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2016 Busan, Aix en Provence, Karshi and Rome Challenger Previews & Predictions

Posted by Admin on May 2, 2016

Posted in: ATP, ATP Challenger, Chris De Waard. Tagged: AIx en Provence, ATP Challenger Tennis, Busan, Hyeon Chung, Jiri Vesely, John Millman, Karshi, Lukas Rosol, ricardas berankis, rome. Leave a comment

2016 Busan, Aix en Provence, Karshi and Rome Challenger Previews & Predictions
Chris De Waard, Tennis Atlantic

Busan Open Challenger Tour Tennis

ATP Challenger Tour

Busan, Korea
2-8 May 2016
Hardcourt, Rebound Ace
Prize Money: $100,000

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Ricardas Berankis (55)

2: John Millman (66)

3: Sam Groth (80)

4: Hyeon Chung (84)

5: Tatsuma Ito (104)

6: Lukas Lacko (113)

7: Yuichi Sugita (114)

8: Michael Berrer (115)

The last direct acceptance is Ti Chen, ranked 213th.

First round match-up to watch

(4) Hyeon Chung – Konstantin Kravchuk

Chung Hyeon

19-year-old Chung peaked at a ranking of #51 in October, but still struggles with the transition to main tour tennis, having dropped to his current ranking of #82 and now trying to increase his ranking again by playing a Challenger. Hopefully this won’t be a recurring theme, because in the long run he will be better off facing stronger opposition in main tour events. Chung has already shown he is above Challenger level and will likely pick up another title here.

Top Half

Top seed Ricardas Berankis has successfully played a lot of tennis in the past couple of weeks and one has to imagine he is starting to feel tired. He might reach the semi-final solely based on how far above the rest of his opposition he will be skill wise, but it won’t be enough to beat Chung. Like Chung, let’s hope Berankis can settle down on the main tour for good now that he has increased his ranking close to the top 50 with a lot of Challenger tennis.

Bottom Half

Third seed Sam Groth has not returned well from foot surgery and is currently in very bad form. He is projected to meet Daniel Evans in the second round, who won a title last week, which will probably be the end of the road for Groth. Second seed John Millman is the favorite to come out of this half, but he has a very tricky draw, which might see him get upset prematurely. Millman faces Austin Krajicek in the first round, after which his projected path consists of respectively Sergiy Stakhovsky, Michael Berrer and Daniel Evans.

Predictions

Semi-finals:

Chung d. Berankis

Millman d. Evans

Final:

Chung d. Millman

Open du Pays d’Aix-Trophee Caisse d’Epargne

ATP Challenger Tour
Aix en Provence, France
2-8 May 2016
Red Clay
Prize Money: €85,000

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Lukas Rosol (65)

2: Diego Schwartzman (87)

3: Rogerio Dutra Silva (101)

4: Stephane Robert (116)

5: Mischa Zverev (129)

6: Elias Ymer (132)

7: Daniel Brands (135)

8: Maximo Gonzalez (136)

The last direct acceptance is Tristan Lamasine, ranked 203rd. Former world #25 Julien Benneteau received a wildcard.

First round match-up to watch

Edouard Roger-Vasselin – Kimmer Coppejans

22-year-old Coppejans looked to be on the verge of breaking through many times, but can’t seem to make the step to main tour level. He cracked the top 100 almost a year ago, but has only regressed since, now being ranked 165th. He faces a tricky veteran in former world #35 Roger-Vasselin, who despite dropping to his current ranking of #190 is still a tough draw. However, if his ranking doesn’t improve soon he might retire from singles altogether and focus on his doubles career, where he is ranked 17th.

Top Half

Top seed Lukas Rosol might be by far the best ranked player in this half, you can’t call him by far the most likely to advance to the final. He hasn’t been in good form lately and there will be many tricky players on his path. Sixth seed Elias Ymer is his projected quarterfinal opponent and the 20-year-old is in good form, having won the Barletta Challenger two weeks ago. The same goes for Mischa Zverev, who comes off a tournament win at the Sarasota Challenger. Although it has to be said the green clay in the United States and the red clay here are a world of difference.

