Jarkko Nieminen

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2015 ATP Vienna, Stockholm, and Moscow Preview and Predictions
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

A trio of European indoor hard court tournaments take place this week on the ATP tour as the season enters its final weeks.

ATP Vienna

Erste Bank Open
ATP World Tour 500
Vienna, Austria
October 19-October 25, 2015
Prize Money: €1,745,040

8 seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: David Ferrer (8)
2: Kevin Anderson (10)
3: John Isner (13)
4: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (15)
5: Dominic Thiem (18)
6: Gael Monfils (19)
7: Ivo Karlovic (21)
8: Fabio Fognini (26)

Two top 10, and six top 20 players are in Vienna for its first edition as a 500 level tournament.

First round matchups to watch:

(1)David Ferrer vs. Albert Ramos

Ferrer has a 4-0 h2h record against his countryman and should be a solid favorite after posting a 7-2 record over his last 9 matches. Ramos is in great form though, he qualified in Shanghai and shocked Roger Federer for the biggest win of his career, going on to push eventual finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to three sets in the round of 16. Ferrer is a better player, and far better indoors, but Ramos may be able to notch another top 10 win in this one if Ferrer plays as poorly as he did in Shanghai.

(8)Fabio Fognini vs. Paul-Henri Mathieu

Fognini leads the h2h 2-1 with Mathieu but they haven’t played since 2009. The French veteran isn’t a clutch player but he has a solid ballstriking game indoors and could trouble Fognini if the Italian loses his cool. Fabio reached the semis in Beijing and his form has been good since the US Open though, so I have him avoiding the upset and winning this one.

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(5) Dominic Thiem vs. Jerzy Janowicz

Janowicz has a h2h win over Thiem and recently reached a challenger final on indoor hard. JJ has a great game for this venue, though he’s struggled to maintain ATP level tennis this season, and Thiem faces the pressure of being the home favorite. Both player are about equal in talent level, but Thiem’s consistency should help him prevail.

Top Half:

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The defending finalist David Ferrer should draw another Spaniard, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, in the second round after facing Ramos. GGL has lost three straight matches, and his round 1 opponent Santiago Giraldo is struggling mightily as well. Though GGL is good indoors, Ferrer leads the h2h 7-1 and he should reach the quarterfinals.

Fabio Fognini should be able to reach the quarterfinals as well, as he’ll face either Austrian journeyman Dennis Novak or Radek Stepanek in round 2, after his match with PHM. Stepanek hasn’t played well in quite some time and I don’t expect him to challenge Fognini. Ferrer leads the h2h with Fognini 8-0 and with the World Tour Finals on the line, look for Ferrer to make the semifinals in Austria.

Shanghai finalist, and former Vienna champion, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga may be exhausted from his exploits at the Masters level but his round 1 opponent Tommy Haas, a loser of four straight matches, isn’t likely to defeat him. After Haas I also give Lukas Rosol or qualifier Yuichi Sugita a limited chance to upset Tsonga. Rosol has a big enough game to pull it off, but Tsonga is an excellent indoors player and the Czech has been out of tune for some time.

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Gael Monfils is the biggest threat to Tsonga reaching the semifinals, The high flying Frenchman will look to extend his h2h over a struggling Thomaz Bellucci to 3-0 in his first match since the US Open. Monfils has struggled to stay healthy, but Bellucci, and likely Rajeev Ram in round 2 are both opponents he should be favored against. Ram opens with dirtballer Paolo Lorenzi in round 1.

Monfils beat Tsonga in Miami this year, but Tsonga has an edge in the overall h2h, and I look for Jo to bite him back if they meet in the quarterfinals. Fatigue is a factor, but so is rust with Monfils.

Bottom Half:

Kevin Anderson should cruise to the quarterfinals past Austria’s Andreas Haider-Maurer, and Jiri Vesely, presuming Vesely beats Austrian wild card Gerald Melzer in round 1. Vesely reached the quarterfinals in Shenzen and he’s a streaky player. The h2h between Kev and Jiri is 1-1, with Vesely beating him early this season in Auckland. Indoors with Anderson’s serve the result should swing to his favor. Anderson comes off the quarterfinals in Shanghai and solid wins over Fognini and Kei Nishikori.

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I look for Dominic Thiem to beat Janowicz and then the winner of Alex Dolgopolov/Steve Johnson to reach the quarterfinals in front of the home fans. Dolgo has lost five straight matches, but he was solid enough in Shanghai and he has a higher peak than Johnson who won a round in Shanghai and went out in round 2. Thiem and Dolgo is a tough matchup, but consistency and venue should give Thiem the advantage.

Anderson is 3-0 in the h2h against Thiem and beat him at the US Open this year, it could be close, but big Kev should gain some ranking points and reach the semis.

The final semifinal spot should come down to a battle of big servers in the quarterfinals. Ivo Karlovic faces the all-courter Andreas Seppi in round 1 and he should be able to find consistency and serve past him, and Jan-Lennard Struff or Sergiy Stakhovsky in his first two matches. Struff qualified and has two challenger titles and a semifinal as of late, so his form has been excellent at a lower level. JL has always been a good challenger tour player but hasn’t quite made the jump to ATP tennis on a regular basis, the Karlovic serve should prove to be too much.

Look for John Isner to join Karlovic in the quarters by ousting the in-form Kenny De Schepper and then the struggling Ernests Gulbis. Gulbis should get his first match win in months by defeating ATP main draw débutante Lucas Miedler, a 19 year old Austrian who hasn’t even reached the challenger tour level yet, but came through qualifying.

Isner is 7-3 in his last 10 matches, and those three losses all came at the hands of top 10 players. The match with Karlovic should come down to just a few points, but I give him the edge to reach the semis.

Dark Horse: Jan-Lennard Struff

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Struff is just 4-17 at the main tour level this year but he’s 16-2 since the US Open and in fantastic form at the Challenger Tour level. JL reached the quarterfinals in Vienna last year and posted two ATP semifinals indoors as well (Marseille and Metz). He’s got all the shotmaking ability needed to excel, but his mental game is rather weak. Should Ivo Karlovic and Isner slip up, Struff could find his way to the semifinals of an ATP tournament for the third time in his career.

Predictions

semis
Ferrer d. Tsonga
Isner d. Anderson

Ferrer leads the h2h with Tsonga 3-1 and should be fresher than his rival in this semifinal. Ferru already took the title indoors in Kuala Lumpur, and he should reach another final this Fall in Vienna, reprising his result last year.

Isner tends to have the matchup edge with Anderson and his form has been good.

final
Ferrer d. Isner

Ferrer is 5-1 in the h2h against Isner and should be highly motivated to capture another ATP title.

ATP Stockholm

IF Stockholm Open
ATP World Tour 250
Stockholm, Sweden
October 19-October 25, 2015
Prize Money: €537,050

Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Tomas Berdych (5)
2: Richard Gasquet (11)
3: Gilles Simon (14)
4: Bernard Tomic (20)

Stockholm boasts a quality field for an ATP 250 tournament with four top 20 names.

First round matchups to watch:

Benjamin Becker vs. John Millman

Becker has caught fire this Fall on indoor hard, the offensive baseliner reached the final of the Mons challenger and the semifinals in Kuala Lumpur for an overall 9-3 record since the US Open. Previously in a cold slump, he’s back playing crafty tennis and could be a threat in Stockholm. John Millman qualified for Beijing and upset Tommy Robredo, the Australian has the talent to be an ATP level player but he’s still seeking a breakthrough, and winning this match would help. Look for Becker to advance and maintain his hot streak.

Fernando Verdasco vs. Denis Kudla

Fernando Verdasco has lost three straight and could be in for an upset defeat at the hands of the dynamic ball striker Denis Kudla. Kudla went 7-2 on the USTA Pro Circuit after the US Open and is now returning to the ATP main draw level in Stockholm. It’s been a career year for Kudla, and look for him to add to that with a win over the declining Verdasco.

(6)Jeremy Chardy vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis

The talented young gun Kokkinakis is seeking his 12th ATP tour level win this season and could break out of a cold slump with a win over Chardy, a big hitter who is capable of playing well indoors. Chardy lost to Kokkinakis on grass earlier this season and has lost two straight matches himself. I have Kokkinakis pulling off the upset.

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Top Half:

The defending and two-time Stockholm champion Tomas Berdych will open with the Alex Zverev/Mikael Ymer winner. Ymer is the younger brother of the better known Elias Ymer and gets a main draw wild card. His ATP debut will take place against a fellow young gun who is seeking to snap a four match losing streak. Zverev should fall to the Shenzen champion and Shanghai quarterfinalist Berdych in round 2.

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Look for Berdych to face another former Stockholm champion, Grigor Dimitrov, in the quarterfinals. A struggling Dimitrov opens with a qualifier, and then is likely to face the retiring Jarkko Nieminen. Nieminen gets a wild card and is ending his ATP career in Stockholm after a solid career as Finland’s #1 tennis player. The speedy defensively minded veteran opens with Daniel Munoz-De La Nava, who has been on fire on the clay court challenger tour. Nemo has lost four straight, and Dimitrov is far better at this point in their careers.

Berdych beat Dimitrov in the Stockholm final last year and given Dimitrov’s poor form this season the Czech has the edge to reach the semifinals.

Shanghai quarterfinalist Bernard Tomic will open with either Sam Querrey or Marcos Baghdatis. Querrey leads the h2h 3-0 over Baghdatis, and Tomic should have the edge in his section to reach another ATP quarterfinal. Trouble should await at that stage though, as Becker/Millman or Gilles Muller/qualifier are the options. Muller has an ATP quarterfinal and a semifinal this Fall and is a solid indoor player, as is Becker. The pair of veterans have met just once before and Becker came out on top. I have that result repeating itself and a Tomic vs. Becker quarterfinal, in which Tomic should have the edge.

Bottom Half:

Richard Gasquet should cruise through his section of the draw and power his way to the semifinals. Neither Steve Darcis, or a struggling Adrian Mannarino, look to be threatening in his first match and he’ll have a decided edge over the Chardy/Kokkinakis winner in the quarters. The other option in this section is the winner of Federico Delbonis/qualifier, and Delbonis much prefers clay.

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Gilles Simon could make it an all-French semifinal against Gasquet if he can beat Leo Mayer/qualifier and likely the winner of Jack Sock vs. Denis Kudla in the quarterfinals. Sock faces dirtballer Pablo Carreno Busta first up, and then the Verdasco/Kudla winner. On Simon’s end, Mayer is struggling, and Kudla beat Sock the last time they played. Simon is 7-3 in his last 10 matches and should beat Kudla in the quarters.

