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2015 Vancouver, Cordenons and Meerbusch Challenger Recaps

Posted by Admin on August 24, 2015
Posted in: ATP, Chris De Waard. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

2015 Vancouver, Cordenons and Meerbusch Challenger Recaps
Chris De Waard, Tennis Atlantic

 ATP Challenger Tour Official Page

Vancouver

 Strange times on the Challenger circuit. Last week I wrote about how all the seeds in Aptos made it to the quarterfinals. This time it was the exact opposite in Vancouver, with none of the seeds managing to get there. The top half only started with two of them to begin with, as #5 Go Soeda and #6 Kyle Edmund withdrew before their first round matches. Third seed Ernests Gulbis pulled off what perhaps is the biggest contrast ever in back to back weeks. After reaching the quarterfinal of the Montreal 1000 tournament, missing two match points against world number one Novak Djokovic, he lost in the first round here to Iliya Marchenko, 6-3 6-7(5) 7-6(2).

Dudi Sela came out as the winner in the top half, although it didn’t come easy. He survived his first three matches 6-4 7-6(3), 6-7(4) 7-5 1-0 ret. and 6-4 6-7(4) 6-4. His semi-final against Yuki Bhambri was a lot more convincing, 6-2 6-4. In the bottom half qualifier Daniel Evans, who slipped to #417 in the rankings, showed he might be on the way back to his old form, which saw him reach the top 125 in early 2014. He beat Radek Stepanek 6-4 6-1 in the first round, after which he saved five match points in a remarkable comeback against seventh seed Taro Daniel, coming back from *0-5 down in the third set to win 4-6 6-3 7-6(6). An equally remarkable win followed in the quarterfinal against Brydan Klein, 7-6(1) 6-7(7) 6-0. John-Patrick Smith was too strong in the semi-final, however, beating Klein 4-6 6-2 6-3.

Sela just edged out the final in two tight sets, 6-4 7-5. It meant his fourth Vancouver title and eighteenth Challenger titles, which are incredible numbers. Not only that, the victory put him back inside of the top 100 at exactly #100, rising thirty spots. Smith rose to a career high ranking of #121, rising fifteen spots.

Sela in Newport

Sela in Newport

Cordenons

 There were little results that can be marked as shocking. Perhaps one in the quarterfinal, where top seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas lost to sixth seed Roberto Carballes Baena, 4-6 6-2 6-3. His semi-final opponent was Adrian Ungur, who beat fourth seed Kenny De Schepper 6-4 7-6(7) in the quarterfinal. Ungur also beat Carballes Baena in the semi-final, 4-6 6-4 6-2. Perhaps I should retract my earlier statement, because the bottom half had two results that were pretty shocking. Second seed Paolo Lorenzi double bageled Pedja Krstin in the first round, with Filip Krajinovic doing the same against Erik Crepaldi in the second round. They faced each other in the semi-final, with Krajinovic winning 7-6(5) 6-4.

The final was a high quality affair and turned out to be an entertaining fight. Unfortunately it ended on a down note, with Krajinovic winning after retirement in the third set, 5-7 6-4 4-1, claiming his second title of the year and fourth overall. The problem lay in Ungur’s upper right leg. There was one absolutely spectacular rally in the second set which is a must watch, see the video attached below. Krajinovic rose twenty-two spots to #98, while Ungur rose eighty-one spots to #246.

Meerbusch

Top seed Andreas Haider-Maurer started the tournament rusty, needing three sets against qualifier Philipp Davydenko, but after that he started to get into his groove, not dropping another set on his way to the final. In the semi-final he dispatched third seed Facundo Arguello 6-4 6-4. In the bottom half the ever erratic second seed Dustin Brown got upset by Marek Michalicka in the second round, 2-6 6-3 6-1. Pere Riba took advantage, beating Michalicka 7-5 6-3 for a place in the semi-final. There he met Carlos Berlocq, who was having his first good run in ages, having struggled with injury for a good part of the year. Berlocq was clearly too strong for Riba, 6-3 6-3. In the final Haider-Maurer continued his great run of form, however, once again not dropping a set to win the match 6-2 6-4, claiming the ninth Challenger title of his career. He also rose to #52 in the rankings, an improvement of nine spots. Berlocq rose ten spots to #141. And as if the ATP felt Haider-Maurer’s title coming, they released their ATP World Tour Uncovered video about him a couple of days prior to his victory.

