German Tennis Championships Predictions

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ATP Hamburg 500 Favorites are Dominic Thiem, Diego Schwartzman, and Marco Cecchinato @Am_Rothenbaum

Posted by Admin on July 22, 2018
Posted in: ATP, Hamburg, Steen Kirby. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

ATP Hamburg 500 Favorites are Dominic Thiem, Diego Schwartzman, and Marco Cecchinato
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The ATP Hamburg 500 is the final 500 level on clay for the season. Some of the ATP’s best descend upon Germany for a week of battles on the clay. Here is your preview, with predictions.

Top Half:

Dominic Thiem is the top seed and he’ll begin his quest for the title against Corentin Moutet. Moutet is no pushover on clay but Thiem should be renewed after a poor Wimbledon. Thiem should also be favored against John Millman or J.L. Struff in the second round. Bastad finalist Richard Gasquet should defeat Benoit Paire and Nicolas Jarry or Peter Gojowczyk to setup the quarterfinal matchup with Thiem as the favorite.

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Pablo Carreno Busta is a good clay court player and should get past Florian Myer and Aljaz Bedene/Henri Laaksonen to reach the quarters. Phillip Kohlschreiber should get past Nikoloz Basilashvili and Marton Fucsovics/Pablo Cuevas to reach the quarters as well, where his run at home should end at the hands of PCB.

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Bottom Half:

I have Diego Schwartzman falling in an upset against Casper Ruud, Ruud reached the quarters of Bastad and other than a nice run at Roland Garros, DSS has nod had the best of seasons. Ruud should beat Daniel Masur or Max Marterer in the second round. A finalist in Umag, Marco Cecchinato will be tested by Gael Monfils. GIven the fatigue factor I’ll back Monfils to beat the Italian and also Leonardo Mayer/Albert Ramos to reach the quarters, where he should be favored over Ruud.

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Look for qualifier Jozef Kovalik to have a good week, Kovalik will open with Damir Dzumhur, who isn’t at his best right now. David Ferrer or Rudolf Molleker will be next, both players are struggling and thus the in-form Kovalik has the inside track. Gilles Simon should defeat Thiago Monteiro but the Fernando Verdasco/Dusan Lajovic winner has the edge in this section, and I have the Bastad semifinalist Verdasco reaching the semis in Hamburg.

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Predictions

Semis
Thiem d. Carreno Busta
Monfils d. Verdasco

The tour veterans Monfils and Verdasco should face off in the semis, while Thiem has the inside track to lift the trophy at the end of the tournament.

Final
Thiem d. Monfils

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2017 ATP Hamburg Preview and Predictions

Posted by Admin on July 24, 2017
Posted in: ATP, Hamburg, Steen Kirby. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

2017 ATP Hamburg Preview and Predictions
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

Hamburg is on the calendar again this year, it’s a 500 level stop, meaning making a deep run can meet quite the rankings boost.

German Tennis Championships
ATP World Tour 500
Hamburg, Germany
July 24-30, 2017
Surface: Clay
Prize Money: €1,499,940

Top 4 seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Albert Ramos (24)
2: Pablo Cuevas (26)
3: Karen Khachanov (32)
4: Gilles Simon (39)

Top Half:

Spain’s Albert Ramos should get past Leonardo Mayer, a lucky loser, and either J.L. Struff or Evgeny Donskoy, Fernando Verdasco is the favorite in the top section though. He reached the semis in Bastad and presuming he can get past a tough opening round match with Jiri Vesely, he should ease past Horacio Zeballos or wild card Daniel Altmaier.

David Ferrer just won his first title in two years, he should continue his form on clay and defeat Nikoloz Basilashvili, Federico Delbonis, presuming Delbonis defeats Carlos Berlocq, should pose trouble in round 2, but I’ll tip Ferrer. and he should also beat Karen Khachanov, who is having a great season. The Russian opens with Rudolf Molleker, making his ATP debut, then should face Aljaz Bedene, presuming Bedene defeats Rogerio Dutra Silva.

Bottom Half:

Pablo Cuevas will face Andrey Kuznetsov to start off,  and I’ll back the in-form Kuznetsov to get the upset. Marco Cecchinato should be next up for Kuznetsov, Florian Mayer is also a possibility. Diego Schwartzman is the favorite for the quarters above, he opens with Andreas Haider-Maurer, a qualifier, either Cedrik-Marcel Stebe or Damir Dzumhur will follow.  I’ll back Kuznetsov to reach the semis.

Everyone but Umag champion Andrey Rublev has struggled in the third quarter of the draw, Gilles Simon and Philipp Kohlschreiber have plenty of elite experience, but are not playing well, Max Marterer is a wild card, Tommy Haas and Dmitry Tursunov are aging veterans in poor form, Benoit Paire lost in the opening match of his last tournament, and Nicolas Kicker has yet to make real inroads on the ATP tour. I’ll back Kohlschreiber over Paire at home in the quarters, as Rublev should be gassed.