Dark Horse: Benjamin Becker

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Either Becker or Gilles Muller could get through to the semifinals over Tomic and possibly give Berdych/Dimitrov problems as well in the semifinals. Becker, even at his age, still has a quality serve and plays smart, aggressive tennis indoors. His back injury seems to have sorted itself out and he’s back cranking on the ball from both wings.

Predictions

semis
Berdych d. Tomic
Gasquet d. Simon

Berdych is 4-0 in the h2h against Tomic and has beaten him twice this season. Given his good record in Stockholm, he should prevail once more. Gasquet is 6-1 in the h2h against Simon and won a pair of matches in Shanghai to show form.

final
Berdych d. Gasquet

Berdych is 2-1 against Gasquet this year, and was 1-1 against him last season. It’s a close h2h and a difficult match to predict, but Berdych’s better form gives him the advantage.

ATP Moscow

Kremlin Cup by Bank of Moscow
ATP World Tour 250
Moscow, Russia
October 19-October 25, 2015
Prize Money: $698,325

Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Marin Cilic (12)
2: Roberto Bautista Agut (23)
3: Viktor Troicki (24)
4: Philipp Kohlschreiber (31)

With just one top 20 player, Moscow has the weakest field of the tournaments this week.

First round matchups to watch:

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(8)Mikhail Kukushkin vs. (WC)Andrey Rublev

Kukushkin has had success in Moscow before and he posted a quarterfinal in Kuala Lumpur. Rublev by contrast has lost three straight, but the teenager is the great white hope for Russian men’s tennis and will have all eyes on him at a home tournament. Rublev is plenty talented, but with his recent run of poor form, I have Kukushkin winning this match and schooling the youngster.

Simone Bolelli vs. Lucas Pouille

Bolelli leads the h2h against the young gun Pouille 3-0 and he’s 8-4 since the US Open. Pouille by contrast has lost three straight matches since reaching the quarterfinals in St. Petersburg. Pouille has a great forehand and the ability to notch a win in this one, but a wiser Bolelli should defeat him.

Top Half:

Defending champion Marin Cilic should blaze through to the semifinals. Cilic opens with the winner of Aljaz Bedene/Denis Istomin, and then should face Rublev/Kukushkin in the quarters, as Radu Albot/Andrey Kuznetsov is the only player that stands in their way. Istomin just won a challenger title and should beat Bedene, but Cilic is 6-3 since the US Open and should move that to 8-3 with wins over Istomin and Kukushkin. He’s by far the best player in his section and just beat Kukushkin at the US Open.

Former champion Viktor Troicki is just 2-3 since the US Open, but wild card Cem Ilkel, or a struggling Teymuraz Gabashvili are unlikely to oust him in the opening round. Gabashvili is a streaky player with talent, but like Troicki he seems to have lost his way right now. I have Troicki going out to Borna Coric in the quarterfinals, after Coric defeats Evgeny Donskoy and Ricardas Berankis (Berankis opens with Malek Jaziri). Coric has the most talent in this section and has been battling at the ATP level while Donkoy, Berankis, and Jaziri have all been on the challenger tour (and done well at that level). Berankis is a potential dark horse in this section if his solid ball striking pays off.

Bottom Half:

St. Petersburg semifinalist Roberto Bautista Agut plays well in Russia, and he should use his forehand to once more excel indoors and defeat Marsel Ilhan/qualifier, and then setup a meeting with either Joao Sousa or the Bolelli/Pouille winner in the quarters. Sousa is one of the better indoor specialists in the game and after Daniel Gimeno-Traver he’ll face Bolelli/Pouille. I have the St. Petersburg finalist Sousa snapping a losing streak and beating Bolelli (who he beat in St. Petersburg), and Bautista Agut for a spot in the semifinals. His game is well suited for this venue.

Philipp Kohlschreiber opens with Mikhail Youzhny/qualifier. Youzhny is a horrific 9-23 at the ATP level this year while Kohlschreiber was a semifinalist in Metz and should at least make a quarterfinal in this one. A qualifier has a fantastic chance to make the quarterfinals opposite Kohli. Pablo Cuevas opens with a qualifier, as does Robin Haase, and they both prefer a surface other than indoor hard. I have the qualifiers winning those round 1 matches, and then Kohlschreiber beating a qualifier for a spot in the semis.

Dark Horse: Ricardas Berankis

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Berankis has the talented needed to get through Coric and his weak early section, and then give Cilic a test in the semifinals. The former top junior is undersized for the ATP game but he’s a solid ball striker, and still has a lot of intangible talent, even though his pro career has been a disappointment thus far.

Predictions

semis
Cilic d. Coric
Kohlschreiber d. Sousa

Cilic and Kohlschreiber should be strong favorites to meet each other in the final.

final
Cilic d. Kohlschreiber

Kohli leads the h2h with Cilic 5-3, but I feel Cilic is the better player right now and will find a way to win and repeat as champion.

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Steen Kirby (Marseille)

Falla, Bolelli, Rocket Into Main Draws in Halle and London Queens As Qualifiers
Steen Kirby and Adam Addicott, Tennis Atlantic

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Grass court qualifying in two places, both 500 level events with two rounds of qualifying action, took place over the weekend, as some interesting names booked their place in the main draw.

ATP Halle Qualifying

In Halle, defending finalist Alejandro Falla is the strongest of the qualifiers. Last year Falla made a surprise run to that final and he’s also reached the 3rd round at Wimbledon previously in his career. The veteran lefty has a game built for grass and he comfortably defeated Janko Tipsarevic and Tim Puetz, without dropping a set, to qualify.

Another of the four qualifiers in total is lefty Jarkko Nieminen who beat Filip Krajinovic and Tatsuma Ito without dropping a set. Nieminen isn’t a grass court specialist by any stretch of the imagination but he’s fast on his feet and plays aggressively.

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A pair of talented but underachieving players also qualified, Slovak Lukas Lacko, now 27,has an aggressive and powerful game built for grass and he beat two solid opponents, Peter Gojowczyk and Jurgen Melzer in three sets to qualify. Lacko faces Falla in round 1. 24 year old Ricardas Berankis upset Austin Krajicek in three sets, and Vasek Pospisil 6-3 6-3 to qualify. The undersized ball striker was a top junior but has been a bust as a pro.

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Berankis will have a winnable round 1 match against Tommy Robredo in round 1, while Nieminen could also advance as he faces Alexander Zverev, a wild card, in round 1.

ATP London Queens Qualifying

Sixteen players participated in the qualifying competition at the Aegon Championships, which is held at the Queen’s Club in London.

Italian world number 56 Simone Bolelli was the top seed in the qualifying draw and experienced little trouble. After a straight sets win over Lucas Pouille in the first round, he faced France’s Edouard Roger-Vasselin. The Frenchman produced an impressive performance at the tournament last year when he reached the third round in the singles draw as well as the semi-final in the doubles. Bolelli however, experience no trouble as he dropped his service once on his way to winning 7-6 (4), 6-3.

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In the main draw the Italian faces a tough encounter against Richard Gasquet. Bolelli has played Gasquet on five previous occasions and has lost all of them. Their most recent match was earlier this year at the Doha Open where Gasquet eased his way to a 6-3, 6-2, win. Gasquet could face pressure but I presume he’ll prevail.

Rendy Lu was pushed hard during his match against Denis Istomin. The second seed produced a straight sets win over the talented Luca Vanni in the first round whilst Istomin edged his way past Go Soeda. During the match there was only two breaks of serve, one each, as both sets went into tie-breaks with Lu winning 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5).

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The reward for Lu is a first round showdown against top seed Andy Murray. He has beaten Murray once before which was in the first round of the 2008 Beijing Olympic games. Since then, Murray has won their two most recent encounters (both in 2013) without dropping a set. Murray should blast through the weaponless Lu to reach round 2.

The biggest surprise was the impressive run by 18-year-old wild card Jared Donaldson. The American knocked out third seed and fellow countryman Tim Smyczek in the first round to face Tobias Kamke. Kamke has experienced a disastrous 2015 so far with only one main draw win to his name. His sole win was against Vincent Millot in Montpellier last February. The misery continued for the German as Donaldson cruised to take the match 7-5, 6-3. Donaldson is currently at a ranking high of 152 in the world and won his first Challenger title in Maui at the start of the year.

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Donaldson, the American number 12, will play America’s number 1 John Isner in the first round. Given Isner’s experience, he should win comfortably.

Finally hopes of a British winner in the qualification draw were ended after Paul-Henri Mathieu beat Brydan Klein during the battle of the wild card’s. The former world number 12 produced a three sets win over 4th seed Chung Hyeon in the first round. Mathieu, who hasn’t won a title since 2007, required just over an hour on the court to break the British world number 188 6-3,6-2.

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Mathieu will play Stuttgart finalist Viktor Troicki in the first round. Troicki’s run to the final in Germany has clearly demonstrated that the Serbian is currently in impressive shape, especially with his serve. On the other hand, there will be questions about how tired he will be coming into Queen’s. The two players have been drawn to play each other on three previous occasions but none of the matches got completed with one of the retiring (Troicki twice and Mathieu once). Presuming Troicki doesn’t retire and keep up the trend, his superior form should win him the day.

Adam Addicott TA Watermark

2015 ATP Nice (@OpenNCA) and Geneva (@genevaopen) Previews, Predictions

Posted by Admin on May 16, 2015

Posted in: ATP, Geneva, Nice, Steen Kirby. Tagged: 2015 ATP Geneva, 2015 ATP Geneva Prediction, 2015 ATP Geneva Preview, 2015 ATP Green Week, 2015 ATP Nice, 2015 ATP Nice Prediction, 2015 ATP Nice Preview, 2015 Geneva Open, 2015 Geneva Open Prediction, 2015 Open de Nice Cote d'Azur, Andrey Rublev, atp, ATP 250, ATP Geneva, ATP Geneva Prediction, ATP Geneva Preview, ATP Green Week, ATP Nice, ATP Nice Prediction, ATP Nice Preview, Benoit Paire, Borna Coric, Dominic Thiem, Federico Delbonis, Geneva Open, Geneva Open Prediction, Geneva Open Preview, Geneva Open Tennis, Geneva Tennis, Jarkko Nieminen, John Isner, juan monaco, Nice Tennis, Open de Nice Cote D Azur, Open de Nice Cote d'Azur Prediction, Open de Nice Cote d'Azur Preview, Stan Wawrinka, Teymuraz Gabashvili, Thomaz Bellucci, Victor Estrella. Leave a comment

2015 ATP Nice and Geneva Previews, Predictions
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The final week on the ATP tour before the 2015 French Open in Paris will feature a pair of clay 250 level tournaments. Nice in France is back yet again with its intimate venue, and Geneva is making it’s debut on tour this year as well. The Swiss city previously hosted a quality, and successful challenger tournament, and with the success of Swiss tennis over the last decade, it’s a well deserved promotion as it takes the place of Dusseldorf, Germany on the calendar. Dusseldorf met it’s demise soon after the World Team Cup format came to an end.

