Qualifiers Placed, @NewYorkOpen Main Draw Underway Monday Steve Fogleman on the G’Island
On a rainy Monday on Long Island, Noah Rubin left the New York Open with a scowl on his face after winning just 37% of the points in a qualifying final loss. His conqueror was the 38-year-young Paolo Lorenzi, who advanced to the main draw at the New Yorker’s expense, 6-3, 6-1. And Lorenzi’s smile was Rubin’s frown turned upside down. The Roman citizen never has a poker face and is easily the Steve Buscemi of tennis.
This Old Man
Jason Jung also dispatched Mitchell Kruger, 6-2, 6-4, at about the same time that Lorenzi finished off Rubin. Jung draws 2018 tournament champion Kevin Anderson in the main draw. 35-year-old Go Soeda destroyed Bernie Tomic in a stunning 39 minutes to take the third qualifying spot in the draw. Soeda’s first round opponent is Soonwoo Kwon. The last qualifying final, between Bradley Klahn and Danilo Petrovic, was a close affair for most of the first set before the Serb pulled away, 6-3, 6-2. Petrovic is the lowest ranked player (#159) to qualify for the main draw. He’ll square off against Old Roman Lorenzi in the first round.
Go Soeda Advances
The players on the Grandstand Court are at the mercy of their noisy, partying neighbors next door on Stadium. At the commencement of today’s matches, the lights went down as Noah Rubin was introduced on the main court. That meant lights out for Jung and Krueger, who had unceremoniously already begun warm-ups. C’est la vie for them.
I cannot play in the dark.
The tournament has an impressive multi-media display system. The only problem is that without a lot of fans filling up the arena, it’s full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. On the other hand, there’s nothing like hearing the tossed coin hit the black courts from 300 feet away so loudly that you think that you dropped some change.
Veteran Slate Qualifies for 2015 ATP Shanghai Main Draw Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
six of eight players from qualifying in the 2015 ATP Shanghai Rolex Masters Main Draw are veterans with plenty of ATP tour experience, as they will look to use that tour experience to help them pull off main draw upsets.
A pair of Asian players, Go Soeda of Japan, and Yen-Hsun Lu, a regular on ATP tour from Taiwan, made it through tough draws to qualify. Lu beat young Japanese speedster Yoshi Nishioka, and then Nicolas Mahut in three sets, while Soeda beat Fajing Sun, and then South Korea’s young gun Hyeon Chung in three sets.
Eastern Europeans also did well, Nikoloz Basilashvili will play, at least, his twelfth tour level match of the season after beating Shuichi Sekiguchi and the in-form Austin Krajicek, a Tokyo quarterfinalist, to qualify without dropping a set. Andrey Kuznetsov found success after coming up short in Beijing qualies. Kuznetsov beat Yecong He in three sets, and then dispatched Donald Young, though Young would go on to make the main draw as a lucky loser. Lastly, 33 year old Lukasz Kubot will play just his third ATP main draw level match this year after getting past a pair of Frenchman, Lucas Pouille and Pierre-Hugues Herbert to qualify. Herbert retired in his match, while the win over Pouille was an upset.
Potentially dangerous tour veterans Simone Bolelli and Albert Ramos complete the list of qualifiers. Bolelli, who also qualified in Beijing, beat Matteo Donati, his countryman, and Michal Przysiezny in a three setter to advance. Ramos defeated Zhizhen Zhang and Michael Berrer without dropping a set.
In the main draw, Lu will have a winnable match against Dominic Thiem, Kuznetsov draws Feliciano Lopez, Bolelli will face Vasek Pospisil in an even contest, Soeda has a tough match against David Goffin, Basilashvili will face an equally difficult tilt against Simon, Kubot faces American Jack Sock, Ramos takes on Sam Querrey, and Young should be favored against Victor Estrella.
Another scorching day in Atlanta was interrupted by afternoon rain showers, but they passed, and before 9 P.M. main draw singles and doubles play was completed, additionally final round qualies were completed and the qualifiers were placed into the bracket, setting up an exciting batch of matches for Tuesday.
Three main draw singles matches were complete on the day, the biggest of which was Go Soeda‘s 5-7 7-6(5) 6-3 victory over fan favorite Alex Dolgopolov. The match was interrupted by the rain in the first set, and after a lengthy delay after a pair of breaks of serve, both players returned to court and began holding their serves relatively easily.
