2014 Mons, Sacramento and Cali Challenger Recaps Chris De Waard, Tennis East Coast
Mons
Steve Darcis managed to take out fifth seed Dudi Sela in the most anticipated first round match-up, 6-1 7-6(3). Igor Sijsling was upset by Gerald Melzer in the second round, losing 6-4 1-6 7-5 after missing two match points. Melzer retired Olivier Rochus in the previous round, with the Belgian not going out without a stern fight, 4-6 6-3 6-3. Darcis took advantage of the second seed going out and advanced to the semi-final, where he surprised third seed Jiri Vesely, 6-4 6-4. In the top half, Marsel Ilhan was in good form, as he took out last week’s Orleans finalist Thomaz Bellucci and Tobias Kamke on his way to the semi-final. There, he managed to snap #1 seed David Goffin’s streak of 37 consecutive sets won on Challenger level, but it wasn’t enough, 7-5 4-6 6-1.
In the final, Goffin clearly was Darcis’ superior and brushed him aside in a comfortable 6-3 6-3 victory. Goffin rose four spots on the ranking to a career high of #27, while Darcis made a huge jump from #355 to #253.
Sacramento
The half of top seed Sam Querrey was quickly cleared of his fellow seeds, as Michael Russell and Thiemo de Bakker retired during their first round matches, while Frank Dancevic lost to wild card Bjorn Fratangelo. Querrey did have a similar scare to his match against Elias Ymer in Napa last week, as he beat John Millman 5-7 6-4 6-3 in the semi-final.
In the bottom half, 16 year old wild card Stefan Kozlov was the sensation of the week. He had never won a Challenger match before entering this tournament, but he went all the way to the final after beating Ryan Harrison, John-Patrick Smith, Rhyne Williams and Tim Smyczek. Even more remarkable is that all of those matches went to three sets. In the final, Querrey was simply too strong. Kozlov went up a break in the first set, but after that it was one-way traffic and Querrey triumphed 6-3 6-4. Querrey actually dropped a ranking spot, as he was defending 90 quarterfinal points from Beijing last year. Kozlov naturally made an enormous jump, going from #763 to #443.
Cali
The loss wasn’t that big of a surprise, but the manner in which it happened surely was.
Top seed Alejandro Falla lost in the first round to qualifier Marcelo Arevalo, but got absolutely hammered in the process, 6-2 6-2. Guido Andreozzi, who survived a tough first round draw against Daniel Munoz-De La Nava, took advantage and reached the semi-final after beating #8 seed Facundo Bagnis. There, he fell to Victor Estrella Burgos in a remarkable encounter, 3-6 7-6(3) 6-0. In the bottom half, #2 seed Paolo Lorenzi was on fire, as he didn’t lose a set en route to the final, while facing tricky opponents in Alejandro Gonzalez and Joao Souza. A veteran match-up between 34 year old Estrella Burgos and 32 year old Lorenzi ended in a victory for the latter, after a quality match in which Estrella Burgos also entertained with an epic racket smash. The 4-6 6-3 6-3 victory resulted in a jump of eleven spots on the ranking for Lorenzi, landing at #69. Estrella Burgos reached a career high ranking, rising six spots to #65.
2014 Mons, Sacramento and Cali Challenger Previews, Predictions Chris De Waard, Tennis East Coast
A light schedule of only three Challengers for this week, with Mons and Sacramento being played on hardcourt and Cali on clay.
Ethias Trophy
ATP Challenger Tour
Mons, Belgium
29 September – 5 October
Prize Money: €106,500
Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: David Goffin (32)
2: Igor Sijsling (72)
3: Jiri Vesely (77)
4: Thomaz Bellucci (79)
5: Dudi Sela (83)
6: Paul-Henri Mathieu (84)
7: Andreas Haider-Maurer (92)
8: Dustin Brown (94)
9: Tobias Kamke (102)
The last direct acceptance is Ilija Bozoljac, ranked 171st. Former world #24 and winner of two ATP tournaments Olivier Rochus received a wild card and will play the final tournament of his career. The next generation is also represented with Kimmer Coppejans receiving a wild card. Paul-Henri Mathieu withdrew due to injury.
Sergiy Stakhovsky withdrew as well in an odd boycott, protesting against Belgium asking the ITF to move their Davis Cup tie to a neutral venue due to the tensions in Ukraine. Tournament director Dominique Monami responded in humorous fashion:
In the light of #belgium federation behavior . It is extremely dangerous to play #mons so I requested ATP to withdraw me from this event.