ATP Nice

2015 ATP Nice Preview

Open de Nice Cote d’Azur
ATP World Tour 250
Nice, France
May 17-May 23, 2015
Prize Money: € 439,405

Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP Rankings in parentheses)
1: Gilles Simon (12)
2: John Isner (17)
3: Ernests Gulbis (22)
4: Leonardo Mayer (25)

With a seed cutoff of 36 Nice has a pretty good field for a pre-slam tournament, that said, the top 4 seeds are either poor on clay or slumping, so unseeded players will have a great chance this week to excel.

First round matchups to watch:

(8)Juan Monaco vs. Benoit Paire

Both of these guys are streaky players who were formerly near the top of the ATP tour, but have slid down to being fringe to mid-tier ATP players who rarely threaten for titles, even in 250 level events. Monaco, the veteran has encountered some tough draws in the spring clay court season and thus his record stands at an even 4-4. Paire is 3-3 in main draws this spring on clay, and has bounced around qualifying as well. They have an even 1-1 h2h on clay with both matches going three sets, and any way you slice it, this is a tough match to predict. That said, Monaco seems to be the superior player in form and focus over Paire as of late, and thus he’s the favorite. Paire is likely to produce more highlights, but Monaco has the steadier groundstroke game.

Victor Estrella vs. Dominic Thiem

Estrella rolled past Thiem in straights when they met in Barcelona not too long ago, and now we will see if he can repeat that result in Nice. Thiem has been improving over his past two tournaments going 4-2 in Rome and Munich, after consecutive losses to start the European spring clay court season. The Austrian has had a streaky and unpredictable year, and it’s still a question as to what type of form he will show up to this tournament in. The remarkable veteran Estrella has far less upside than Thiem but he’s maximized the talent he does have as he’s also 4-2 over his last six on clay with a win over Marin Cilic his most notable in that span. Once again, this is a 50/50 proposition, but I’d give Thiem the slightest of edges to advance if he continues to play as he did in Rome.

Top Half:

Gilles Simon, the top seed, and a home favorite, is likely to get his tournament started against Thanasi Kokkinakis, as the young Aussie should dispatch his countryman James Duckworth, an opponent who struggles on clay. Kokkinakis has been on a relative roll on clay this Spring, with strong under the radar performances. The teenager is currently in the final of the Bordeaux Challenger and he qualified in both Istanbul and Madrid, all of those tournaments on clay of course. That said, he should be too fatigued to give Simon much of a problem, and thus expect the Frenchman to at least reach the quarters presuming his health has returned to him after retiring in Rome.

Bernard Tomic and Borna Coric will vie for supremacy in the section below Simon, with the Croat the likely quarterfinalist. Both will open with qualifiers as Tomic looks to snap a four match losing streak. The Aussie has cooled off after a strong start to the season, though that had to be expected given he’s not at his best on clay, while Coric continues to build up results as a young gun, and he should reach his second clay quarterfinal of the season (also did so in Estoril), with wins over a qualifier and Tomic. Presuming he faces and defeats Tomic, that would avenge his loss to him in Indian Wells on hard court this year.

I’m picking Coric over Simon to reach the semis, Simon retired in his last match in Rome, and Coric took a set off of him on indoor hard in Marseille this year. Clay should give Borna a slight edge and Simon may not be fit after a so-so spring clay season.

The partisan French crowd should be rooting for young gun Lucas Pouille, a potential dark horse in the draw, to give the 4 seed Leonardo Mayer a whipping in the second round. Pouille will open with American Tim Smyczek, who is not comfortable on clay, and should he upset Mayer, he would be grabbing the spotlight after last making waves in January where he reached his first ATP semi in Auckland. The Frenchman has put together a solid clay court record this spring on a mix of challenger and ATP events, and he notably defeated Dominic Thiem in Monte Carlo. Mayer is just 3-4 on clay this Spring, and I have Pouille notching the upset to reach the quarterfinals.

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The winner of Paire/Monaco is the likely quarterfinalist in the last section on the top half, Sam Querrey/qualifier are not an imposing second round opponent, and I’d also favor Monaco over Pouille to reach the semis. Juan dispatched Pouille at the French last year without dropping a set.

Bottom Half:

John Isner may well face Steve Johnson again, if the American can beat a qualifier. Isner beat Johnson 4 and 4 in Monte Carlo this year and given he’s 7-4 on clay this year and Johnson is just 2-4, he has the decided edge to reach the quarters. He could well face American Jack Sock in that quarterfinal, if Jack continues to compete hard and impress. He’ll need a revenge win over Dusan Lajovic, who he lost to at the French last year, in the opening round, but the Houston champ, who has lost a pair of tough matches in a row to solid clay court players Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Simon, should be the favorite to do that given Lajovic, though he qualified in Rome, hasn’t done much on clay this year. The winner of Maxime Hamou, a French wild card, vs. Pablo Carreno Busta will decide who the winner of Sock/Lajovic will face. The 19 year old Hamou recently reached a challenger semi, and he’s also scored himself a Roland Garros main draw wild card while PCB was a semifinalist in Estoril, but has been abysmal most of this season. I’d give Hamou a chance, but Sock should beat Lajovic and PCB to reach the quarters.

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Isner has beaten Sock twice on clay, including in Nice last year, and given the 4-1 h2h I’m pretty comfortable picking the higher ranked American to reach the semis, even though a Sock win wouldn’t come as shock.

It’s more than likely the defending champion Ernests Gulbis will see his hopes continue to be dashed, this time Gulbis is likely to lose to Alex Dolgopolov in the second round, presuming Dolgo beats his countryman Sergiy Stakhovsky. They have a split 2-2 h2h and Dolgo qualified and won a round in Rome, while Stako has been struggling. Gulbis is 2-1 in the h2h, with all of their matches on clay against Dolgopolov, and both are unpredictable but Gulbis has been having one of the worst seasons for a top 20 player in recent memory as he’s on another 5 match losing streak and is just 1-11 this year. Going back to the challenger tour still seems like the wisest option for the Latvian.

The section above Dolgopolov/Gulbis is the strongest in the draw as it features title contenders Estrella/Thiem, and also Nick Kyrgios, who will open with Mikhail Kukushkin. Kyrgios has had an extremely impressive clay court season with an ATP final, success in doubles in Rome, and a win over Federer in Madrid. That said I see a Thiem-Dolgopolov quarterfinal, as I’m unsure Kyrgios can sustain his success against the Thiem/Estrella winner. I’m going with a Thiem-Isner semifinal, simply because I trust an in-form Dom on clay more than anyone else in this section Should he fail to perform however, Estrella, Kyrgios, or Dolgo should pick up the slack and reach the semis.

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Dark Horse: Borna Coric

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He’s in the weaker top half of the draw with a questionable Simon, and a struggling Tomic thus he can very well reach the semis, and his semifinal opponent is unlikely to be that daunting of a challenge whether it’s Mayer/Pouille or Monaco/Paire. He has a solid shot at winning his first ATP title this week, and the young gun clearly has the game to do it presuming he can put it all together this week.

Predictions

Semis:
Monaco d. Coric
Isner d. Thiem

I’m picking Monaco simply because I feel he’s played slightly better on clay as of late, and the same goes for Isner. A reverse result wouldn’t surprise me at all, but Isner, has shockingly put together the best clay court season of anyone in this tournament.

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Final:
Isner d. Monaco

Isner and Monaco have met twice on clay before with a split h2h, and going back to what I said previously, Isner has actually been best on clay of anyone in this tournament, thus I shockingly have an American winning a title on clay in Europe this week.

ATP Geneva

2015 ATP Geneva Preview

Geneva Open
ATP World Tour 250
Geneva, Switzerland
May 17-May 23, 2015
Prize Money: € 439,405

Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP Rankings in parentheses)
1: Stan Wawrinka (9)
2: Marin Cilic (10)
3: Pablo Andujar (43)
4: Benjamin Becker (44)

Geneva is strongly tilted towards the top 2 seeds as the seed cutoff is 61, and the rest of the field is pedestrian at best for this maiden tournament.

First round matchups to watch:

Federico Delbonis vs. Teymuraz Gabashvili

On paper this is not a marquee matchup, and it may even be pushed to the secondary court but these two grinders have a split 1-1 h2h on clay and both have won challenger tournaments on the surface recently. Delbonis won Sarasota, though he has failed to qualify for both Madrid and Rome. Gabashvili has been on a tear on the challenger tour as he has won 10 straight matches, and consecutive challenger titles on two surfaces. The competition hasn’t been harsh, but he’s still showing some of his best tennis, as he also reached the quarters in Houston (upset Isner) and qualified for Istanbul. Fatigue should be a factor, and that’s the main reason as to why Delbonis would have the edge, but I’m going with Gabashvili to continue the positive momentum myself.

Jarkko Nieminen vs. (WC)Andrey Rublev

Another fantastic opportunity for the young gun Russian to grab another ATP main draw win, the multi tool Rublev who has 4 ATP maindraw wins at just 17 has been given a wildcard and matched up against the veteran Nieminen, who doesn’t like clay that much. The Fin hasn’t won consecutive matches since January and he’s in the twilight of his career, thus I’m going with an upset and picking Rublev over the lefty. He’s played well under pressure this year and he’s proven he can compete at this level.

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Top Half:

Rome semifinalist Stan Wawrinka is the shining star on home soil at this tournament and he’s unlikely to have any trouble against Rendy Lu/qualifier in his first match. Lu has been playing hard court tennis in Asia, and thus should be jetlagged and unprepared, giving the qualifier a decided edge to advance. Wawrinka has struggled at times this year, but his form picked up in Rome and he should also be favored over Gabashvili/Delbonis, or perhaps Andreas Haider-Maurer who has put together a solid 2015 campaign thus far. AHM has a h2h win over Gabashvili and he has a semi a quarterfinal on clay this year. In my own bracket I have Wawrinka defeating AHM for a spot in the semis.