Soeda, a defensive baseliner who feeds his opponents a steady diet of groundstrokes, lacked the weapons to bother Dolgopolov with his quick footwork, but Dolgopolov was struggling to keep his error count down, as he often does, and eventually on serve it went to 5-5. Dolgopolov would then save a key break point chance for Soeda and go up 6-5, and in the next game he broke on his second chance to do so in the game, and took the first set with a running start. .
Even up a set Dolgopolov’s body language didn’t seem confident or promising at this point, and it was visible he may have been struggling in the hot conditions. Soeda was a bit of a brick wall, and generally is hard to break down as he returned ball after ball side to side. Dolgopolov had more shotmaking prowess, especially with running forehand winners but the second set held true to form, Soeda saving a lone break point serving 1-2 as it went all the way to a tiebreak without another break point dangled before either player. Soeda was under pressure having to serve behind all set, and Dolgopolov at times looked like he might put the match away, but when it got to the tiebreak Soeda was the steadier player and took it 7-5, even after Dolgopolov hit a fantastic winner 4-6 down in the breaker.
Soeda had the momentum at this point and remained unfazed and unrattled as Dolgopolov began to slow down. The Ukranian’s quick strike serve generated more aces, but Soeda eventually read Dolgo’s shots and angles, forcing his opponent to become increasingly reckless. The break came for 3-1 in set 3, and Soeda never looked back, Dolgo had to save another break point serving 1-4, and Soeda held on with relative ease for a 6-3 3rd set. It’s the first ATP main draw win for Soeda since April, as Dolgopolov again demonstrated why his ranking has fallen out of the top 70. He has the talent but mentally and physically he struggles to maintain a consistent level throughout an entire match.
Joning Soeda in round 2 is another player who has always enjoyed playing in Atlanta, Gilles Muller. Muller was totally dominant as Donald Young continued to struggle, slumping to a 6-2 6-1 defeat. The loss was particularly bad as the match only last an hour and Muller is normally a player who struggles to break his opponents serve. DY was plainly flat while Muller was happy to work quickly in the heat.
Yen-Hsun (Rendy) Lu had an interesting time of it against Malek Jaziri in the first main draw match, winning it 6-1 7-6(12). Jaziri stumbled badly out of the gate, and appeared listless. His serve and his groundstrokes weren’t effective at all, and he appeared totally out of shape. Lu, a steady counterpunching baseliner who is solid from both wings was happy to let Jaziri stumble through a breadstick in 24 minutes, but the Tunisian didn’t give up so easily in the second set.
Jaziri went up a break 3-2, and served for a third set at 5-4, but plainly choked, getting broken at love under the pressure. From 5 all they held serve and went into a tiebreak where Jaziri had six set points and couldn’t convert a single one, including from 6-4 up. Lu needed three match points, but finally he got into round 2, escaping his streaky opponent in the nick of time, as Jaziri clearly let his nerves get the best of him against such a steady opponent.
Americans Krajicek, Donaldson, and Kudla qualify for the main draw
All four final round qualifying matchups were rather routine affairs as the heat seemed to be limiting many of the player’s fighting spirit after they fell behind. Austin Krajicek blitzed Yuichi Sugita 6-2 6-1, as Sugita played much worse than expected. Denis Kudla sent the slumping Marinko Matosevic packing 7-5 6-2. Matosevic continues to struggle to return to ATP quality form, while Kudla extended his positive momentum from Wimbledon.
Jared Donaldson beat Guido Pella as the young gun American has made another ATP main draw as a teenager, Pella’s 6-2 7-6(6) defeat demonstrated why he prefers clay as the more aggressive Donaldson was able to rattle him. Indian Veteran Somdev Devvarman also reached the main draw with a 6-3 6-3 over Shuichi Sekiguchi in just under an hour and a half. Devvarman is also showing good form and all of the qualifiers certainly deserve their spots in the draw.
Those spots are Kudla against Ryan Harrison in an All-American battle where he should be the favorite, the winner to face American Jack Sock, the #3 seed, the veteran Devvarman against the teenager Donaldson, and Krajicek against the veteran Marcos Baghdatis as he will look to pull off a big win against the formerly top 10 #5 seed.