Dark Horse: Andrey Kuznetsov

Kuznetsov should score the early upset against Cuevas, and go as far as the final from that point.

Predictions:

Semis
Verdasco d. Ferrer
Kuznetsov d. Kohlschreiber

I can’t predict Ferrer to go back to back in consecutive weeks given his age, Kuznetsov is playing well enough to make the final, but Verdasco should be a slight favorite in Hamburg.

Final
Verdasco d. Kuznetsov

2016 ATP Hamburg Preview and Predictions (@Am_Rothenbaum)

Posted by Admin on July 11, 2016
Posted in: ATP, Hamburg, Steen Kirby. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

2016 ATP Hamburg Preview and Predictions
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The 500 level tournament this week is in Hamburg, Germany as a host of top ATP players will transition from grass back to clay in search of prize money and ranking points. Here is your preview of the German Tennis Championships, along with predictions.

German Tennis Championships 2016
ATP World Tour 500
Hamburg, Germany
July 11-17, 2016
Prize Money: €1,388,830

Top 4 seeds (ATP rankings in parentheses)
1: Philipp Kohlschreiber (22)
2: Benoit Paire (23)
3: Pablo Cuevas (24)
4: Alexander Zverev (28)

For a 500 level tournament Hamburg has one of the weakest fields it’s ever had. The absence of a dominant favorite means a lot of ranking points are on offer for players outside of the level of ATP stars.

First round matchups to watch:

(3)Pablo Cuevas vs. (WC)Florian Mayer

Mayer is 2-0 in the h2h against the much higher ranked Cuevas, a solid clay court player himself. The veteran German recently won Halle, although he hasn’t been as good with his funky game on clay compared to grass. This could turn into quite the battle, on clay, Cuevas is the current favorite.

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Top Half:

Despite a poor showing at Wimbledon, veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber is solid on clay, and tends to play well in Germany. Kohlschreiber’s path to the quarters is Carlos Berlocq, followed by Nicolas Kicker or Thomas Fabbiano. Berlocq has been in good form on clay, so I have him reaching the quarters if Kohlschreiber is still injured. However, Kohlschreiber over Kicker is the pick in my bracket.

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Jeremy Chardy faces Maximo Gonzalez in round 1. The French veteran is solid enough on clay to get past Gonzalez, and the Mikhail Youzhny/Renzo Olivo winner to reach the quarterfinals, although I have him losing to Kohlschreiber at that stage.

Pablo Cuevas looks set to dominate his section if he can get past his opener with Mayer. The young Brazilian Thiago Monteiro qualified and looks set to defeat Mischa Zverev before facing Cuevas. Nicolas Almagro is Cuevas likely quarterfinal opponent. Although qualifier Jan Satral is on a winning streak, he’s likely not up to Almagro’s level, and he’s making his ATP debut. In round 2, Gerald Melzer or Paul-Henri Mathieu await, and neither are top players compared to Almagro on clay. Cuevas over Almagro is my pick in the quarters given Cuevas is better on clay than Almagro these days.

Bottom Half:

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The streaky Benoit Paire has an interesting opener with veteran Daniel Gimeno-Traver. Traver has been solid on the challenger tour as of late, and he’s a steady dirtballer. Paire could crash and burn, but I have him winning his round 1 match, then going on to defeat J.L. Struff (or Daniil Medvedev) in round 2. Struff is in poor form, while Medvedev lacks ATP seasoning. Look for a finally healthy Martin Klizan to find form again and defeat Igor Sijsling and qualifier Steve Diez or wild card Louis Wessels, in his ATP debut, to reach the quarters. I have Klizan upsetting Paire as well. The Slovak got off to a hot start in 2016 before suffering an unfortunate injury that kept him off the tour for months.

Alexander Zverev is a solid young player and the highlight of the German tennis championships this year. Zverev opens with journeyman dirtballer Inigo Cervantes, with Leonardo Mayer or Stephane Roberto follow. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez should reach the quarters as well, he opens with Kenny De Schepper, with Grega Zemlja or wild card Marvin Moeller to follow. Mayer has been in terrible form, and GGL isn’t in great form either, so the challenger star Cervantes is most likely Zverev’s toughest test. He should pass it with flying colors.

Dark Horse: Martin Klizan

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Klizan could burst through and win the title, but I do have him reaching as far as the semifinals. He has a game well suited for success in many ATP matches, and he showed highlights of his great skill and power game earlier this year before he was injured. With Paire one of the weaker #2 seeds in tournaments this year, conditions are ripe for an upset.

Predictions

Semis:
Cuevas d. Kohlschreiber
Zverev d. Klizan

With injury concerns an issue for Kohlschreiber, I have Cuevas reaching the final, while little stands in the way of Zverev doing the same.

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Final:
Zverev d. Cuevas

After reaching two ATP finals this year, Zverev has to hope the third time is the charm if he reaches the final in Hamburg. With the home crowd cheering him on, Zverev should take his first ATP title at the same venue he made his ATP breakthrough a couple of years ago.