Ernests Gulbis Continues Resurgence By Triumphing In Qualifying At Halle; Sugita Qualifies Adam Addicott, Tennis Atlantic
Ernests Gulbis has continued his recent spike in form with a successful qualifying campaign at the 24th Gerry Weber Open.
The Latvian entered Halle with a fresh burst of confidence after reaching the fourth round of the French Open, his best grand slam performance for two years. Following his run in Paris, Gulbis returned to the top-60 for the first time since May 2015. Opening up his German campaign against home player Michael Berrer, Gulbis eased to a 6-4, 6-4, victory without being broken.
Next in Gulbis’ qualifying draw was another German, Peter Gojowczyk. The 26-year-old enjoyed a promising start to his grass season by reaching the semifinals at last week’s Manchester Challenger before succumbing to Dustin Brown. In what was a roller coaster meeting between both players, Gulbis overcame a second set blip to win 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. The victory elevates the world No.59 to his 13th ATP main draw of the year.
Gulbis was one out of only two seeded players to triumph in qualifying. The other was seventh seed Sergiy Stakhovsky. Since being troubled by a back injury earlier in the year, the 30-year-old won his first Challenger title in two years in South Korea last month. In his most recent tournament Stakhovsky reached the quarter-finals at the Manchester Challenger. Starting his Halle campaign with a 52-minute 6-3, 6-1, win over Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, Stakhovsky faced tough opposition against fourth seed Rajeev Ram. 32-year-old Ram has won two ATP titles in his career, both of which were on grass (Newport 2009 and 2015). Despite converting only 3/11 break points, the world No.100 took the win 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-2, to book his place in the main draw in Halle for the fourth time in his career. Stakhovsky is yet to win a main draw match at the tournament.
The only home sucess story was for unseeded Benjamin Becker, a former top-40 player. Facing second seed Denis Istomin in the first round, the 34-year-old edged past the Uzbek player 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. It was only the second time that Becker has defeated Istomin in their eight encounters on the tour. The shock win set Becker up with a showdown against Robin Haase, a player who has reached two ATP quarter-finals this year. Despite being ranked 34 places lower, Becker sealed a main draw place by dismissing the Dutch player 6-3, 6-3, in less than an hour.
Finally, Japanese player Yuichi Sugita was the only player able to progress to the main draw without dropping a set. Kicking-off his Halle campaign with a 6-3, 6-1, win over Nikoloz Basilashvili, he faced compatriot Tatsuma Ito in the final round. Ito knocked out third seed Lukas Rosol in his opening match. Winning 74% of his service points, Sugita eased past Ito 6-2, 6-4. Focusing mainly on the Challenger tour this year, Halle will be Sugita’s first appearance in the main draw of an ATP event since the Australian Open.
Federer Dominates Halle for Seventh Time, Dimitrov Becomes All-Surface Champion
ATP Halle
Roger Federer did what he usually does in Halle: take the title. This time it was a 7-6, 7-6 victory over surprise finalist Alejandro Falla, who, at age 30, was contesting just his second career ATP level final. He drops to 0-2 in his career in ATP finals.
Federer needed 3 sets against Joao Sousa in round 2, then got a walkover against Rendy Lu, and beat Kei Nishikori in straights before the final. Falla beat Lukasz Kubot in 3 sets, Robin Haase and Peter Gojowczyk in straights and Philipp Kohlschreiber in 3 from a set down to reach the final, his big upset coming against the German on home soil.
Andre Begemann and Julian Knowle beat Marco Chiudinelli and Federer to take the doubles title, as Fed was denied the sweep by the German/Austrian duo in a close 3 set match.
All-Surface Champion
ATP London Queens
Grigor Dimitrov won his first grass court title, and completed the trifecta of titles across all the surfaces this season. The Acapulco and Bucharest champion added the Queens club hardware to his trophy case with Maria Sharapova in the crowd, slipping past Feliciano Lopez 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 and 8-6 in the final set tiebreak in a nail-biting, very competitive final.
Grisha beat James Ward and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in straights this week, got a walkover against Alex Dolgopolov and won 2 and 4 over Stan Wawrinka to reach the final. Lopez, who found some renewed form this week, reaching his first final since this time last season, beta Julian Benneteau in 3 sets, Lleyton Hewitt in an upset in straights, Kenny De Schepper in 3 sets, Tomas Berdych in straights and Radek Stepanek in the same fashion to reach the final.
