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Somdev Devvarman creates home joy in Chennai Open Qualifying
Adam Addicott, Tennis Atlantic

There were casualties galore at the Chennai Open qualifying draw after five out of the six highest seed seeds failed to secure a place in the main draw.

Headlining the draw was Swedish youngster Elias Ymer. The world No.136 has been labelled as the most promising player in Swedish tennis, however, he has endured a mixed season last year. Besides clinching his first Challenger title in Italy, he lost in the first round at a tournament 10 times during 2015. Putting 2015 behind him, Ymer experienced a disappointing start to the new year after suffering a 7-5, 6-2, loss to Ante Pavic.

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Pavic was able to continue his winning start to the year after defeating India’s Sriram Balaji in two tiebreak sets to reach the main draw. The successful qualifying campaign is a boost to Pavic’s confidence after dealing with the effects of mononucleosis over the past year. At his lowest Pavic spent one-and-a-half months housebound as he tried to recover from the illness.

The highest ranked player to qualify for the main draw was Italian third seed Thomas Fabbiano. The world No.157 enjoyed a duo of straightforward wins to reach his first main draw on the ATP Tour since the Croatia Open last July. He won opening match after Russia’s Mikhail Elgin retired during the second set. Then in his following match, he faced 5th seed Saketh Myneni. Myneni is ranked 170th in the world and won one Challenger title last year in Ho Chi Minh City. The Indian was no match for Fabbiano as the Italian took the 6-4, 6-2 win after an hour and 16 minutes.

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The sole success for the home crowd occurred when Somdev Devvarman stunned British second seed James Ward 2-6, 7-5, 6-4. Both men reached the second round after producing straight sets wins over a duo of Indian players. Ward was on course to the victory after leading 6-2, 3-1, before he came unstuck at the hands of the Indian world No.177. Towards the end of the second set, Devvarman broke Ward for a chance to serve for the set. The task was easy for him as he opened up a 40-0 lead before converting his second set point to force the match into a decider. The momentum for the Indian continued into the final set as he claimed four consecutive games on his way to reaching the main draw.

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completing the four qualifiers is Slovakia’s Jozef Kovalík. Last year the 23-year-old failed to win a title on the challenger tour with his best result being runner-up at the Mestre Challenger in Italy. Kovalik opened up his Chennai mission with a 6-3, 6-0, win over little-known Indian player Prajnesh Gunneswaran. Following his easy opening win, he experienced a tougher encounter against Russian fourth seed Alexander Kudryavtsev. After dropping the first set, Kovalik battled back to win 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-1, to reach his first main draw on the ATP World Tour.

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Main Draw matches for the qualifiers

Kovalik and Fabbiano will face off and one of them will earn their first ever ATP main draw win, Devvarman faces young wild card Andrey Rublev and Pavic will be opposite accomplished veteran Nicolas Almagro in a tough contest.

Adam Addicott TA Watermark

2015 ATP Atlanta (BB&T Atlanta Open) Weekend Qualifying Wrap: Americans and Veterans Prevail
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

Somdev Devvarman vs. Treat Huey

Qualifying rounds 1 and 2 were completed over the weekend at the 2015 BB&T Atlanta Open. The side courts were utilized for qualifying (grandstand, Court 1, and one of the practice courts), as stadium court was used for the Commodores concert Saturday night and now after finishing touches the showcase court is ready for use for play on Monday when the main draw begins.

The conditions played a major factor in the match results, as it was blisteringly hot and sunny over both days, with only the occasional breeze making things more hospitable for players, officials, and spectators alike. All of the players who battled hard in their matches, win or lose, serve as a testament to the grit and will required to reach the ATP level in professional tennis, as all the qualifying participants certainly hope to reach that level, or get back to it.

Saturday Recap

On Saturday two of the young gun Americans, Jared Donaldson and Tommy Paul won hard fought matches, while 15 year old Trent Bryde shocked in his round 1 qualifying win, and Reilly Opelka didn’t have as much luck as his three fellow Americans and fell in defeat.

Donaldson maintained his composure, and confident attitude against Gastao Elias on grandstand, the first set lasted over an hour, though things were comfortably on serve up to 4-4. At that point Donaldson generated a break point and three deuce points against the Elias serve, only to fail to convert, and face a break point of his own at 4-5 serving, that game likewise going to three deuces before Donaldson held on.

The young American and his more experienced Portuguese rival both played high quality tennis overall, showing deft touch. Donaldson, given his background on fast surfaces was the more aggressive player, coming to net more often, while Elias moved well and imparted spin on the ball, given his background on clay. The first set went to a tiebreak, and serve proved relatively meaningless in that tiebreak with a total of five minibreaks created. Eventually Elias won three points in a row to get it to 6-3, and though he needed three set points, he did close out the first set.

Donaldson was disappointed but resolute as he battled back, perhaps helped by superior conditioning for the American summer weather. He broke Elias for 3-1 in set 2, and after saving a break point that would have given the break away in the next game, he would sail through the set without facing another breakpoint, closing it 6-3, after failing to convert three break point chances 4-1 up.

Jared Donaldson was clutch

Set three took a similar path as the previous two sets, play was calm and on serve until Elias got broken easily for 4-3 Donaldson, Donaldson would have two break points in the next game to go up 5-3, and then Elias was mentally and physically beaten at that point, getting broken on Donaldson’s third match point of the game the result finishing 6-7(5) 6-3 6-3. One thing to note is both players served poorly in terms of first serve % and the number of double faults they posted, but still generally held their serves.

Prior to that match Tommy Paul beat what is ranking wise the second best player in his American high school recruiting class, Walker Duncan 6-3 7-6(9) in a little over an hour and a half. Duncan had a lot of fans in the stands as he’s a local player and a future Georgia Bulldog, but the fans certainly respected the play of Tommy as well, and overall it was an exciting atmosphere for a round 1 qualifying match.

