Marco Cecchinato

Busy Month on ATP Tour Sees Federer Claim Title #100, Monfils Return to Form
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

After Novak Djokovic claimed the Australian Open title, the ATP season roared into February with multiple 500 level events and a number of 250s on clay and hard courts across the globe. Here is your look at all the action for the month that was.

ATP Montpellier

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Veteran Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won an all French final in this indoor 250 6-4 6-2 against Pierre-Hugues Herbert. The veteran beat Gilles Simon, Jeremy Chardy and Radu Albot in consecutive matches to reach the final, overall he defeated four French players to win the tournament. PHH upset Denis Shapovalov and Tomas Berdych to reach the final.

ATP Sofia

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Bulgaria’s only ATP event was won by the in-form Daniil Medvedev 6-4 6-3 against Marton Fucsovics. Fucsovics had a breakthrough after upsetting Andreas Sepi and getting a walkover against Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarters (then edging Matteo Berrettini in the semis). Medvedev got past Gael Monfils in the semis and prior to that he scored wins against Robin Haase and Martin Klizan in consecutive matches. Medvedev’s win helped him reach the top 15, he’s now 1-1 in ATP finals this year.

ATP Cordoba

On clay in Argentina home hero and wild card Juan Ignacio Londero won his first ever ATP title prevailing against Guido Pella 3-6 7-5 6-1 in a huge moment for him. Londero’s breakthrough pushed him to a new career high in the top 70 and he beat clay courters Nicolas Jarry and Federico Delbonis most notably to make the final. Pella had a good month edging Paolo Lorenzi, Diego Schwartzman, Albert Ramos, and Pablo Cuevas to reach the final in what was a tough path for a 250.

ATP New York

The first ATP 250 in the States this year saw Reilly Opelka lift his first title in three sets 6-1 6-7 7-6 against maiden finalist Brayden Schnur, a Canadian. Opelka also upset top American John Isner, while Schnur edged Sam Querrey in the semis. Opelka’s powerful serve was a difference maker and he should be a factor in Indian Wells and Miami coming up.

ATP Buenos Aires

The 250 on clay in Buenos Aires resulted in Marco Cecchinato’s third career ATP title 6-1 6-2 against home player Diego Schwartzman. Schwartzman upset Dominic Thiem and also beat Aljaz Bedene and Albert Ramos to reach the final. Cecchinato beat Christian Garin, Roberto Carballes Baena, and Guido Pella to reach the final, three accomplished clay courters. This was a great result for Cecchinato outside of Europe.

ATP Rotterdam

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Gael Monfils returned to form winning his 8th career title 6-3 1-6 6-2 against fellow veteran Stan Wawrinka. It was a thrilling moment played in good spirits and filled with joy for both players who have overcome injuries and adversity to return to the top of the game. Monfils 500 level title included wins against Daniil Medvedev, and David Goffin. Wawrinka upset Milos Raonic, Denis Shapovalov, and Kei Nishikori before falling short in the final. Both players would love to contend at the slam level again.

ATP Rio

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The Rio 500 on clay was the top event on the Golden Swing and Serbia’s Laslo Djere claimed his first title 6-3 7-5 against young gun Felix Auger-Aliassime. FAA played well but Djere was the player of the week, as he upset Dominic Thiem and also claimed wins against clay courters Casper Ruud and Aljaz Bedene to reach the final. FAA defeated Fabio Fognini, Christian Garin, Jaume Munar, and Pablo Cuevas to reach the final, showing his all court talent that is set to make him a top 20 player in the near future. Djere broke into the top 40 with the win, the tournament was filled with upsets.

ATP Marseille

Young gun Stefanos Tsitsipas found form and got past Mikhail Kukushkin 7-5 7-6 in the final after defeating David Goffin, and Sergiy Stakhovsky in the late rounds to reach the final. Kukushkin upset Denis Shapovalov and Andrey Rublev before getting a winnable semi against Ugo Humbert. This indoor hard court 250 saw some early round upsets but in the end the #1 seed Tsitsipas won his second career title.