In both tournaments this week, the player who played the fewest matches en route to the final was the champion.
2014 ATP Halle & London Queens Preview, Predictions Steen Kirby, Tennis East Coast
The grass season begins with the 250 events in Halle, Germany and London with some strong fields and a nice change of pace from the clay court season.
ATP Halle
Gerry Weber Open
ATP World Tour 250
Halle, Germany
June 9-June 15, 2014
Prize Money: €711,010
Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Rafael Nadal (1)
2: Roger Federer (4)
3: Milos Raonic (9)
4: Kei Nishikori (10)
I fully expect Nadal to pull out of Halle after showing distress in the French Open final, but for now he is the top seed, and even without him, Halle has a great entry list with 8 top 25 players as seeds.
First round matchups to watch:
(7)Tommy Haas vs. Steve Johnson
Haas wasn’t healthy for the French Open and retired in round 1, while Johnson won a couple of matches in Nottingham at the grass court challenger there. The American has had a strong season and he beat Haas this year in Delray Beach in 3 sets. Tommy is a two-time champion here and a good grass court player, but I would say Johnson has a very good chance to upset him and I’m personally picking that result.
(6)Mikhail Youzhny vs Ivo Karlovic
Youzhny made the final here last year and is 3-0 career against Karlovic (all on hard courts). That being said, he has been in some awful form all season. Karlovic has had a strong season and is playing well, even on clay, his traditionally weakest surface, as he reached the third round of the French. Ivo is a much stronger player on the quick grass and he has a great chance of upsetting Youzhny.
Top Half:
If Nadal plays the tournament, he will face the potentially troublesome big server Dustin Brown or qualifier Andrey Kuznetsov for his first match. If not, it will be a lucky loser against one of those two. It could be Nadal or Brown or another player against most likely Jerzy Janowicz or Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarterfinals.
JJ has a strong career record on grass and finally won some matches in Paris at the French, snapping a four match-losing streak. Kohli also has a great career record on grass and he just beat Janowicz on clay in Rome. The German opens with Andreas Seppi, who is in cold form, while JJ opens with Pierre-Hugues Herbert, a qualifier. I personally lean towards Kohlschreiber reaching the quarters, and in fact, the semis on.
Nadal doesn’t seem capable of mounting a deep run here in his current condition.
RG quarterfinalist Milos Raonic, who has had a strong season, opens with Peter Gojowczyk, a wild card, or Michal Przysiezny, who is really struggling. Milos is just .500 career on grass but he’s due for improvement on the surface given his good serve. His first opponent doesn’t seem troublesome, so expect him in the quarters against one of Richard Gasquet/Robin Haase/Lukasz Kubot/Alejandro Falla.
Gasquet is still working his way back from a back injury but he is best on grass of the four players. Kubot, though he can be dangerous, is struggling right now having lost three straight matches and being just 6-14 on the season overall. Raonic has a great shot at the semifinals against Kohlschreiber/Janowic.
Bottom Half:
Roger Federer will face JL Struff or Joao Sousa in round 2. The defending and six-time Halle champion was knocked out in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, and I for one think he will be pleased to be back on grass.
Federer vs Karlovic/Youzhny is a likely quarterfinal matchup, as Rendy Lu and Mate Pavic are the only other options, neither of whom are very imposing. Fed has a decided edge against all possible quarterfinal opponents and appears safe for the semis at minimum.
Kei Nishikori will face Gaels Monfils or Benjamin Becker. Nishikori was unfit for Roland Garros and bowed out meekly in round 1, but he has been on a tear this season. Monfils doesn’t have that much of a record on grass but he’s positive on the surface and comes off quarterfinals in Paris. They have never met before and Monfils-Nishikori could be an amazing round 2 match. The winner will face Johnson/Haas in the quarters. In my opinion, Ilya Marchenko, a qualifier, and Teymuraz Gabashvili are the other options.