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Pablo Andujar will open with Carlos Berlocq or a qualifier, Berlocq is 2-1 against Andujar on clay, but he has lost three consecutive matches, Andujar made that shock run to the Barcelona final, but has done little else of note this season. I have Andujar into the quarters in a toss up match, and he’s likely to get an easy quarterfinal opponent as well, given all of the potential options are struggling right now. Joao Sousa should defeat his nearly named doppleganger Joao Souza, Souza has lost 6 straight matches while Sousa is a poor 4-6 on clay himself this spring. Austrian veteran Jurgen Melzer could suffer another bad loss to a qualifier in the other match in this section, Melzer has been in abysmal form, and thus I have Andujar reaching the semis over Sousa, though a qualifier has great odds at success in this poor quality section.

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Bottom Half:

Marin Cilic will open with the Nieminen/Rublev winner, the Croat is just 1-3 since reaching the Monte Carlo quarters, and Rublev could pull off a shocking result, still Cilic is the odds on favorite to reach the quarterfinals at least. Above the Cilic section is one of the weakest ATP quarters you will see on tour this year featuring Mikhail Youzhny as the seed, J.L Struff, Ricardas Berankis, and Santiago Giraldo. Youzhny is practically retired and is just 2-4 on European spring clay, Struff comes off one of his best results of a poor season with a semi in a clay challenger in Germany, Berankis is just 1-5 on spring Euro clay and Giraldo has lost three straight and continues to struggle this year. Nobody really deserves to reach a quarterfinal form this section, but I’m picking Struff to do so simply because he played well in Heilbronn. Giraldo should beat Berankis, and Struff should beat Youzhny, and then Struff should beat Giraldo, though Santi may have more upside. Even a rusty Cilic should dispatch Struff in the quarters.

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Albert Ramos is the favorite for the quarterfinals in the section above that, Ramos will face Marinko Matosevic first, and then the seed Benjamin Becker, both of whom are very poor on clay, and both of whom have lost more than 5 matches in a row. Ramos qualified in both Madrid and Monte Carlo, and he’s an actual dirtballer who hits with high spin. Thomaz Bellucci is the probable favorite to be the final quarterfinalist, though Janko Tipsarevic could sneak in on his comeback tour. The Serb will open with a struggling Denis Istomin and his .500 record since returning to tour after an absence of a year and a half is admirable. Presuming he’s getting better each tournament, we’ll see what happens in Geneva. Bellucci will open with Marcos Baghdatis who is poor on clay and he’s a tremendous 9-3 over his last three tournaments. Look for Bellucci to defeat Tipsarevic, and then Ramos and reach the semis. Ramos and Bellu has never played, and Tipsy and Bellu split meetings on clay in their previous h2h. A semifinal for Bellucci would be well deserved after his great efforts over the past month, he even took a set off of Novak Djokovic in Rome.

Dark Horse: Thomaz Bellucci

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Given Bellucci is probably the third favorite to win the tournament, if not the second, he’s the obvious choice for dark horse in Geneva. With a weak draw, that should feature a beatable semifinal opponent, be it Cilic or someone else the Brazilian could reach his sixth ATP final, and his first since 2012. He qualified in both Madrid and Rome, along with reaching the quarters in Istanbul as of late, and he took a set off Djokovic as mentioned, along with scoring a top 20 win over Roberto Bautista Agut in Rome. Wawrinka will be a tough opponent in the final, but I do have him getting that far this week.

Predictions

Semis:
Wawrinka d. Andujar
Bellucci d. Cilic

Wawrinka is 3-0 in the h2h against Andujar, with all of those wins coming on clay, and given his form perked up in Rome, there are fewer question marks about him going into this lower tier 250 event on home soil. The local hero should make the tournament, the fans, and his sponsors happy by reaching the final.

Bellucci has been in better recent form than Cilic, and that’s why I’m picking him to reach the final.

Final:
Wawrinka d. Bellucci

Wawrinka has previously lost to Bellucci on clay, and the prospect of losing again to him isn’t out of the question, that said, Stan was impressive in Rome, and he should be motivated to be the first champion of this tournament. He’s far from a lock, but still the above board favorite to capture this title going into Roland Garros.

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Steen Kirby (Marseille)

Federer, Gimeno-Traver setup quarterfinal clash at 2015 Istanbul Open Wednesday
Ahmet Fevzi Guclu for Tennis Atlantic

Federer captivated crowds in his Wednesday victory (photo credit: Ahmet Fevzi Guclu)

Day 3 at the Istanbul open, saw only four men’s singles matches.

Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver beat 6th seed Kukushkin, in straight sets, and made the QF of ATP 250 tournament three times in a row. The Kazakh was helpless and Gimeno-Traver was effective with his forehand.

Gimeno-Traver d. Kukushkin 6-3 6-3

Second match on the Center Court, was a beatdown, between the undersized Argentine Diego Schwartzman and veteran Jurgen Melzer. It was one of the best matches I have seen Schwartzman play, great shot-making with also enormous foot work. Melzer, on the other hand, was poor throughout the match. He earned a couple of break point chances early in the second, but failed to take it, thanks to aggressive plays from the 8th seed on those points. 52 min was enough for Schartzman for the in the end.

Schwartzman d. Melzer 6-0 6-2

In the first match of the night session, 4th seed Santiago Giraldo prevailed over Andrey Rublev in a very tight 3 setter. In the first set, after two breaks from the each, The Colombian broke again in a long game at 2-2, which decided the set. Rublev, after losing the first set, went to bathroom break, and came back calmly. The world No: 292, cruised in the second, breaking the 4th seed two times, and won the set pretty comfortably. This effort from the Russian teenager, set the first ever 3 setter at the Istanbul Open main draw. In the third set both players got chances for early breaks with, No further break point chances occurred until the 6th game of the set, where Rublev made some unforced errors, and Giraldo won the game with his experience. Then the Colombian served out and won the third set, while Rublev whined a lot to himself, and threw his racquet Still, it was a good showing from the youngster. Crowd adored the effort that the young gun put in.

Giraldo d. Rublev 6-4 1-6 6-3

The scene for Giraldo-Rublev (photo credit: Ahmet Fevzi Guclu)

In the last match of the night session, 1st seed Roger Federer routined Jarkko Nieminen,with the mostly packed stadium cheering him on. The Swiss maestro started his first ever match in Turkey with a break, while the Finnish played poorly in the first, Federer was good enough to win the set 6-2 in a very shot time. The second was a bit tricky, with both players raising their level. Nieminen fought well with his limited game, Federer looked good on forehand, and also served worked great. It was an even set, the Finnish escaping his every service game, but he couldn’t make it to tiebreak, where he may have had a chance to force a third, and lost the 5-5 game despite having a game point.

Federer served out comfortably afterwards, and made it to QF at the Istanbul Open. The crowd went crazy with the joy of seeing him play for the first time. Federer said, it was slow and humid out there, as expected for night clay match, regarding the surface at the press conference.

Wednesday Doubles Scores:

Bury/Gabashvili d. Martin/Raja 6-2 6-3
Golubev/Istomin d. Kukushkin/Nedovyesov 6-3 6-4
Guccione/Sa d. Altuna/Basilashvili 6-3 6-2
Albot/Lajovic d. Marach/Oswald 6-7(9) 6-2 10-8

Rublev, Dodig win Tuesday at ATP Istanbul 2015, Turkish Players Crash Out
Ahmet Fevzi Guclu for Tennis Atlantic

Rublev scores another ATP md win (photo credit: Ahmet Fevzi Guclu)

Today at the Istanbul Open, was a day of minor upsets. Mikhail Kukushkin routined his opponent in all Kazakh battle as expected 6-3 6-4, despite coming back from the break down in the second. Alexandr Nedovyesov has nothing to trouble the 6th seed. Turkish WC Cem Ilkel played an okay match, especially in the second. Though, his volleys were poor and his second serves were not working at all. With the home crowd on his side, he kept the score close against a solid clay courter, No:62 Daniel Gimeno-Traver. The Spaniard dominated the first set, but crowd started to push kid, at least to get the second set. Ilkel did well for a time, until he was serving 4-5 down, where he got broken again and lost the match. It was Ilkel’s first ever ATP tour match, so it was still a good showing, with DGT advancing 6-1 7-5.

DGT beat one of the Turkish MD players (photo credit: Ahmet Fevzi Guclu)

Turkish No:1 Marsel Ilhan played a miserable match later in the day, unforced errors were flying off his racket, and he was very impatient with his play, likely partially influenced by the immense pressure of being the home favorite. The Turk was everything but clutch, missing 8 break points in 3 different games. On the other hand, Jarkko Nieminen was not special today, the lefty used his BH slices very well, Ilhan never responded well to these shots. The Flying Finn played deep balls, with a limited number of UEs. His serves were weak, but it was enough for Nieminen to keep the ball in play and wait for an error from Ilhan. A crowd of about 1,000 watched the home favorite slump to a 6-3 6-4 defeat.

The night match on Center Court, was between Andreas Haider-Maurer and Ivan Dodig. The Croatian revenged his loss in Bucharest, in a meeting where he served extremely well, and took his chances in the key moment of the match. The 5th seed AHM, lacked intensity, and lost fighting spirit after dropping the first set. Dodig played a really solid match and pleased remaining crowd which was reduced after Ilhan lost. The scoreline was 7-5 6-3

Dodig pushed past AHM (photo credit: Ahmet Fevzi Guclu)

On the outside courts, Andrey Rublev was on top of his game against Damir Dzumhur 6-3 6-3, the young Russian executed his game well, with using wonderful forehands as his main weapon. Rublev dominated the match in straight sets, which resulted in Dzumhur grumbling and cursing at himself for its entirety. The Bosnian Dzumhur whined about the court size to chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani, asking his opinion whether could Rafael Nadal play here or not. It was a high tension match with both players exchanging unkind words after a net point. Overall, Rublev was the one who focused on his job, and impressed the crowd with his great performance. The only hiccup he faced, was getting broken after Dzumhur’s Medical timeout, but he answered well in the following game with breaking back. He seemed so promising on clay, though his net game needs improvement.

Other results from today

[8] Diego Schwartzman (ARG) d [Q] Blaz Kavcic (SLO) 62 61
Jurgen Melzer (AUT) d Steve Darcis (BEL) 52 Retired
Denis Istomin (UZB) d Benoit Paire (FRA) 63 64
[Q] Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) d Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) 76(1) 64
Dusan Lajovic (SRB) d [Q] Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) 64 75

We have yet to see a 3 setter in the main draw at the Istanbul Open.

Tomorrow, Day 3 starts with second round matches on Center Court. Mikhail Kukushkin and Gimeno-Traver will face early in the day, which will be also their second meeting this year on clay. The Kazakh will be looking to get the win this time, and even the their H2H. Additionally Austria’s Jurgen Melzer will take on Diego Schwartzman, who beat woeful Blaz Kavcic. The Argentine dirtballer should be the favorite.

