela, a fellow veteran.
Fish played an exciting and long three setter in Indian Wells, losing to Ryan Harrison in a third set tiebreak, but otherwise hasn’t played an ATP singles match since 2013. Sela qualified for ATP Nottingham and won a challenger some time ago, but otherwise has been playing a light schedule, and may be rusty. Both players are comfortable here, and Fish will certainly have a shot to get out of the first round if Sela comes into this match unprepared.
(8)Benjamin Becker vs. Michael Berrer
Two Germans will battle, and both are well past 30 and nearing the end of their careers. Becker, 34, has a 2-1 h2h edge over his 35 year old rival though he’s in poor form since injuring his back at Roland Garros (where he reached the third round). Besides third round results at the AO and French, Becker has had a rough season, as his powerful serve and forehand baseline game may well be declining with age after having a great 2014, which included a semifinal in Atlanta.
Berrer is retiring at the end of the year but has had a great send off season. The German is 33-16 in tournament matches and comes off the semifinals in Bogota where he played great serve and volley tennis. He also upset Rafael Nadal in Doha this year, the win of his life, and appears to be playing with joy and passion in his final season. Berrer should be the favorite, pending Becker’s health, but he had to put in effort in Bogota and given the altitude difference and condition changes, he may be dealing with fatigue.
(7)Gilles Muller vs. Donald Young
Former Atlanta finalist Gilles Muller will face Atlanta native Donald Young in what should prove to be an interesting Monday evening match. Muller has had a solid season at 32 years of age. The big serving veteran has two ATP semis (Sydney and Den Bosch) along with four ATP quarterfinals on his resume this year, and has proven himself across the surfaces, though his serve and volley game excels on quick ones. This is his first tournament since Wimbledon, but he seems to enjoy Atlanta and I expect his form to be good entering the tournament.
Young is in poor form as he returns home, the European portion of the season was tough on his spirits and he hasn’t won an ATP main draw match since Indian Wells. The talent has always been there for DY, but I’m not sure playing at home particularly improves his game, and thus Muller is a strong favorite to advance into round 2.
Sam Groth vs. (WC)Frances Tiafoe
Formerly top junior, and now an ATP young gun on future star watch, Frances Tiafoe gets a deserved wild card on US soil for a hard court tournament. Tiafoe turned pro in the spring at 17 and promptly went on to earn the USTA French Open Wild card. Since his stint on clay he hasn’t played a ton of matches and his form hasn’t been great, but he should be pumped up and have his game face on for a match against big serving ATP regular Sam Groth.
Groth has risen into the top 70 and has had a fantastic ATP season, he has helped Australia reach the Davis Cup semis, has two ATP quarterfinals on his record, and also a solid challenger tour record with a couple of titles. His serve is massive and he’s improved other parts of his game as he’s still a serve and volleyer by style. Tiafoe has a lot of talent and has a bright future ahead, but Groth’s rocket of a serve should dent his hopes of winning this match, as the more experienced Aussie is likely to get through.
Tiafoe prepping for Atlanta weather early
Top Half:
2x defending champion John Isner gets a bye, and he’ll face the winner of Christopher Eubanks/Radek Stepanek in round 2. Eubanks is a star on the Georgia Tech tennis team and gets a wild card for his local ATP event. He’s a big player size wise and may well have an ATP future ahead of him while Stepanek comes off the quarterfinals in Bogota (and doubles final) but has struggled since returning from injury this year. The Czech veteran plays an effective serve and volley style, and he likely gets past Eubanks, but Isner should prove to be too much for him in the next round. He had a decent grass court season (quarterfinal at Queens and Wimbledon third round) and always enjoys coming back to the US to play on hard courts. He’s had some bad losses this year but he’s still a top 20 player.
An All-American quarterfinal is likely for Isner, as #6 seed Steve Johnson is in a section that slates him to face Lukas Lacko round 1, and Ricardas Berankis/Tim Smyczek round 2 Johnson beat Lacko at Wimbledon as the Slovak is in poor form, and Stevie J is clearly happy to be back on North American hard courts, his best surface where he has posted three ATP quarterfinals already this season. Smyczek who had a good start to the year has been in awful form as of late and will be looking to improve his play here, Berankis comes off of a challenger final, and may be fatigued, thus this section plays into Johnson’s racquet.