Dark Horse: Steve Johnson
Kohlschreiber is unseeded and technically qualifies as a dark horse, but Johnson is the real dark horse. If he can upset Haas, he should at least make the quarters, and if Nishikori/Monfils show up unfit, he could find himself in the semifinals this week. That would be a great result for the American who continues to rise in the rankings.
Predictions
Semis:
Kohlschreiber d. Raonic
Federer d. Nishikori
Kohli and Raonic have a split h2h, but I’m favoring Peppo because of the surface. It could go either way. Federer is 1-2 career against Nishikori and lost to him this year in Miami, but Kei may not be 100% from what I can tell, and this is grass, which swings things in favor of the Swiss veteran.
Final:
Federer d. Kohlschreiber
Federer is 4-0 against Kohlschreiber on grass alone, including three previous Halle wins, the last coming in 2010. Fed also won twice last year against the German on hard courts, and he is a strong favorite to win his seventh title here.
ATP London Queens
Aegon Championships
ATP World Tour 250
London, England
June 9-June 15, 2014
Prize Money: €711,010
Top 8 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Stan Wawrinka (3)
2: Tomas Berdych (6)
3: Andy Murray (8)
4: Grigor Dimitrov (12)
5: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (14)
6: Ernests Gulbis (17)
7: Kevin Anderson (20)
8: Alex Dolgopolov (21)
Like Halle, Queens has a very strong field with three top 10 players (four if you include Gulbis, who has risen up the rankings post-RG), and all the seeds are top 25 players.
First round matchups to watch:
Blaz Rola vs. (WC)James Ward
The Slovenian Rola is looking for his first career ATP world tour win here in London. He had a good run at the Australian Open at the start of the year, but hasn’t played any ATP main draw matches since. He faces the British Journeyman Ward, who just beat him in French Open qualifying and is a decent grass court player. Rola has a stronger future ahead, but for now this match won’t be easy.
Jurgen Melzer vs. (WC)Daniel Evans
Another matchup featuring a British wild card, Melzer has been so-so in this season. Off of clay, it will be interesting to see what the rest of 2014 holds for him. Evans is a very streaky player who can play well at times when he finds himself. He hasn’t been that strong recently though, and I think Melzer will prevail over the home boy.
Sergiy Stakhovsky vs. (Q)Daniel Brands
Stakhovsky is 3-0 career against Brands, who was out between Miami and the French Open this year because of mono, but has found some match form to qualify here. Stako is on a four-match losing streak, and though he famously upset Federer at Wimbledon, he is barely above .500 on the grass court surface overall. He could find some form on it, but Brands, with his style of play, will have a chance in this one to return to ATP success.
(10)Feliciano Lopez vs. Dusan Lajovic
Feli Lopez is struggling, but he’s 24-10 on grass since 2010 and should have the advantage against surprise round of 16 FO participant Dusan Lajovic, who has never won a tournament match on grass (0-4 since 2010). This is more of a form test for both players to see if Lajovic can at least give Lopez a hard time. This match could also be routine.
Top Half:
Stan Wawrinka will face Bradley Klahn or frequent wild card recipient, and now infrequent winner, Marcos Baghdatis, in round 2.
Baghdatis did just win the Nottingham Challenger on grass though. Stan has never been known as a grass court player along with coming off a round 1 loss at the French, but the trump card though is Wawrinka is 5-0 career against Baggy including 2 wins last year, so he should be able to reach the third round. Wawrinka/Baghdatis could face an American, one of Michael Russell/Denis Kudla/Sam Querrey in the third round, or Jeremy Chardy. Querrey has had an awful season but is looking to find himself on grass, while Kudla and Russell can be competitive. It’s hard to pick a third rounder from that section.
Wawrinka vs. Tsonga/Cilic is my quarterfinal pick. The Frenchman is a former finalist here and managed to make the fourth round at Roland Garros. He’s a good grass court player but so is Marin Cilic, as he is the defending finalist here. Cilic must beat Marinko Matosevic and Matt Ebden/Lukas Lacko to reach the third round, while Tsonga must defeat David Goffin/Dominic Thiem.
Thiem is a dangerous lurker but I’m not sure about his skills on grass yet. Cilic has a grass court win against Tsonga in ’07 here, and has won the last two meetings, including a meeting in Rotterdam this year (both on hard court).