Tuesday in Atlanta will feature one of the retiring greats of American men’s tennis, Mardy Fish, in a night session match against defending finalist Dudi Sela, and prior to that, one of the most promising American teenagers Frances Tiafoe against the big serving Sam Groth as American players will have the spotlight put on them. Tiafoe played a Monday night exhibition against the retired Andy Roddick and lost 6-3 6-4, Roddick’s big serve, even as a retiree, foiled hm, and Groth is even better at those same tactics.
Besides those late matches, the aforementioned Baghdatis-Krajicek match will take place, as it will be interesting to see how Baghdatis adapts to the 90+ degree noontime conditions, given that his fitness has previously been in question throughout his career. At the same time Lukas Lacko will face Steve Johnson, with Kudla vs. Harrison, Devvarman vs. Donaldson, and also an all-German veteran battle between Michael Berrer and Benjamin Becker completing the schedule for singles.
In doubles the marquee nightcap on Stadium is Mate Pavic/Michael Venus against Atlanta’s Donald Young and Christopher Eubanks. Additionally, Matt Ebden/Adrian Mannarino will face Eric Butorac/Artem Sitak and prior to that the defending champion pairing of Vasek Pospisil/Jack Sock will face Colin Fleming and the in-form Gilles Muller.
Look for a report on those matches after Tuesday night or Wednesday morning!
ATP Houston Wednesday: Anderson serves up a win over Delbonis, Querrey wins battle of the Yanks with Johnson Jeff McMillan, Tennis Atlantic
Photo Credit: Jeff McMillan
Today began my coverage of the 2015 US Men’s Clay Court Championships ATP 250 event in Houston, TX. The event is held at the pristine River Oaks Country Club right near the heart of the 4th most populous city in the United States. The canopy and hedging provide a nice relaxing atmosphere for the Har-Tru clay center court.
I arrived just in time to see Jeremy Chardy finish off Go Soeda 6-3 6-3. Chardy looked to be in complete control, really dictating each point with his forehand. He was not missing and was dragging Soeda all over the place. Chardy had a minor blip while serving for the match at 6-3 5-2 as he was broken after a few errors caused by a last gasp effort by Soeda. But the Frenchman did not allow that to derail his plans of winning in routine fashion as he promptly broke Soeda right back to clinch a date in the quarterfinals. After the match Chardy was asked by the on-court reporter what it was like to be ranked inside the top 40 in the world but only the 6th best player in your own country. Chardy remarked that “I am never able to play Davis Cup” with a slight laugh to indicate the difficulty of being a standout when one is a French tennis player.
Chardy advanced (photo credit: Jeff McMillan)
The next match on Center Court was Kevin Anderson vs Federico Delbonis. This was an interesting matchup and effectively a 50/50 match. Anderson being the much higher ranked player but Delbonis having more clout on clay.
The first set began in a shaky manner. Each player donated a break to the other very early in the set. Anderson looked off balance for much of the first few games, constantly hitting shots flat-footed, which caused several rather routine errors. Delbonis donated many of his own errors, which did not allow him to take advantage of Anderson’s sow start. At 3-4 in the first set with Anderson serving things got interesting. Down 15-30 in his service game, Anderson reared back and cranked his biggest serve of the match to that point at 140 mph. That immediately shifted some momentum to the side of the South African as he played a few strong points after that to even the set at 4-4. Delbonis felt the momentum going against him and tightened up a bit, making a few errors to give Anderson a break and a 5-4 lead. After a shaky start Anderson appeared to have righted the ship, as one would expect a top 20 player to do and looked poised to serve out the first set. However that assumption would turn out to be very wrong. Anderson played by far his weakest game of the match. He made three unforced errors and threw in a double fault for good measure to give away his chance to take the 1st set. Delbonis then held easily to go up 6-5. Anderson punched back yet again by serving four unreturned bombs to send the 1st set to a tiebreak, with momentum being effectively even.
In the tiebreak Delbonis would take his game up a notch. He found his forehand and painted the lines on a few occasions. Anderson double faulted once and started making backhand errors. Delbonis hit two great forehand winners from 5-4 up to tae the tiebreak 7-4.