In the night session, 4th seed and Sao Paolo semi finalist Santiago Giraldo will be up against Andrey Rublev. This will be the best match of the day, one could say. Given form and ability, that is fair to say Russian has a great chance to make the quarterfinals. Nevertheless, I’d expect an entertaining match which goes to 3rd set. In the last match of the night session, world No:2 Roger Federer will face Jarkko Nieminen, whom he has a clear match-up advantage, as well as the game superiority. Beside their 14-0 H2H, the Finnish never got more than 5 games, in any of their clay meetings. Also Nieminen played really a mediocre match today, which declined the expectations even lower. Federer, though, coming off the shock loss to Monfils in Monte Carlo, will not be tested here until semi finals, if not the final, it seems.

2015 ATP Istanbul Preview
Steen Kirby and Ahmet Fevzi Guclu, Tennis Atlantic

Tennis Atlantic is pleased to have credentialed media coverage of the inaugural ATP Istanbul tournament, held in the suburbs of diverse, and modern city of Istanbul, Turkey. For years, Turkey has done the tennis world a service by having a variety of futures and challenger tour events, and now they have the ATP event they deserve, and this one of course is on clay, part of the European spring clay court season. We will have daily reports and interviews from the tournament all week long.

2015 ATP Istanbul Preview

TEB BNP Paribas Open
ATP World Tour 250
Istanbul, Turkey
April 27-May 3, 2015
Prize Money: € 439,405

Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Roger Federer (2)
2: Grigor Dimitrov (11)
3: Pablo Cuevas (23)
4: Santiago Giraldo (31)

Istanbul has two top players, and the seed cutoff is 61, not bad for a maiden ATP event.

First round matchups to watch:

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Marsel Ilhan vs. Jarkko Nieminen

Ilhan, the top Turkish ATP player, who reached a career high ranking this year inside the top 80, has a chance to score a win against Nieminen, an accomplished but struggling veteran at the moment. Ilhan reached a clay court final at a challenger in Turkey, and also won a round in Barcelona before losing to Feliciano Lopez in a third set tiebreak. He has a positive record on clay at a lower level than ATP, and also reached the quarters in Dubai this year on hard court. Nieminen has lost two straight, and has yet to win consecutive matches since the AO. Given his experience, Nieminen is a slight favorite, but he’s not at his best on clay, and Ilhan should have home support that should be a boost to him.

Damir Dzumhur vs. (WC)Andrey Rublev

A battle of young guns, the 22 year old Dzumhur was a semifinalist in Casablanca, and also has a challenger title on clay this year. Rublev shocked Fernando Verdasco as a qualifier in Barcelona and is in good form, he also pushed Fabio Fognini to 3 sets in the next round. This year, the 17 year old already has 3 ATP main draw wins, and he’s rising up the ranks. Dzumhur has more experience, but Rublev has a higher ceiling, and I see him advancing from this matchup.

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(5)Andreas Haider-Maurer vs. Ivan Dodig

AHM just beat Dodig in 3 sets in Bucharest (6-4 in the third), and they will get a rematch a few days later. As expected, their matchup in Bucharest was quite the battle, and both guys should be itching to go at it again. AHM has seen some of the best results of his career this season, while Dodig continues to struggle, though he’s foguth hard in most of his matches this season. AHM should be the fave but I again expect it to be close.

Top Half:

Roger Federer is a strong favorite here, even though he lost in Monte Carlo to Monfils, and he will open with the Ilhan/Nieminen winner. If Ilhan wins, our on-site reporter Ahmet Fevzi Guclu expects the crowd to be split between the home favorite Turk and the fan favorite Federer, that said, Federer should ease into the quarters, and also dispatch most likely Daniel Gimeno-Traver to reach the semis.

DGT opens with 19 year old Turkish wild card Cem Ilkel, and similar to the journeyman Haider-Maurer, he’s had a surprise career year, late in his career. He reached the final in Casablanca, and the semis in Bucharest, and has wins over Jiri Vesely, Viktor Troicki, and Gilles Simon in the past few weeks. After Ilkel, his opponent will be either Mikhail Kukushkin, or a qualifier, and Thanasi Kokkinakis is lurking in the qualifying draw. Kukushkin is just 2-3 in his last five matches on clay, so he’s vulnerable to a defeat, DGT has won their last two meetings on clay, and hence he’s the favorite for the quarters, in this weak section.

4 seed Santiago Giraldo will be vulnerable to defeat against the Dzumhur/Rublev winner, after a career year last year, he’s been average at best this season, even on clay. I still have him going through in my own bracket, but that round 2 match should be competitive. 8 seed Diego Schwartzman will open with a qualifier, and then the Steve Darcis/Jurgen Melzer winner. Neither Melzer nor Darcis are in good form, Darcis may have the slightest of edges though as Melzer has struggled for quite a while. Schwartzman qualified in Monte Carlo but has been forgettable on clay this year, with just 1 main draw win on the surface (1-6), again he may be vulnerable to being upset by a qualifier. Giraldo may well make the semis if he can survive his round 2 match, simply because the section below is so unreliable, thus I have him in the semis over Darcis.

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Bottom Half:

2 seed Grigor Dimitrov has not had a good season in 2015, but he still should be good enough to beat Nikoloz Basilashvili or Andrey Golubev in his opening match. Golubev is on a three match losing streak, and Basilashvili, who won his first ATP match earlier this year, has lost two straight, he’s primarily a challenger player though he’s been rising onto the fringe of the ATP level. Golubev is a slight fave to win that match, but should have little chance against Dimitrov. Look for Andreas Haider-Maurer to reach the quarters, with wins over Dodig and Dusan Lajovic/qualifier. Lajovic is 5-5 on clay this season, but he’s just 1-2 in his last three matches on the surface. AHM and Dimitrov have never played before, but the Monte Carlo quarterfinalist Dimitrov should advance to the semis given the talent discrepancy.

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Pablo Cuevas will face Andrey Kuznetsov or a qualifier in round 2, he lost in round 2 of Barcelona, as did Kuznetsov. Kuznetsov, who qualified in Monte Carlo as well, should beat the qualifier, but Cuevas will be the favorite in their first head-to-head meaning, again given the difference in ranking and ability. In the quarters, Cuevas could face a difficult opponent, either Thomaz Bellucci or Benoit Paire. Bellucci will open with Mikhail Youzhny, who won a match in Bucharest before falling in round 2. Bellucci has won their last two meetings, and given how poor Youzhny has been this season, I expect him to do so for a third consecutive time. The Brazilian also won a round in Barcelona. Benoit Paire, who qualified in Monte Carlo, won a round, and then won two matches in Barcelona as well, will open against the struggling Denis Istomin. Bellucci and Paire have never met, but given current form, I have Paire winning to reach the quarters, and then upsetting Cuevas to reach the semis. They have never met before.

Dark Horse: Benoit Paire

Paire has always had the talent, and he’s reached two previous ATP finals (former top 30), however his mental side has been what is unreliable, along with a poor forehand. He’s rounding back into form this year and is nearly back in the top 70, with recent improvement in results, this 250 level event is where he can finally shine and announce his return to the main tour spotlight. Istomin, Bellucci, and Cuevas are all beatable in order, and Dimitrov is a weaker seed than Federer, in the bottom half. That would be a monumental upset ranking wise, but Paire has beaten Dimitrov twice before (2-1 h2h), giving him a dark horse shot at an ATP final.

Predictions

Semis:
Federer d. Giraldo
Dimitrov d. Paire

Federer is 2-0 against Giraldo, though they have never met on clay, and as mentioned, Dimitrov has a negative h2h against Paire, but still has to be the favorite to prevail, as he’s developed better in the past couple of years.

Final:
Federer d. Dimitrov

Fed routined Dimitrov in Brisbane this year, and is 3-0 against him, Dimitrov has never taken a set against a more accomplished player of a similar style, and thus he should take this 250 title.

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Steen Kirby (Marseille)

Thiem, Querrey regain form with round 1 wins at @MiamiOpenTennis (Day 2 Recap)

Posted by Admin on March 26, 2015

Posted in: ATP, Guest Writer, Miami, On Site, WTA. Tagged: 2015 ATP Miami, 2015 Miami Open, 2015 Miami Open Presented by Itau, 2015 WTA Miami, Albert Ramos, Alison Van Uytvanck, anastasia pavlyuchenkova, Annika Beck, ATP Miami, Austin Krajicek, Belinda Bencic, Carlos Berlocq, Crandon Park Tennis Center, Daria Gavrilova, Diego Schwartzman, Diego Sebastian Schwartzman, Dominic Thiem, Donald Young, Elina Vesnina, Filip Krajinovic, Heather Watson, Hyeon Chung, Jack Sock, James Duckworth, Jan-Lennard Struff, Jarkko Nieminen, juan monaco, julia goerges, Kyle Edmund, Miami Open, Miami Open Presented by Itau, Nicolas Almagro, Nicole Vaidsova, Pauline Parmentier, Robin Haase, sam querrey, Sesil Karatantcheva, Stefanie Voegele, Tatjana Maria, Thanasi Kokkinakis, tim smyczek, Tsvetana Pironkova, Urszula Radwanska, Victor Estrella, Victoria Azarenka, WTA Miami.

Thiem, Querrey regain form with round 1 wins at Miami Open (Day 2 Recap)
Esam Taha for Tennis Atlantic

Photo Credit: Esam Taha for Tennis Atlantic

The first round of the men’s main draw at the 2015 Miami Open presented by Itau, got underway from the Crandon Park Tennis center in Key Biscayne, a suburb of Miami, and our journalist Esam Taha was there for action, as both Dominic Thiem, and Sam Querrey regained form and scored round 1 wins in the evening session. In addition, lots of matches took place on the WTA round 1 main draw side as well.

Dominic Thiem d. Diego Sebastian Schwartzman 7-6(0) 7-5

Photo Credit: Esam Taha

It’s fair to say that’s Dominic’s start this year has been somewhat underwhelming, he can’t afford many more early exits if he plans to live up to the hype that has been surrounding him at just 21 years of age. Today he played another young player in Diego Schwartzman (22), who is steadily moving up the rankings himself. The match took place in the Grandstand under a hot Miami sun. Both players struggled to hold serve in the 1st set as they broke each other 3 times. Thiem has the more dangerous serve but he struggled to get his 1st serve in, registering only 57% in the 1st set. Schwartzman while never known to have the most comfortable service games, was making up for it by always putting pressure on Dominic’s service games with aggressive ground strokes. The crowd, with a strong South American flavor, was pro-Diego, but he didn’t seem to be able to take full advantage of it, barely engaging them and showing little body language. Fans of the Austrian by contrast were far and few between.