Bottom Half

Diego Schwartzman is the second seed, but I think it’s unlikely he will play here, having just won his first ATP title at Istanbul yesterday. Perhaps veteran fourth seed Stephane Robert can profit, being placed in a quarter with seventh seed Daniel Brands, who prefers faster courts. I would say Brands even is an underdog to get past his first round match against Renzo Olivo, who is likely to battle it out with Robert for a place in the semi-final. The winner of that match will be the favorite to reach the final as well.

Predictions

Semi-finals:

Rosol d. Dutra Silva
Olivo d. Monteiro

Final:

Rosol d. Olivo

Karshi Challenger

ATP Challenger Tour
Karshi, Uzbekistan
2-7 May 2016
Hardcourt, Plexipave
Prize Money: $50,000

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Dudi Sela (78)

2: Karen Khachanov (128)

3: Radu Albot (151)

4: Aleksandr Nedovyesov (197)

5: Amir Weintraub (198)

6: Denys Molchanov (224)

7: Dmitry Popko (230)

8: Aslan Karatsev (231)

The last direct acceptance is Ilya Ivashka, ranked 365th.

First round match-up to watch

(2) Karen Khachanov – Aleksandre Metreveli

Khachanov is really breaking through this year, currently ranked at a career high #128 after a great showing at the ATP 500 event of Barcelona. There he beat Aljaz Bedene, before adding an impressive top 20 victory over Roberto Bautista Agut to his résumé in the second round. Even though that was a clay event, he is equally as good on hardcourt and should be the clear favorite to reach the final here. There an interesting encounter with top seed Dudi Sela is projected, who won the Shenzhen Challenger last month and reached two other Challenger semi-finals.

Draw

I already gave away my expected final and it’s difficult to see another outcome, with Sela and Khachanov clearly being ahead of the rest of the field. This can also be seen in the rankings, with third seed Radu Albot ranked outside of the top 150, while fourth seed Aleksandr Nedovyesov is only barely ranked inside of the top 200.

Predictions

Semi-finals:

Sela d. Albot
Khachanov d. Nedovyesov

Final:

Khachanov d. Sela

Roma Garden Open

ATP Challenger Tour
Rome, Italy
2-7 May 2016
Red Clay
Prize Money: €42,500

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Jiri Vesely (63)

2: Kyle Edmund (89)

3: Horacio Zeballos (91)

4: Adam Pavlasek (109)

5: Filip Krajinovic (110)

6: Jordan Thompson (118)

7: Kenny De Schepper (148)

8: Vincent Millot (149)

The last direct acceptance is Axel Michon, ranked 217th.

First round match-up to watch

(1) Jiri Vesely – Marsel Ilhan

Novak Djokovic will be relieved, one less thing to worry about in Madrid this week, as the man who took him out in Monte Carlo is playing a Challenger this week. Vesely is prioritizing this event over playing qualifying in Madrid, a decision certainly made before that legendary victory over the world number one. Vesely has been handed a good draw, with the players who could potentially threaten him being placed in the bottom half, so he is a big favorite to reach the final.

Top Half

As said, Vesely has a comfortable draw, being placed in a quarter with mostly players who don’t even have clay as their favorite surface. In the semi-final he is likely to faced third seed Horacio Zeballos or Adrian Ungur. Ungur faces fifth seed Filip Krajinovic in the first round, a rematch of their first round match in Istanbul last week, which Ungur comfortably won 6-3 6-3. Ungur then went on to massively threaten second seed and eventual runner-up Grigor Dimitrov in the second round, with the match ending 7-5 4-6 7-5.

Bottom Half

Second seed Kyle Edmund should be able to comfortably get through to at least the semi-final, where he is projected to face the in-form fourth seed Adam Pavlasek or sixth seed Jordan Thompson, who won the Anning Challenger last week. Pavlasek has already reached three Challenger finals this year, although he lost them all, one of which to Thompson in Cherbourg. Nevertheless, Edmund should be a decent favorite against either one of them.