Early in the 2nd set Anderson looked rigid and continued his double fault woes. However he managed to hold to start the set and that seemed to relax him as he then started playing some very solid points, dictating play from all around the court and was rewarded with an early break to go up in the set. Delbonis’s level was clearly dropping and he began to checkout of rallies, often dumping a backhand into the net on a seemingly routine balls. Anderson capped off the set with a break at love to give him his first 6-0 set win since 2011 (thanks to Jared Pine for this stat) ad to a 3rd set we would go.
Delbonis came out of the gates firing in the 3rd set, quickly taking a 30-0 lead on Anderson’s serve, knowing that a break would be massive for him to start the decisive set. However; missed service returns doomed him in his attempt to break. Anderson would go on to break Delbonis at love to go up 3-1 and it looked like it was the South African’s match to take. Anderson was sensing blood in the water and dropped two 141 mph serves in his service game as he attempted to consolidate the break. However; the big serves would not be of any consequence as Delbonis somehow found his backhand and hit a laser beam winner past Anderson to set up a break point which he would convert on his first attempt. The players would exchange service holds to make it 4-3 to Kevin Anderson. Delbonis would go up 30-0 in his service game but that’s when the wheels would fall off. Two consecutive double faults and a bad forehand error gave Anderson a break point, which Delbonis saved but could not save the game on Anderson’s 3rd break point. Serving at 5-3 up Anderson closed out the match in definitive fashion determined to not allow Delbonis yet another breath of life. Game set match Kevin Anderson 6-7(4) 6-0 6-3.
After the match I caught up with Delbonis for a brief interview. . He appears to be taking it easy this clay season, just hoping to get his game back on track and hopefully build for the future in this rebuilding phase of his career.
Anderson goes on to the quarterfinals where he will face off with Chardy.
The 3rd match of the day featured two well-known Americans, Sam Querrey vs. Steve Johnson. Querrey came out very solid, sticking to his game and being consistent with his shots. Johnson however came out very rocky, missing a lot of backhands and his usually reliable forehand was missing more often than not. Visibly frustrated, Johnson went for big shots late in the 1st set, apparently biding his time for the 2nd set. In the 2nd set Johnson fought through his struggles and began to play better. The players each held serve with relative ease until Johnson broke Querrey to go up 5-3. Serving for the set, Johnson cracked, reverting back to 1st set form he made errors and an unlucky net cord sealed the break for Querrey. In a surprise twist of fate Johnson dug deep and stole a break from Querrey to sneak out the set 6-4 against the tide of momentum.
The 3rd set would be an even more lopsided version of the first set. Johnson managed to win just 6 points in the entire set, the plot completely lost while Querrey just stayed the course. In this particular match Querrey appeared to be more poised and steady and in the end he was rewarded with his first career ATP win over Johnson (had been 0-4 in total sets previously) 6-1 4-6 6-0.
Talking to other media after the match Querrey said he is improving his play this year and is starting to “play good 2 out of every 3 weeks instead of only 1 out of every 3 weeks”. The next few days will show just how good this week will be for Querrey as he will face Feliciano Lopez in the quarterfinals who is coming off of a routine 6-3 6-3 dusting of Sam Groth.
The double scores were Brunstrom/Young over Devvarman/Singh 6-3 6-1, Lindstedt/Melzer over Daniell/Giraldo 6-4 6-1, Frystenberg/Gonzalez over Estrella/Souza 6-3 6-1, and the Bryan brothers over Tipsarevic/Petzschner in a thriller 5-7 6-2 13-11.
Check back tomorrow through twitter @tennisatlantic for more live updates, pictures, videos and even more interviews as the other 2nd round matches get underway!
2015 Kolkata, Kyota and Cherbourg Challenger Previews & Predictions Chris De Waard, Tennis Atlantic
Another week of clayless tennis on the Challenger tour, with tournaments taking place in India and France on hardcourt and on carpet in Japan.
Emami Kolkata Open 2015
ATP Challenger Tour
23-28 February 2015
Kolkata, India
Prize Money: $50,000
Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: James Duckworth (112)
2: Alexander Kudryavtsev (129)
3: Ruben Bemelmans (144)
4: Somdev Devvarman (153)
5: Luke Saville (161)
6: Radu Albot (165)
7: Alex Bolt (167)
8: Kimmer Coppejans (183)
The last direct acceptance is Miki Jankovic, ranked 402nd.