Despite the struggles with his serve, Dominic had a chance to serve out the set at 5-4 but once again couldn’t find his first serve and DSS took full advantage. The set would go on to a tie break, where Thiem went after DSS with some overpowering forehands before eventually closing out the clean tiebreak with a rare ace.

Dominic was pushed hard in round 1 (Photo Credit Esam Taha)

It seemed that Dominic had all the momentum at that point and would power through DSS, however that was far from reality. The sun started to set and scorching heat subsided as the two youngsters started the 2nd. Schwartzman didn’t seem to lose belief after dropping the first set meekly, as he broke Dominic twice and jumped to an early 3-0 lead. Thiem was careless in those 1st 3 games but he gathered himself during the changeover and proceeded to string together 4 games to get back even on serve in a rollercoaster of a second set. Thiem was helped by DSS serving a measly 47% on his 1st serve. Meanwhile Dominic was starting to find his rhythm on serve, getting a lot of free points and registering 4 aces in the 2nd. Dominic serving first would eventually pay off, the pressure of serving to stay in the match would get to Schwartzman. Down 5-6 and looking to force a tiebreak, Diego would hit an unforced error on matchpoint. Thiem reacted with a confident fist pump as he escaped a tricky 1st round matchup, where his opponent outplayed him for considerable periods in the match. He’ll go on to face a tough opponent in Feliciano Lopez next round. Thiem will be bidding to win consecutive matches in a tournament for just the second time this season.

Sam Querrey d. Victor Estrella 6-4 6-3

The Dominican Community in Miami made their presence felt cheering on their man Estrella (Photo Credit Esam Taha)

Coming off 2 consecutive first round exits, Sam Querrey was hoping to quickly make amends in Miami, and return to the form that had granted him a semifinal showing in Memphis, about a month ago on US soil. His first match was against Dominican Victor Estrella Burgos, who surprised everyone by winning ATP Quito, Ecuador by beating Feliciano Lopez in the final on clay back in February. The 34 year old is peaking late as his ranking has continued to climb well into the top 100 the past 2 years, currently sitting just outside the top 50 at 55th overall.

The match started off the night session with both players comfortably holding serve, but it was clear right away that Victor was going to have home court advantage here in Miami as the Dominican crowd made their presence felt early.

The set seemed to be on fast forward as both players were playing aggressively and looking to quickly end the point, however it was clear that was Sam was much more comfortable holding serve as evidenced by his 7 aces in the first set. Victor had to save a double breakpoint midway through the first set to keep it even, and struggling to hold serve would be the theme throughout the rest of the night. Eventually Victor would bend…and actually break as Querrey finally converted his 4th break opportunity on set point to claim the 1st set.

The 2nd set got off to a shaky start for Victor, who needed every bit of the crowd cheering him on to recover from a 0-30 hole and avoid getting broken early. However his efforts would prove futile as Sam would break him the next service game while the latter continued to hold serve with ease. Querrey hit 9 aces in the 2nd set and only faced a single break point the entire match. The 2nd set was fairly routine for the American. Victor would make some noise as Sam was serving to close out the match taking him to deuce to the delight of the crowd, but a couple of big serves from Querrey and it was all over. It was quite the contrast between the mellow and nearly silent Querrey, moving like a gazelle on his returns, and the loud and undersized Estrella, who was practically screaming as he chased down the ball.

Querrey was a pleased winner on Wednesday night (photo credit: Esam Taha)

Sam will go on to face the big serving South African, Kevin Anderson in the 2nd round.

In the interim of those matches, a few of the top players were getting on the practice courts to get a feel for that nice Miami sun and the court conditions, Alexander Dolgopolov was one of the guys that seemed to enjoy it out there.

Dolgo was chill in practice (Photo Credit Esam Taha)

18 year old Chung’s maiden ATP win and a perfect sweep for American Men Headline ATP Maindraw Day 1 Results

18 year old South Korean Hyeon Chung took full advantage of his wild card and scored both his maiden ATP, and his maiden ATP Masters level main draw win today over Spanish veteran Marcel Granollers, who is rarely an easy out. Chung, who has built up his ranking near the top 100 purely due to strong results on the Challenger and Futures tour, including a challenger title and final this year already, got off to a strong start, blanking Granollers 6-0 in the opening set. Granollers proved he wasn’t ill or injured by responding in the second, forcing a much closer contest, and scoring a lone break midway 3-2 through set, to end up taking it 6-4, as Chung failed to generate any chances to break back. In the third the match became quite the battle, but Chung didn’t wilt in the slightest against the grinding Spaniard. He got an immediate break back after going 2-1 down in the third, saved another break point at 3-3 to hold serve, and broke in a game that lasted over 8 minutes for a 6-4 third set victory. Granollers got tight in the end, as errors mounted, and his serve and forehand was simply not good enough, compared to the young Korean’s raw, but powerful groundstrokes that were able to push the Spaniard back.

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Americans Donald Young, Jack Sock, Tim Smyczek, and Austin Krajicek, a qualifier, were all winners and advanced into the second round, making it a perfect day for the American male contingent. Young beat Rendy Lu 5-1 via a retirement, as Lu was in poor shape going into the match, Sock rolled past Go Soeda 6-3 6-4, Smyczek had to survive qualifier Adrian Menendez-Maceiras, who was bidding for his maiden ATP main draw win at 29, 4-6 6-3 6-4, with a late break in the third set, and a hold of serve to close it out, and Krajicek got revenge over Denis Istomin, who he lost to previously in Indian Wells with a swift 6-4 6-4 victory.

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Another men’s singles winner on the day was Juan Monaco, who survived multiple mentally induced collapses against Ruben Bemelmans, a qualifier, to prevail 7-5 6-7 6-4 on his fourth match point chance, and his second of the third set. What saved Monaco was the fact his opponent Bemelmans was even more fragile in the mental department than he was, throwing up tense errors when it counted in the third set, as Monaco threw away his chance to close out the match in straights.

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Young guns Kyle Edmund and Thanasi Kokkinakis were denied further Masters level victories, Robin Haase and Carlos Berlocq took them out, 6-2 6-2 for Haase, and 6-4 3-6 6-2 for Berlocq. Kokkinakis, who was coming off a round of 16 showing in Indian Wells, had high expectations going into this tournament, but got off to a slow start, perhaps struggling to adjust to new conditions, and never really seemed to recover in his match.

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Jan-Lennard Struff saved match points to take out Benjamin Becker 3-6 7-6(10) 6-4, the Davis Cup teammates battled it out for over two hours as Becker had three match points in the second set tiebreak, and was at one point 4-1 up in the third set, but Struff would battle back each time, converting his lone match point opportunity to break serve and finish the match off 6-4.

Nicolas Almagro, similar to Monaco avoided a mental collapse in a match he appeared to have in the bag, the final scoreline over Sergiy Stakhovsky was 6-3 6-7 6-4, but Almagro was at one point 6-3 3-1 up. Stakhovsky employed an aggressive gameplan throughout, but Almagro’s compact strokes and great passing backhands proved to be an effective foil for it, as he was returning the ball before the Ukrainian had time to properly react.

In men’s action on the outer courts, Albert Ramos won yet again on a hard court, 6-2 6-2 over Joao Sousa, dashing Portugese hopes this tournament, Jarkko Nieminen scored a comfortable 6-3 6-3 win over Marinko Matosevic, James Duckworth did better than his Aussie countryman and beat Damir Dzumhur 6-3 3-6 6-3, and fellow qualifier Filip Krajinovic got the better of his Serbian compatriot Dusan Lajovic 2-6 7-6 4-2 ret. as Lajovic came down with an arm injury.

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Watson, Vaidisova, Azarenka among WTA singles winners on the day

British hope Heather Watson got past Evgeniya Rodina, the world number 96 3-6 6-1 7-5, as she saved 10/14 of the break points she faced, and nearly half of the points on Rodina’s serve.

25 year old Nicole Vaidsova of the Czech Republic continued her comeback on the WTA tour, the former Top 10 player won her first WTA level main draw match, in just her second WTA tournament since returning to tennis in 2014 after a four year absence. Vaidsova, who qualified in Monterrey recently, won 6-1 7-6 over the world number 87 Timea Babos, as her ranking will now surely rise back into the top 300.

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Victoria Azarenka, who is looking to complete her own mini comeback, and surely get back into the top 20 in the world, got off to a good start in Miami with a 6-1 6-3 win over Silvia Soler-Espinosa. Other participants in the second round will include four Americans, as Christina McHale beat Sorana Cirstea 7-5 6-4, qualifier Irina Falconi beat Monica Puig 7-6 7-6, Alison Riske beat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-4 6-0 in less than an hour, and in the nightcap, Sloane Stephens dominated Yania Wickmayer 6-1 6-3, winning 70% of her service points, compared to just 45% for the Belgian.

Daria Gavrilova setup a meeting with Maria Sharapova, a fellow Russian, in round 2 as she beat Marina Erakovic 5-1 ret., Germans Annika Beck (6-4 4-6 6-4 over Shuai Zhang), Tatjana Maria (7-6 6-3 over Roberta Vinci), and Julia Goerges (6-1 6-0 over Jana Cepelova) will also be participating in round 2. American Lauren Davis continued her struggles with a loss to Sesil Karatantcheva 6-3 7-6, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat her countrywoman Vera Zvonareva 6-2 3-6 7-5 in a battle that lasted over two hours, with the 23 year old Pavs outlasting an opponent seven years her senior.

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Alison Van Uytvanck added to the success of qualifiers wth a 7-5 2-6 6-0 win over Magdalena Rybarikova, Pauline Parmentier beat Kiki Bertens 4-6 6-2 6-3, Urszula Radwanska setup a meeting with Venus Williams with a 6-4 6-7 6-3 win over CoCo Vandeweghe, and Swiss Stefanie Voegele beat junkballer Kirsten Flipkens 6-2 6-2

Wonderkid Belinda Bencic beat Daniela Hantuchova 6-1 7-6, and Elina Vesnina (6-4 6-2 over Alexandra Dulgheru) and Tsvetana Pironkova (6-4 6-3 over Kateryna Kozlova) were two of the players who did have success over their qualifier opponents.