I’m going with Wawrinka vs. Cilic in the quarters and Cilic over Wawrinka in that matchup. Stan did win on clay this year, but the faster surface favors the Croat.
Grigor Dimitrov will face Rola/Ward in round 2 and the former semifinalist here has a good skill set for grass court tennis. He didn’t play well at all at the French Open and said he was dealing with personal issues after a round 1 loss. Assuming he has been able to put his struggles behind him, his first test should come against Nicolas Mahut in the third round. Mahut faces qualifier Marsel Ilhan, and then Edouard Roger-Vasselin/Evgeny Donskoy. ERV is a good grass court player, too, as he grew up playing some on the surface. That being said, Mahut is an amazing 30-12 on grass since 2010 and Mahut over Dimitrov to reach the quarters seems like a good value pick.
Dimitrov beat Mahut in straights here 2 years ago and leads the overall h2h 3-1, but if Grigor still isn’t quite right with himself, Nico in the quarters is a good selection.
Dimitrov/Mahut will be favored against one of Alex Dolgopolov/Dmitry Tursunov/Igor Sijsling in the quarters. Dolgo faces Denis Istomin or Farrukh Dustov in round 2 and he is just 9-10 on grass in the past four seasons. Tursunov can play well on grass but he’s inconsistent.
Sijsling is a nice change of pace choice as he reached the semis in Nottingham and has a quality record on grass in the past four seasons. Sijsling/Tursunov faces Benoit Paire/Jarkko Nieminen in round 2. Paire has been very poor this season and Nieminen is also struggling and has never been great on grass.
Bottom Half:
Tomas Berdych, an RG quarterfinalist, will face James Duckworth or Dudi Sela in round 2, then one of Julien Benneteau/Victor Estrella/Adrian Mannarino/Dan Cox in round 3. Benny comes off the French Open doubles title and has some skills on grass, while the seemingly struggling Adrian Mannarino is one to watch: on grass he can catch fire and put some good results. He struggled on clay this year but that is to be expected.
Benny beat Mannarino at Queens last year and leads the h2h 3-0, so he probably has a slight edge for the third round. Berdych and Benny have a 1-1 h2h on grass, but Tom leads the overall h2h 4-1 thus he should be safe for the quarters against Ernests Gulbis/Lleyton Hewitt, or perhaps Lopez.
Gulbis, an RG semifinalist and Nice champion is an on absolute tear recently and has entered the top 10. He will face Somdev Devvarman/Kenny De Schepper first and then Hewitt/Lopez most likely in round 3. Hewitt has lost four straight matches and has been poor this season but he has a great career record on grass and given his 4-0 record against Lopez, including a win at Wimbledon in 2005, I expect him in the third round (he has to beat Daniel Gimeno-Traver also in round 1) against Gulbis in a mouthwatering first meeting.
The Latvian is just 4-6 on Grass since 2010 and Hewitt may still be out of form, I’m going with my gut and putting Hewitt in the quarters of my draw, as Ernie may also be tired.
Defending champ and RG semifinalist Andy Murray has some points to defend first up against Aljaz Bedene, a newly minted Brit, or Paul-Henri Mathieu. After that, expect Murray, now working with coach Amelie Mauresmo, to face Radek Stepanek, as the Czech faces Mikhail Kukushkin (who on a trivia note also has a female coach, his wife) and then Bernard Tomic/Tim Smyczek to reach round 3. Stepanek is in decent form and Tomic, who can play well on grass, has been just awful this season as he seems to be throwing his career away.
Murray should be in the quarters after beating Stepanek.
Murray will have an interesting quarterfinal opponent. Kevin Anderson is the slated seed but he’s struggling and even with his big serve, has never dictated on grass like he probably should. Anderson will need to defeat Melzer/Evans to reach round 3, while Stakhovsky/Brands will face Paolo Lorenzi/Vasek Pospisil in round 2.
Lorenzi is an atrocious player off of clay, but Pospisil has literally not won a match since January and has to have absolutely zero confidence and belief right now with 8 straight losses (none of which came against top 15 opponents). I do believe Pospisil will break his losing streak because he’s facing Lorenzi on grass, but I like Brands/Stakhovsky to reach round 3, and one of Anderson/Brands/Stakhovsky to fall to Murray in the quarterfinals.