First round match-up to watch
(4) Somdev Devvarman – Ramkumar Ramanathan
Last week’s New Delhi winner might be in trouble here against his almost ten-years-younger countryman. It is yet to be seen if one good week against relatively weak opposition is going to break Devvarman’s slump and Ramanathan showed last year that he can handle Devvarman. In Chennai, Ramanathan won 4-6 6-3 6-4 and he has a good shot at pulling it off again here.
Top Half
As I have mentioned in my recap, it’s dangerous to back top seed James Duckworth at the moment. He started a slump in sight of the top 100 and it’s hard to predict when he gets his mind straight again. His countryman Alex Bolt might trouble him enough in the quarterfinal to take him out, for example. In the second section Ruben Bemelmans has been displaying good form as of late, which should take him to the semi-final here, taking out his countryman Kim Coppejans in the quarterfinal in the process.
Bottom Half
Yuki Bhambri is the most dangerous player here, despite being unseeded. He seems to really struggle with Devvarman, so if he can avoid him in the semi-final I can see him taking down the title. In the quarterfinal he potentially faces second seed Alexander Kudryavtsev again, whom he took out in the first round last week. I can’t see anyone other than one of these three going through to the final, with Bhambri as the favorite to do so.
Predictions
Semis:
Bemelmans d. Duckworth
Bhambri d. Saville
Final:
Bhambri d. Bemelmans
This would be a rematch of the New Delhi semi-final of last week, when Bhambri won 4-6 6-3 7-5.
Shimadzu All Japan Indoor
ATP Challenger Tour
23 February – 1 March 2015
Kyoto, Japan
Prize Money: $50,000
Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Go Soeda (82)
2: Tatsuma Ito (94)
3: Yuichi Sugita (131)
4: John Millman (149)
5: Hiroki Moriya (158)
6: Ze Zhang (180)
7: Michal Przysiezny (185)
8: Benjamin Mitchell (212)
The last direct acceptance is Yusuke Watanuki, ranked 505th. 38 year old Takao Suzuki received a wild card. The oldtimer played his first Challenger in 1992 and reached his career high ranking of #102 in 1998.
First round match-up to watch
(5) Hiroki Moriya – Matthew Ebden
Ebden has been regaining some form after his enormous losing streaks of last year, but is still far from the level that saw him reach the top 70 a year ago. However, his two meetings against Moriya in 2013 ended in two easy straight set victories, so perhaps he will take confidence from that. Moriya isn’t in good shape himself either, losing in the first round of all four of his Challengers this year, two weeks ago in Launceston even to a player ranked outside of the top 1000.
Top Half
It’s hard to look past top seed Go Soeda here. He lives for these Asian events, and especially in Japan, he is really strong. The seed in his half, Michal Przysiezny, is potentially very strong on this rapid surface, but in his current state he is a long shot. In the second section #6 seed Ze Zhang has an excellent opportunity to reach the semi-final, especially considering #3 seed Yuichi Sugita has been struggling with his form and injuries.
Bottom Half
I suspect this will come down to an encounter between #4 seed John Millman and #2 seed Tatsuma Ito for a place in the final. Millman has been out for a couple of weeks with injury, so he might be struggling in the early stages of the tournament, but he has been in excellent form lately and I actually think he can make the top 100 this year. Nevertheless, the Japanese tend to have these events on lockdown, so Ito surely won’t go down easily. If anyone can do it, it’s Millman, however, as he closed off 2014 by winning a Challenger in Yokohama. They have played each other twice in 2013, splitting the matches, with Ito winning in five sets at the Australian Open, while Millman won in straight sets at Brisbane. In 2012 they faced each other three times on the Challenger circuit, with Ito winning all the encounters.
Predictions
Semis:
Soeda d. Zhang
Millman d. Ito
Final:
Millman d. Soeda
Challenger La Manche – Cherbourg
ATP Challenger Tour
23 February – 1 March 2015
Cherbourg, France
Prize Money: €42,500
Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Kenny De Schepper (103)
2: Steve Darcis (115)
3: Andreas Beck (117)
4: Farrukh Dustov (118)
5: Nicolas Mahut (119)
6: Benoit Paire (121)
7: Norbert Gombos (124)
8: Niels Desein (155)
The last direct acceptance is Tristan Lamasine, ranked 230th.