Haider-Maurer

Haider-Maurer

Chris De Waard (Challenger Tour Finals)

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2015 Vancouver @VanOpen, Cordenons and Meerbusch Challenger Previews & Predictions

Posted by Admin on August 18, 2015
Posted in: ATP, ATP Challenger. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

2015 Vancouver, Cordenons and Meerbusch Challenger Previews & Predictions
Chris De Waard, Tennis Atlantic

ATP Challenger Tour Official Page

Odlum Brown Vanopen

ATP Challenger Tour
Vancouver, B.C., Canada
15-23 August 2015
Hardcourt
Prize Money: $100,000

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Ricardas Berankis (74)
2: John Millman (85)
3: Ernests Gulbis (87)
4: Ruben Bemelmans (103)
5: Go Soeda (108)
6: Kyle Edmund (109)
7: Taro Daniel (112)
8: Alejandro Gonzalez (117)

The last direct acceptance is Gastao Elias, ranked 188th.

First round match-ups to watch

(6) Kyle Edmund – Dudi Sela

Sela

Sela


Sela pushed world #69 Alexander Dolgopolov to the edge in their first round qualifying match in Montreal last week, losing 6-2 3-6 7-6(2). Despite Sela’s ranking dropping a bit this year, this indicates he still has it in him to trouble higher-ranked opponents like Edmund. They faced each other last year at the Nottingham Challenger on grass, where Sela prevailed 6-4 2-6 6-2.

Jurgen Melzer – Elias Ymer

An interesting clash of generations, with 34-year-old Melzer facing 19-year-old Ymer. Their rankings are very similar, respectively #133 and #141. Ymer hasn’t had the greatest of runs since qualifying for Wimbledon, posting a 2-4 record. Former world #8 Melzer isn’t doing much better, however, having failed to win back to back matches since Indian Wells in March.

Top Half
Ernests Gulbis Cincy 2013

We might be witnessing the biggest chance of scenery in back to back weeks ever with former top ten player Ernests Gulbis participating here. Last week he reached the quarterfinal of Montreal to eventually fall to world number one Novak Djokovic, but not before missing two match points in the process during his 7-5 6-7(7) 6-1 loss. This week he is the third seed at a Challenger, facing Iliya Marchenko in the first round. Naturally, if he continues his form of last week, he is the favorite to win the title here. Another former top ten player, wild card Janko Tipsarevic, is drawn in this half as well and might be Gulbis’ second round opponent.

Bottom Half

Second seed John Millman is going for his third title in a row. Fatigue might be an issue here, although he had a week off between his first two titles. He might face countryman John-Patrick Smith in the quarterfinal, who beat him in the qualifying draw of Roland Garros this year. Seventh seed Taro Daniel faces a tough first round opponent in Matthew Ebden, with fourth seed Ruben Bemelmans and Austin Krajicek also factors in this section.

Predictions

Semis:

Gulbis d. Berankis
Bemelmans d. Smith

Final:

Gulbis d. Bemelmans

ATP Challenger Intermek Tennis Cup Internazionali Di Tennis Del Friuli Venezia Giulia

ATP Challenger Tour
Cordenons, Italy
17-23 August 2015
Red Clay
Prize Money: €42,500

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Albert Ramos-Vinolas (55)
2: Paolo Lorenzi (80)
3: Filip Krajinovic (122)
4: Kenny De Schepper (143)
5: Andrej Martin (159)
6: Roberto Carballes Baena (168)
7: Filippo Volandri (192)
8: Gianluca Naso (194)

The last direct acceptance is Rogerio Dutra Silva, ranked 302nd.