ATP Delray Beach

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Radu Albot made history, winning his first career title and breaking into the top 60 with a 3-6 6-3 7-6 win against Dan Evans in a battle of journeymen in the Delray 250 hard court final. Evans edged John Isner in the semis and upset Frances Tiafoe in round 1 while Albot got past big servers Ivo Karlovic and Nick Kyrgios before nipping Americans Steve Johnson and McKenzie McDonald to reach the final.

ATP Dubai

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Roger Federer won his 100th career title at the Dubai 500 6-4 6-4 on hard courts against the in-form Stefanos Tsitsipas. Federer found form late in the tournament after dropping sets against Philipp Kohlschreiber and Fernando Verdasco in the first two matches. Marton Fucsovics and Borna Coric were his quarterfinal and semifinal opposition, while Tsitsipas had a relatively easy path until Gael Monfils was his semifinal opponent and he prevailed in that match in a third set tiebreak. The young Greek played well but Federer was just too good.

ATP Acapulco

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The Acapulco 500 was won by the struggling big server Nick Kyrgios 6-3 6-4, as he defeated Alexander Zverev in a battle of talented finalists. Kyrgios was focused on the week, edging John Isner in the semis, Rafael Nadal in the second round, and Stan Wawrinka in the quarters while Zverev had a smooth path that included Alex De Minaur in the quarters and Cam Norrie in the semis. Kyrgios has always had the talent to be an elite player, if he can keep this form he will contend in both upcoming Masters tournaments, but that can’t be predicted.

ATP Sao Paulo

Argentina’s Guido Pella won his first ATP title, winning the 250 on clay to close the Golden Swing 7-5 6-3 against Christian Garin. Pella edged Laslo Djere in the semis, while Garin upset Ruud. Pella didn’t have the toughest draw (Roberto Carballes Baena and Marco Trungelliti) but it was still a massive accomplishment to win his first title.

Veterans Djokovic, Berdych, and Wawrinka Contesting 2019 ATP Doha
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The 2019 ATP 250 in Doha, Qatar has Novak Djokovic as the star attraction (including a pairing with brother Marko for doubles), but resurgent veterans Stan Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych are still gunning for the title and have advanced to the quarterfinals. What will the rest of the tournament hold?

Quarters

Novak Djokovic vs Nikoloz Basilashvili

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Both of the seeds advanced to the quarterfinals, with world #1 Djokovic heavily favored against Georgian #1 Basilashvili. Both players have dropped sets this week, with Djokovic’s lost set to Marton Fucsovics a massive surprise. Presuming he’s motivated Djokovic should be too good in this matchup though, after beating Damir Dzumhur and Fucsovics. Basilashvili defeated Albert Ramos and Andrey Rublev.

Stan Wawrinka vs Roberto Bautista Agut

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Tennis fans would love to see a revitalized Wawrinka making waves on tour. The Swiss veteran has a great shot against steady baseliner Bautista Agut after he upset Karen Khachanov in straights and followed that upset with a win against Nicolas Jarry. RBA has been solid, dropping just 5 games in each match (wins against Matteo Berrettini and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez). Wawrinka should be highly motivated though and I have a feeling he’ll rise to the occasion and notch an upset.

Dusan Lajovic vs Marco Cecchinato

Wins against Adrian Mannarino and Ricardas Berankis have lifted Lajovic to the quarters while Marco Cecchinato eased past Sergiy Stakhovsky and then got a walkover into the quarters. Cecchinato is still learning the ropes on hard courts, and though he’s very talented, Lajovic should have a slight edge.

Tomas Berdych vs Pierre-Hugues Herbert

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Both of these players have been disappointing lately, Berdych has been injured and considered retirement, but now he’s come back and earned wins against crafty veterans Philipp Kohlschreiber and Fernando Verdasco. PHH hopes to improve as a singles player this year and a stunning win against a listless Dominic Thiem, followed up by a three set tiebreak win against Max Marterer, will give him a lot of confidence heading into this matchup. Berdych is hard to read right now but he should be favored if he’s fit.