Both players started very tight and their serves were not up to ATP quality by any measure, Duncan especially as he posted just one ace and six double faults in the match. Duncan, who made efforts to get the crowd into the match and on his side, started out the stronger of the two players, as he had a break point at 2-3. However when he had a chance to put the point away and go up 4-2, he slipped and fell on the court instead, and after that the momentum entirely shifted to Paul’s favor.

The Jersey boy decked out in Nike apparel broke Duncan in the next game as Walker totally went off the boil and seemed to check out mentally. From 2-3 Duncan lost the next four games rather routinely, and after the first set it looked like he might be headed for the showers rather quickly.

However, to his credit the teenager fought back and pulled himself back into the match. Paul, who is a good mover and plays good defensive tennis, would have improved his chances by being more aggressive and moving up the court, as Duncan’s big hitting, including a powerful forehand, started to do damage in the second set, as he kept the errors down, unlike set 1. Duncan’s impressive power got him a break for 2-1, but he would give up that break serving 3-2, and from there things were straightforward on serve until 5-5.

The end of the second set is where things got rather hairy, and the match was hanging in the balance, Paul got broken again and Duncan had a chance to serve out the set and force a third set, a third set he may well have won, but with his poor serve he couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity. Paul broke and forced a tiebreak and though Duncan would have two more set points, Paul finally advanced on his 4th match point, taking it 11-9 after multiple minibreaks of serve.

Paul is a talent but needs to add weapons to his game to compliment his defense and strong footwork while Duncan has firepower from the baseline but must improve his serve and work on playing with controlled aggression, rather than just aggression. Still on hard courts at least, they both showed signs of promise, and it will be interesting to see how they develop.

Paul signing for fans post win with @sharkotennis standing by

Trent Bryde, 15, joined ranks with Felix Auger Aliassime, a 14 year old Canadian, as notable young teens to win against major pro opponents. Bryde shocked veteran journeyman Catlin Gard 7-6(4) 6-2 as Gard was 5-2 up in the first set and collapsed from there, winning just three more games the rest of the match.

Shuichi Sekiguchi is making his move at this BB&T Atlanta Open, and his wins over the weekend have moved him one match away from qualifying for his first ATP main draw tournament. The Japanese player has a game similar to his national counterparts, and many Asian men’s players. He’s a speedy counterpuncher who relies on moving his opponents around the court, but lacks the size and strength to impose himself, and thus has to stick to the baseline, and rallies over big serves. This approach worked deceptively well against the big American young gun Reilly Opelka, who is built similar to players such as John Isner and Kevin Anderson. Opelka, with is tall frame, is a big server, and has a powerful forehand to go with that, but his footwork was lacking, and he struggled to adjust his body around the court as Sekiguchi absorbed his power and moved the ball around.

Opelka winces from a tight shoulder

Opelka failed to generate a break point until the last game of the match and appeared to be bothered by pain in his shoulder/neck throughout, as he kept rolling his head and shoulder and wincing while toweling off. Sekiguchi broke at 3-2 in set 1 (the set finished 6-4), and then one final time for 5-4 in set 2, as he saved two break points, likely caused by nerves, and served out the match 6-4 6-4.

In other Saturday results doubles specialist Treat Huey beat Ryan Haviland 7-6(8) 6-3, Yuichi Sugita joined Sekiguchi as Japanese winners, Sugita advancing over local favorite Kevin King 6-4 3-6 6-3 as King put up a hard fought in front of friends and family. Evan Song blitzed Takanyi Garanganga 6-4 6-1, Evgeny Korolev survived a surprisingly close match with Antonio Ruiz-Rosales 6-2 2-6 7-6(3), and Andrew Carter got an automatic walkover vs. Matias Castro.

Sunday Recap

Sunday saw the qualifying seeds take to the courts and most of them performed well. #1 qualies seed Denis Kudla rolled past Bryde 6-1 6-1 in what was a great learning example for the teen, Marinko Matosevic beat Carter 6-3 6-2, as he tries to find form and snap his run of poor results, Guido Pella was skillful against Song 6-2 7-6(5) as the difference in ranking showed, and Sugita played a better match than Saturday and got past the still maturing Paul 6-3 6-3. American Austin Krajicek also played a great match, while Evgeny Korolev continued to show rust, Krajicek winning 6-3 6-3.

Two seeds fell in defeat however, Matt Ebden struggled in the heat and Sekiguchi upset him 7-5 5-2, conditioning explaining the upset, and Jared Donaldson played an extremely hard fought match and toppled J.P. Smith, an opponent he had lost two twice previously this year, 6-7(5) 7-6(3) 6-4. The match was close throughout, and Donaldson has twice engineered clutch comebacks in his matches.

In regards to Donaldson, he’s not only a clutch, and talented tennis player, he also comes across as a true class act on and off the court. Respectful to opponents, ball kids, and the officials, and very accommodating with fans, including a family that is a bit of a legend at the BB&T Atlanta Open as they are the spirit of the tournament. After his win over Smith, Donaldson was approached by the famous group that I’ve cataloged previously on this site as the young man is a huge fan of John Isner, loudly declaring it to anyone within earshot during matches, and the girl simply supports young American men on the rise, formerly Ryan Harrison, and now Jack Sock (and of course Donaldson).

He posed with them for photos, autographed their items, and went above and beyond, as he handed out his sweatbands and headbands for the kids, who reacted with glee. He then kindly posed for a group photo, and quipped back “Jack Sock, not me?” when the girl said her favorite player was now Sock, and Donaldson overheard, resulting in laughter from everyone. Simply put it’s great to see a young talent have such a humble and friendly attitude, and it should serve him well and win him many new fans.

Donaldson with BB&T Atlanta Open Superfans (note the head and sweatbands from JD)

In the other interesting match of the day Somdev Devvarman beat another former University of Virginia player Treat Huey 7-5 6-3. The first set was long, though the points themselves were quick, but eventually Huey’s serve and volley game couldn’t stand up to Devvarman’s superior ground game as the Indian advanced to final round qualifying. Eight players remain in qualies, and are competing for the final four qualifying spots on Monday.