Predictions

Semi-finals:

Vesely d. Zeballos

Edmund d. Pavlasek

Final:

Vesely d. Edmund

2015 Busan, Aix en Provence, Cali, Karshi and Rome Challenger Previews & Predictions

Posted by Admin on May 5, 2015

Posted in: ATP, ATP Challenger, Chris De Waard. Tagged: 2015, atp challenger, Busan, california, challenger, Karshi, picks, predictions, previews, rome. Leave a comment

2015 Busan, Aix en Provence, Cali, Karshi and Rome Challenger Previews & Predictions
Chris De Waard, Tennis Atlantic

Busan Open

ATP Challenger Tour

Busan, South Korea

4-10 May 2015

Hardcourt, Rebound Ace

Prize Money: $100,000

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Yen-Hsun Lu (67)

2: Sam Groth (85)

3: Go Soeda (87)

4: Hyeon Chung (88)

5: Dudi Sela (90)

6: Tatsuma Ito (97)

7: Lukas Lacko (99)

8: Ryan Harrison (122)

The last direct acceptance is Takuto Niki, ranked 283rd. Ryan Harrison withdrew due to the ankle injury he attracted last week.

Second round match-up to watch

Denis Kudla

(4) Hyeon Chung – Denis Kudla

Chung cracked the top 100 for the first time after winning the Savannah Challenger two weeks ago and now faces an interesting opponent in Kudla here. Kudla seemed to be heading the same direction as Chung, but has shown to lack consistency after beating Viktor Troicki and taking world #14 Feliciano Lopez to 8-10 in the decider at the Australian Open to start off the year. He is now closer to dropping out of the top 150 than reaching the top 100.

Top Half

Just a year ago, top seed Yen-Hsun Lu would have been the overwhelming favorite here. But after his surprising loss last week and the rise of some other players, he might be ‘just’ one of the contenders. It isn’t unreasonable to put Chung up as the slight favorite, followed by Lu and with Dudi Sela closely behind the two. Tatsuma Ito and Grega Zemlja can be seen as outsiders.

Bottom Half

The top section seems to be a clear prey for Go Soeda, especially with the seed here getting replaced by a qualifier after Harrison’s withdrawal. However, he faces a tricky second round opponent in John-Patrick Smith, who is playing the best tennis of his career. The bottom section is very interesting, with two titlists of last week being there, Franko Skugor and Sam Groth. Groth might be able to keep his good run going, while that is very doubtful in Skugor’s case. Also in this section are Lukas Lacko, Luke Saville and Iliya Marchenko, who could all very well cause surprises and upset a tired Groth. Although we should remember that this is the venue where Groth hit the unofficial fastest serve of all time three years ago.

Predictions

Semis:

Chung d. Lu

Groth d. Soeda

Final:

Groth d. Chung

Open du Pays d’Aix

ATP Challenger Tour

Aix en Provence, France

2-10 May 2015

Red Clay

Prize Money: €64,000

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Blaz Kavcic (77)

2: Malek Jaziri (84)

3: Lucas Pouille (95)

4: Robin Haase (101)

5: Filip Krajinovic (104)

6: Norbert Gombos (111)

7: Andrey Golubev (117)

8: Alexander Zverev (119)

The last direct acceptance is Mathias Bourgue, ranked 214th. Former world #18 Florian Mayer received a wild card.

First round match-ups to watch

(6) Norbert Gombos – (WC) Florian Mayer

Tough break for Gombos, as he isn’t the favorite to win his first round match, despite being seeded. Mayer has already shown decent tennis after coming back from his one year injury lay-off, almost taking out world #10 Marin Cilic in the second round of Monte Carlo, falling 6-3 in the third set. It certainly is nice to have the jumping backhand dropshots back on tour again.

(7) Andrey Golubev – Aleksandr Nedovyesov

An interesting match-up between two players with similar high risk playing styles. Put them together and they can work wonders, as they showed by beating Federer and Wawrinka in doubles at their Davis Cup meeting last year, but on their own it’s a struggle. Golubev is 3-9 on the main tour this year, while Nedovyesov has failed to impress since reaching the Bergamo final in early February.