Stevie J on the move
#3 seed Jack Sock gets a bye and will face Ryan Harrison or a qualifier in round 2, Sock with his big forehand captured the ATP title in Houston this year and also comes off the semis in Newport. He’s excelled since returning from hip surgery this season and will have a solid chance to repeat his run to the semifinals. Harrison has been stuck in the challenger trap most of this season though he had a rare run of form to the semis in Acapulco back in the spring. He recently reached a challenger semifinal in Winnetka, but Sock will be a clear favorite against the former young gun American, as their careers have diverged in recent years.
Sela/Fish and Berrer/Becker is the section below Sock, Berrer is likely a slight favorite unless fatigue gets him down, Becker’s health remains a question, and Sela/Fish will have rust, but Fish with his talent level could actually reach the quarters. Regardless Sock is a strong favorite to reach the semis out of his section, as his abilities far outweight any of the alternatives.
Wimbledon quarterfinalist Vasek Pospisil is playing his first tournament since his shocking run there, as the Canadian with his big serve and aggressive game hasn’t had a particularly strong season, but Wimbledon was a revitalization for his career, and we may be seeing Vasek 2.0 in Atlanta, The Canadian will open with the Malek Jaziri/Rendy Lu winner as those two streaky baseliners will battle. Jaziri reached the quarters in Bogota while Lu reached the quarters in Nottingham for his best result as of late. Lu will likely deal better with the hot, difficult conditions, and if he catches form he could also trouble Pospisil, though Vasek is the favorite.
Groth/Tiafoe, likely Groth, will face Marcos Baghdatis or a qualifier in round 2. The 30 year old Baghdatis has been fighting hard to stay in shape and build up his game back to what was top 15 level tennis with his quick strike offensive baselining. That said, he struggled in a loss in Bogota to an unknown Colombia and hasn’t posted good results on hard courts as of late, though he greatly enjoyed the short grass court season. Baghdatis could struggle in these conditions and don’t count a qualifier out, I have Groth upsetting him in round 2 with his steady serve to fill another quarterfinal sport.
Bogota finalist Adrian Mannarino is in terrific form (19-8 on hard courts in 2015), and hasn’t lost an opening round match since London Queens, that said the Bogota matches likely wore him down with his finesse game and he’s extremely vulnerable to an upset by Go Soeda, a defensive Japanese baseliner, or more likely the talented shotmaker and speedy magician Alexandr Dolgopolov. Soeda isn’t in great form, while Dolgopolov has two quarterfinals, and one ATP semifinal this year, as he continues to demonstrate his streaky talent. A fresh Mannarino could well take this title, but on paper Dolgopolov has the advantage, pending his fitness and acclimation to the sport at its top levels. His ranking of 76 severely undersells his ability to play top 20 tennis at its peak.
Muller/Young or a qualifier will await Dolgopolov/Mannarino in the quarters, Muller have a great shot at reaching the semis as either opponent looks beatable and Dolgo is vulnerable to big servers who can match his aggression.
Predictions
Quarters:
Isner d. Johnson
Sock d. Berrer
Muller d. Dolgopolov
Pospisil d. Groth
Isner is 3-1 against Johnson and all of their meetings have come since 2014, both have been in only somewhat decent form but Isner in Atlanta tends to rise up to some of his best tennis, and thus I have him through
A fresher Sock should advantage over a tired Berrer, and Muller likely has an edge consistency wise with his serve against Dolgopolov, who can lose momentum quickly. Overall it’s an open field but experienced and steady seeds will have the advantage to go deep into the week.
Isner beat Sock in Atlanta last year and has a 4-1 overall h2h edge, both have talent, and Sock is likely the future American #1, but h2h Isner’s huge serve and consistent blows seem to bother Sock and throw him off his game.
Muller is 2-0 against Pospisil in the h2h and won a great match against him this year on grass in Den Bosch, it went to a third set tiebreak, but Muller held his nerve, and given his previous Atlanta results I have a feeling he will do the same to setup an all big serving final.
