Nicolas Mahut added to his memorable results on grass with a routine 7-6 6-1 win over David Goffin in the ATP Den Bosch final. Mahut became the lowest ranked winner of an ATP title this season, as he captured his second Topshelf Open trophy as a qualifier.
Mahut dropped just two sets this week, one in qualifying against Kenny De Schepper, and the other in the semifinals against Dutchman Robin Haase, his toughest match of the tournament. Prior to wins over Goffin and Haase, Mahut rolled past Lleyton Hewitt, Roberto Bautista Agut, the defending champion, and Adrian Mannarino with relative ease, as his throwback serve and volley game proved to be an insurmountable hazard for his rivals.
The 33 year old had an excellent week, and he now has three career ATP titles on grass, making him a dangerous dark horse in the Wimbledon draw. The 24 year old Goffin as also strong, posting his best ever result on grass as the undersized ball striker defeated Jurgen Melzer, Illya Marchenko, and Gilles Muller, a serve and volleyer, this week, dropping just a set against Marchenko.
Ivo Karlovic and Lukasz Kubot, a pair of big serving serve and volleyers defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Mahut for the doubles title, as Mahut was prevented from taking home two championship trophies in the same week. Mahut tends to only rise up on grass but he’s a joy to watch when clicking.
2015 ATP Draw Challenge Week 21 (Stuttgart and Den Bosch) Staff, Tennis Atlantic
The grass court season starts now on the ATP tour with a pair of 250 tournaments, and it’s perhaps the hardest part of the season to predict, but our analysts will try their hand below as they make their predictions for the tournaments in Germany and The Netherlands.
Stuttgart
2015 Mercedes Cup Predictions
Steen Kirby’s picks
Round 2 matches: Nadal vs. Rosol, Haas vs. Tomic, Monfils vs. Haider-Maurer, Brown vs. Kohlschreiber, Troicki vs. Pavic, Groth vs. Lopez, M. Zverev vs. Becker, Gojowczyk vs. Cilic Quarterfinals: Nadal vs. Tomic, Monfils vs. Kohlschreiber, Troicki vs. Lopez, Becker vs. Cilic Semifinals: Tomic vs. Monfils, Lopez vs. Cilic Final: Monfils vs. Cilic Champion: Cilic
Niall Clarke’s picks
Round 2 matches: Nadal vs. Rosol, Kukushkin vs. Tomic, Monfils vs. Haider-Maurer, Janowicz vs. Kohlschreiber, Troicki vs. Pavic, Stakhovsky vs. Lopez, Thiem vs. Seppi, Bachinger vs. Cilic Quarterfinals: Nadal vs. Tomic, Monfils vs. Kohlschreiber, Troicki vs. Lopez, Seppi vs. Cilic Semifinals: Tomic vs. Kohlschreiber, Lopez vs. Cilic Final: Kohlschreiber vs. Cilic Champion: Cilic
Joe Craven’s picks
Round 2 matches: Nadal vs. Baghdatis, Kukushkin vs. Tomic, Monfils vs. Haider-Maurer, Janowicz vs. Dolgopolov, Coric vs. Pavic, Groth vs. Lopez, Thiem vs. Becker, Bachinger vs. Cilic Quarterfinals: Nadal vs. Tomic, Monfils vs. Janowicz, Pavic vs. Lopez, Thiem vs. Cilic Semifinals: Nadal vs. Janowicz, Lopez vs. Cilic Final: Janowicz vs. Lopez Champion: Lopez
Chris de Waard’s picks
Round 2 matches: Nadal vs. Rosol, Haas vs. Tomic, Monfils vs. Haider-Maurer, Janowicz vs. Kohlschreiber, Troicki vs. Pavic, Stakhovsky vs. Lopez, Thiem vs. Becker, Bachinger vs. Cilic Quarterfinals: Rosol vs. Tomic, Monfils vs. Kohlschreiber, Troicki vs. Lopez, Becker vs. Cilic Semifinals: Tomic vs. Monfils, Lopez vs. Becker Final: Tomic vs. Lopez Champion: Tomic
Stuttgart could go a variety of ways, Marin Cilic is the pick of half of our analysts, but Feliciano Lopez and Bernard Tomic get nods as well. Kohlschreiber-Monfils should be a decisive match, and nobody is decided on how far Nadal will go.