Top Half

This appears to be a fine draw for Alexander Zverev to make a deep run. The 17-year-old has a kind draw with Michal Przysiezny in the first round and a wildcard or qualifier in the second, while his potential quarterfinal opponent #3 seed Lucas Pouille comes off a disappointing loss last week and might be a bit more vulnerable here. In the top half it’s perhaps last week’s Ostrava winner Inigo Cervantes who has the best shot, being surrounded with players who are not that fond of clay, but for someone who is not used to perform two weeks in a row this might be a bit too much. This might be a good opportunity for Gastao Elias to pick up some form and make a deep run.

Bottom Half

A rare occurence, but I’m picking the wildcard as the favorite here. Florian Mayer should be able to fend off the rest of the contenders here, with unseeded Albert Montanes perhaps being his main competitor. The two are projected to meet in the quarterfinal of the bottom section. From the top section Robin Haase should be able to come through, despite him being capable of losing to a wide variety of players these days.

Predictions

Semis:

Zverev d. Elias

Mayer d. Haase

Final:

Mayer d. Zverev

Seguros Bolivar Open

ATP Challenger Tour

Cali, Colombia

4-10 May 2015

Red Clay

Prize Money: $50,000

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Blaz Rola (93)

2: Niels Desein (161)

3: Chase Buchanan (163)

4: Nicolas Jarry (189)

5: Guido Andreozzi (204)

6: Christian Lindell (222)

7: Juan Ignacio Londero (235)

8: Jose Hernandez-Fernandez (240)

The last direct acceptance is Ryusei Makiguchi, ranked 502nd.

First round match-up to watch

(6) Christian Lindell – Nicolas Barrientos

The two played a very close match last year in Italy, with Lindell taking it 6-4 in the third set. After Lindell’s final run last week and with Barrientos playing in his home country, there might be an upset in the making here.

Top Half

Top seed Blaz Rola is by far the highest ranked player here and it’s hard to look past him. Second seed Niels Desein is ranked sixty-eight spots below him, which is a lot. If Rola fails to reach the final here it would be a huge disappointment, since every loss is an upset. If I had to pick one player capable of pulling it off it would be #7 seed Juan Ignacio Londero, who is projected to meet Rola in the quarterfinal.

Bottom Half

Nicolas Jarry’s form has not been convincing lately, but this is a golden opportunity for him to gain momentum and a lot of ranking points. The only player who should be able to threaten him is #5 seed Guido Andreozzi in the semi-final, which is likely to be a close match. #2 seed Niels Desein is not a fan of clay and has had some bad losses on the surface as of late, making it unlikely he will be able to live up to his seeding.

Predictions

Semis:

Rola d. Lindell

Jarry d. Andreozzi

Final:

Rola d. Jarry

Karshi Challenger

ATP Challenger Tour

Karshi, Uzbekistan

4-9 May 2015

Hard, Plexipave

Prize Money: $50,000

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Teymuraz Gabashvili (100)

2: Farrukh Dustov (108)

3: Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (118)

4: Aslan Karatsev (166)

5: Evgeny Donskoy (196)

6: Ti Chen (203)

7: Brydan Klein (205)

8: Yuki Bhambri (216)

The last direct acceptance is Vladimir Ivanov, ranked 424th.

First round match-ups to watch

(6) Ti Chen – Matthew Ebden

Tough draw for the seed, with Ebden seeming to pick up some good form in his last two tournaments, reaching a quarter- and semi-final. If he plays to those standards, he should be able to beat Chen and make another deep run.

(5) Evgeny Donskoy – Ramkumar Ramanathan

Former world #63 Donskoy is sinking deeper and deeper, now even disappearing out of the top 200. Granted, Ramanathan’s development seems to be stagnating a bit and his results have been lacking, but against this Donskoy anything is possible.

Top Half

Top seed Teymuraz Gabashvili is playing his first hardcourt event after a respectable clay court stretch. The scheduling is a bit remarkable, giving that Roland Garros is around the corner, but he is probably looking to pick up some easy points. This should be doable, but he has a very dangerous quarterfinal opponent in Yuki Bhambri, who I think should be able to surprise Gabashvili, who will be lacking hardcourt rhythm. The two of them are very likely to decide the finalist from this half.