American Young Guns Donaldson, Paul Highlight BB&T Atlanta Open 2015 Qualifying Draw
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

Tennis action from Atlantic Station in Atlanta, GA will begin tomorrow morning at 10 A.M. local time as the 2015 BB&T Atlanta Open (ATP Atlanta) kicks off with round 1 qualifying. The seven highest ranked players to enter qualifying receive byes into round 2, but two American young guns, Jared Donaldson, and Tommy Paul are not among those seeds, and thus will begin their qualifying campaigns tomorrow.

The 18 year old Rhode Islander Donaldson, who now resides in California, has scored ATP main draw wins on US soil in both Memphis and Newport this year and also has a challenger title in Maui, Hawaii, and a successful ATP qualifying campaign at London Queens on his resume this year. The American all-courter decided to turn pro in 2014, and has steadily risen up the rankings since then.

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He will open with 24 year old Gastao Elias of Portugal who has yet to break the top 100 in his career. Donaldson beat Elias on clay in both Houston and the Sarasota challenger this year, and given that’s Gastao’s preferred surface, Donaldson should be a favorite to win their matchup tomorrow as well. Elias is on a two match losing streak in singles and last played Davis Cup for Portugal (where they beat Finland on clay).

2015 French Open junior champion Tommy Paul (18) was formerly committed to the University of Georgia, but recently turned pro instead, and the young New Jersey resident is one of the top American junior players around. Paul will face off with a young American who does plan to go to UGA in the Fall Walker Duncan. The 19 year old will have local support as he’s from Atlanta, and he’s the #2 college recruit in the country right now, while Paul was the #1. Both of these Americans could have strong futures in the pro game, so it will be interesting to see the result of their matchup tomorrow.

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15 year old Trent Bryde, another Atlanta resident, and the national #5 recruit for his class gets a wild card and will face off with Catalin Gard, a Romanian journeyman who tends to bat around the challenger tour. The winner of that matchup gets Denis Kudla, who made a name for himself at Wimbledon this year where he reached the round of 16.

Below them in the draw, former Louisville Cardinal Andrew Carter faces Matias Castro of Argentina who prefers clay, and the winner of that will face Australian veteran Marinko Matosevic, who has endured an abysmal 3-17 season after previously being an ATP regular. Matosevic hasn’t won a match in months but barring disaster it’s hard to see him not reaching final round qualifying against Kudla, who likewise shouldn’t have trouble winning his first match.

Zimbabwe’s #1 Takanyi Garanganga, another Atlanta resident, will open with former top recruit (class of 2011) Evan Song, an American, given Garanganga is an active player and Song sticks with the futures tour, he should be the favorite to advance, and setup a match with Argentina’s Guido Pella round 2. Pella, who prefers clay, was once a top 80 player but he now sits just outside of the top 100 at 25, and comes off a round 1 loss in Bogota to Sam Groth in 3 sets. Given his limited record on hard courts, he’s not guarantee to reach the final round of qualies, and regardless he’ll be a big underdog against Donaldson/Elias, or J.P. Smith.

Smith, a 26 year old Aussie, comes off one of his best career results as he upset Bernard Tomic and reached the semis in Newport. The former Tennessee volunteer qualified for both Delray Beach and Wimbledon this year, and he just beat Donaldson in Newport, which may give him an inside track to qualify, as Pella appears beatable.

One interesting non-American name in the qualifying is Evgeny Korolev, Korolev was once a top 50 player and has an ATP final on his resume, but outside of Davis Cup for Kazakhstan he hasn’t made waves in years, and he’s playing just his third event of 2015 in Atlanta, where he will open with futures level player Antonio Ruiz-Rosales of Mexico. Even while rusty one would presume Korolev, given his abilities, will work his way into round 2 and setup a meeting with Austin Krajicek who comes off a tough round 1 loss in Bogota, but at 25 has made his move up to the near ATP level finally this year. Krajicek has been struggling in singles as of late but he qualified in Memphis, Acapulco, and Miami, all on hard courts this past spring, and is surely looking to get back in form.

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Krajicek-Korolev could be interesting, as conditioning will certainly play a factor given how hot and humid it will be here in Atlanta with the sun beating down. In final round qualies they could meet Paul/Duncan or Kevin King/Yuichi Sugita. King is a tall former Georgia Tech standout who has been around the challenger tour for a while now, while Sugita qualified for Wimbledon and won matches in both Newport and Bogota, suggesting the Japanese journeyman baseliner is in good form. I’d presume Sugita would have enough to qualify over most likely Krajicek unless he wilts in the heat.

Matt Ebden didn’t win a tour main draw match until Wimbledon this year, but he’s 34-15 below that level, and he qualified for both Newport and Bogota in confident fashion, suggesting he’s playing into form going into Atlanta. Ebden is likely to have to face top American junior Reilly Opelka of Florida in round 2. Opelka won the 2015 Wimbledon junior title and he just recently turned pro. He will face off first against Shuichi Sekiguchi of Japan who is a relatively solid 27-11 in challengers and futures this year. I have a hunch Opelka is good enough to beat Sekiguchi, but an inform Ebden with his steady baseline offense probably proves too much, as the Aussie should reach final round qualifying.

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The last seed in the bracket is another player who regularly has played in Atlanta, Somdev Devvarman of India (and the University of Virginia). Devvarman is now 30, but he’s been in great form in recent weeks, he won the Winnetka challenger in Illinois on hard court, and also helped India win their Davis Cup tie. While he’s unlikely to turn into an ATP regular at this point, he’s still made a decent career for himself and will almost assuredly beat doubles specialist Treat Huey or 34 year old Ryan Haviland, an American futures regular, in round qualifying round 2. Devvarman-Ebden should be interesting, but given Devvarman’s form and his 2-1 h2h edge, I favor him to qualify.