If this is the final we get, there is some h2h history as Isner beat Muller Twice in Atlanta, both times in three sets, and one more time in Memphis before Muller beat Isner this year at the AO (3-1 h2h). Atlanta tends to favor big servers, and tall players normally feature in the final, thus former champ and defending champ Isner, and former finalist Muller are realistic picks. Isner simply loves Atlanta and always finds the energy to do well during the key summer hard court season, with that in mind I’m going with him to win his third tournament in a row in Atlanta.
2015 Napoli, Leon, Batman and St. Brieuc Challenger Recaps Chris De Waard, Tennis Atlantic
Napoli
This tournament proved to be harsh on the seeds, with many surprises. Top seed Andrey Golubev had an early second round exit against wild card Matteo Donati, 6-7(3) 6-4 6-2. Third seed Blaz Rola went out in the first round against another wild card, Gianluigi Quinzi, 6-3 6-1. To top off a successful showing for the home players in the early rounds, Andrea Arnaboldi took out fifth seed Thiemo de Bakker in the first round, 6-2 3-6 6-3. Potito Starace almost joined that list, but he fell to second seed Filip Krajinovic after missing a spectacular eight match points in the second set, losing 3-6 7-6(4) 6-2. Krajinovic didn’t capitalize on being given a second chance in the tournament, losing 6-2 6-2 to veteran Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo in the next round.
Qualifier Thomas Fabbiano took out sixth seed Norbert Gombos 7-5 6-3 in the second round, after which he continued his surprise run by beating last week’s Raanana winner Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1 5-7 6-2. However, in the semi-final he was stopped convincingly by Daniel Munoz-De La Nava, who won 6-0 7-5. In the top half Donati had continued his surprise run by beating Marco Cecchinato 7-6(5) 6-2 for a place in his first ever Challenger final. There Munoz-De La Nava was way too strong, however, claiming the title and the second of his career after a 6-2 6-1 beatdown. The victory saw him rose fifty-four ranking spots to #145, while Donati rose more than a hundred spots to a career high #247.
Leon
Michal Przysiezny
Sixth seed Michal Przysiezny experienced one of his many disappointed losses of the past year, going out in the first round against qualifier Nicolas Barrientos, 6-4 6-3. In contrast to the happenings in Napoli, here the seeds held up very nicely, with four of them making up the semi-final line-up. Top seed Adrian Menendez-Maceiras faced fifth seed Horacio Zeballos and they made it a memorable encounter, with Menendez-Maceiras prevailing after a marathon match, 7-6(3) 5-7 6-4. Fourth seed Austin Krajicek took out second seed Alejandro Falla 6-1 7-6(3), setting us up for another epic encounter in the final, one that Krajicek won 6-7(3) 7-6(5) 6-4. The victory meant a new career high ranking for Krajicek, rising twenty-one spots to #121. Menendez-Maceiras as well locked up a new career high ranking, rising eight spots to #115.
Batman
Second seed Dudi Sela made a better start to this tournament, after retiring from his home event at Raanana last week due to dizziness, booking two easy straight set victories to notch up a place in the quarterfinals. The most impressive player however was top seed Blaz Kavcic, who first took out fifth seed Radu Albot 6-3 6-0 in the quarterfinal, after which he laid down the hammer even worse on Hiroki Moriya, trashing him 6-1 6-0 to book a place in the final. Sela faced Saketh Myneni in the semi-final, beating him 6-4 6-3 to set up a meeting with the on fire Kavcic. There Sela showed that he was the right man to stop Kavcic’s impressive run, beating him 6-7(5) 6-3 6-3 in a high quality affair. The victory meant Sela’s seventeenth (!) Challenger title, putting him second on the all-time list, passing Takao Suzuki and Go Soeda, while trailing Yen-Hsun Lu’s record of twenty-one titles. It also meant a return to the top 100, rising nineteen spots to #93. Kavcic rose eight spots to #77.