Bottom Half

Adrian Menendez-Maceiras has been playing the tennis of his career at the ripe age of 29 and is showing no signs of slowing down. He could very well rack up another final here, with fellow seeds Donskoy and Chen very uncertain to perform well, while #2 seed Farrukh Dustov is already out by the time I am writing this, making him a pretty strong favorite to do so.

Predictions

Semis:

Bhambri d. Karatsev

Menendez-Maceiras d. Ebden

Final:

Bhambri d. Menendez-Maceiras

Garden Open 2015

ATP Challenger Tour

Rome, Italy

4-9 May 2015

Red Clay

Prize Money: €42,500

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Aljaz Bedene (91)

2: Dustin Brown (102)

3: Radek Stepanek (120)

4: Kyle Edmund (130)

5: Marco Cecchinato (150)

6: Taro Daniel (164)

7: Konstantin Kravchuk (167)

8: Elias Ymer (171)

The last direct acceptance is Miroslav Mecir, ranked 216th. Russian sensation Andrey Rublev received a wildcard.

First round match-up to watch

(6) Taro Daniel – Gerald Melzer

Taro

This is bound to be a great match. Melzer lucked out at Munich last week, getting a bye into the second round as a qualifier, where Pablo Andujar retired against him in the first set. However, he showed he was deserving of that luck by beating world #44 Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinal, before falling to #26 Philipp Kohlschreiber in the semi-final after a long battle, 2-6 6-1 6-4. Daniel comes off a tournament win at Vercelli, so he is well at home on the Italian clay. They faced each other twice last year, splitting the matches, both in straight sets.

Top Half

Top seed Aljaz Bedene has not been convincing on clay so far, so it’s hard to make him the clear cut favorite. One of Melzer or Daniel should be able to beat him in the quarterfinal, for instance. The finalist is likely to be one of those three, however, with the bottom section (headed by #4 seed Kyle Edmund) being considerably weaker.

Bottom Half

17-year-old Andrey Rublev has shown he can hang at ATP level after beating three top 100 players in just as many events, so he might well be able to continue that good run here. He is projected to face Marco Cecchinato, last week’s Turin winner, and Radek Stepanek, but names like that shouldn’t frighten him and he might even be the favorite against both men. The bottom section is headed by the always unpredictable Dustin Brown, who might find another youngster on his path to the semi-final, 18-year-old Elias Ymer.

Predictions

Semis:

Melzer d. Edmund

Rublev d. Ymer

Final:

Rublev d. Melzer

May 2014 ATP Challenger Recap: Struff Rises, Muller Continues Comeback, Krajinovic Wins 1st Title

Posted by Admin on June 9, 2014

Posted in: ATP. Tagged: AIx en Provence, atp, Bordeauz, Busan, challenger, gilles muller, Gimcheon, go soeda, heilbronn, JL Struff, Karshi, mens, rome, Samarkand, tennis, Tour, Vicenza.

May 2014 ATP Challenger Recap: Struff Rises, Muller Continues Comeback, Krajinovic Wins 1st Title
Steen Kirby, Tennis East Coast

Aix En Provence Challenger (May 5-May 11, 2014)
21 year old Argentine Diego Sebastian Schwartzman won on clay in France over Andreas Beck in 3 sets. DSS beat Yann Marti in the semis, while Beck defeated Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo.

Gimcheon Challenger (May 5-May 11, 2014)
Gilles Muller won his fourth Challenger title of the season over Tatsuma Ito in 3 sets in Korea on hard courts. Muller and his serve are proving to be nearly impossible to defeat at the challenger level and the 31 year old veteran is nearly back in the top 100. Muller beat Lukas Lacko in the semis, while Ito beat his countryman, Yuichi Sugita.

Rome Challenger (May 5-May 11, 2014)
Julian Reister beat veteran Pablo Cuevas to win the title in Rome. He improves to 1-1 in Challenger finals this season. The German won on clay against Marco Cecchinato in the semis, while Cuevas beat Filippo Volandri. Top seed Dusan Lajovic was upset by Maximo Gonzalez in round 1.