Projected Semifinals
Djokovic d. Wawrinka
Berdych d. Lajovic

This is Djokovic’s title to lose, but if he loses interest Wawrinka or RBA will benefit. I expect Berdych to make a run to the final at this point and fall just short, in what would be a huge result for him.

Projected Final
Djokovic d. Berdych

Marco Cecchinato, Steve Johnson, and Fabio Fognini Claim ATP Titles This Week
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

ATP Umag

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Marco Cecchinato claimed his second ATP title to continue his record setting year. The rapidly rising Italian eased past Guido Pella 6-2 7-6 after previously dropping just a set against Jiri Vesely prior to the final. Cecchinato defeated Vesely, Laslo Djere, and Marco Trungelliti to reach the final.

Pella for his part reached his first final of the season after wins against Taro Daniel, Aljaz Bedene, Dusan Lajovic, and Robin Haase. He dropped the opening set in his first two matches and had to battle hard to reach the final stage. Haase and Matwe Middelkoop defeated Jebavy/Vesely in the doubles final.

ATP Newport

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Steve Johnson won a fourth career ATP title and his second on grass with a 7-5 3-6 6-2 win against first time finalist Ramkumar Ramanathan. Ramanthan put up a spirited fight in the biggest match of his career, but it was the veteran Johnson who prevailed in the deciding set. Johnson also claimed wins against Christian Harrison, Dudi Sela, and Marcel Granollers in straight sets to reach the final.

The 23 year old Ramanthan defeated Victor Estrella, Denis Kudla, Vasek Pospisil, and Tim Smyczek, dropping just a set against Kudla en route to the final. He’s hoping there will be more success to come this season after the maiden final breakthrough.

Erlich/Sitak defeated Arevalo/Reyes-Varela in the doubles final with ease.

ATP Bastad

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Fabio Fognini continued to add to what has been a highly accomplished season for the Italian veteran. Fognini claimed his second title of the year defeating Richard Gasquet 6-3 3-6 6-1. It was a good tournament for both players as Fognini defeated Mikael Ymer, Federico Delbonis, and Fernando Verdasco to reach the final, dropping a set in every match except against Delbonis.

Gasquet dropped his opening set of the tournament against Gerald Melzer (winning in 3) then went on to defeat Casper Ruud and Henri Laaksonen to reach the final. Fognini moved closer to the top 10, while Gasquet moved closer to returning to the top 25 with the victory. Peralta/Zeballos defeated Fognini and Simone Bolelli in the doubles final, denying Fognini a pair of titles from the same tournament.

Rising Marco Cecchinato the Star of ATP Umag
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

Despite losing the World Cup final in Moscow, the fun loving nation of Croatia is ready to host another edition of the ATP Umag 250 on clay. Here is your look at all the action.

Top Half:

With the withdrawal of top seed Kyle Edmund, Albert Ramos will start in a reseeded position against Dusan Lajovic or Nikoloz Basilashvili. On clay I’ll back Ramos to edge Lajovic and reach the quarters. Guido Pella should be favored to defeat Taro Daniel, and Aljaz Bedene/Joao Sousa to reach the quarters opposite Ramos, with Ramos favored at that stage.

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Andrey Rublev, the defending champ, is hoping to be fit as he returns to tour after a few weeks off due to injury. Rublev will face a qualifier or Felix Auger Aliassime, with Robin Haase, Nicolas Jarry, or a qualifier lurking in the quarters. I’ll pick a qualifier against Jarry in this section, with the Chilean Jarry emerging the winner, Rublev will likely have a slow return.

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Bottom Half:

The bottom half features a relatively pedestrian (on clay) Damir Dzumhur facing either a struggling Paolo Lorenzi or journeyman Evgeny Donskoy. I’ll take Dzumhur to win the section and emerge opposite Marton Fucsovics or Benoit Paire. I have Fucsovics winning the quarter with wins over Paire and a qualifier, then Dzumhur.