Dark Horse: Igor Sijsling
A variety of surprise players could make good runs here with an intriguing draw, but I’ll give the Dutchman the official designation for this tournament. If he can beat Tursunov, Paire/Nieminen and Dolgopolov/Istomin he will be in the quarters. This is an entirely reasonable proposition, and Mahut/Dimitrov will be a tough opponent, but he could make the semis.
Predictions Semis:
Cilic d. Mahut
Murray d. Berdych
Cilic and Mahut have split head to heads on grass, with both meetings coming here in London Queens in 2009 and 2010. Cilic also won on a hard court in 2008 and I give him a small edge to advance to the final, given his strong season.
Berdych has won the last two meetings against Murray (in 2013) and he leads the overall h2h, but Murray seems to be in better form and this is grass, so I like him to make the final again.
Final:
Murray d. Cilic
It would be a rematch of last years final won by Murray in a competitive 3 sets, and I like a similar result again as Murray is 4-0 on grass overall against Cilic. Marin did win this year indoors in Rotterdam against him, but it seems like the British number 1 is finally returning to his pre-back surgery form or something near it.
Look for the three-time Queens champion to take his fourth title here next weekend.
Murray Wins 3rd Queens, Federer Takes First Title in 2013 and 6th Halle Trophy
ATP London (Queen’s Club)
Andy Murray won his third Aegon Championships crown with a hard fought 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Croat Marin Cilic. It was Murray’s third title of the 2013 campaign and he got it done beating Nicolas Mahut, Marinko Matosevic, Benjamin Becker and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 3 sets.
Cilic beat Ivan Dodig, Feliciano Lopez in 3 sets, Tomas Berdych, and Queens Club legend Lleyton Hewitt in 3 sets to reach the final, his 2nd final of 2013 (Zagreb). As a sidenote, Hewitt upset seeded and younger players Grigor Dimitrov, Sam Querrey and Juan Martin Del Potro to reach the semis.
The Bryans won their 8th doubles title of 2013, and are dominating almost every event they enter with Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares their latest final victims.
ATP Halle
Roger Federer won his first title in 10 months 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 over Mikhail Youzhny. The win is the 77th career title for Federer and Number 6 in Halle. He now has the 4th-most overall titles won in the Open era and he got there beating Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, double-bageling Mischa Zverev, and beating Tommy Haas in 3 sets.
Colonel Youzhny beat Dani Gimeno-Traver, Kei Nishikori in 3 sets, Phillip Kohlschreiber and Richard Gasquet.
Santiago Gonzalez and Scott Lipsky won the doubles title over Daniele Bracciali and Jonathan Erlich.
2013 ATP London, Halle Previews and Predictions Steen Kirby, TennisEastCoast.com
The dirt season is now over and tennis will return to the ornate lawns of Queen’s Club and the Gerry Weber Open, bringing faster tennis and more volleying.
ATP London (Queen’s Club)
AEGON Championships
ATP World Tour 250
June 10-June 16, 2013
Prize money: € 779,665
The Big Bracket 250 and joint WTA event brings tennis back to London.
Top 8 seeds (who all receive 1st round byes)
1: Andy Murray
2: Tomas Berdych
3: Juan Martin Del Potro
4: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
5: Marin Cilic
6: Sam Querrey
7: Alex Dolgopolov
8: Kevin Anderson
1st round matchups to watch:
Bernard Tomic vs. Benjamin Becker
Tomic is in dire straits right now but he still has talent and he still has skill on grass. Becker is a journeyman, but he is in the finals of Nottingham and is solid at trying to wear guys down.Have to say Becker is the favorite but this should be a quality match.
Kenny De Schepper vs. Rajeev Ram
De Schepper is a rising young Frenchman who relies on power and a big serve. Ram is of course the lanky American serve and volleyer who does his best work on grass, thus making this a great clash of styles. De Schepper comes off semis in the Nottingham challenger while Ram lost early, thus he should have a bit of an edge.
(13) Jarkko Nieminen vs. Ryan Harrison
First meeting between the pair: Nieminen has had a solid year and is good on all surfaces, while Harrison is working his way back to success but lost in the opening round of the Nottingham grass court challenger this week. Expect quality ball striking and a lot of fast movement.