Bordeaux Challenger (May 12-May 18, 2014)
Veteran and ATP regular Julien Benneteau, the top seed, defeated American Steve Johnson to win on clay at home in France. Benny defeated fellow Frenchman Kenny De Schepper, while Johnson defeated Juan Ignacio Londero in the semifinals.

Busan Challenger (May 12-May 18, 2014)
Go Soeda won on hard courts in Korea over Jimmy Wang in straights. Soeda defeated Marco Chiudinelli in the semis, while Wang beat wild card Hyeon Chung.

Heilbronn 2 Challenger (May 12-May 18, 2014)
JL Struff beat Marton Fucsovics after beating the rising young Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis in the semifinals to win the title in Germany on clay. Struff, playing at home, was the top seed, while Fuscovics beat Andrej Martin in the semis. In a notable upset, the young Brit Kyle Edmund upset 2 seed Dustin Brown in round 1.

Samarkand Challenger (May 12-May 18, 2014)
Farrukh Dustov won at home on clay in Uzbekistan, beating Aslan Karatsev in the final after a win over Boy Westerhof in the semis. Karatsev beat Gerald Melzer in the semis and upset 2 seed Damir Dzumhur in round 2. Top seed and ATP regular Denis Istomin was upset by Westerhof In round 2.

Karshi Challenger (May 19-May 25, 2014)
Nikoloz Basilashvili beat American Chase Buchanan to win the title on hard courts in Uzbekistan. The Georgian beat the in-form Aslan Karatsev in the semis, while Buchanan beat Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan in the semis.

Vicenza Challenger (May 26-June 1, 2014)
Filip Krajinovic of Serbia beat Norbert Gombos to win the title on clay in Italy. Krajinovic beat the rising Yoshihito Nishioka in the semis, while Gombos defeated Gerald Granollers.

May Challenger Recap, Focus on American Qualifiers in Paris #ATP #RG13

Posted by Admin on May 25, 2013

Posted in: ATP, ATP Challenger, Roland Garros. Tagged: an-ning, atp challenger, Bordeaux, Busan, french open, johannesburg, Karshi, Kun-Ming, Ostrava, qualifying, recap, Rio Quente, Roland Garros, rome, Samarkand, Tunis. Leave a comment

May Challenger Recap, Focus on American Qualifiers in Paris
Steen Kirby, TennisEastCoast.com

An-Ning Challenger (April 29-May 5, 2013)

Marton Fucsovics improved to a career high ranking of 251 and took the title in this 50k Chinese challenger on clay over James Ward. Fucsovics beat Dino Marcan in the semis while Ward beat Tsung-Hua Yang. Yang had upset Tatsuma Ito in the quarterfinals.

Johannesburg Challenger (April 29-May 5, 2013)

Pospisil

In the Jo’burg 100k challenger, Vasek Pospisil worked his way to a win over Michal Przysienzy on hard courts. Pospisil beat Mate Pavcic in the semis, while Przysienzy beat Lukas Lacko, the top seed.

Napoli Challenger (April 29-May 5, 2013)

Former top 30 player Potito Starace, who has seen his ranking collapse out of the top 200, pulled it together and beat fellow Italian Alessandro Giannessi on clay after beating David Guez in the semis. Giannessi beat Filippo Volandri in the semis.

Ostrava Challenger (April 29-May 5, 2013)

In the Czech Republic, on clay, the teenage lefty Jiri Vesely won his 2^nd challenger title of the year, this time over Steve Darcis after beating qualifier Miloslav Mecir in the semis. Darcis upset top seed Lukas Rosol in the semis, and had upset Jan Hajek before that. Jaroslav Pospisil upset 2 seed Aljaz Bedene in the opening round.

Tunis Challenger (April 29-May 5, 2013)

In Tunis on clay, Adrian Ungur topped Diego Sebastian Schwartzman in 3 sets to take the title. The veteran Ungur beat Florent Serra in the semis while Schwartzman took out Kenny De Schepper. Top seed Marcel Granollers was upended by wildcard Lamine Ouahab, who was once a top 120 player, in Round 2.