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Picks to qualify:
Denis Kudla (d. Matosevic)
J.P. Smith (d. Pella)
Yuichi Sugita (d. Krajicek)
Somdev Devvarman (d. Ebden)

Tennis Atlantic will have on-site coverage from Atlanta all week, and be sure to keep checking the site for our latest reports from qualifying this weekend, and the main draw starting Monday.

Steen Kirby (Marseille)

2015 ATP Stuttgart Day 1 Qualifying Report
Andreas Thiele for Tennis Atlantic

Day 1 at the 2015 Mercedes Cup (photo credit: Andreas Thiele)

The first ATP grass tournament takes place in Stuttgart and begins at the first June weekend just like the ATP tournament in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. First of all, welcome to Stuttgart! The city of the eternally lasting building lots, cranes form the skyline here and political demonstrations fill the streets.

Far away from the noise of the city, the whole tennis complex Weißenhof is behind small forests on a mountain. ATP Stuttgart’s tennis tournament, after its official sponsor called Mercedes Cup, was held for the first time in 1898. Hence it is very famous for its tradition and is popular among tennis professionals because of the friendly atmosphere and the good organization. Though the surface was traditionally clay, this year they changed it to grass as another preparation tournament for Wimbledon to have a more stellar field. It worked, as Cilic, Monfils, and Rafa Nadal are confirmed to play.

Qualifying Day 1

It was a very hot day, the hottest after quite a while here in Germany, so fitness and stamina were very important. However, a lot of matches demonstrated many players, even ball kids couldn’t handle the heat. Robin Kern for example, who was 0-6 and 0-4 down, gave up and could barely move due to a minor injury, sending Jan Choinski into the second round.

A lot of matches were played between Germans at the first qualifying round, one of them was the opening match between Peter Gojowczyk and Andreas Beck. Both players have good resumes and it should have been a good match, but unfortunately it wasn’t. Gojowczyk was dominant in the points and his serve was strong. Beck created just one break point chance, while Gojowczyk broke him twice and he could have broken him even more than that. However, these two breaks decided the whole match. Beck struggled with many service games, in contrast to Gojowczyk. So Gojowczyk won the match deservedly 7-5, 6-4 and he remains a favorite to reach the main draw.

Dustin Brown played right after Gojowczyk likewise on the Mercedes Court, the second biggest court here, and didn’t have any problem against Sebastian Sachs. The young German is outside of the top 2000 currently and hadn’t any chance to threaten Brown’s next victory on his beloved grass (6-2, 6-1). Germany’s new Davis Cup member Brown didn’t display his best tennis, though his groundstrokes were constantly good and he hit some great winners. His serve-and-volley was very sharp today and he has very good chances to get one of the qualifiers spot apart from some inattentive unforced errors.

Brown won his first match at a picturesque venue (photo credit Andreas Thiele)

Way more hairsbreadth was Filip Krajinovic’s victory. As today’s top-match between the first seed and an in-form Daniel Brands featured highlights as expected. Brands won the first tiebreaker in clutch fashion, though he served for the set at 5-4 and wasn’t clutch there. He was more often at the net and hit some great volleys, while Krajinovic was too passive at the deciding moments and stood on the baseline. Both played very well in the second set, too. Service games were held with ease, just Brands had a few problems with his last service game in this set. Both played some great Serve-and-Volleys and both hit many aces. A typical good grass-tennis match, details decided the second set’s tiebreak.

Brands destroyed his hopes of winning the set with a Double fault at 5-5 and Krajinovic could win his first set with a cross forehand winner after his opponent’s short shot. The tension rose from there, Brands broke Krajinovic’s serve after a very long and intense rally with a beautiful forehand-volley right to the baseline’s corner, just to get re-broken because of so many forehand UEs. Brands was obviously very disappointed and couldn’t raise his level. Krajinovic broke Brands’ hard fought service game (four times deuce) and end the game with a service winner (6-7(3), 7-6(5), 7-5). Brands got very disappointed by this match he almost won and walked as fast as he could back to the players’ restaurant.

Krajinovic won the match of the day (photo credit: Andreas Thiele)

Another one who has to be mentioned here is Matthias Bachinger who surprised me a lot with his tennis. He defeated Somdev Devvarman 6-2, 7-5. Bachinger was very dominant in the first set, not giving Devvarman many opportunities and especially his forehand troubled the Indian too much. Bachinger held his service games with ease after he lost his first one in the first set. However, Devvarman lost three times his serve in the first set and didn’t have any clue how to stop the German. Bachinger’s key was his fitness: He moved very well on the baseline, he could defend a lot of dangerous shots and could combine it with good volleys and even better serves. The second set featured longer rallies (a bit rare for grass) and Devvarman was at least on eye-level with the German. Though he lost his first service game, Devvarman could raise his level to break the Bavarian again.

Devvarman played more offensively and was more often at the net with his superior volley game. Bachinger struggled with Devvarman getting better and better, had many problems to hold his last service, but managed to win it with some impressive passing shots. As everyone expected a tiebreaker, Devvarman suddenly lost the control of the game, had some mishits. 30 all, Devvarman served very well, hit a very good forehand down-the-line Bachinger barely reached, hit a forehand-volley to the other side, but the German reached the ball running very fast and won the match with an overwhelming backhand-dtl-passing shot, amazing. Facing the matchpoint Bachinger returned Devvarman’s second serve with a beautiful backhand down-the-line-winner to end the match.

Michael Berrer defeated Frank Dancevic in a very close match 6-7 (7), 6-0, 7-6 (3). Dancevic hit many great shots and his forehand worked today quite well, his problem was the inconsistency. He explained his loss due to lack of grass matches, just started to train at the same day on grass and stated Berrer served too well. He’s right, especially in the second set Berrer served very well after a short rain delay during the second set and Dancevic made mistakes you normally don’t do if you know how to play on this surface. Still, the Canadian raised his level again, could compete on a high level and called Berrer out, but the hometown boy was too clutch especially in the tiebreaker and had even opportunities to close the match earlier.