Top Half:
Andy Murray will be able to occupy his time with something besides twittering once again. He’ll start with Nicolas Mahut or Rhyne Williams and if he gets Mahut again, it would be a rematch of a match he lost at this very event last year. After that, Murray should meet Marinko Matosevic or Michael Llodra. A qualifier and Pablo Andujar are also options in a winnable but challenging section.
The struggling Alex Dolgopolov will play Santiago Giraldo or Jesse Levine, and the winner could get Lukas Rosol, who comes off a clay challenger. A qualifier and the Becker/Tomic winner are all options in this open section.
RG semifinalist Tsonga, who was very disappointing in his semifinal match, will take on Guillaume Rufin or Edouard Roger-Vasselin. After that, he could see Tatsuma Ito, Andrey Kuznetsov, Denis Istomin or Igor Sijsling (who is playing well right now). Istomin will be looking for some better results off of clay.
The versatile Kevin Anderson will play the De Schepper/Ram winner in a key 2nd round match and that should be followed by Benoit Paire, a qualifier, Denis Kudla or Federico Del Bonis.
Bottom Half:
Tomas Berdych, who fell in that huge opening round match at the French against Monfils, will try again against Thiemo De Bakker or Rogerio Dutra Silva. Dutchman De Bakker has been playing a bit better recently and could do some damage. The rest of this section is Grega Zemlja, Sergiy Stakhovsky and British wild cards Ed Corrie and Kyle Edmund, a couple of young guns.
Marin Cilic could be facing his countryman and the Croatian #2 Ivan Dodig. If Dodig can beat British journeyman James Ward, then Julian Benneteau and Adrian Mannarino will face each other while the crafty Ricardas Berankis will play a qualifier. Benneteau beat Berankis at the French Open in a quality match and Rycka will try to get him back on the grass if they meet.
Juan Martin Del Potro is back in the field after many questions about his health. He’ll play Guillermo Garcia-Lopez or grass maestro Xaiver Malisse and the winner should get Nieminen/Harrison. Guido Pella and British Davis Cup hero Dan Evans are also options.
Sam Querrey should feel much more comfortable on grass and will play Aljaz Bedene or Paul-Henri Mathieu and then could get Grigor Dimitrov, Dudi Sela or veterans Michael Russell and Lleyton Hewitt.This section is deeply intriguing.
Dark Horse: Lleyton Hewitt
There are a lot of choices in terms of dark horses, but Hewitt played well and went out in 5 sets in Paris. Now back on the comfortable confines of grass he has a draw that gives him a chance to make to some noise if he can beat Muscles Russell and then Grisha Dimitrov, followed by an upset of Sam Querrey most likely. After that, it will probably be another big match with Del Potro. He will not be favored after the opening round but anything is possible when it comes to the tenacious veteran.
Predictions:
Semis:
Murray d. Anderson
Berdych d. Querrey
Murray should be able to find his way to the semis as long as his back is ok though Rosol could be a challenge. Anderson needs to get past De Schepper/Ram, but after that things open up and Tsonga is probably tired from the French, setting up the South African for another good showing. Still, I don’t think it will be enough against the counterpuncher Murray who can parry him well. the h2h is 1-1, but they haven’t met since 2011.
Berdych, though he lost, really didn’t play poorly at RG, and his draw is about as good as it gets, likely rolling the semis unless an underdog like Berankis were to pull off a shock. I also think Querrey squeaks past his section and I can’t trust Del Potro health-wise right now. Berdych is just a better version of Querrey in almost every department, owning a 5-1 h2h record against him.
Final:
Berdych d. Murray
Could be a great final. Overall, Berdych leads the h2h 5-4 but Murray has a better record on faster surfaces.
ATP Halle
Gerry Weber Open
ATP World Tour 250
Halle, Germany
June 10-June 16, 2013
Prize money: € 779,665
Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes)
1: Roger Federer
2: Richard Gasquet
3: Tommy Haas
4: Kei Nishikori
1st round matchups to watch:
(7) Jerzy Janowicz vs. Phillip Petzschner
Janowicz made the 3rd round in Paris and has the game to do damage on grass given his good serve and quality volleying. Petzschner really is one of those players who only gets fanfare during the grass court season and thus this is an interesting match.