Round 2 matches: Karlovic vs. Ito, Haase vs. Verdasco, Bautista Agut vs. Mahut, Paire vs. Mannarino, Pospisil vs. Muller, Nieminen vs. Garcia-Lopez, Sousa vs. Youzhny, De Schepper vs. Goffin Quarterfinals: Karlovic vs. Verdasco, Bautista Agut vs. Mannarino, Muller vs. Garcia-Lopez, Sousa vs. Goffin Semifinals: Verdasco vs. Bautista Agut, Muller vs. Goffin Final: Bautista Agut vs. Muller Champion: Muller
Niall Clarke’s picks
Round 2 matches: Karlovic vs. Berankis, Kavcic vs. Verdasco, Bautista Agut vs. Hewitt, Paire vs. Mannarino, Pospisil vs. Muller, Copil vs. Garcia-Lopez, Istomin vs. Marchenko, Melzer vs. Goffin Quarterfinals: Karlovic vs. Verdasco, Bautista Agut vs. Paire, Muller vs. Copil, Marchenko vs. Goffin Semifinals: Verdasco vs. Paire, Muller vs. Goffin Final: Verdasco vs. Goffin Champion: Goffin
Joe Craven’s picks
Round 2 matches: Karlovic vs. Berankis, Haase vs. Verdasco, Bautista Agut vs. Hewitt, Paire vs. Mannarino, Pospisil vs. Muller, Copil vs. Garcia-Lopez, Sousa vs. Youzhny, Melzer vs. Goffin Quarterfinals: Karlovic vs. Verdasco, Hewitt vs. Mannarino, Muller vs. Garcia-Lopez, Sousa vs. Goffin Semifinals: Verdasco vs. Mannarino, Muller vs. Goffin Final: Verdasco vs. Muller Champion: Verdasco
Jeff McMillan’s picks
Round 2 matches: Karlovic vs. Ito, Haase vs. Verdasco, Bautista Agut vs Mahut, Paire vs. Lu, Pospisil vs. Muller, Nieminen vs. Garcia-Lopez, Istomin vs. Youzhny, Melzer vs. Goffin Quarterfinals: Karlovic vs. Verdasco, Bautista Agut vs. Paire, Muller vs. Garcia-Lopez, Istomin vs. Goffin Semifinals: Karlovic vs. Bautista Agut, Garcia-Lopez vs. Goffin Final: Karlovic vs. Garcia-Lopez Champion: Garcia-Lopez
Chris de Waard’s picks
Round 2 matches: Karlovic vs. Berankis, Kavcic vs. Verdasco, Bautista Agut vs. Hewitt, Paire vs. Lu, Matosevic vs. Muller, Nieminen vs. Garcia-Lopez, Istomin vs. Youzhny, Melzer vs. Goffin Quarterfinals: Karlovic vs. Verdasco, Bautista Agut vs. Lu, Muller vs. Garcia-Lopez, Istomin vs. Goffin Semifinals: Karlovic vs. Bautista Agut, Garcia-Lopez vs. Goffin Final: Bautista Agut vs. Garcia-Lopez Champion: Garcia-Lopez
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez was picked by two of our writers, but like in Stuttgart, there is no cler fear favorite in Den Bosch, with opinions mixed on Gilles Muller, Roberto Bautista Agut and Fernando Verdasco among others.