The veteran Berrer eased into Q R2 (photo credit: Andreas Thiele)

Mischa Zverev had to play against Tim Puetz and Sascha’s older brother managed to win the match after he lost the first set 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. Tim Puetz didn’t play very well in the first set, though Zverev couldn’t do better. Right after Tim lost his first serve in the second set (0-2), it began to rain and that helped Mischa. Zverev hit winners after intensive rallies (especially cross) and Serve-and-Volley worked in contrary to the first set, when he hit some unforced errors. “Grass courts are fine and well-prepared” he told me after the match and “the [weather-]conditions here were fair for us”. Talked about his next opponent, Grega Zemlja, he emphasized he really looks forward to it, as “it will be the first meeting and [I] never played him”. A self-confident Zverev could certainly beat Zemlja who won in two close sets against Farrukh Dustov 7-6 7-5.

The last match I watched, that was moved to another court was between Nikoloz Basilashvili and Alejandro Falla. I only caught the third set in full, but it was already enough! A roller-coaster. The Colombian seemed to have everything under control in the match, but the Georgian discovered the power he has in his forehand and broke Falla’s service game while he served very poorly. In the third set it was a match on eye-level, some great net approaches and some fantastic winners; one of them was a very long and intensive rally, Falla played as a leftie with angles and Basilashvili couldn’t leave the backhand-side till the Colombian hit a beautiful down-the-line forehand winner after a too short bh-shot to the middle of the court.

Everything was fine for Alejandro, but he suddenly lost his serve again at 4 all due to a poor backhand error. Those who stood behind his wife (just like I did), witnessed the meltdown the Falla-clan had. Thanks God they said, Basilashvili couldn’t hold the game, as he served for the match and Falla broke him to love after three genuine unforced errors and a double fault. Falla held his serve, Basilashvili had even game point when serving, but a fh dtl-ue, a double fault and a forehand into the net sealed his fate. Falla didn’t even earn his match point, but I have to say it was very windy and not easy to play. Problem was Basilashvili still tried to overpower the Colombian with his forehand; it often worked, but at the end didn’t. This match would be the classical definition of a choke. Falla’s wife didn’t care and vamosed her husband over and over, Falla’s coach was just relieved.

Basilashvili told me after the match: “I didn’t play well today, made too much errors.” Having the impression he tries to say he did everything wrong he added: “My next step is London (Queen’s), hope it will be better”. Hanging his head when he walked very slowly back to the players’ lounge, he ignored my positive comments on his play. I couldn’t fathom then why he was so disappointed, but being at home I just start to understand why and wish him the best. Match ended 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 for Falla.

Other Round 1 Qualifying Results
Remi Boutillier def. Aslan Karatsev 6-3, 6-4.
Ilija Bozoljac def. Adrien Bossel 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Dmitry Zhyrmont def. David Vega hernandez 7-6(1), 7-5.
Yuichi Sugita def. Ante Pavic 7-5, 6-2.
Mate Pavic def. Philipp Petzschner 6-2, 7-6 (6).
Michal Przysiezny def. Vijay Prashanth 6-3, 6-2.
Martin Fischer def. Jimmy Wang 6-2, 6-4.

2015 Guangzhou and Santiago Challenger Previews and Predictions

Posted by Admin on March 10, 2015

Posted in: ATP, ATP Challenger, Chris De Waard. Tagged: 2015, atp, Blaz Kavcic, challenger, Guangzhou, Kimmer Coppejans, predictions, preview, Santiago, somdev devvarman, tennis.

2015 Guangzhou and Santiago Challenger Preview and Predictions
Chris De Waard, Tennis Atlantic

There are two Challengers on the schedule for this week, one in China on hardcourt and the other one in Chile on clay.

China International 2015

ATP Challenger Tour
Guangzhou, China
9-15 March 2015
Prize Money: $50,000

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Blaz Kavcic (110)
2: Hyeon Chung (121)
3: Aleksandr Nedovyesov (130)
4: Alexander Kudryavtsev (131)
5: John Millman (137)
6: Yuichi Sugita (148)
7: Hiroki Moriya (156)
8: Roberto Carballes Baena (160)

The last direct acceptance is Saketh Myneni, ranked 232nd.

First round match-ups to watch

(3) Aleksandr Nedovyesov – Somdev Devvarman

Nedovyesov comes into this match on a high, having decided the Davis Cup tie between Kazakhstan and Italy in a deciding rubber against Fabio Fognini. Nedovyesov squeezed out a 7-5 fifth set win to seal the deal over his opponent of almost hundred ranking spots higher. Devvarman’s form is all over the place right now and if Nedovyesov can recover physically, he should beat the Indian.

(2) Hyeon Chung – Saketh Myneni

Things can change rapidly in the life of a tennis player. Exactly a year ago, Chung lost in the first round of a Futures event, while he can now play himself to the brink of the top 100 if he wins this tournament. He comes into this event with great form, notching up a SF-W-F record in his last three Challengers. Reaching at least a semi-final should be within his reach here as well, having landed a comfortable draw. Myneni has developed into a dangerous player and will surely threaten Chung, but the latter is still the favorite here.

Top Half
It’s hard to look past the two highest ranked players here. Top seed Blaz Kavcic and #3 seed Aleksandr Nedovyesov have the best papers to reach the semi-final here. Nevertheless, it’s still unsure whether Nedovyesov will fully recover from his titanic Davis Cup effort, in which case his section will become wide open. Perhaps unseeded Marton Fucsovics can take advantage. Fucsovics had an excellent Davis Cup showing as well, which included hammering world #143 Radu Albot off the court in a 6-2 6-1 6-2 victory. This should enable him to be fresher than Nedovyesov.

Bottom Half

Second seed Hyeon Chung is the overwhelming favorite to not only reach the semi-final, but the final as well and I would be very surprised if someone managed to upset him. He starts off in a section with a fellow seed who is more of a clay court specialist, Roberto Carballes Baena, and is projected to face Yuichi Sugita, Kimmer Coppejans or Alexander Kudryavtsev in the semi-final, none of which should cause him any worries in search of his third consecutive Challenger final.