Karshi Challenger (May 6-May 12, 2013)

On hard courts in Uzbekistan,top seed Teymuraz Gabashvili defeated Radu Albot for the title. Gabashvili beat Ti Chen in the semis while Albot beat Prakash Amritraj.

Kun-Ming Challenger (May 6-May 12, 2013)

Bogomolov

In another Chinese challenger on hard courts, Alex Bogomolov took his 2^nd challenger title of the year over Rik De Voest, who is also having a good year. Bogo is back knocking on the door of the top 80 and beat JP Smith in the semis while De Voest beat Tsung-Hua Yang, who made yet another Challenger semi.

Rio Quente Challenger (May 6-May 12, 2013)

Ram

On hard courts in Brazil, top seed Rajeev Ram beat Brazilian Andre Ghem in 3 sets to take the title. Ram beat James Duckworth in the semis, while Ghem beat Fabio De Paula.

Rome-2 Challenger (May 6-May 12, 2013)

Aljaz Bedene beat Italian Flippo Volandri on clay to take the title. Bedene beat Federico Del Bonis in the semis, while Volandri beat Matthias Bachinger, who had upset top seed Albert Montanes in Round 2.

Bordeaux Challenger (May 13-May 19, 2013)

In Bordeaux on clay, Gael Monfils got his game in form and took out Michael Llodra for the title. Monfils beat David Goffin in the semis of a loaded field, while Llodra beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. The field included four young Americans: Denis Kudla, Steve Johnson, Jack Sock and Rhyne Williams, but they all lost their opening round matches.

Busan Challenger (May 13-May 19, 2013)

On hard courts in Korea, Dudi Sela beat Alex Bogomolov, denying him of his 3^rd Challenger title this year. Sela beat Jimmy Wang in the semis while Bogomolov beat James McGee. A lot of seeds fell early in this event, as top seed Rendy Lu lost to Enrique Lopez-Perez (ranked 292, a career high), 2 seed Lukas Lacko lost to Ze Zhang and 5 seed Go Soeda lost to countryman Hiroki Moriya.

Samarkand Challenger (May 13-May 19, 2013)

In Uzbekistan on clay, Teymuraz Gabashvili won again, beating Oleksandr Nedovyesov after toppling Pere Riba in the semis. Nedovyesov beat Farrukh Dustov in the semis and it was a good showing for Dustov, who has otherwise endured a miserable year. Filip Krajinovic upset top seed Jiri Vesely in the opening round.

French Open Qualifying (May 21-May 24, 2013)

Kudla

The qualifiers are:

Andreas Beck over Antonio Veic
Steve Darcis over Simon Greul
Pere Riba over Andreas Haider-Maurer (LL recipient)
Julian Reister over Farrukh Dustov
Somdev Devvarman over Wayne Odesnik
James Duckworth over Dusan Lajovic
Daniel Munoz De La Nava over Illya Marchenko (LL recipient)
Vasek Pospisil over Frank Dancevic
Jan-Lennard Struff over Teymuraz Gabashvili
Pablo Carreno-Busta over Vincent Millot
Jiri Vesely over Stephane Robert
Maxime Teixeira over Pavol Cervenak
and the 3 Americans:

Steve Johnson over Adrian Ungur
Denis Kudla over Arthur De Greef
Jack Sock over Facundo Arguello
AND Rhyne Williams who lost to Michal Przysiezny but will play him again as a lucky loser.

Johnson

USTA Har-Tru Wild Card Challenge=Success

That means of the 7 Americans entered in qualifying, only Tennys Sandgren, Tim Smyczek and Robby Ginepri failed to win a round, while Wayne Odesnik lost in the final round of qualifying. Sock especially is a surprise, as he hasn’t had much success on clay before but routined promising clay courter Facundo Arguello in the final round. I’m usually a harsh critic when it comes to USTA player development, but I must say, the switch to that 3 week set of Har-Tru Green Clay events, plus the match most of them played at the Bordeaux Challenger sure seemed to help the up and coming Americans get better on clay and get more experience.