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2015 ATP Montpellier, Zagreb and Quito Previews/Predictions @OpenSuddeFrance @ATP_Zagreb @EcuadorOpenQui

Posted by Admin on January 31, 2015

Posted in: ATP, Quito, Zagreb. Tagged: 2015 ATP, 2015 ATP Montpellier Prediction, 2015 ATP Montpellier Preview, 2015 ATP Quito Prediction, 2015 ATP Quito Preview, 2015 Ecuador Open Prediction, 2015 Ecuador Open Preview, 2015 Open De Sud De France Prediction, 2015 Open De Sud De France Preview, 2015 PBZ Zagreb Indoors Prediction, 2015 PBZ Zagreb Indoors Preview, Andreas Seppi, atp, ATP 2015, ATP France, ATP Montpellier, ATP Montpellier Prediction, ATP Montpellier Preview, ATP Prediction, ATP Quito, ATP Quito Prediction, ATP Quito Preview, ATP World Tour, ATP World Tour Prediction, ATP World Tour Preview, ATP Zagreb, Borna Coric, denis istomin, Dustin Brown, Ecuador Open, Ecuador Open Prediction, Ecuador Open Preview, Ecuador Open Quito, Ecuador Open Quito Prediction, Ecuador Open Quito Preview, Ecuador Tennis, feliciano lopez, fernando verdasco, gael monfils, Gilles Simon, Ivan Dodig, Jan-Lennard Struff, Jarkko Nieminen, Jerzy Janowicz, Lucas Pouille, Malek Jaziri, Marcos Baghdatis, Martin Klizan, men's tennis, montpellier, open, Open De Sud de France, Open De Sud De France Prediction, Open De Sud De France Preview, PBZ Zagreb Indoors, PBZ Zagreb Indoors Prediction, PBZ Zagreb Indoors Preview, Philipp Kohlschreiber, picks, predictions, preview, Richard Gasquet, Santiago Giraldo, Sergiy Stakhovsky, sud de france, Thomaz Bellucci, Viktor Troicki, zagreb.

2015 ATP Montpellier, Zagreb and Quito Previews/Predictions
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The traditional European indoor 250 level events in France and Croatia will be on the tennis calendar this week, with players fresh from the Australian swing. In addition, a new event in Ecuador is making its debut on the ATP 250 series this week. It starts off the South American clay court golden swing.

ATP Montpellier

2015 ATP Montpellier Preview

Open Sud de France
ATP World Tour 250
Montpellier, France
February 2-February 8, 2015

Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Gael Monfils (19)
2: Gilles Simon (20)
3: Philipp Kohlschreiber (24)
4: Richard Gasquet (28)

A balanced field that is made up almost entirely of Europeans, as is to be expected. The seed cutoff is inside the top 60.

First Round matchups to watch:

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(8)Jan-Lennard Struff vs. Jarkko Nieminen

Struff and Nieminen have both had success at the ATP level indoors, and this should be a quality contest between two great ball strikers. Nieminen reached the third round in Melbourne, and appears to be in slightly better form, so I’d give him an edge to advance, but either of these players is a dark horse threat in the tournament overall.

(6)Denis Istomin vs. Malek Jaziri

Istomin went 0-3 in January, though two of his losses came to in-form players Tomas Berdych and Andreas Seppi as he hasn’t had the best draws. Jaziri remarkably reached the third round in Melbourne, and he’s now working with Marin Cilic’s coach, former ATP great Goran Ivanisevic, on a part time basis. Ivanisevic recently discussed in this interview that Jaziri had previously not put in much effort in regards to practicing, having a coach, working on his fitness, and so forth. Ivanisevic believes Jaziri can move beyond journeyman status with renewed effort and focus, and it will be interesting what he can do here in Montpellier, I have him upsetting the seeded Istomin.

(5)Jerzy Janowicz vs. Dustin Brown

Brown has twice beaten Janowicz indoors (at the challenger level), and JJ reached the third round in Melbourne before falling to Feliciano Lopez (scoring a notable win over Gael Monfils en route). I would expect Janowicz to win this match indoors over the erratic highlight maker Brown, but it should be a quality contest, and perhaps go 3 sets.

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Top Half:

Defending champ Gael Monfils opens his title defense against Marsel Ilhan or Kenny De Schepper, I don’t expect Monfils to be bothered so he should slide into the quarterfinals against the Struff/Nieminen winner, with Tatsuma Ito or a qualifier also options in this section. I see Nieminen getting through to the quarters, and Monfils is 4-0 against him, including 2-0 in Montpellier, so he should be favored heavily to reach the semifinals.

Richard Gasquet appears to be on track for a huge clash with young Frenchman Lucas Pouille. Gasquet, who went 4-2 in January, and has a strong record with two titles and a final last year in Montpellier, could be ousted by the rising Pouille, who has started to come into his own after floating around with wild card status for a while on tour. Pouille has a gifted forehand, while Gasquet of course has that magical backhand, so the clash of styles should be quality. Pouille nearly took out Gael Monfils in Australia and he was a semifinalist in Auckland, still it’s a tough ask to pick him over the much more established Gasquet, who has such a good record here, so Gasquet into the quarters is the pick. Pouille opens with Alexander Kudryavtsev in round 1. Expect Gasquet against the Jaziri/Istomin winner in the quarters, with Dudi Sela, who reached the third round in Melbourne shockingly, and a qualifier also options in this open section. If Sela and Jaziri end up facing off in round 2, there could be some interesting political implications.

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Bottom Half:

Gilles Simon has reached the semis multiple times, but never the final here, and he’s yet another well known Frenchman playing on home soil after the AO. Simon had an up and down January, but he should have little trouble against Andreas Beck/Edouard Roger-Vasselin in round 2, and his first test should come against Janowicz in the quarters. Benoit Paire and a qualifier are also options, and the formerly promising Paire, failed to even qualify for the Aussie Open, as his career has taken a nose dive after knee problems. Janowicz is 1-0 indoors against Simon, but I see that result reversing itself if they meet again, Simon’s pushing should frustrate Janowicz into enough errors to gift him the match.

Philipp Kohlschreiber, who appeared to be playing much better in Melbourne than he has been for quite some time, opens with a qualifier or the veteran Paul-Henri Mathieu in round 2. I expect Kohli, barring a blast from the past for PHM, to reach the quarters, and then take out one of Joao Sousa/Laurent Lokoli/Tobias Kamke/Vincent Millot in the most open section of the draw. Kamke isn’t playing well right now, so Sousa, who has also had indoor success, and reached the third round in Melbourne, should reach the quarters but fall to the German at that stage.

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Dark Horse: Lucas Pouille

Pouille would need to defeat Gasquet, but the ceiling for this talented young Frenchman is quite high, as he seems to be the next great player hailing from that country to burst onto the ATP scene. Pouille has all the shots, it’s just going to be a matter of him gaining experience at the highest level, and working on things like his shot selection and fitness. Should he upset Gasquet, he certainly has a chance to get to the semis and play Monfils with a chance for revenge. He’s an enjoyable player to watch no matter how far he goes here.

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Predictions

Semis:
Monfils d. Gasquet
Kohlschreiber d. Simon

Monfils beat Gasquet three times last year, including in the Montpellier final, so he should have an advatage going into a possible semifinal encounter. By picking Kohli over Simon i’m going against the h2h by a sizeable margin (Simon 2-0 indoors, 4-0 on hard courts) and both have been known to be inconsistent at times, it’s a hard pick to make, and the reason why I’m going with Kohli is because he played well against Tomic in Australia and seems motivated to better himself.

Final:
Monfils d. Kohlschreiber

Monfils has had success here before, and additionally he’s 4-0 on indoor hard against Kohli, thus he has to be the favorite to take the title in Montpellier, though you never really know with his form.

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2015 ATP Zagreb Preview

ATP Zagreb

PBZ Zagreb Indoors
ATP World Tour 250
Zagreb, Croatia
February 2-February 8, 2015

Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Ivo Karlovic (27)
2: Adrian Mannarino (36)
3: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (37)
4: Gilles Muller (42)

One of the weaker fields for a tour event this year most likely, it’s truly wide open in Zagreb. Marin Cilic was supposed to headline but he pulled out of this tournament still recovering from injury.

First Round matchups to watch:

Borna Coric vs. Sergiy Stakhovsky

One of the home favorites who the crowd will be rallying behind in Zagreb, the young Croat Coric went just 1-3 in January, and will be looking to improve on his record this month, boosted by home cooking and home soil. If he is to have a 2015 season where he gets inside the top 50 and stays there, he will need to win matches like this one against Stakhovsky, he’s a better player than the Ukrainian number two who plays splotches of good tennis mixed in with a lot of journeyman results. To add to the intrigue, Stakhovsky won the title in 2008 here. That said, without weather being a factor, and with crowd support, Coric should rise to the occasion and win this one.

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Top Half:

Ivo Karlovic could get a tough test right off the bat against Marcos Baghdatis, who reached the third round in Melbourne shockingly, and is a former champion here. Baghdatis will need to beat wild card Toni Androic to get to round 2. Karlovic and Baghdatis split meetings in 2008, I’ve been impressed by Baghdatis over the past month, and I have him through to the quarterfinals. The Coric/Stakhovsky winner will have a shot at the quarters, with Blaz Kavcic and Mikhail Youzhny also in this section. Youzhny is a former champion in Zagreb as well, but he’s playing incredibly poorly right now, he’s 2-0 against Kavcic but both their meetings were competitive, so I have Kavcic through to round 2 in an upset, and then Coric over him for a spot in the quarters, with Baghdatis eventually making the semis.

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who reached the second week of Melbourne, just his second week 2 appearance in singles in a slam, opens with Damir Dzumhur/qualifier. The dangerous name here is Sydney champion Viktor Troicki, who has been rising back up the rankings since returning to tour, and should be able to feast on a weak draw like this. GGL is good enough to reach the quarters, but Troicki should demolish a qualifier, then Go Soeda/qualifier to setup a meeting with him, and then I have Troicki winning that match to reach the semifinals.

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Bottom Half:

Auckland finalist Adrian Mannarino will face Igor Sijsling or a qualifier in round 2, that’s not going to be an impressive match, but Mannarino should reach the quarters to meet perhaps Croatian Ivan Dodig. Dodig seems to be improving and his first match against countryman Mate Delic is winnable. Likewise he’s better than Marcel Granollers or Jurgen Melzer presently on an indoor hard court, though Melzer did qualify in Melbourne surprisingly. Melzer is 2-0, with two 3 set wins in his career against Dodig, one of which came indoors. Dodig is my pick for the semis in this section as I have him taking out Mannarino.