Pablo Cuevas has played himself back into a bit of form and will open against Laslo Djere, presuming he can defeat the in-form Djere, he’ll face Max Marterer or wild card Nino Serdarusic in round 2. Marterer should win the section and end up opposite Marco Cecchinato in the quarters. The rising Cecchinato will be favored over Jiri Vesely/qualifier, and then Marterer in the quarters.

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Predictions

Semis
Ramos d. Jarry
Cecchinato d. Fucsovics

Cecchinato looks well positioned to lift this trophy after reaching the top 30, the Roland Garros semifinals, and lifting an ATP title on clay earlier this year.

Final
Cecchinato d. Ramos

Rafael Nadal Claims 11th Roland Garros Title in Straight Sets over Dominic Thiem
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

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Rafael Nadal entered as the French Open favorite and left as the French Open champion for the 11th time in his illustrious career. Nadal, the game’s best ever on clay (perhaps by some margin), dropped just one set the entire tournament as he cruised through a crop of solid ATP players to triumph in Paris yet again.

In the final it was Nadal against Austria’s Dominic Thiem, a player that beaten Rafa before on clay, but was contesting his maiden Grand Slam final (having previously reached the semis at Roland Garros). Thiem wasn’t a pushover, and on the surface he’d probably beat anyone else in tennis, but not Nadal. The Spaniard got off to a strong start and in every pressure moment, forced Thiem to buckle under his attack. Nadal prevailed 6-4 6-3 6-2, the scoreline reflecting how he took control of the match as the minutes ticked by. The final point securing Nadal his 17th Grand Slam overall as he continues to chase Roger Federer in tennis history.

Nadal’s path to the final saw him tested in his opening match against Simone Bolelli. The Italian put everything he could into the opening set and nearly took it, but in the end Nadal grinded his way to a three set victory. Guido Pella and Richard Gasquet put up far less resistance in rounds 2 and 3. Max Marterer played a good third set but still lost in straights. The quarterfinal match against Diego Schwartzman was Rafa’s toughest of the tournament. He struggled at the start and went a set and a break down, then the rain came. Forced to come back the next day to complete the match, Schwartzman couldn’t maintain his high level and lost in four sets.

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Nadal took on Juan Martin Del Potro in the semis, Del Potro blitzed his way to that stage and was looking to be in great form, but then the Nadal hurricane hit as the Spaniard lost just 7 games and reached the final via straight sets.

Thiem’s path wasn’t so smooth, as he had to battle through the middle rounds. He put away Ilya Ivashka in straights, then defeated Stefanos Tsitipas and Matteo Berrentini in 4 sets. Kei Nishikori pushed him to four at the start of week 2, but after winning that Thiem really found his groove against an exhausted Alexander Zverev and upset hero Marco Cecchinato. Cecchinato stunned Novak Djokovic in the match of the tournament to reach his first ever slam semi, but the rising Italian was no match for Thiem.

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French fans found some joy as Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut continued their strong doubles partnership and took the title over Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic. It’s the third slam title for the French pair, and their first at their home slam in Paris.

Looking ahead, Nadal and Roger Federer will take their battle for world #1 into the grass and hard court seasons, while Thiem looks set to have a strong run on hard courts (at least), Cecchinato will look to consolidate his breakthrough, and Del Potro will look to stay among the game’s elite.

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Home Hero Stan Wawrinka Hopes to Capture The 2018 Geneva Open
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The Geneva Open, an ATP 250 on clay in Switzerland, is one of two final tuneups before Roland Garros, this small tour stop features veterans Sam Querrey, Fabio Fognini, Stan Wawrinka, and David Ferrer as the top four seeds. Here is your full preview with predictions.