Predictions

Semis:

Fucsovics d. Kavcic
Chung d. Coppejans

Final:

Chung d. Fucsovics

Cachantun Cup

ATP Challenger Tour
Santiago, Chile
9-15 March 2015
Prize Money: $40,000

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Joao Souza (75)
2: Alejandro Gonzalez (90)
3: Maximo Gonzalez (96)
4: Facundo Bagnis (120)
5: Horacio Zeballos (138)
6: Facundo Arguello (140)
7: Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (177)
8: Renzo Olivo (190)

The last direct acceptance is Giovanni Lapentti, ranked 302nd. Top seed Joao Souza expectedly withdrew after his marathon Davis Cup match, the longest Davis Cup singles match of all time, against Leonardo Mayer, which he lost 15-13 in the fifth set.

First round match-ups to watch

Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo – Pedro Cachin

37 year old Ramirez Hidalgo keeps on grinding, coming off back to back Futures finals in Spain, winning one of them. Cachin is more than seventeen years younger, but is a big talent and has arrived at a stage where he should really beat someone like the veteran Spaniard. Last year Ramirez Hidalgo beat him in straights, but Cachin is likely to do better this time around.

(6) Facundo Arguello – Guido Pella

Former world #75 Guido Pella has never been the same after 2013, when he reached the semi-final of Düsseldorf and played Novak Djokovic in the second round of Roland Garros. He currently sits at #196. However, he does have a good draw here, although it seems the other way around given Arguello’s seeding. But the two played each other in Bucaramanga earlier this year, with Pella winning 6-4 6-3. That result could well be repeated here.

Top Half

With top seed Joao Souza withdrawing, this is wide open. Nicolas Jarry will likely take over Souza’s spot in the quarterfinal, where he is projected to face #8 seed Renzo Olivo. In the bottom section #5 seed Horacio Zeballos has landed a very cushy draw, facing a wild card and a qualifier in his first two matches. But he isn’t in great form, so after that he may well fall to one of Facundo Bagnis, Gonzalo Lama or Christian Garin, of whom Bagnis is the comfortable favorite.

Bottom Half

This half is very likely to be decided between the two Gonzalez’s in the draw, #3 seed Maximo and #2 seed Alejandro. Alejandro hasn’t made deep runs this year, but he has mostly been playing on the main tour. In a Challenger field he should have an edge over the rest. If the two Gonzalez’s were to face in the semi-final, it would be a repeat of last year’s Cordoba final, in which Alejandro won 7-5 1-6 6-3.

Predictions

Semis:

Bagnis d. Olivo
A. Gonzalez d. M. Gonzalez

Final:

A. Gonzalez d. Bagn

2015 Kolkata, Kyota and Cherbourg Challenger Previews & Predictions
Chris De Waard, Tennis Atlantic

Another week of clayless tennis on the Challenger tour, with tournaments taking place in India and France on hardcourt and on carpet in Japan.

Emami Kolkata Open 2015

ATP Challenger Tour
23-28 February 2015
Kolkata, India
Prize Money: $50,000

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: James Duckworth (112)
2: Alexander Kudryavtsev (129)
3: Ruben Bemelmans (144)
4: Somdev Devvarman (153)
5: Luke Saville (161)
6: Radu Albot (165)
7: Alex Bolt (167)
8: Kimmer Coppejans (183)

The last direct acceptance is Miki Jankovic, ranked 402nd.

First round match-up to watch

(4) Somdev Devvarman – Ramkumar Ramanathan

Last week’s New Delhi winner might be in trouble here against his almost ten-years-younger countryman. It is yet to be seen if one good week against relatively weak opposition is going to break Devvarman’s slump and Ramanathan showed last year that he can handle Devvarman. In Chennai, Ramanathan won 4-6 6-3 6-4 and he has a good shot at pulling it off again here.

Top Half

As I have mentioned in my recap, it’s dangerous to back top seed James Duckworth at the moment. He started a slump in sight of the top 100 and it’s hard to predict when he gets his mind straight again. His countryman Alex Bolt might trouble him enough in the quarterfinal to take him out, for example. In the second section Ruben Bemelmans has been displaying good form as of late, which should take him to the semi-final here, taking out his countryman Kim Coppejans in the quarterfinal in the process.

Bottom Half

Yuki Bhambri is the most dangerous player here, despite being unseeded. He seems to really struggle with Devvarman, so if he can avoid him in the semi-final I can see him taking down the title. In the quarterfinal he potentially faces second seed Alexander Kudryavtsev again, whom he took out in the first round last week. I can’t see anyone other than one of these three going through to the final, with Bhambri as the favorite to do so.

Predictions

Semis:

Bemelmans d. Duckworth
Bhambri d. Saville

Final:

Bhambri d. Bemelmans

This would be a rematch of the New Delhi semi-final of last week, when Bhambri won 4-6 6-3 7-5.

Shimadzu All Japan Indoor

ATP Challenger Tour
23 February – 1 March 2015
Kyoto, Japan
Prize Money: $50,000

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Go Soeda (82)
2: Tatsuma Ito (94)
3: Yuichi Sugita (131)
4: John Millman (149)
5: Hiroki Moriya (158)
6: Ze Zhang (180)
7: Michal Przysiezny (185)
8: Benjamin Mitchell (212)

The last direct acceptance is Yusuke Watanuki, ranked 505th. 38 year old Takao Suzuki received a wild card. The oldtimer played his first Challenger in 1992 and reached his career high ranking of #102 in 1998.

First round match-up to watch

(5) Hiroki Moriya – Matthew Ebden

Ebden has been regaining some form after his enormous losing streaks of last year, but is still far from the level that saw him reach the top 70 a year ago. However, his two meetings against Moriya in 2013 ended in two easy straight set victories, so perhaps he will take confidence from that. Moriya isn’t in good shape himself either, losing in the first round of all four of his Challengers this year, two weeks ago in Launceston even to a player ranked outside of the top 1000.