Sela is someone who flies under the radar, but he has rarely been outside of the top 100 in the past seven years. He faces the man who absolutely hammered him during a Davis Cup tie last year, 6-1 6-2 6-2. However, that was on clay, which is clearly Sela’s worst surface. A very interesting match, which can go either way.
(WC) Olivier Rochus – Gerald Melzer
As mentioned, this will be the last tournament for one of Belgium’s greatest players of all time. He might be able to prolong his career for one more match, as Melzer isn’t a hero on hardcourts. Rochus reached ten ATP finals, of which he won two: Palermo in 2000 and Munich in 2006, both on clay. His greatest Masters result was also on that surface, a quarterfinal at Hamburg in 2003. Ironically, Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam where he never reached the fourth round, peaking in the third. The surprise factor rests with his 2-0 record in clay finals and 0-8 on hardcourt and grass, since clay was his worst surface.
Top Half
It’s hard to see anyone other than top seed David Goffin winning here, considering he just comes off a tournament win at the ATP 250 event of Metz. However, he will probably have to face Nicolas Mahut and Dustin Brown to get through to the semi-final, both of them are very dangerous on one of their good days. Also in this half lurks Thomaz Bellucci, who reached the final of Orleans last week, although he has a tricky first round match against Kenny De Schepper.
Bottom Half
This half is fairly open. #2 seed Igor Sijsling has been in dodgy form and might well lose to Sela or Darcis. In the top section, Andreas Haider-Maurer comes off an impressive Challenger streak, but that all took place on clay, so it remains to be seen how he will adopt. There is a chance for #3 seed Jiri Vesely to seriously test Haider-Maurer in the quarterfinal, which is likely to end in a victory for Vesely.
Predictions
Semis:
Goffin > De Schepper
Sela > Vesely
Final:
Goffin > Sela
Sacramento Pro Circuit Challenger
ATP Challenger Tour
Sacramento, CA, USA
27 September – 5 October
Prize Money: $100,000
Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Sam Querrey (54)
2: Tim Smyczek (99)
3: Bradley Klahn (115)
4: Michael Russell (123)
5: Denis Kudla (124)
6: Peter Polansky (125)
7: Thiemo de Bakker (143)
8: Frank Dancevic (144)
The last direct acceptance is Kyle Edmund, ranked 237th.
First round match-ups to watch
(7) Thiemo de Bakker – (SE) Jared Donaldson
An excellent opportunity for 17-year-old Donaldson to build on his great run at Napa last week, where he reached the semi-final. De Bakker is an extremely streaky player, who could either steamroll Donaldson or easily lose, depending on what mood he is in.
(WC) Stefan Kozlov – Ryan Harrison
It will be interesting to see if 16-year-old Kozlov can beat Harrison, who is playing his worst tennis in a long time. Harrison lost 6-3 7-5 to Donaldson in the first round of Napa last week, something he won’t want to repeat here.
Top Half
Just like last week, you simply can’t look past Querrey: the ranking difference between him and the rest of the field is enormous. The only player from this half I can see beating him is De Bakker, but chances of that happening are still low. #4 seed Michael Russell retired in the first set against Querrey last week, so it’s still a question mark as to whether he has recovered sufficiently.
Bottom Half
This one is really hard to predict. #2 seed Tim Smyczek is the best bet, also considering his final run last week, but he doesn’t have an easy draw with Jordan Thompson, Robby Ginepri/James McGee and Kudla/Ymer on his way to the semi-final. In the top section, #6 seed Peter Polansky lost in the first round last week and now faces Wayne Odesnik, another dangerous player. And if Ryan Harrison somehow finds his game, it would mean trouble for #3 seed Bradley Klahn in the second round.
Predictions
Semis:
Querrey > De Bakker
Smyczek > Klahn
Final:
Querrey > Smyczek
Querrey hammered Smyczek 6-3 6-1 in last week’s final, so it’s hard to imagine a different outcome here.
Claro Open Cali 2014
ATP Challenger Tour
Santiago de Cali, Colombia
29 September – 4 October
Prize Money: $40,000
The last direct acceptance is Nicolas Jarry, ranked 306th.