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Gilles Muller, who reached the round of 16 in Melbourne, will open with Ricardas Berankis or Lukas Lacko, Lacko has had success here before but Muller is serving well right now so he should comfortably make the quarterfinals. Lurking in this section is Andreas Seppi, a quarterfinalist in Melbourne, and semifinalist in Doha who has really been hitting his shots well this past month. Seppi opens with a struggling Robin Haase, then has Antonio Veic or James Ward in his way, that shouldn’t be much of a contest, and I have Seppi, who is 2-1 indoors against Muller, through to the semifinals in a tight contest.

Dark Horse: Marcos Baghdatis

When it comes to an unseeded player who can have a surprising result, Baghdatis fits the bill, if he makes the semis, a match against Troicki will be difficult but winnable and likewise Muller/Seppi are beatable all be it tough in a potential final. Baghdatis is seeking a career resurgence in his later years and winning an ATP title would be a massive step towards that.

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Predictions

Semis:
Troicki d. Baghdatis
Seppi d. Dodig

Baghdatis is 4-1 in his career, and 3-1 on indoor hard against Troicki, that said I feel the Serbian has been the better player, and playing better tennis as of late, so I still have him through.

Seppi is 4-1 against Dodig on hard courts in his career, and with how well he played in January, signs are good that he will reach the final. He just beat Dodig in Doha.

Final:
Seppi d. Troicki

Seppi beat Troicki once on hard courts, and this is a difficult match to predict, however I have the Italian winning the ATP title here off of his good momentum and balanced approach over the past month.

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2015 ATP Quito Preview

ATP Quito

Ecuador Open Quito
ATP World Tour 250
Quito, Ecuador
February 2-February 8, 2015

Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Feliciano Lopez (14)
2: Santiago Giraldo (32)
3: Fernando Verdasco (33)
4: Martin Klizan (34)

Just one top 20 player in the field for this tournament, but it’s full of an interesting set of clay courters really and lots of Latin American flair at this maiden event.

Top Half:

Feliciano Lopez, who did well in Melbourne is the marquee name here, he had a poor January before the AO and had to drag himself into the second week, but he appears to be playing better tennis at the moment, and will shift onto clay against Alejandro Gonzalez or Facundo Bagnis. I have Lopez over Gonzalez (who beat Bagnis twice on clay last year) for a spot in the quarters, with 7 seed Dusan Lajovic in line to take the other spot. Lajovic will need to avoid upsets against Luca Vanni, and qualifier/Gonzalo Escobar but he’s got a really lucky seedline here with no serious competition. Expect Lopez over Lajovic in the quarters.

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Fernando Verdasco, who reached the third round in Melbourne, will also be shifting his powerful game to clay, his first match will come against either a qualifier or Andreas Haider-Maurer, and then veteran clay courters are in the section below him competing to meet him in the quarterfinals. Joao Souza will face Alejandro Falla in R1, and Paolo Lorenzi will face Adrian Menendez Maceiras. Souza is 3-1 on clay against Falla, and Falla has been struggling so I have Souza into round 2, I have Lorenzi over AMM (3-0 including 2 wins last year in the h2h). Then I have the Brazilian into the quarterfinals, Lorenzi has won their last three meetings, but Souza has won twice on clay against him and appears to be playing slightly better right now. Verdasco should take out Souza and reach the semis.

Bottom Half:

Santiago Giraldo, who got off to a rough start in 2015, will face veteran Spaniard Albert Montanes or young Argentine Facundo Arguello in round 2. Even with Giraldo just 1-2 in 2015, he beat an aging Montanes last year on clay, and twice overall, and he’s 4-1 in the career H2H so he should be heavily favored to reach the quarterfinals here (Arguello has only played one tournament match this year and it was a bad loss in a clay court challenger). Awaiting Giraldo should be Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, Bellucci will face formerly established Ecuadorian player Giovanni Lapentti in round 1, and then the Horacio Zeballos/Austin Krajicek winner. Though Zeballos capable of random bursts of form, Bellucci is the relatively more accomplished name and he should get to the quarters here. Bellucci bested Giraldo twice last year, and hasa a 4-1 clay h2h against him, so he may be the favorite, but I feel this pair have careers going in the opposite direction right now, with Giraldo having a breakthrough 2014, and Bellucci seemingly stagnated around the top 100. In my own bracket I have Giraldo in the semis.

Martin Klizan opens with Daniel Gimeno-Traver or wild card Marton Fuscovics in round 2. Klizan is one of the rare European players that isn’t playing in Europe this week, and instead prefers his tennis South American style. Klizan should reach the quarters, and the inspiring veteran story Victor Estrella should await him. The unsung grinder Estrella faces a qualifier, then stagnated Russian Evgeny Donskoy, or a qualifier in round 2. Klizan is more accomplished and skilled than Estrella, but in these conditions Estrella will certainly have a shot at the semis, I put Klizan through in my own bracket though.

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Dark Horse: Thomaz Bellucci

Bellucci is the type of player who could acquire a burst of form, and streak his way into perhaps an ATP title. He has an easy path before Giraldo in the quarters, and Giraldo is in a beatable condition right now, especially given the favorable H2H. Likewise Klizan/Estrella are beatable opponents on a good day for him and this entire field is beatable given it’s not that strong.

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Predictions

Semis:
Verdasco d. Lopez
Giraldo d. Klizan

Verdasco and Lopez have pretty much split h2h meetings and it could go either way, that said, Lopez gives me the feeling that he’s setup to not win the title here, and Verdasco has the game to be able to take him out.

Giraldo has won clay win against Klizan, and the altitude should help him, it could go either way but Giraldo should be slightly favored.

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Final:
Verdasco d. Giraldo

This would be a big hitting final, Verdasco beat Giraldo last year on clay in Houston, and given current form, I back the Spaniard to do the same here.

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Eric Logan, Tennis East Coast

Winston-Salem Open 2014 Monday Recap

The second day of main draw play at the Winston-Salem open brought the first round to conclusion and saw fifth seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez open the second round in the night session. The day’s play was on the whole a level higher than Sunday’s, with a number of exceptional clashes and notable names.

The day session was opened with defending champion Jurgen Melzer falling to qualifier David Goffin 6-3 6-4. Melzer, who would later lose in the first round of doubles as well, will see his ranking fall outside the top 100 after an injury-plagued last twelve months. Goffin, meanwhile, continues an incredible run of form that saw him win his first title in Kitzbuhel.

On court two, Jerzy Janowicz put up an impressive performance against Carlos Berlocq. Although the two are close in the rankings currently, Berlocq was a serious underdog on the quick hard courts of Winston-Salem and looked lost in the first set before steadying himself slightly in the second. Janowicz, however, simply had too much power for Berlocq to absorb in the end, and won 6-1 6-4.

Janowicz dispatches Berlocq

On court three, Federico Delbonis pulled off an upset victory over a superior hard-courter in Martin Klizan, 7-6(5) 6-4. Klizan produced nearly all of the match’s best shots and received almost universal crowd support, but was too erratic and dealt with Delbonis’s impressive serving too poorly to prevail. On the distant court four, Igor Sijsling defeated Andrey Golubev in a tight two-setter. Golubev failed to take advantage of poor volleying by Sijsling and allowed himself to be outrallied by the Dutchman, surrendering his serve from 40-0 for the decisive break in a 7-6(5) 6-3 match.

Delbonis with one of the first big upsets of the tournament

Delbonis had one of the first big upsets of the tournament

In what was surprisingly possibly the day’s best match, Frank Dancevic faced off against Thomaz Bellucci. Both players’ smooth and powerful serves and groundstrokes drew a larger crowd than one would expect on the third court, and Dancevic produced a number of stunning backhands equaled by a stream of Bellucci winners off the forehand wing. An extended rally saw Dancevic take a very tight first set, but Bellucci rebounded to take the second set with ease. In the end, it was the Canadian who prevailed in a three-set match interrupted by rain with Bellucci down break point in the third set, 7-5 3-6 6-2.

Canadian veteran Frank Dancevic survived a test from Bellucci

Around the grounds, there was plenty of action to be had between spurts of rain which included what was nearly a two-hour delay. Adrian Mannarino easily put away an erratic Damir Dzumhur 6-2 6-2. Aleksandr Nedovyesov crushed American hopes with a close 6-4 6-4 win over Marcos Giron in which the American was a dismal 1/7 on break chances. Blaz Rola prevailed in two tight sets over fellow leftie Wayne Odesnik, 7-6(3) 6-3. In one of the day’s two second round matches, Jarkko Nieminen came from a break down in the second to defeat Benjamin Becker 7-5 6-4.

Mannarino showed great form against Dzumhur

On Center Court, the night session was led into with a pair of low quality matches, Paul-Henri Mathieu’s messy 6-3 7-5 win over wild card Robby Ginepri and Sam Querrey’s 7-6(5) 6-4 win over Pere Riba, who is unimposing on a hard court. However, the first set of Dustin Brown taking on fifth seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez was probably the highest quality and most dramatic of the event thusfar. Brown’s big serve and beautiful volleys were pitted against Garcia-Lopez’s capable return and piercing groundstrokes off both wings. Brown saved two set points with two aces at 4-5, and took the tiebreak 7-5 after a Garcia-Lopez double fault. Brown’s resistance would fade, however, in the next two sets, with a lackluster final scoreline of 6-7(5) 6-2 6-2.

The doubles draw got underway today with some upset results. The second seeded team of Rohan Bopanna and defending champion Daniel Nestor lost in a pair of tiebreaks to the Columbians Cabal and Farah. Melzer was handed his second loss of the day as he and partner Lukas Rosol lost to Marcel Granollers and his unaccomplished partner, singles specialist Pablo Andujar 7-6(3) 2-6 10-4, with Melzer making a number of errors on critical points. The wild card team of Nicholas Monroe and Donald Young upset the Argentines Delbonis and Leonardo Mayer 7-6(4) 7-5. Robin Haase and Nicolas Mahut defeated Scott Lipsky and Max Mirnyi 7-5 6-4 in a match that may have been decided when Mirnyi missed a sitting duck volley at 5-5 40-40 in the first.

Tomorrow will be the day that fourteen of the event’s 16 seeds begin their campaigns. This includes two-time champion and hometown John Isner, whose practices are better attended than some of the main draw matches, and last week’s Cincy quarterfinalist Tommy Robredo, as well as the top seeded doubles pairing of Leander Paes (the other half of last year’s winning doubles team) and David Marrero. The forecast calls for more rain, but hopefully that will not prevent all the day’s tennis from being played.

Tennis Atlantic

Because Matches Are Never Played in the Media Tent

Jarkko Nieminen

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