Top Half

It’s hard to look past top seed Go Soeda here. He lives for these Asian events, and especially in Japan, he is really strong. The seed in his half, Michal Przysiezny, is potentially very strong on this rapid surface, but in his current state he is a long shot. In the second section #6 seed Ze Zhang has an excellent opportunity to reach the semi-final, especially considering #3 seed Yuichi Sugita has been struggling with his form and injuries.

Bottom Half

I suspect this will come down to an encounter between #4 seed John Millman and #2 seed Tatsuma Ito for a place in the final. Millman has been out for a couple of weeks with injury, so he might be struggling in the early stages of the tournament, but he has been in excellent form lately and I actually think he can make the top 100 this year. Nevertheless, the Japanese tend to have these events on lockdown, so Ito surely won’t go down easily. If anyone can do it, it’s Millman, however, as he closed off 2014 by winning a Challenger in Yokohama. They have played each other twice in 2013, splitting the matches, with Ito winning in five sets at the Australian Open, while Millman won in straight sets at Brisbane. In 2012 they faced each other three times on the Challenger circuit, with Ito winning all the encounters.

Predictions

Semis:

Soeda d. Zhang
Millman d. Ito

Final:

Millman d. Soeda

Challenger La Manche – Cherbourg

ATP Challenger Tour
23 February – 1 March 2015
Cherbourg, France
Prize Money: €42,500

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Kenny De Schepper (103)
2: Steve Darcis (115)
3: Andreas Beck (117)
4: Farrukh Dustov (118)
5: Nicolas Mahut (119)
6: Benoit Paire (121)
7: Norbert Gombos (124)
8: Niels Desein (155)

The last direct acceptance is Tristan Lamasine, ranked 230th.

First round match-ups to watch

(1) Kenny De Schepper – David Guez

Upset alert. These two faced each other in the final qualifying round of Marseille last week and Guez triumphed, 6-2 2-6 6-3. He continued his form into the main draw, where he pushed world #35 Jeremy Chardy to three sets, 6-4 3-6 2-6. All in all, I would say there is about a 50% chance we will lose the top seed in the first match.

(3) Andreas Beck – Taro Daniel

Daniel is related to the previous story as well, losing to De Schepper in the second qualifying round, 7-5 6-3. This will be his first Challenger of the year, trying his luck in ATP qualifying events before, but only succeeding in Montpellier. Beck hasn’t been very successful either in his prior tournaments this year, making this another possibility for a seed to bomb out in the first round.

Top Half

Given De Schepper’s first round draw, he isn’t a solid bet to go far here. Benoit Paire is in his quarter, so even if he does make it to the quarterfinal stage, he is likely to go out against his flamboyant countryman. Paire reached second rounds at Montpellier and Marseille, together with taking down a Challenger in Bergamo, so he looks to have regained a big chunk of his pre-injury form. In the bottom section, Farrukh Dustov will show if he can perform in back to back weeks after winning the Wroclaw Challenger and reaching the top 100 for the first time. Nicolas Mahut is also still a competitor to take into account.

Bottom Half

Second seed Steve Darcis looks like the safest bet to reach the final. He lost to an on-fire Dustov last week, and only very nearly, but is unlikely to encounter that kind of opposition until the final. However, Daniel Brands qualified into this event and potentially faces Darcis in the quarterfinal, which could be very dangerous if the German brings his pre-injury form. In the other section, Niels Desein has an excellent opportunity to build on his first Challenger title in Glasgow and reach the semi-final.

Predictions

Semis:

Paire d. Dustov
Darcis d. Desein

Final:

Paire d. Darcis

Chris De Waard (Challenger Tour Finals)

2014 Indore, San Juan ATP Challenger Previews, Picks

Posted by Admin on October 13, 2014

Posted in: ATP, ATP Challenger. Tagged: 2014, argentina, atp, challenger, India, Indore, Joao Sousa, mens, Pick, predictions, preview, san Juan, somdev devvarman, tennis, Yuki Bhambri.

2014 Indore and San Juan Challenger Previews, Picks
Chris De Waard, Tennis East Coast

Only two tournaments this week: one in India on hardcourt and the other one in Argentina on clay.

Indore Open ATP Challenger

ATP Challenger Tour
Indore, India
13-19 October
Prize Money: $125,000

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Aleksandr Nedovyesov (121)
2: Alexander Kudryavtsev (129)
3: Somdev Devvarman (142)
4: Hiroki Moriya (157)
5: Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (163)
6: Yuki Bhambri (184)
7: Kimmer Coppejans (193)
8: Stefano Travaglia (215)

The last direct acceptance is Karunuday Singh, ranked 499th.

First round match-ups to watch

Gianluigi Quinzi – Ramkumar Ramanathan

Quinzi has been marked a great prospect and is making his comeback on Challenger level here after being out with injury for two months. Ramanathan is 19, a year older than Quinzi, so it will be interesting to see how these two youngsters match up.

Top Half

Two players here are the clear favorites here to make the semi-finals, #1 seed Aleksandr Nedovyesov and #3 seed Somdev Devvarman. It would be a pretty big surprise to see one of the other players in this half upset one of them. Nedovyesov and Devvarman have played each other twice this year, with Nedovyesov winning in four sets at Roland Garros and Devvarman taking down the final of the New Delhi Challenger very comfortably in two sets, 6-3 6-1. Given that New Delhi was played on hardcourt as well, I’d say that result is a better indication of how this match will pan out.

Bottom Half

This half looks considerably more open than the top half, with Yuki Bhambri, Hiroki Moriya, Kimmer Coppejans and Alexander Kudryavtsev all being decent picks to make it through. Bhambri has been struggling with injuries for a while, but if he is in good shape, he is my favorite to reach the final.

Predictions

Semis:

Devvarman > Nedovyesov
Bhambri > Coppejans

Final:

Bhambri > Devvarman

A home country final, resulting in a win for the new generation. They played each other in the beginning of the year at Chennai, with Bhambri comfortably winning in two sets, 6-2 6-4.