French Open 1: Niall (534 points) (+2000 overall)
2: Steen (500 points) (+1200 overall)
3: Joe (472 points) (+720 overall)
4: Jeff (442 points) (+720 overall)
5: Chris (346 points) (+360 overall)
Niall and Steen, the top two contestants in the draw challenge finished 1 and 2 at the French as Niall claims the crown backed by his favorite player Wawrinka taking the title. They have now captured the first two slams of the season, as Steen won the AO, and Niall won Paris. Jeff whose draw can be found here, our apologies for not posting it on the picks page, took fourth as Chris slumped into last, continuing to struggle.
The standings are the same as the French Open standings were except as the top, as Steen kept his lead, but Niall cut into it a bit, gaining 800 points overall on the leader. Chris slumped into last, while everything else held pretty constant.
Former Champ Mahut Among Qualifiers at ATP Den Bosch 2015 Adam Addicott, Tennis Atlantic
Less than 24 hours after Stan Wawrinka’s impressive win over Novak Djokovic in the final of the French Open, the last round of qualifying got underway at the Topshelf Open in s-Hertogenbosch. The start of the competition saw two shock first round exits for the two highest ranked players, Chung Hyeon and Lucas Pouille, which paved the way for the lower rank players to book their place in the main draw.
The highest ranked player to survive the three qualifying rounds was 4th seed Tatsuma Ito who didn’t drop a set throughout the three rounds. In the final round Ito was up against Czech veteran Jan Hernych. The 35-year-old reached the final round after beating 8th seed Paul-Henri Mathieu in three sets. Hernych was however unable to produce another shock against the Japanese player as Ito took it 6-4, 6-4. In both sets the Czech took the lead by breaking Ito but failed to consolidate either of the breaks. The vulnerability of Hernych’s serve was problematic throughout as his rival battled to break him on five separate occasions.
Nicolas Mahut maintained his recent solid form with a three sets win over Kenny de Schepper. Prior to the tournament, the Frenchman beat Ernests Gulbis to reach the third round of the French Open, his best result at Roland Garros since 2012. The run also elevated 19 places back into the top 100. The match was however far from straightforward for the former Den Bosch champion as Schepper forced Mahut to recover from a set down during the match which lasted almost two hours. Mahut gradually took the match 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. De Schepper reached the main draw as a lucky loser.
Illya Marchenko endured a tough test against shock third round rival Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi from Pakistan. Qureshi is a doubles specialist and hasn’t qualified for the main draw of any singles tournament since the ATP Helsinki Challenger back in 2009. Despite his lack of participation in singles tournaments, the Pakistani player reminded many of why he has been ranked as high as 125 in the world by recovering from a set and 0-3 down to force proceedings into a final set. Unfortunately the fairy tale ending for the Pakistani failed to happen as Merchenko battled to win 6-4, 6-7(6), 7-5. A big win for the Ukrainian in both a physical as well as a mental way.
Finally, Marco Chiudinelli gave Swiss tennis fans yet another reason to celebrate as he completed the list of qualifiers. The Swiss player began qualification with a sensational straight sets victory over second seed Lucas Pouille, dropping just four games. He then beat wildcard Thiemo de Bakker in three sets to set up a final round showdown against world number 143 Pierre-Hugues Herbert. After being blown away in the first set by the Frenchman, Chiudinelli worked himself back into the match to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-1. It’s just the second tournament of 2015 for Marco.
(Q)Tatsuma Ito vs. Ričardas Berankis
Ito leads the head-to-head 2-0. He has beaten Berankis twice in 2014 in the final round of the Wimbledon qualification tournament and during the second round of qualification in Brisbane.
(Q)Nicolas Mahut vs. (WC)Lleyton Hewitt
Since 2008 they have played each other on three different surfaces (grass, clay and hard-courts). Hewitt leads the head-to-head 2-1, however, Mahut won their most recent meeting at the 2013 Newport Open which was on grass.