(5) Milos Raonic vs. Gael Monfils
Raonic will be happy to return to some quicker courts while Monfils was one of the huge storylines in Paris, this is a massive match and Raonic will be the favorite though Monfils won their only meeting indoors in 2011. Monfils is still unpredictable but at least he should be somewhat more rested.
Top Half:
4 time Halle champ Roger Federer gets Cedrik-Marcel Stebe or a qualifier, then should get the Janowicz/Petzschner winner, unless David Goffin or Mischa Zverev get through to round 3.
FO quarterfinalist Tommy Haas will play Ernests Gulbis for the 3rd time this year (having split meetings so far) if Gulbis beats Marcos Baghdatis in what would be an entertaining second round match. The Raonic/Monfils winner will play Daniel Brands or a qualifier in another big round 2 match.
Bottom Half:
Richard Gasquet will play Jurgen Melzer or a qualifier, then he will get one of Florian Mayer, Jan-Lennard Struff, Leo Mayer or a qualifier in an easy section. Kei Nishikori will play Mikhail Youzhny or Dani Gimeno-Traver and the winner likely gets Phillip Kohlschreiber if Kohli beats Carlos Berlocq and Lukasz Kubot/Tobias Kamke.
Dark Horse: Jerzy Janowicz
Janowicz has the game for grass but it will all come down to a likely round 3 meeting with Federer, Fed is still one of the best players ever on grass, but this year he has just not been reliable, losing once again before the semis, to Tsonga in Paris. With Janowicz rising and Federer slipping the conditions are ripe for an upset after that he could get Haas/Brands/Gulbis/Raonic/Monfils all of whom would be tough, and Brands qualifies as a bit of a dark horse too. I will note Federer did beat Janowicz in Rome this year, but that was on clay. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xfOtobpn_E
Predictions:
Semis:
Janowicz d. Haas
Kohlschreiber d. Gasquet
Haas has a tough section but I think he makes it out before falling to the big Pole, Kohlschreiber should beat Nishikori on grass and then edge Gasquet who has a cupcake draw until the semis.
Final:
Janowicz d. Kohlschreiber
Janowicz won their only meeting last year indoors in Paris in route to the masters final and I think he wins his first ATP title in Halle.
Tommy Haas continued his shocking run of stellar play, taking the Halle title today over fellow veteran Roger Federer, 7-6 6-4. The world number 87, who recently broke back in the top 100 at the age of 34, rolled over Bernard Tomic, Tomas Berdych in 3 sets and countryman Philip Kohlschreiber (who had shocked Nadal in his previous round match to reach the final) before taking it to Federer.
Haas showed more than glimpses of his former top 10 self: beating players much his junior and showing not only grit but also great skill on the grass, just as he had shown on clay in Paris and Munich.
Federer will go home disappointed but he still beat Florian Mayer, survived in 3 sets over big bomber Milos Raonic (who couldn’t close him out) and shellacked Mikhail Youzhny to reach yet another final on grass.
Aisam Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer won the doubles title over Treat Huey and Scott Lipsky.
ATP London Queen’s Club
Yet another aggressive David Nalbandian outburst gave Marin Cilic the title in the AEGON Championships, even though he was down 6-7 4-3. The incident occurred when Nalbandian kicked an advertising board in rage around a lines judge and accidentally injured him in the process, causing the linesman’s leg to bleed profusely.
It not only made quite the mess but also resulted in Nalby being DQ’ed and Cilic taking the title to the shock of fans who proceeded to boo profusely all the way through the trophy ceremony. This is not the first time this year Nalbandian has suffered from a violent outburst, as he was fined $8,000 for throwing water at another tournament official during his first round match at the Australian Open. It was an unfortunate incident any way you look at it.
As for the rest of the tournament, it was a week of upsets as top 3 seeds Murray, Tsonga and Tipsarevic all fell before the quarterfinals to much lower ranked players. Nalbandian came from a set down to beat Vasek Pospisil, handled Ruben Bemelmans, came back from a set down to beat both Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Xaiver Malisse, and then rolled over refreshing youngster Grigor Dimitrov to reach the final.