First round match-ups to watch
(1) Kenny De Schepper – David Guez
Upset alert. These two faced each other in the final qualifying round of Marseille last week and Guez triumphed, 6-2 2-6 6-3. He continued his form into the main draw, where he pushed world #35 Jeremy Chardy to three sets, 6-4 3-6 2-6. All in all, I would say there is about a 50% chance we will lose the top seed in the first match.
(3) Andreas Beck – Taro Daniel
Daniel is related to the previous story as well, losing to De Schepper in the second qualifying round, 7-5 6-3. This will be his first Challenger of the year, trying his luck in ATP qualifying events before, but only succeeding in Montpellier. Beck hasn’t been very successful either in his prior tournaments this year, making this another possibility for a seed to bomb out in the first round.
Top Half
Given De Schepper’s first round draw, he isn’t a solid bet to go far here. Benoit Paire is in his quarter, so even if he does make it to the quarterfinal stage, he is likely to go out against his flamboyant countryman. Paire reached second rounds at Montpellier and Marseille, together with taking down a Challenger in Bergamo, so he looks to have regained a big chunk of his pre-injury form. In the bottom section, Farrukh Dustov will show if he can perform in back to back weeks after winning the Wroclaw Challenger and reaching the top 100 for the first time. Nicolas Mahut is also still a competitor to take into account.
Bottom Half
Second seed Steve Darcis looks like the safest bet to reach the final. He lost to an on-fire Dustov last week, and only very nearly, but is unlikely to encounter that kind of opposition until the final. However, Daniel Brands qualified into this event and potentially faces Darcis in the quarterfinal, which could be very dangerous if the German brings his pre-injury form. In the other section, Niels Desein has an excellent opportunity to build on his first Challenger title in Glasgow and reach the semi-final.
May 2014 ATP Challenger Recap: Struff Rises, Muller Continues Comeback, Krajinovic Wins 1st Title
Steen Kirby, Tennis East Coast
Aix En Provence Challenger (May 5-May 11, 2014)
21 year old Argentine Diego Sebastian Schwartzman won on clay in France over Andreas Beck in 3 sets. DSS beat Yann Marti in the semis, while Beck defeated Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo.
Gimcheon Challenger (May 5-May 11, 2014) Gilles Muller won his fourth Challenger title of the season over Tatsuma Ito in 3 sets in Korea on hard courts. Muller and his serve are proving to be nearly impossible to defeat at the challenger level and the 31 year old veteran is nearly back in the top 100. Muller beat Lukas Lacko in the semis, while Ito beat his countryman, Yuichi Sugita.
Rome Challenger (May 5-May 11, 2014) Julian Reister beat veteran Pablo Cuevas to win the title in Rome. He improves to 1-1 in Challenger finals this season. The German won on clay against Marco Cecchinato in the semis, while Cuevas beat Filippo Volandri. Top seed Dusan Lajovic was upset by Maximo Gonzalez in round 1.
Bordeaux Challenger (May 12-May 18, 2014)
Veteran and ATP regular Julien Benneteau, the top seed, defeated American Steve Johnson to win on clay at home in France. Benny defeated fellow Frenchman Kenny De Schepper, while Johnson defeated Juan Ignacio Londero in the semifinals.
Busan Challenger (May 12-May 18, 2014) Go Soeda won on hard courts in Korea over Jimmy Wang in straights. Soeda defeated Marco Chiudinelli in the semis, while Wang beat wild card Hyeon Chung.
Heilbronn 2 Challenger (May 12-May 18, 2014) JL Struff beat Marton Fucsovics after beating the rising young Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis in the semifinals to win the title in Germany on clay. Struff, playing at home, was the top seed, while Fuscovics beat Andrej Martin in the semis. In a notable upset, the young Brit Kyle Edmund upset 2 seed Dustin Brown in round 1.
Samarkand Challenger (May 12-May 18, 2014) Farrukh Dustov won at home on clay in Uzbekistan, beating Aslan Karatsev in the final after a win over Boy Westerhof in the semis. Karatsev beat Gerald Melzer in the semis and upset 2 seed Damir Dzumhur in round 2. Top seed and ATP regular Denis Istomin was upset by Westerhof In round 2.
Karshi Challenger (May 19-May 25, 2014) Nikoloz Basilashvili beat American Chase Buchanan to win the title on hard courts in Uzbekistan. The Georgian beat the in-form Aslan Karatsev in the semis, while Buchanan beat Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan in the semis.
