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Shara-Porscha! Our 2017 @PorscheTennis Preview and Predictions
Niall Clarke, Tennis Atlantic

The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix of 2017 is not only one of the biggest clay court tournaments on the calendar, it also marks the return of Maria Sharapova from her doping suspension. Here is a run down of the draw.

Top Quarter:

Kerber Wins First Match in DC

World number one Angelique Kerber returns to her home country to defend the title she won last year and once again the German does not have it easy. After a first round bye, Kerber will face a tough challenge in the form of Kristina Mladenovic or Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. Both players have had good starts to the year and are among the most dangerous unseeded players in the draw.

Garbine Muguruza once labelled clay as ‘her territory’. She looked formidable last year at Roland Garros, but minus that triumph, the Spaniard has looked rather mediocre. Can she rediscover her best form on the dirt? Muguruza opens against compatriot and former doubles partner Carla Suarez Navarro before meeting Elena Vesnina or Daria Kasatkina for a place in the last eight.

On clay, Muguruza is a much bigger force to deal with, but her recent form is not great. I do not see her making it past Kerber.

Prediction: Kerber def. Muguruza

Second Quarter:

Maria Sharapova at 2014 Western & Southern

Sharapova’s return draw sees the former world number one drawn in the second quarter and set to face Roberta Vinci in the first round. It will be interesting to see what response the Russian receives and how she will play in her first match in well over a year. I think she will be victorious against Vinci, who is not great on clay, but will find Agnieszka Radwanska too much to handle in round two.

The winner of that heavyweight clash is projected to play Dominika Cibulkova in the quarter finals. The Slovak has a bye into the second round where she will face highly touted youngster Ana Konjuh. Clay is not Cibulkova’s favourite surface, but the indoor conditions suit her game and she could advance from this quarter.

Prediction: Cibulkova def. Radwanska

Third Quarter:

Jo Konta (Tennis Atlantic)

After battling in Fed Cup over the weekend, Johanna Konta and Simona Halep are set to meet again in Stuttgart, providing they get through the opening rounds. Halep has the advantage of a bye in round one, then it will likely be Barbora Strycova waiting in round two. The Czech faces a qualifier in her the opening round match.

Konta also faces a qualifier in her opener. The Brit is not at her best on clay, but should have enough to get through to the second round where she faces either Anastasija Sevastova or Sam Stosur. Konta will likely scrape through that one, but will find Halep too much on clay, and the Romanian will progress to the last four.

Prediction: Halep def. Konta

Svetlana Kuznetsova (Photo: (C) 2014 Chris Levy @tennis_shots for TennisEastCoast.com)

Fourth Quarter:

Karolina Pliskova has arguably been the best player of the year so far, but the Czech enters a territory that has not been kind to her. Clay has proven to be her weakest surface, but has she made the required improvements for this season? After a bye in the opening round she faces a fellow big server in CoCo Vandeweghe in round two, another player who is not great on the dirt. Pliskova should make the quarter finals, but from there it could get tough.

Svetlana Kuznetsova is a former French Open Champion and feels well at home on the dirt. The Russian faces Kiki Bertens before likely playing the story of last year’s tournament, Laura Siegemund. The German made an incredible run to the final where she ultimately would come up short against Kerber. I can’t see the same thing this year though, and Kuznetsova should have enough to make it through this quarter.

Prediction: Kuznetsova def. Pliskova

Semi Finals:

Kerber def. Cibulkova

Kuznetsova def. Halep

Final:

Kerber def. Kuznetsova

The home crowd will have a say whenever the German players are involved, and I can see them spurring Kerber to retaining the Stuttgart title.

2013 ATP Eastbourne, ‘s-Hertogenbosch Previews
Steen Kirby, TennisEastCoast.com

The final grass court tune-ups before Wimbledon will be the joint event in Eastbourne and Den Bosch in the Netherlands.

ATP Eastbourne
Aegon International
Eastbourne, UK
June 17-June 22, 2013
Prize money: €468,460

Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes)
1: Milos Raonic
2: Gilles Simon
3: Philipp Kohlschreiber
4: Juan Monaco

A stronger field brings 4 of the top 20 and a seed cutoff overall of 31.

First round matchups to watch:

Jarkko Nieminen vs. Feliciano Lopez

Nieminen comes off a 2nd round loss at Queen’s club while Lopez lost in the 3rd round of the same event. The h2h is 6-2 in favor of the man from Finland and thus this match should favor him, but the style clash makes it a quality one to watch. Nieminen beat Lopez at Wimbledon last year in their only grass court meeting.

Bernard Tomic vs. (wc)James Ward

Tomic continues to struggle, as expected, having lost 4 straight and 5 of his last 6 matches. Still, this is a surface on which he excels. Ward is a likeable journeyman ranked outside the top 200 who lost a heartbreak 3 set match to Ivan Dodig in the opening round of Queen’s club, an event which also found him the recipient of a wild card. Tomic is far and above the better player, but with his personal circumstances, Wardy will have a shot at an upset.

Top Half:

Milos Raonic will look to recover from a crushing loss to Gael Monfils in Halle, a match in which he played some of his worst tennis in a long time. He opens with Denis Istomin or Ivan Dodig, and the winner will get one of Fabio Fognini, Grega Zemlja, Martin Klizan or Viktor Troicki.