First round match-up to watch

(1) Albert Ramos-Vinolas – (Q) Jaume Munar

The last time Rafael Nadal’s new protégé Munar faced a fellow Spaniard in the main draw, he won. Kind of. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez retired after three games in the first round of Hamburg, where Munar received a wild card after Nadal made it a requirement for playing himself. In the second round he showed it was a deserved one, however, pushing world #71 Simone Bolelli to the brink, with the Italian winning 6-1 6-7(5) 6-4. It will be interesting to see how the 18-year-old holds up against yet another top 100 player.

Top Half

Top seed Ramos-Vinolas has a tricky draw. After Munar he might face last week’s Prague champion Rogerio Dutra Silva, potentially followed by Portoroz runner-up Grega Zemlja. #6 seed Roberto Carballes Baena is also placed in this section. In the bottom section a wild variety of players might come through, with fourth seed Kenny De Schepper not having clay as his favorite surface. Someone like Nikola Mektic, Alessandro Giannessi or Adrian Ungur might become an unseeded semi-finalist.

Bottom Half

Second seed Paolo Lorenzi has a favorable draw to at least reach the semi-final, being placed in a section with Filippo Volandri as the other seed. In the top section fifth seed Andrej Martin and third seed Filip Krajinovic are likely to decide the other semi-finalist, with Krajinovic being the slight favorite to do so.

Predictions

Semis:

Ramos-Vinolas d. Giannessi
Lorenzi d. Krajinovic

Final:

Ramos-Vinolas d. Lorenzi

Maserati Challenger by Cittadino

ATP Challenger Tour
Meerbusch, Germany
17-23 August 2015
Red Clay
Prize Money: €42,500

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Andreas Haider-Maurer (59)
2: Dustin Brown (83)
3: Facundo Arguello (145)
4: Carlos Berlocq (151)
5: Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (157)
6: Andrey Golubev (162)
7: Jordi Samper-Montana (208)
8: Victor Hanescu (223)

The last direct acceptance is Vladimir Ivanov, ranked 310th.

First round match-up to watch

(1) Andreas Haider-Maurer – (Q) Philipp Davydenko

Haider-Maurer

Haider-Maurer

Last week Haider-Maurer got upset by world #382 Nikola Mektic in the second round of Prague and that might be an indication that he struggles with his motivation in these events, even though he preferred this over trying to qualify for the Masters events in these two weeks. Davydenko, Nikolay’s nephew, faced another player with a famous relative in the final round of qualifying, Federico Coria, Guillermo’s brother, whom he beat 7-5 in the third set.

Top Half

Despite his shocking upset of last week, it’s hard not to predict Haider-Maurer to do well here, the ranking difference with the rest is simply too big. The difference with the second highest seed in this half, third seed Facundo Arguello, is almost a hundred spots. A semi-final showdown between them is likely.

Bottom Half

Fourth seed Carlos Berlocq has had an abysmal year so far because of injury struggles, but with this draw he might be able to rekindle some of his old form. Sixth seed Andrey Golubev is in terrible form himself and other competitors like Daniel Brands, Christian Garin and Berlocq’s first round opponent Tim Puetz are very erratic. Talking about erratic, the bottom section is headed by Dustin Brown, who will likely have to get past seventh seed Jordi Samper-Montana or Pere Riba for a place in the semi-final and is a favorite to do so.

Predictions

Semis:

Haider-Maurer d. Arguello
Brown d. Berlocq

Final:

Haider-Maurer d. Brown

Chris De Waard (Challenger Tour Finals)

Montanes Wins 8th Career Challenger Title in Cordenons, 21 year old Kovalik Shocks in Meerbusch

Posted by Admin on August 19, 2014
Posted in: ATP, ATP Challenger, Pro Circuit, USTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

2014 Cordenons and Meerbusch Challenger Recaps

ATP Challenger Tour

Cordenons Challenger 

With practically all the good Italian players placed in the top half of the draw, a home country finalist was likely, although the eventual player to make it was not first seed Paolo Lorenzi. Potito Starace had the honor to play the final after ousting Lorenzi in a marathon match: 5-7 7-5 6-4. This meant his first top 100 victory since beating Kenny De Schepper in QR1 of Monte Carlo in April.