Top seed Lucas Pouille had a lot more troubles in the early rounds than he wanted to experience, coming through 7-5 3-6 7-6(4) and 6-4 3-6 6-3 in his first two rounds. He had less troubles in the quarterfinal, but had to bow for third seed Nicolas Mahut in the semi-final, 7-5 6-4. In the bottom half second seed Andreas Beck fell to Jesse Huta Galung in the second round, 6-3 6-4. Huta Galung in his return had to retire during his match against fifth seed Yuichi Sugita in the next round, due to a right calf injury. Sugita easily beat qualifier Constant Lestienne for a place in the final, 6-4 6-2. Here Nicolas Mahut barely edged him out in a very close encounter, 3-6 7-6(3) 6-4. It meant the twelfth Challenger title for the Frenchman, which saw him get close to a return into the top 100, rising fifteen spots to #109. Sugita rose eighteen spots to #140.
2015 Irving Challenger Preview and Predictions Chris De Waard, Tennis Atlantic
It’s almost an insult to call this tournament a Challenger, as it rivals some 250 events quality wise. The highest and lowest seed are ranked #34 and #63, so look forward to a very interesting week of tennis.
ATP Challenger Tour
Irving, USA
17-22 March 2015
Prize Money: $125,000
Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Jeremy Chardy (34)
2: Gilles Muller (36)
3: Benjamin Becker (40)
4: Dominic Thiem (46)
5: Sergiy takhovsky (50)
6: Jerzy Janowicz (51)
7: Marcos Baghdatis (61)
8: Diego Schwartzman (63)
The last direct acceptance is Rajeev Ram, ranked 141st.
First round match-ups to watch
(4) Dominic Thiem – Dudi Sela
Thiem desperately needs the extra match play here, as he didn’t start the year in good fashion. Only in Marseille he won back to back matches, thanks to David Goffin retiring during their second round encounter. At Indian Wells he painfully lost to James Duckworth in the first round, getting breadsticked in the second set. Perhaps things will improve for the better now that he doesn’t have to share his coach Gunther Bresnik any longer, as Ernests Gulbis split with him. A loss to Sela is sure to be a big blow to his already crumbling confidence.
(7) Marcos Baghdatis – Dustin Brown
This is a mouth-watering match-up that a lot of people would prefer to watch over some of the third and fourth round matches at Indian Wells, I’m sure. Brown has had a tough deal in deciding sets this year, going 0-4 in them so far, including his first round loss against Andrey Golubev at Indian Wells. Baghdatis on the other hand has had a fantastic start to the year, reaching the third round of the Australian Open and a semi-final in Zagreb. At Indian Wells he had a tough draw, facing Novak Djokovic in the second round.
(6) Jerzy Janowicz – Edouard Roger-Vasselin
Janowicz suffered a painful defeat against Diego Schwartzman in the first round of Indian Wells, but he can redeem himself here against an opponent he leads the head to head 4-0 against. However, three of those were very tight three set matches, with two ending 8-6 in the third set tiebreak. On top of that, Roger-Vasselin comes off a good showing at Indian Wells, reaching the second round as a qualifier and barely losing to Feliciano Lopez there, so things could get tricky for the Pole.
Top Half
Top seed Jeremy Chardy starts off his campaign against a qualifier, after which he would face James Ward or Steve Darcis. Darcis’ craftiness could be useful against Chardy, but the Belgian comes off a very bad loss in Davis Cup, where he lost to world #344 Henri Laaksonen in five sets. Under normal circumstances Chardy should be able to survive this section and reach the semi-final, as #8 seed Diego Schwartzman is a considerable underdog against him as well. In the bottom section a showdown between Dominic Thiem and Marcos Baghdatis in the quarterfinal is most likely, with Baghdatis getting the slight edge because of his recent form. Unfortunately for Baghdatis, Chardy historically does well against him and leads their head to head 3-1, so should it come down to that match-up, Chardy is the favorite.
Bottom Half
#5 seed Sergiy Stakhovsky has the best shot to reach the semi-final in the top section. Since hiring Fabrice Santoro as his coach it has been evident that his consistency has grown significantly, which is supported by his results. He is 8-4 in his last four tournaments, beating Sam Querrey in the first round of Indian Wells before falling to Tomas Berdych. The other semi-finalist is likely to be either second seed Gilles Muller or sixth seed Jerzy Janowicz. Janowicz should be the favorite if he can reach his top level, but the problem is that doesn’t happen a lot. The Pole is highly erratic and putting your money on the more solid Muller is probably the best bet here. In a match-up against Stakhovsky I would put both down as the underdog.
Tennis Atlantic 