(Q)Marco Chiudinelli vs. Benoit Paire
First meeting
(Q)Illya Marchenko vs. Mikhail Youzhny
First meeting
(LL)Kenny de Schepper vs. Jurgen Melzer
First meeting
2015 ATP Stuttgart and Den Bosch Previews and Predictions Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
The grass season begins anew for 2015 with a pair of 250 level events. Stuttgart is switching to grass from clay this year, and Den Bosch in the Netherlands is a joint ATP/WTA event again this year. After a spring on the dirt, ATP World Tour stars will feel the blades of green grass under their feet. Stay tuned to Tennis Atlantic for on-site ATP Stuttgart coverage all week.
ATP Stuttgart
Mercedes Cup
ATP World Tour 250
Stuttgart, Germany
June 8-June 14, 2015
Prize Money: € 574,965
Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Rafael Nadal (10)
2: Marin Cilic (9)
3: Feliciano Lopez (14)
4: Gael Monfils (16)
Stuttgart switching to grass gave them a stronger field than usual, Nadal is the top seed because he was ranked higher than Cilic at the time the seeds were drawn, though that has changed now with the new rankings. The seed cutoff is 28, as this is a strong field for a 250.
Rosol has a h2h win on grass in this matchup, Queen’s 2012, but that was a three set match. Rosol comes off a third round showing in Paris, while Baghdatis won a round at the grass Manchester challenger. Both of these guys are solid on the green stuff, as Rosol famously ball bashed to beat Nadal on this surface, and Baghdatis with his aggressive ball striking has shown his prowess before as well. I’d give Rosol a slight edge to advance with his power, but this one probably goes three sets again.
(WC)Tommy Haas vs. Mikhail Kukushkin
Tommy Haas is making his return from shoulder surgery one year since he last played a match on the ATP tour. The 37 year old remains an ageless wonder, and it was surprising after he elected to come back after another injury, in a career marked by injuries, rather than retiring. On home soil, and on grass, a surface his all court game is well suited for, he should feel comfortable, but one has to wonder how much he has left in the tank at this point in his career, coming off an injury. Kukushkin is struggling mightily, and has for most of the season, so he’s a beatable round 1 opponent.
Brown has a 2-1 h2h over the higher ranked Janowicz and he qualified without dropping set here, well recognized as a solid grass court player, as he beat Rafa Nadal on this surface in Halle previously. Janowicz, a former Wimbledon semifinalist has been struggling this season, but he will look to grass to kickstart his game. This should be a close match, but I’m going with Brown in an upset victory.
Stakhovsky with his serve and volley game can be lethal on grass, as his famous Wimbledon win over Roger Federer proved, Groth comes off of a title in the Manchester challenger, and with his massive serve, he’s likewise a dangerous player on a quick surface. This is their first meeting, and it’s a hard match to pick, I give Groth a slight edge to advance.
Top Half:
Rafael Nadal, struggling this season by his standards, will open with the winner of Baghdatis/Rosol in what could be a tricky opening round test on the heels of his quarterfinal defeat at the French Open. Nadal’s worst surface is grass, and he hasn’t played well on it since 2011. Rafa has a strong h2h record, including a grass win over Baghdatis (06 Wimbledon semis), while he is 1-1 on grass against Rosol, losing to at Wimbledon 2012, but winning in four sets in 2014 at the same venue. Rosol is likely to be a tougher opponent, but either way I could well see Nadal losing that, the winner is likely to face the Bernard Tomic/Tommy Haas winner in the quarterfinals. Haas/Kukushkin will face Tomic or JL Struff. Tomic is an excellent grass court player who was having a great season before he hit clay, his worst surface. I expect grass to be a rebound for him as he should beat Struff, Haase, and then Nadal to reach the semis. Nadal is not trustworthy on grass right now if you ask me, and Haas is just coming off of injury, so Tomic doesn’t seem like that bold of a pick to me.
4 seed Gael Monfils will open with Andreas Haider-Maurer or Max Marterer a 19 year old German wild card. Marterer will have a shot at a win if he can play on grass, as AHM is a clay courter, either way, Monfils should cruise into the quarters, but he will get a tough opponent there. Philipp Kohlschreiber routined Alex Dolgopolov today, and he will face the Janowicz/Brown winner. All three of these guys are dangerous on grass and given given Kohli has a 2-0 h2h over Brown, I have him facing Monfils in the quarters. Kohlschreiber has a poor h2h against Monfils overall, but one of his two wins came on grass, meaning this meeting should be exciting if it takes place. Monfils has been in pretty good form as of late, and I’m going with him to advance to the semis.