Copa San Juan Gobierno

ATP Challenger Tour
San Juan, Argentina
13-19 October
Prize Money: $40,000

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Diego Schwartzman (79)
2: Joao Sousa (89)
3: Alejandro Gonzalez (90)
4: Horacio Zeballos (104)
5: Facundo Bagnis (120)
6: Facundo Arguello (144)
7: Thiemo de Bakker (147)
8: Guido Andreozzi (150)

The last direct acceptance is Renzo Olivo, ranked 276th.

First round match-ups to watch

(5) Facundo Bagnis – Gonzalo Lama

Bagnis isn’t in the best of shapes, with a 6-6 record in his last six Challenger events. Despite losing to Bagnis twice this year, Lama should feel confident after pushing Victor Estrella Burgos to three sets in his previous tournament.

(3) Alejandro Gonzalez – Guido Pella

Both men have seen better days, but while their career high rankings are pretty close to each other, #70 for Gonzalez and #75 for Pella. Gonzalez is still in the top 100 at #97, while Pella is ranked a lot lower at #196. Their previous matches were both close encounters, with both men winning one, so this should be an interesting battle.

Top Half

After reaching back to back finals, top seed Diego Schwartzman got upset in the first round of the Cali Challenger, where he lost to Christian Lindell. However, that doesn’t mean he isn’t the favorite again here. There is some stiff competion awaiting him, with Jason Kubler or Guido Andreozzi in the quarterfinal and Horacio Zeballos, Andre Ghem or Facundo Arguello in the semi-final.

Bottom Half

#2 seed Joao Sousa is by far the best pick to advance here. He’s been solid as of late and is less likely to throw in a random bad match like some others in this half are known to do (See: Thiemo de Bakker, Facundo Bagnis). However, he has a tough second round match against the up and coming Nicolas Jarry, who beat him in three sets at Quito a month ago.

Predictions

Semis:

Schwartzman > Zeballos
Sousa > Gonzalez

Final:

Schwartzman > Sousa

Don’t be surprised if you see Jarry in the final instead of Sousa, however. Their match is likely to be very close and decisive to determine the finalist coming from the bottom half.

Battle of Old Virginia and Harrison-Johnson Headline @TallyChallenger Tuesday Action

Posted by Admin on April 29, 2013

Posted in: ATP, ATP Challenger, Tallahasee Challenger, USTA. Tagged: challenger, denis kudla, frank dancevic, preview, Pro Circuit, somdev devvarman, Tallahassee, tally, taro daniel, tennis, usta. Leave a comment

Battle of Old Virginia and Harrison-Johnson headline Tally Challenger Tuesday Action

Kudla in the Rain, 2011

Because of rain, the Battle of the two Virginia residents in the tournament was postponed 24 hours. Denis Kudla and Somdev Devvarman will be hoping to get it on Tuesday night, but before that, tons of other matches will be served up on the Har-Tru clay.

Starting with Christian Harrison and Steve Johnson. The younger Harrison blitzed through qualifying and is looking sharp as he prepares to take on Johnson, who according to an article in the local newspaper, is going through the slow learning process of clay court tennis. At the same time, Michael Venus will take on Donald Young, Mischa Zverev will face Nikoloz Basilashvili, and Greg Jones will play Tim Smyczek.

Greg Jones

Those matches, weather permitting, will be followed by Jack Sock and Alex Kuznetsov, who will be looking to clinch his French Open wild card. Also scheduled for action are Bradley Klahn and Nico Barrientos and Facundo Arguello vs. Reid Carleton. Peter Polansky and Domonic Cotrone will also resume their suspended match.

On the stadium court, Michael Russell, who was spotted on the practice courts hitting with Tim Smyczek, will play Suk-Young Jeong, and Taro Daniel will play Ryan Harrison. On the outer courts, Wayne Odesnik will play Denys Molchanov and Frank Dancevic will play Ilija Bozoljac.

Taro

The doubles matches are Kante/Takura vs. Saleh/Santiago, Bucaro/Lock vs. C. Harrison/Venus, Reed/Sock vs. Melzer/Basilashvili, Jones/Polansky vs. Barrientos/Molchanov and Rice/Thornley vs. Gonzales/Letcher.

And don’t worry. A Taro Daniel interview is forthcoming.

—Steen Kirby

Devvarman Delights, Sock Falls, Quarterfinals Set at Charlottesville Challenger, Friday OOP

Posted by Admin on November 1, 2012

Posted in: Charlottesville. Tagged: atp, challenger, charlottesville, denis kudla, Jack Sock, order of play, quarterfinals, somdev devvarman, tennis, university, Virginia. Leave a comment

Somdev Devvarman capped another exciting day at Charlottesville, winning in three sets over Taro Daniel. Another seed went down today. This time it was Bobby Reynolds in the 6 hole going down to JP Smith. And Jack Sock couldn’t pull off a third comeback for the third day in a row, yielding to defending Charlottesville champion Izak Van der Merwe.

2…………8! Who do we appreciate? The only two seeds remaining, Alex Bogomolov and Denis Kudla. Both stand an excellent chance of winning the event.

It will be nice to see some live tennis tomorrow for the first time in over two months. I couldn’t honestly tell you that what I did in that time was more productive, but I can tell you that tomorrow’s quarters feature an all-Commonwealth slugfest nightcap between Somdev Devvarman and Denis Kudla. To play the primetime quarterfinal at the Challenger is a big deal to both of these guys.

Court 7- 11:00 am

Bradley Klahn vs. Alex Kuznetsov

Izak Van der Merwe vs. John-Patrick Smith

Rhyne Williams vs. Alex Bogomolov

Tim Smyczek/Ryan Sweeting vs. John Peers/John-Patrick Smith

Not Before 5:30 pm

Treat Huey/Bobby Reynolds vs. Jarmere Jenkins/Jack Sock

Somdev Devvarman vs. Denis Kudla

Tennis Atlantic

Because Matches Are Never Played in the Media Tent

somdev devvarman

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