With Lorenzi at 32 years of age and Starace 33 this looked to be a tournament for the veterans, a trend that got confirmed in the bottom half, where Albert Montanes (33) and Daniel Gimeno-Traver (29) took on each other. They already had an extensive history of playing each other, with the head to head being dead even at 3-3. Their last meeting at Viña del Mar last year ended in a 6-4 6-4 victory for Gimeno-Traver. Things were different this time around, however, as Montanes took home the match in three sets: 6-7(4) 7-5 6-2.

This set up a repeat of last week’s match between Montanes and Starace in the first round of the San Marino Challenger, where Montanes booked a relatively easy victory: 6-2 7-6(3). This week’s final followed a similar pattern as Montanes crowned himself the 2014 Cordenons champion with a 6-2 6-4 victory. The final only meant a minor jump of five ranking spots for Starace, as he reached the semi-final last year, he now is ranked #156. For Montanes the jump was more significant, as he rose twenty spots to #114.

Meerbusch Challenger

One thing is for sure: nobody predicted the Meerbusch winner correctly. The tournament began on a negative note with the match fixing scandal between Boy Westerhof and Antal van der Duim, which is currently being investigated by the Tennis Integrity Unit. More details on that are surely to come. The only top 100 player in the draw, top seed Albert Ramos, got upset in the first round by Mattias Bachinger in straight sets: 6-4 7-6(4). The other clear favorite to reach the final, Andrey Kuznetsov, didn’t disappoint as he made it. However, he was the only seeded player to reach the semi-finals as he was joined by #340 Jozef Kovalik, #289 Tristan Lamasine and #259 Peter Torebko, making Kuznetsov obviously the clear favorite with his 108th ranking spot.

However, it was 21 year old wild card Kovalik who absolutely crushed Kuznetsov in the final, winning 6-1 6-4. Amazingly enough he only dropped one set the entire tournament and even that match was a comfortable win: 2-6 6-2 6-0. This obviously resulted in a major ranking jump, as he rose 105 spots to #235, only five shy of his career high ranking of #230. Kuznetsov had some consolation as well, as he re-entered the top 100 at #97, a jump of eleven spots.

—Chris De Waard, Tennis East Coast

2014 Cordenons and Meerbusch Challenger Previews

Posted by Admin on August 11, 2014
Posted in: ATP, ATP Challenger. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .

2014 Cordenons and Meerbusch Challenger Previews
Chris De Waard, Tennis East Coast

A quiet week on the Challenger tour with only two tournaments being played, both European clay Challengers, one in Italy and the other one in Germany.

Cordenons Challenger

Cordenons Challenger 2014

Internazionali di Tennis del Friuli Venezia Giulia
 ATP Challenger Tour
Cordenons, Italy
August 11 – August 17
Prize Money: €42,500

Seeds: (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Paolo Lorenzi (79)

2: Daniel Gimeno-Traver (99)

3: Filip Krajinovic* (112)

4: Filippo Volandri (135)

5: Albert Montanes (141)

6: Adrian Ungur (157)

7: Potito Starace (162)

8: Rogerio Dutra Silva (167)

9: Andrea Arnaboldi (176)

The last direct acceptance is Antonio Veic, ranked 305th, although after his final at the San Marino Challenger last week he is ranked considerably higher: 236th. Ninth seed Arnaboldi takes the spot of Krajinovic*, who withdrew citing a right hip injury. Alessandro Giannessi entered the tournament as a special exempt after he reached the semi-final at the San Marino Challenger last week, where he took out #1 seed Simone Bolelli.

First round match-ups to watch

(8) Rogerio Dutra Silva vs. Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo

36 year old Ramirez Hidalgo is seemingly indestructible, just when you think he is on the way out he strikes back with yet another good run. This happened at the Prague Challenger last week, where he made an incredible run to the semi-final, dropping only seven games in his three matches. Dutra Silva has always been a steady fixture in the 100-200 ranking region, but he lacks the game to take it further, even though his ranking peaked at #84 last year. This has three sets written all over it.