Bottom Half:
Marin Cilic will open with either Peter Gojowczyk or Matthias Bachinger in the opening round, both Germans enter via qualifying, Bachinger was a lucky loser, and Gojowczyk qualified without dropping a set. Gojo has always been a talented underachiever in my mind but Cilic, who is improving in form and reached the second week at the French, will be a strong favorite to reach the quarters. There he probably faces the Benjamin Becker/Andreas Seppi winner. 7 seed Dominic Thiem is the seed, and opens with qualifier Mischa Zverev. Thiem is extremely inexperienced on grass, and prefers clay, thus the veteran Zverev will have a shot in that one. Becker is an excellent grass court veteran, while Seppi’s all court game can be dangerous as well, I’m going with Becker to beat Seppi, and Zverev to reach the quarters, where he will likely fall to Cilic.
3 seed Feliciano Lopez, who had a remarkable season on grass last year and is at his best on the surface opens with the Groth/Stakhovsky winner, a difficult task. Lopez has been in very poor form on clay, and he’ll be under pressure to preserve ranking points now, I still think he wins that match, and beats Viktor Troicki or Borna Coric in the quarterfinals. Wild card Alex Zverev, the younger brother of Mischa and an ATP young gun more suited for clay, opens with qualifier Mate Pavic. Look for Pavic to beat Zverev, and Troicki to slip past the inexperienced young gun Coric on grass, then beat Pavic to reach the quarters.
The German with American ties, Becker, reached a grass court final last year in Den Bosch (a tournament he won in 2009), and if he can get past Seppi, Cilic could slip up in the quarters, and he could upset him as well for a spot in the semis. He’s not the only possible dark horse in the draw, but with his good serve and quality baseline game, the crafty veteran could impress.
Predictions
Semis: Monfils d. Tomic Cilic d. Lopez
Tomic vs. Monfils could go either way, I’m going with Monfils based off of form though, Tomic winning this title wouldn’t surprise me. Cilic has a h2h win on grass over Lopez, his form is better, and he’s done better on fast surface h2h meetings.
It’s been a slow road back for Cilic, and Monfils has struggled to stay healthy as well. I’m finally comfortable picking Cilic to perform like the top 10 player he is capable of as he seems fit, and the rust is starting to fade. Look for him to win in Stuttgart this week.
Topshelf Open
ATP World Tour 250*
s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands
June 8-June 14, 2015
Prize Money: € 537,050
*denotes joint ATP/WTA event
Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga*/(5) Ivo Karlovic (27)
2: David Goffin (15)
3: Roberto Bautista Agut (21)
4: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (34)
*Top seed Tsonga pulled out after a run to the French Open semis, thus the 5 seed Ivo Karlovic becomes the 1 seed in terms of the draw.
Den Bosch isn’t as strong of a field as Stuttgart, but it’s not bad for a 250, the lack of a top 10 player makes this an open draw.
First round matchups to watch:
(WC)Lleyton Hewitt vs. (Q)Nicolas Mahut
A pair of veterans who are retiring soon, Mahut, the champion of this tournament in 2013, qualified with relative ease and he’s a solid grass court player with his serve and volley skills, while Hewitt is of course a legend who counterpunches at his best on grass, though he has played an extremely light schedule so far this year. These players met in the 2013 Newport final on grass, and Mahut prevailed in three sets, prior to that Hewitt won a pair of h2h meetings on other surfaces. It’s a tough pick in regards to the winner of this, Mahut has played more recently, and Hewitt is in serious decline at this point in his career, thus I’m going with Nico, likely in three sets.