Top Half:

Sam Querrey is in poor form but features in a section that features 2 qualifiers, Steve Johnson/Marius Copil, Guido Pella, and Jiri Vesely, all of whom are struggling. I’ll back Pella over Querrey with Johnson reaching the quarters with wins over Copil, and a qualifier. Vesely is currently in a challenger final and should be fatigued. Pella over Johnson is my quarterfinal pick.

The winner of Jared Donaldson/Denis Istomin will snap a long losing streak, then face home favorite Stan Wawrinka in round 2. With Wawrinka still slowly returning from injury, he should fall to Albert Ramos in the quarterfinals. Ramos needs to defeat Marton Fucsovics, then Frances Tiafoe/Ryan Harrison. Tiafoe has had a good clay season, but Ramos is more accomplished on the surface overall.

Bottom Half:

Rome quarterfinalist Fabio Fognini is a heavy favorite to win his section, as Marcos Baghdatis/qualifier, and Mischa Zverev is his likely path. Zverev should defeat Mirza Basic and Tennys Sandgren/Andreas Haider-Maurer but Fognini is the strongest player by far in this group, and he’s in the best form.

David Ferrer will begin against Peter Gojowczyk/Ivo Karlovic, I have him winning that before falling to Marco Cecchinato in the quarters. Cecchinato has found form on clay this season and should beat countryman Andreas Seppi, then Florian Mayer/qualifier before edging Ferrer in the quarters.

Predictions

Semis
Ramos d. Pella
Fognini d. Cecchinato

Semifinal #2 should be an all-Italian affair with Fognini grabbing the win, Spain’s Ramos looks set to reach the final as well.

Final
Fognini d. Ramos

Fognini should triumph ahead of Paris if he can back up his Rome results.

Nadal Continues Clay Dominance, Cecchinato Wins Maiden ATP Title
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

ATP Barcelona

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Rafael Nadal showed no signs of stress or fatigue as he raced through his matches in Barcelona without dropping a set, continued his consecutive sets won streak on clay that dates back to last season. Nadal surrendered 5 games to Martin Klizan in the quarters, but was otherwise unbothered, defeating Roberto Carballes Baena, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Klizan, and David Goffin with two bagels and a breadstick thrown in prior to the final.

In that final he faced next-gen star Stefanos Tsitsipas, a rising Greek playing in his first ATP final. Tsitsipas has a great career ahead of him but he was overmatched by Rafa’s clay prowess, falling 6-2 6-1.

Tsitsipas, who has stepped up to a full time ATP schedule this year, won matches against Corentin Moutet, Diego Schwartzman, Albert Ramos, Dominic Thiem, and Pablo Carreno Busta without dropping a set, a great run to the final that saw at least three upsets in that period.

The doubles final was won by the Lopez brothers, as Marc and Feliciano beat Qureshi/Rojer, completing a Spanish sweep of Barcelona.

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ATP Budapest

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Marco Cecchinato had the joy of winning his first ATP title in the Budapest 250. The Italian, who had a poor record on clay at the tour level until this year, defeated John Millman 7-5 6-4 in the final. Millman, another clay struggler at tour level, also had the chance to win his first ATP title, but came up just short.

Cecchinato entered the draw as a lucky loser and went on to defeat Mirza Basic, Damir Dzumhur, J.L. Struff, and Andreas Seppi. The wins over Struff and Seppi coming in three sets. Millman reached the final with wins against Radu Albot, Lucas Pouille, Yannick Maden, and Aljaz Bedene, his final three wins all upsets, and the last two coming in tight third sets.

Inglot/Skugor won the doubles title over Middelkoop/Molteni.

Clay-Court Specialists Cecchinato and Bagnis Dominate @ArgentinaOpen Qualifying

Posted by Admin on February 8, 2016

Posted in: Adam Addicott, ATP, ATP Qualifying. Tagged: 2016, Albert Montanes, Argentina Open, ATP Qualifying, ATP World Tour, buenos aires, Facundo Bagnis, Gastao Elias, Marco Cecchinato, rafael nadal. Leave a comment

Clay-Court Specialists Marco Cecchinato and Facundo Bagnis Dominate Argentina Open Qualifying
Adam Addicott, Tennis Atlantic

ATP Argentina 2015 HD TA Background

This year’s Argentina Open will see the king of clay, Rafael Nadal, kick-off his clay court season. As Argentine fans wait for the arrival of Nadal, the were treated to a series of entertaining matches over the weekend in the qualifying draw.