(4) Filippo Volandri vs. Jurgen Zopp

Volandri has been struggling immensely this year, starting at a position in the top 70 and dropping to his current ranking spot of #147. He hasn’t won back to back matches since the Rome Challenger in early May. Zopp has looked like a very promising player, reaching as high as world #71 in 2012, but his career has been severely disrupted by injury. He has been in the main draw of only four events this year, with a retirement of Tommy Haas in the first round of Roland Garros awkwardly being his best result. They have played each other twice, both at the ATP 250 event in Bastad, with each of them taking one match, so if Zopp is finally healthy he will have a chance to take out the seeded player.

Top Half:

Top seed Paolo Lorenzi looks like a safe bet to reach the final this tournament, his fellow Italian seeds Filippo Volandri and Potito Starace aren’t in great shape, while he comes off a great run at the ATP 250 event of Kitzbühel, where he beat Robin Haase and Pablo Andujar in straight sets to reach the quarterfinal, where he fell to the eventual winner David Goffin.

Lorenzi’s semi-final opponent is hard to predict since there are so many candidates. Outside of seeds Volandri and Starace you have two other Italians, Matteo Viola and Alessandro Giannessi, who play each other in the first round and are both capable of marching on to the semi-final. Even Jurgen Zopp isn’t a bad pick, providing he is healthy.

Bottom Half:

Second seed Daniel Gimeno-Traver has finally been freed from his nightmare Viktor Troicki, as the man who beat him in the two previous tournaments he played won’t be competing here. Nevertheless he still has a tricky road to the final, with Adrian Ungur and Albert Montanes being his projected opponents. Ungur just won the San Marino Challenger and despite his bad results on the main tour Montanes will always be a dangerous opponent.

Gimeno-Traver won the title here exactly ten years ago, beating ultimate bad boy crazy Daniel Koellerer in the final, so perhaps that’s an omen for things to come this week.

Predictions

Semis:

Lorenzi d. Viola

Gimeno-Traver d. Montanes

Final:

Gimeno-Traver def. Lorenzi

Gimeno-Traver will be really motivated to do well here after his previous two Challenger events ended in a defeat at the hands of Troicki. Combine that with his win here exactly ten years ago and I predict he will oust his higher ranked opponent in the final, although it will be close. They actually played each other in the final two years ago, with Lorenzi winning, but I have the feeling it will be the other way around this time.

Meerbusch Challenger

Meerbusch Challenger 2014

Maserati Challenger by Landsknecht 2014
ATP Challenger Tour
Meerbusch, Germany
August 11 – August 17
Prize Money: €35,000

Seeds: (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Albert Ramos (93)

2: Andrey Kuznetsov (107)

3: Andreas Haider-Maurer (116)

4: Julian Reister (124)

5: Gerald Melzer (146)

6: Jesse Huta Galung (192)

7: Radu Albot (211)

8: Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (223)

The last direct acceptance is Peter Torebko, ranked 316th. Youngsters Christian Garin, Laurent Lokoli and Philipp Davydenko have managed to qualify and might be able to pull off some surprises in this tournament. Comeback kid Philipp Petzschner has received a wild card, as well as the extremely erratic Attila Balazs.

First round match-ups to watch

Boy Westerhof vs. Antal van der Duim

This match between two Dutchmen has already been played by the time I’m typing this and it was a very controversial happening, which we will possibly hear more about in the near future. The meeting reeks of match fixing, as abnormal amounts of money were being wagered on the outcome and a lot of bookies pulled the match. Westerhof started out as the favorite, but his odds were quickly rising when the match was about to start and the scenario became clear: Van Der Duim would win 2-1 in sets after losing the first. Westerhof went up 6-4 3-0, but Van Der Duim was a comfortable favorite to win the match at that point. Van Der Duim went up 4-3, at which point his odd to win dropped to a ridiculous 1.02. Of course, he went on to win the set and ultimately the match.