Vicenza Challenger (May 26-June 1, 2014) Filip Krajinovic of Serbia beat Norbert Gombos to win the title on clay in Italy. Krajinovic beat the rising Yoshihito Nishioka in the semis, while Gombos defeated Gerald Granollers.
In the tropical paradise of New Caledonia, Adrian Mannarino got his year started off right with a straight set victory over the unseeded Andrej Martin. Martin beat top seed Steve Darcis in round 2, and beat Jonathan Dasnieres De Veigy in the semis. Meanwhile, Mannarino beat 3 seed and fellow Frenchman Marc Gicquel in the semis.
Sao Paulo (1) Challenger (December 31, 2012 -January 6, 2013)
In Brazil, former top 50 player Horacio Zeballos burst back into the top 70 with a straight set win over Brazilian Rogerio Dutra Silva, in what is a quality hard court result for the Argentine. Zeballos, who was the top seed, beat Gastao Elias in the semis, while Dutra Silva beat countryman Joao Souza, and both semis went the full 3 sets. Zeballos had already closed out 2012 with two straight challenger titles on clay.
The unseeded Michael Berrer took the title at the prestigious Heilbronn open on indoor hard courts in Germany, which featured a stacked field that included 5 players in the top 100. Berrer beat countryman Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets in an all German final. Before that, he knowcked off top 60 player Paul-Henri Mathieu, the top seed in the semis. JL Struff beat seeded players Adrian Ungur and Benjamin Becker before beating Olivier Rochus in the semis.
On red clay in Colombia, Federico Delbonis of Argentina, the 6 seed, beat 7 seed Wayne Odesnik in straights to capture the title after beating Paul Capdeville in the semis. Odesnik made the final by beating Alejandro Gonzalez of Colombia.
Maui Wowie–Soeda Wins
Maui Challenger (January 20-January 27, 2013)
In Maui, top seed Go Soeda took the title over the unseeded Mischa Zverev in straight sets after besting Tim Smyczek in the semis. Zverev showed positive signs of getting his game back on track in posting an opening round win over 2 seed Tatsuma Ito and also beating Alex Bogomolov and Michael Russell to reach the final.
As I mentioned earlier this month, I am going to start doing previews and recaps of USTA Pro Circuit Challengers as well as monthly recaps of all the happenings on the ATP Challenger circuit around the world. Here is a preview of the first challenger on American soil this year, with professional action close to the sunny beaches of Maui, Hawaii!
Top 8 Seeds
1: Go Soeda
2: Tatsuma Ito
3: Michael Russell
4: Tim Smyczek
5: Alex Bogomolov
6: Denis Kudla
7: Thiago Alves
8: Ryan Sweeting
A lot of familiar names here and players who participated in either AO qualifying or the early rounds of the main draw.
First round matchups to watch:
Denis Kudla vs. Daniel Kosakowski
If you regularly visit this site, I’m sure you will be quite familiar with both Kudla and Kosakowski, two promising young Americans who have been working their way around the challenger circuit, the AO wild card and grand slam qualifying. Kudla is at a career high ranking of 136, while Kosakowski, who is also 20 years old, is over 100 spots below him at 256. This is always an interesting match.
Is THIS Donald’s Year?
Donald Young vs. Michael Russell
Two of the more familiar names in American tennis will meet in this one. The respectable grinder Russell remains just inside the top 100 at the age of 34 and comes off a 1stround loss in Australia. He takes on D Young, who is still trying to get his game together again after showing some slightly positive signs to start the year including making the final round of AO qualies. Russell won both of their meetings last year and he still has the edge here.
Top Half:
Top 75 player Go Soeda opens with American wild card Dennis Lajola and then will get either Denis Zivkovic or wild card Petr Michnev. In the quarters, he could draw Bradley Klahn, who opens with the still struggling Ryan Sweeting, while Austin Krajicek and Jonathan Eysseric of France are also options.
Go Soeda
The tenacious Tim Smyczek comes off a positive showing in Melbourne and will open with Tsung-Hua Yang of Taipei. Afterward, he may get an AO WC final rematch with Rhyne Williams, who also comes off a positive showing in Melbourne and opens with former NCAA champ Devin Britton. Britton hasn’t lived up to expectations as a pro so far. A Williams-Smyczek rematch could be quite a battle between two in form players.