Juan Monaco will have the task of playing the Lopez/Nieminen winner and if he were to prevail he will get Alex Dolgopolov, Fernando Verdasco, Albert Ramos or a qualifier.

Bottom Half:

Gilles Simon will play wild card Kyle Edmund or a qualifier, then most likely Kevin Anderson (if Big Kev can beat Julian Benneteau and Tomic/Ward).

Halle quarterfinalist Philipp Kohlschreiber will play Radek Stepanek or Marinko Matosevic then a pair of qualifiers, Paul-Henri Mathieu or Andreas Seppi in a tailor-made section for the German.

Dark Horse: Feliciano Lopez

Lopez is one of the better grass court players, and if he can get past Nieminen he has a very open draw with the clay courter Monaco and then either Verdasco or Dolgo being the likely quarterfinal opponent. In the semis, Raonic or someone else is perfectly beatable and at least in theory he could win the whole tournament.

Predictions
Semis:
Lopez d. Raonic
Kohlschreiber d. Anderson

Lopez beat Raonic in their only meeting and Raonic isn’t playing that well. He simply has no one in his draw line to stop him early.

Kohlschreiber disappointingly only made the quarters in Halle, but he is still good on grass with nobody to stop him draw-wise. Anderson is having a good year and should get through his draw, but I’ll give the edge to Peppo since they have never played each other.

Final:
Kohlschreiber d. Lopez

The h2h actually favors Lopez 4-2, but Kohlschreiber seems to be the better player these days, and thus edge to him.

ATP s-Hertogenbosch
Topshelf Open
ATP World Tour 250
s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
June 16-June 22, 2013
Prize money: €410,200

Top 8 seeds

1: David Ferrer
2: Stanislas Wawrinka
3: John Isner
4: Benoit Paire
5: Jeremy Chardy
6: Marcos Baghdatis
7: Victor Hanescu
8: Daniel Gimeno-Traver

50 is the seed cutoff in a tournament without byes and 2 of the top 20 are here.

First round matchups to watch:

(1)David Ferrer vs. Xaiver Malisse

Ferrer has won Den Bosch twice and of course comes off his first ever slam final in Paris. He gets bad fortunes as the top seed in that he has to face Malisse, who is good on grass and pushed Del Potro to 3 sets at Queen’s club before losing. The h2h is 2-2 but they haven’t played in 3 years and never on grass. Ferrer is probably still the favorite but Malisse has to have some magic left.

(3)John Isner vs. Evgeny Donskoy

Isner and Donskoy will meet for the first time and it will be the only grass tune-up for either before Wimbledon. Donskoy is a solid ball striker who is on the rise, while Isner has had a roller coaster year but overall has disappointed. Isner should be a favorite on the fast surface but it could go 3 sets.

(4)Benoit Paire vs. Michael Llodra

Paire comes off a 2nd round loss to Denis Kudla at Queen’s Club while Llodra withdrew from his 2nd round match at the same event. This match is not only notable for the clash of styles on grass between the serve and volleyer Llodra and the drop shotter Paire, but also for the tension between these 2 players. When they met this year in Miami, Llodra taunted Paire, and Paire countered by firing verbal obscenities at his countryman. According to reports of the non-televised match, there was also a physical altercation that had to be broken up by the umpire and Paire said after, “I won’t ever talk to him again,” “He tried everything to upset me while I was dominating the game. He insulted me.” How this match will develop should be interesting.

(2) Stanislas Wawrinka vs. Igor Sijsling

Wawrinka is playing Den Bosch for the first time since 2005, while Sijsling comes off the 3rd round at Queen’s club. They have never met before and both players are on hot streaks overall. Wawrinka is of course in the top 10, and Sijsling is at a career high of 60. Wawrinka will have a slight edge but I wouldn’t put an upset past Sijsling in his home tournament.

Top Half:

The Ferrer/Malisse winner will play Edouard Roger-Vasselin or Rendy Lu, then could face Marcos Baghdatis/Carlos Berlocq, a qualifier, or Roberto Bautista Agut,

Isner/Donskoy will face Leo Mayer or Robin Haase and then it will be a qualifier, Ricardas Berankis, Andrey Kuznetsov or Dani Gimeno-Traver in what is a rather porous section.

Bottom Half:

Wawrinka/Sijsling will take on Thiemo De Bakker or Paolo Lorenzi and then one of Jeremy Chardy, Marius Copil, Rogerio Dutra Silva or a qualifier in a section from which the seeds should escape.

Paire/Llodra will play a qualifier or David Goffin and then Victor Hanescu/Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Daniel Brands/Jesse Huta Galung.

Dark Horse: Michael Llodra

This tournament is hard to pick without qualifiers placed, because it really is the type of event where a qualifier could make a deep run given the lower ranks of the players and a whole lot of guys who are uncomfortable on grass. That being said, of the main draw players, Llodra, if he isn’t injured, could very well make a deep run. If he can get past Paire, he gets D Goff or a qualifier and then probably Daniel Brands or even Huta Galung in the quarters. All winnable. In the semis, both Wawrinka or Sijsling are beatable and even in the final, Ferrer/Malisse/Baghdatis/Isner are all beatable.

Predictions:

Semis:
Ferrer d. Isner
Llodra d. Sijsling

Ferrer should be able to cruise to the semis unless Baghdatis can catch fire. Isner really has nobody to stop him as well. Llodra, if uninjured, is dangerous and I think Sijsling upsets Wawrinka and wins from there.