Dimitrov punched above his weight this week as well, as he beat Bobby Reynolds, Nicolas Mahut (who upset Andy Murray in the previous round) and came from a set down to beat the big serving Kevin Anderson.
6 seed Cilic took care of Matt Ebden, Lukas Rosol, Yen Hsun-Lu (who beat Tipsy Tipsarevic in the previous round) and suprising Sam Querrey to reach the final. Querrey had beaten seeded players Julien Benneteau and Denis Istomin along with (Tsonga-eliminator) Ivan Dodig and Olivier Rochus.
The event was also marred by a lot of rain, as can be expected during the British summer and a lot of the match schedules became convoluted. Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor beat the Bryans for the 2nd week in a row to take the doubles title.
Now that the grinding clay court season has concluded in Paris, tour players will seek to quickly adjust to the flashy grass with Wimbledon just two weeks away. Some will do battle in Halle, Germany and others in London, the home of Wimbledon, at 2 events that are historic in their own right. This article with focus on Halle. The London preview will follow.
ATP Halle
Gerry Weber Open
ATP World Tour 250
Halle, Germany
June 11-June 16 2012
Prize Money: € 633,750
Top 4 seeds (Who all receive 1st round byes)
1: Rafael Nadal
2: Roger Federer
3: Tomas Berdych
4: Alexandr Dolgopolov
3 of the top 4 seeds are in the top 10, while 4 seed Dolgopolov is in the top 20, in what is a top notch field in Halle.
1st round matchups to watch:
Tommy Haas vs. Bernard Tomic
Haas, a wild card who acquitted himself extremely well in Paris, qualifying and then losing to Richard Gasquet in 4 sets in the 3rd round will serve it up in front of home fans against Tomic, who will seek to put the clay court season behind him and return to the form that gave him a quarterfinals appearance at Wimbledon last year. It is an interesting match-up in more ways than one.
Andreas Seppi vs. Radek Stepanek
7 seed Seppi, who pushed Djokovic to 5 sets in their 3rd round match up in Paris and also knocked off Fernando Verdasco, will take on traditional serve and volleyer Stepanek, who plays well on the grass. It will be a battle of style vs. top form.
Top Half:
Rafael Nadal, who will face Novak Djokovic in a bid for another title in Paris, starts off against either a qualifier or Lukas Lacko of Slovakia, then he will likely face defending champ Philipp Kohlschreiber in the 3rd round. Depending on his physical shape, the draw doesn’t pose too much trouble for Rafa. Kohlschreiber, seeded 8th, will face wild card Dustin Brown and then Lukasz Kubot of Poland or lefty Jarkko Nieminen of Finland.
Defending Champ Philipp Kohlschreiber
Tomas Berdych, the 3 seed who fell to Juan Martin Del Potro in a disappointing match at Roland Garros, will take on Viktor Troicki or veteran home fave Benjamin Becker before a match up with either Marcel Granollers, the 7 seed clay courter, a qualifier, Haas or Tomic.
Bottom Half:
Roger Federer, always at his best on the grass but still smarting from a loss to Djokovic in the Paris semis, will face another German, Florian Mayer or a qualifier before a likely match up with big serving Milos Raonic that could give him a bit of trouble. Raonic will face WC Phillip Petzschener and then another German Tobias Kamke or a qualifier.
Alexandr Dolgopolov, who has struggled a bit this year and lost in the 1st round of the French Open, will face either Robin Haase or Mikhail Youzhny, Youzhny being the showman who in his most recent antics drew “sorry” in the clay after playing extremely poorly against David Ferrer in a match he would go onto lose in Paris.
The winner will go onto face either Seppi/Stepanek or the Carlos Berlocq vs. Cedrik Marcel-Stebe winner.
Dark Horse: Milos Raonic
Raonic has the game to play well on grass with his big serve and decent volleys, if he can get Federer on a bad day he might have a shot to knock him off and tear through the rest of the field in the process.
Predictions:
Semis:
Nadal d. Berdych
Federer d. Seppi
Final:
Federer d. Nadal
If Djokovic can take some energy out of Nadal in Paris, Federer is set up to knock him off on the grass.