Top 150 player Thiago Alves of Brazil opens with a qualifier, then will get a tough ask in the form of Steve Johnson, who also played in Melbourne. Johnson opens with a qualifier.
This is a stacked top half filled of in-form Americans and the consistent Soeda.
Bottom Half:
Soeda’s countryman and AO 2nd round participant Tatsuma Ito will play former top 50 player Mischa Zverev. Ito would get a a qualifier or Suk-Young Jeong of South Korea in the second round. AO qualifier Alex Bogomolov, who opens with Michael McClune, could be Ito’s quarterfinal opponent. Peter Polansky of Canada and wild card Ma Rong of China are also options.
Tatsuma Ito
The winner of Kosakowski/Kudla will get Tennys Sandgren or Blaz Rola of Slovakia, before doing battle with the Russell/Young winner. Alex Kuznetsov and a qualifier are also options.
I will not do a dark horse for challengers, since most everybody at a challenger can usually be considered a dark horse, excluding the very top seeds.
Predictions:
Semis:
Soeda d. Williams
Ito d. Russell
Kudla, Sandgren or Young could also get out of the bottom half while Smyczek could make it out of the top half. You have to go with the consistent Japanese players here, though.
Final:
Soeda d. Ito
I will go with the higher ranked Soeda here, though Ito won their only pro match against each other last year on clay. They know each other’s games very well and there will not be many surprises.
Muller took plenty of time to sign autographs for fans after his win
Gilles Muller wasted no time earning a spot in the semifinals, earning a 6-4, 6-4 win over Matt Ebden. It was all about the serve in this match. There were only 2 breaks of serve the whole match, both going to Muller and Ebden couldn’t find a way to get a break himself.
Soeda d. Nishikori
Muller will face Go Soeda, who upset his countryman, Kei Nishikori 6-2, 6-1. Soeda played better than Nishikori, the higher ranked player, and Kei was really wilting in the heat by the start of the 2nd set. Nishikori was taking plenty of time to towel off and walk slowly around the baseline. Go’s win gives him bragging rights going into the Olympics where they will be doubles partners for Japan.
Japanese fans came out to support their country’s top 2 players, or “Why is there a leg coming out of my ear, Doc?”
Andy Roddick didn’t have too hard of a time against fellow American Michael Russell. Like Muller, he got the two breaks he needed and took the match 6-3, 6-4. Both guys held serve with ease and played some great shots at the net. Russell came forward a lot, but he couldn’t handle Roddick’s serve.
ARod got the job done
John Isner beat Jack Sock in the late match 7-6, 6-4. Isner was up early but struggled at the end of the 1st set in a match that was delayed by thunderstorms. Sock had a ton of set points, but could not convert and while Isner was still shaky, he got a break in the second and served it out.
Today’s semi final match ups will be Muller against Soeda and Roddick against Isner. In doubles semis, Malisse/Russell will take on Klaasen/Young and Fleming/Hutchins will take on Ebden/Harrison. Klaasen/Young won a great match over Ebelthite/Matosevic and Ebden/Harrison won a tough match against Anderson/De Voest.
The quarterfinals will be played today at the BB&T Atlanta Open and they are quite interesting for the battle of nationalities, if nothing else. The top 2 Japanese players, Kei Nishikori and Go Soeda will play against each other with both earning hard fought three set wins this week.
There will be two all-American quarterfinals here, the first between Andy Roddick and underdog Michael Russell, who has been a refreshing surprise here, and the second between top American John Isner and rising American Jack Sock. Isner struggled last night while Sock has earned a couple of nice wins. The other singles quarterfinal will be between the tall Matt Ebden, and the taller Gilles Muller, who also happen to be a couple of the nicest players here.
In doubles quarterfinals action, best buds Ebden/Harrison will take on South African tandem De Voest/Anderson. Both doubles teams earned strong wins yesterday and Ebden will try to pull double duty again. In addition, Aussies Ebelthite/Matosevic will take on Klaasen and Young, who looked strong yesterday. The Flemchins get a walkover over Muller/Bogomolov as Alex Bogomolov was forced to withdraw with a shoulder injury. Malisse and Russell earned their quarterfinal berth yesterday.
Tennis Atlantic 