Top Half:

As his seeding suspects, Albert Ramos is the clear favorite in this half. His previous two results in Challengers add to this confidence in him, as he reached the finals of two Italian Challengers in June, winning one of them. His semi-final opponent is difficult to predict, as the two Austrians holding the seeds there, Andreas Haider-Maurer and Gerald Melzer aren’t the most reliable players. But then again, the competition isn’t great, so it will probably be between them anyway. In that match-up the obvious pick is Haider-Maurer, who beat Melzer in straight just two weeks ago in Kitzbühel.

Bottom Half:

This is a very interesting half, as every young qualifier is in it, together with wild card Attila Balazs, who is able to beat everyone on a good day. Add to this that the seeds are all slumping and this half gets very difficult to predict. #2 seed Andrey Kuznetsov lost in the first round of the Prague Challenger against qualifier Thiago Monteiro, who is ranked outside of the top 400. #4 seed Julian Reister is on a five match losing streak. #6 seed Jesse Huta Galung has dropped 100 ranking spots after reaching his career high ranking of #92 in early February and #8 seed Hans Podlipnik-Castillo might well lose to Philipp Davydenko in the first round, who seems to have picked up his game as of late.

Predictions

Semis:

Ramos d. Haider-Maurer

Kuznetsov d. Davydenko

Final:

Ramos d. Kuznetsov

Davydenko will surprise and build on his Stuttgart result last month by reaching the semi-final here. Despite all the possibilities for upsets Kuznetsov has too much quality to be upset like that two weeks in a row. Nevertheless, Ramos will be too steady and confident to lose against him and will take the title.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 2013 ATP Challenger Tour Recap: Carreno-Busta Continues Winning Ways

Posted by Admin on September 2, 2013
Posted in: ATP, ATP Challenger. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

August 2013 ATP Challenger Tour Recap: Carreno-Busta Continues Winning Ways

ATP Challenger Tour Official Page

Rio De Janeiro Challenger (August 5-August 11, 2013)

Agustin Velotti took out the up and coming Blaz Rola for this clay court title. Velotti beat Eduardo Schwank in the semis, while Rola beat Emilio Gomez, who notably beat the tournament top seed Thiemo De Bakker.

San Marino Challenger (August 5-August 11, 2013)

Wild card Marco Cecchinato shocked a lot of people when he took care of Filippo Volandri in the final to take this challenger title on clay. Cecchinato took care of seeded players Jesse Huta Galung and Jiri Vesely before beating Jan-Lennard Struff in the semis. Volandri beat Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the semis.

Cordenons Challenger (August 12-August 18, 2013)

pablo carreno busta menstennisforum

Pablo Carreno-Busta won yet another clay court challenger title, topping Gregoire Burquier in the final after defeating Pablo Lorenzi in the semis. Burquier beat Potito Starace in the semis.

Kazan Challenger (August 12-August 18, 2013)

Sergiy Stakhovsky found his game again after a post-Wimbledon hangover and won this hard court Russian challenger over Valery Rudnev after beating Alex Kudryavtsev in the semis. Rudnev reached the final by defeating Konstantin Kravchuk.

Meerbusch Challenger (August 12-August 18, 2013)

The Maserati challenger on clay was won by Jan Hajek in straights over Jesse Huta Galung, who continues his solid showing on the challenger tour this year. Hajek beat Miloslav Mecir in the semis while Huta Galung dispatched Pere Riba.

Bangkok Challenger (August 26-September 1, 2013)

Top seed Blaz Kavcic got back in the winner’s circle taking the title on hardcourts in Bangkok easily over Suk-Young Jeong. Kavcic beat Jimmy Wang in the semis while Jeong took care of Matt Ebden.

Como Challenger (August 26-September 1, 2013)

Pablo Carreno-Busta won his second title of the month, again on clay over the young Austrian Dominic Thiem. PCB beat Marco Crugnola, while Thiem beat Lorenzo Giustino.

—Steen Kirby, TennisEastCoast.com