Half of the entrants in this year’s 16-strong qualifying draw were from the home country, however, only one Argentine successfully qualified to the main draw. 25-year-old Facundo Bagnis has already won two clay court titles this year. On the Challenger circuit Bagnis has claimed back-to-back titles in Bueno Aires, Argentina, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Bagnis, seeded second in the draw, started his qualifying run with a roller coaster 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-0, win over Pedro Cachin. Next up for the second seed was Slovenia’s Blaz Rola. Rola dropped only two games in his opening match against home player Hernan Casanova. Ranked 49 places higher than Rola in the rankings, Bagnis eased himself to the 7-5, 6-1, win. During his second round match, the Argentine won 72% of his service points.

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Italian top seed Marco Cecchinato was also impressive during his two qualifying rounds. The world No.91 was yet to win a match this year going into Rotterdam after falling at the first hurdle in his three previous tournaments. In the first round in Buenos Aires the top seed eased past world No.378 Juan Ignacio Galarza 6-1, 6-2. Awaiting him in the second round was another home player, fifth seed Facundo Arguello. Cecchinato won 68% of his service points and saved 7/7 break points to beat Arguello 6-3, 7-5, to book his place in the main draw.

Argentina Open 2016

Albert Montanes reached the main draw without dropping a set. After some intense off-season training, the 35-year-old didn’t start his 2016 season until the end of January at the Bucaramanga Challenger in Colombia, where he lost in the first round. He won his first match of the year at the Ecuador Open after defeating Jozef Kovalík in the first round. In Argentina, Montanes first match was against Brazilian world No.275 Jose Pereira. Despite there being over 100 places separating the two players, Montanes was made to battle before clinching the match 7-6(5), 7-6(6). In his final qualifying match, the Spaniard faced Italy’s Filippo Voladri. The fourth seed fired six aces during his straightforward 6-3, 6-4, win over Volandri.

Finally, Portugal’s Gastao Elias will play in his first ATP World Tour main draw since last year’s Portugal Open after his double win in qualifying. Opening up against world No.317 Tomás Lipovsek Puches, the sixth seed was pushed harder than expected during his 6-2, 7-6(4) first round win. Then in the final round of qualifying, he faced Guilherme Clezar. Clezar produced a shock 6-3, 6-2, win over third seed Daniel Gimeno-Traver in his first round match. Eilas required an hour and 50 minutes to edge past Clezar, winning 7-5,7-6(9).

First round matches

Q Marco Cecchinato ITA – Juan Monaco ARG (first meeting)
Q Gusta Elías POR – Daniel Munoz de la Nava ESP (Elias trails the head-to-head 0-1)
Q Albert Montanes ESP – Nicolas Almagro ESP (Montanes leads the head-to-head 5-2)
Q Facundo Bagnis ARG – Renzo Olivo ARG (Bagnis leads the head-to-head 4-1)

2015 ATP Challenger Tour Finals Preview, Predictions

Posted by Admin on November 25, 2015

Posted in: ATP, ATP Challenger, Chris De Waard. Tagged: 2015, atp, atp challenger, Brazil, Daniel Munoz De La Nava, Guido Pella, Marco Cecchinato, Paolo Lorenzi, picks, predictions, preview, Radu Albot, sao paulo, tennis, Tour Finals. Leave a comment

2015 Challenger Tour Finals Preview and Predictions
Chris De Waard, Tennis Atlantic

ATP Challenger Tour
Sao Paulo, Brazil
25-29 November 2015
Indoor Clay
Prize Money: $220,000