First round match-ups to watch
Daniel Munoz-De La Nava – Guido Andreozzi
Andreozzi comes off a good result at the Porto Alegre Challenger, where he reached the semi-final. Munoz-De La Nava has been in good form as well, racking up an 8-3 record in his last three Challengers and losing 7-6(6) 6-4 to eventual winner Victor Estrella Burgos in the quarterfinal last week.
Top Half
Given his latest clay ventures, it’s likely that top seed Alejandro Falla will bomb out in the second round against Munoz-De La Nava, who can profit and reach the semi-final to set up a repeat of last week’s quarterfinal against Estrella Burgos. Andreozzi should be capable of doing the same if he wins their first round encounter. In the bottom section, we will likely see Estrella Burgos and Horacio Zeballos square off, a match-up that should be in favor of Estrella Burgos, who leads their head to head 2-0.
Bottom Half
In the top section, we are likely to see a very interesting quarterfinal match between #7 seed Joao Souza and #4 seed Diego Schwartzman. Schwartzman clearly looked fatigued in the third set of his final against Carlos Berlocq last week, so perhaps that gives Souza an opportunity. In the bottom section, #5 seed Alejandro Gonzalez and #2 seed Paolo Lorenzi are projected to meet, which has been a nightmare match-up for Gonzalez so far, not winning a set in their previous four meetings.
Predictions
Semis:
Estrella Burgos > Munoz-De La Nava
Lorenzi > Schwartzman
Final:
Lorenzi > Estrella Burgos
Just like against Gonzalez, Lorenzi seems to match up well against Estrella Burgos, too. Lorenzi beat him 6-3 7-6(1) in the semi-final of the San Luis Potosi Challenger earlier this year, as well as 6-4 6-1 in the US Open qualifying draw three years ago.
2013 USTA Pro Circuit Sacramento Challenger Preview, Predictions
Steen Kirby, Tennis East Coast
The USTA Pro Circuit is back! Actually….it started again last week in Napa Valley, but this week it is in Sacramento on hard courts for the 100k Sactown challenger. Here is your preview.
Sacramento Pro Circuit Challenger
Sacramento, California, USA
September 28-October 6, 2013
Prize Money: $100,000
Top 8 seeds
1: Denis Kudla
2: Tim Smyczek
3: Matt Ebden
4: Rajeev Ram
5: Rhyne Williams
6: Alex Kuznetsov
7: Bradley Klahn
8: Donald Young
A typical American heavy field for the pro circuit: top seed is ranked 99, 8th seed is 142.
First round matchups to watch:
(7)Rhyne Williams vs. Dan Evans
Rhyne Williams did not have a great summer, but he almost exclusively played ATP level tennis and he won a couple of matches in Napa, reaching the quarterfinals. Dan Evans, meanwhile, had a deep run at the US Open and a great summer but comes off a first round loss in Napa. They have never played before. I make Evans a slight favorite.
(4)Rajeev Ram vs. Nick Kyrgios
Rajeev Ram. Newport 2013
Veteran American journeyman Rajeev Ram takes on the young rising Aussie Nick Kyrgios. Kyrgios helped Australia in the Davis Cup and takes his talents back to the US, while Ram played in Kuala Lumpur and makes his way back to the US from there. This is an interesting style clash, and I give Kyrgios a slight edge given his good form.
Top Half:
Napa quarterfinalist Denis Kudla opens with Bradley Cox before facing Steve Johnson or Matt Reid in a tricky round 2 match. Kudla or Johnson will likely play one of Donald Young/Peter Gojowczyk, who meet in the first round. Young comes off the Napa Challenger title. Other options are James McGee/Collin Altamirano.
Napa challenger finalist Matt Ebden opens with Austin Krajicek. The winner will face Robby Ginepri/Tennys Sandgren in round 2. Williams/Evans or Jarmere Jenkins/JP Smith will be the quarterfinal opponent from this section.
Bottom Half:
Tim Smyczek
Tim Smyczek will take on youngster Noah Rubin. Smyczek comes off semis in Napa. In round 2, he should face Bobby Reynolds, who plays a qualifier to start. The quarterfinal opponent here is one of Sam Groth/Denys Molchanov/Peter Polansky/Alex Kuznetsov. Kuznetsov comes off semis in Napa.
Ram/Kyrgios will take on Robert Kendrick or a qualifier and in the quarters, one of Ben Mitchell/Bradley Klahn or a pair of qualifiers.