Entrants (ATP/Challenger ranking in parentheses)

1: Paolo Lorenzi (68/3)
2: Guido Pella (76/4)
3: Daniel Muñoz-De La Nava (87/2)
4: Marco Cecchinato (89/7)
5: Inigo Cervantes (98/8)
6: Radu Albot (120/10)
7: Farrukh Dustov (161/9)
8: Guilherme Clezar (186/>50)

A strong field will compete for the Challenger Tour Finals title, with seven of the top ten Challenger players of 2015 entering this event. Missing are #1 Hyeon Chung, #5 Yuki Bhambri and #6 John Millman, all of whom prefer to play on hardcourts and unsurprisingly aren’t travelling to the other side of the world to compete in a clay event. For the third year in a row the wild card has been awarded to Guilherme Clezar, who made an unexpected fairytale run last year when he beat countryman Joao Souza 7-6(4) 2-6 7-6(7) and Blaz Rola 6-4 6-3 to qualify for the semi-final. There he continued his spectacular run, fighting off Victor Estrella Burgos in undoubtedly the Challenger match of the year, 7-6(4) 6-7(0) 7-6(12). After losing 6-2 6-3 to Diego Schwartzman in the final he unfortunately wasn’t able to build on this result, as he finished 2015 outside of the top 50 in the Challenger standings.

Groups

Group A

Paolo Lorenzi
Daniel Muñoz-De La Nava
Inigo Cervantes
Farrukh Dustov

Group B

Guido Pella
Marco Cecchinato
Radu Albot
Guilherme Clezar

Round Robin Match-Ups To Watch

Paolo Lorenzi – Daniel Muñoz-De La Nava

The Challenger Tour is often announced as a breeding ground for new talent, but these two 33-year-olds couldn’t be further from that description. However, for Muñoz-De La Nava 2015 meant his first ever entrance into the top 100, so he surely is a new face in that way. The Spaniard, citing confidence and fitness as the biggest components of his sudden rise, achieved it in an impressive manner, starting the season outside of the top 200. After a slow start to the season he won the Napoli Challenger in early April and reached five more finals after that, taking down additional titles in Moscow and Meknes. He faced Lorenzi once this year, in the semi-final of Cortina, where the Italian comfortably won 6-2 6-4.

Lorenzi also won the final, claiming one of his four titles this year. Lorenzi is a late-bloomer as well, but has been hovering around the top 100 for six years now, reaching a career high ranking of #49 in March of 2013. He has sixteen career Challenger titles and 335 match wins, which he wants to add to in the coming years. If his health allows it, he wants to play four more years and reach 400 career wins. He can make a head start in Sao Paolo, starting the tournament as the favorite and in the conditions he loves the most, playing on an indoor clay court at high altitude.

Guido Pella – Marco Cecchinato

25-year-old Pella is no stranger to the Challenger Tour Finals, having won the event in 2012 and cracking the top 100 for the first time because of it. However, he experienced a setback and even dropped out of the top 200 just over a year ago. Now firmly back into the top 100, he aims to reach the top 50 in 2016. He feels that he is now ready for it mentally, saying that he wasn’t mentally strong enough to maintain a top 100 position when he was younger. Having won four titles this year, his most impressive victory came last week in Montevideo, where he beat home player and world #40 Pablo Cuevas 6-3 6-2 in the semi-final. In the final he beat fellow Challenger Tour Finals competitor Cervantes 7-5 2-6 6-4, coming into Sao Paulo on a high.

23-year-old Cecchinato made his debut in the top 100 this year after reaching the semi-final in San Benedetto. He can be called the king of consistency, reaching the semi-final of twelve Challengers this year, even though it only led to one final and one title. To reach one of those semi-finals, in Caltanissetta, he managed to double bagel fellow Challenger Tour Finals competitor Clezar.

Group A

Dustov is the clear outsider in this group and it’s hard to see him win a match. The last match he played on clay was three months ago in Como, when he got humiliated by world #735 Carlos Gomez-Herrera in the first round, 6-1 6-1. Given the circumstances, surface and altitude, Lorenzi should have an edge here, but Muñoz-De La Nava likes these circumstances as well. He grew up in Madrid, where he managed to beat world #22 Sam Querrey in 2010, while he was still ranked outside of the top 300. Muñoz-De La Nava also told that he has had Sao Paulo as a big goal since midway through the season, so he should be very motivated. Cervantes is well in this race too, however, with a big win over world #73 Diego Schwartzman in the semi-final of Montevideo last week, before falling 7-5 2-6 6-4 to Pella.

Group B

For Albot the same goes as with Dustov. He hasn’t been playing well in his last couple of tournaments and the last time he played on clay was over three months ago in Prague. Although he managed to reach the final there, he did it without beating a top 300 player. Then again, at least he played matches, Cecchinato is a big question mark given that he played his last match a month and a half ago. It might indicate that he isn’t taking the tournament all that seriously. After Clezar’s poor 2015 it’s hard to predict him to repeat his miracle run of last year. The man got double bageled by fellow group member Cecchinato this year, after all. Then again, it wouldn’t surprise me either, last year he came into the tournament on exactly the same note. But realistically you can’t go around predicting him to come in third or fourth.

Predictions

Group A:

Lorenzi
Muñoz-De La Nava
Cervantes
Dustov

Group B:

Pella
Albot
Cecchinato
Clezar

Semi-finals:
Lorenzi d. Albot
Pella d. Muñoz-De La Nava

Final:
Pella d. Lorenzi

Tiafoe, Klizan lead 2015 ATP Winston-Salem Qualifying Pack
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

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Four qualifiers joined the large Winston-Salem Open field for 2015, as they demonstrated their good form in advance of the 2015 US Open.

Two of the players set to feature at the open, Martin Klizan, and young gun American Frances Tiafoe were the stars of the qualifying draw.

Klizan, a top 40 player, was a surprise entrant in the qualifying draw, and will now look to boost is below .500 hard court record this year at the main draw level with a good run in Winston-Salem. The Slovakian beat Eric Quigley in round 1 and Deiton Baughman in round 2 before finishing his sweep of American qualifying competitors with a straight set win over in-form American Bjorn Fratangelo who found his hopes of playing in an ATP main draw for the second straight week stopped in their tracks. Klizan scored a minor upset over Dominic Thiem in Cincinnati and is likely to get through round 1 given the lower ranked and less talented Marsel Ilhan is his opponent.

Frances Tiafoe failed to win a match in his main draw opportunity in Atlanta this summer, but he’ll get another crack at his first ATP main draw win as a professional against James Duckworth in the opening round in Winston-Salem. The confident 17 year old beat Patrick Daciek. Radu Albot, and fellow American Ryan Harrison to qualifying, beating the experienced baseline grinder Harrison in three sets, as he recovered from a first set breadstick to get the win. Tiafoe has already been awarded a main draw wild card for the US Open, so he gets to bypass qualifying, and he’s he has a lot of tennis ahead as he will also be playing in the US Open Juniors as he’s still 17 and got a wild card for that tournament.

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Joining Klizan and Tiafoe in the main draw are a pair of Europeans, Marco Cecchinato and Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Cecchinato normally prefers clay, but he has a surprisingly positive 7-6 hard court record on the season now, after blazing through qualifying without a set dropped against Andrew Carter, Skander Mansouri and Wil Spencer. He’ll open against Aljaz Bedene in round 1, another player who prefers clay.

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Herbert, a 24 year old Frenchman and quasi doubles specialist, continued his success at the ATP qualifying level this season and relied on his serve to get past Kimmer Coppejans, Kevin King and Sekou Bangoura without dropping a set. Herbert had one of the tougher draws to qualify, so his results have been impressive in North Carolina and he’ll have a great chance to get a win over ATP veteran Sergiy Stakhovsky in round 1.

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Steen Kirby (Marseille)