(6)Adrian Mannarino vs. Rendy Lu
Mannarino’s versatile game is well suited for fast surfaces like grass, while Lu is a steady flat hitting baseliner who excels on fast surfaces, especially hard courts. Mannarino beat Lu this year in three sets at Delray Beach, and as the higher ranked player, he should be the favorite, having performed well on hard courts this year, that said, Lu can rise to the occasion at times though he lacks weaponry, and this should be a good match. I have Mannarino winning it.
The big serving Karlovic will face Ricardas Berankis or Tatsuma Ito in round 2, Ito qualified with ease, so I’d expect him to win that round 1 match, before falling to Karlovic who has been struggling mightily for a while, but should find some form on grass. 7 seed Fernando Verdasco should be the favorite in the top section, he opens with dirtballer Daniel Gimeno-Traver and I’d also expect him to get past Robin Haase, who beat Blaz Kavcic in straights today. Haase beat Verdasco at Wimbledon 2011, but he’s not exactly a top player these days, plus he tends to struggle on home soil under pressure. Verdasco has lost twice to Karlovic on grass, but given recent form, this time I’m picking him to advance to the semis.
Defending champion Roberto Bautista Agut will get a tough R2 match against Hewitt/Mahut, if Mahut advances, RBA should still have an edge, as he beat him in Den Bosch last year (in 3 sets). RBA hasn’t been a world beater as of late but I favor him to reach the quarters. The Mannarino/Lu winner should also reach the quarters, unless Benoit Paire or Marco Chiudinelli, one of the qualifiers, is a surprise. Chiudinelli qualified in just his second tournament of 2015, while Paire has limited abilities on grass, though his form has been improved as of late. I have Mannarino over Paire, and then RBA over Mannarino for a spot in the semis.
Bottom Half:
David Goffin will face the winner of Kenny De Schepper/Jurgen Melzer in round 2. De Schepper is a lucky loser, but he still should defeat Melzer, the struggling veteran, and he’ll have a good chance against Goffin as well, given his game isn’t as well built for grass, while De Schepper’s big serve should help him find success. The section above De Schepper/Goffin is interesting, Joao Sousa/Denis Istomin is a toss-up match, while Mikhail Youzhny was formerly good on grass, and will open with qualifier Illya Marchenko who has been in good form as of late. Sousa has been better than Istomin this year, but Istomin has a better record on grass. I have Sousa beating Youzhny in the second round, Youzhny has been in awful form this year, and even with that previous success on grass I don’t see him getting far. Goffin over Sousa is my pick in the quarters, he has a 2-1 h2h edge.
4 seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez will face Marius Copil, the Romanian wild card defeated Jarkko Nieminen in 3 sets on Monday. GGL should defeat Copil, though he comes off an opening round shock defeat at the French, but the winner of Vasek Pospisil/Gilles Muller could trouble him in the quarters. Pospisil routined the poor playing Marinko Matosevic in straights on Monday, while Muller blitzed Turkish #1 Marsel Ilhan with a bagel. Muller with his big serve is a threat on grass, as he also volleys well, and I see him defeating both Pospisil, and Garcia-Lopez to reach the semis. GGL has been a streaky player but I don’t feel his game is clicking right now.
The veteran serve and volleyer plays some of his best tennis on grass, and he looked strong today in his match. He has a draw that should open up if he can defeat Garcia-Lopez, and he well could win this tournament, as I have him reaching the final at a minimum with wins over Pospisil, Garcia-Lopez, and Goffin.
Predictions
Semis: Bautista Agut d. Verdasco
Muller d. Goffin
It’s a coin flip between RBA and Verdasco if they meet in the semis, a 1-1 h2h and both have been streaky on grass before, RBA is higher ranked, both have huge forehand, and I’m going with RBA in my own bracket. Muller should defeat Goffin given this is grass.
Going with a non-seed to take the title in Den Bosch, it’s happened previously and RBA lost to Muller in the AO this year. On a slick fast surface, Muller’s serve and volley should be a deadly combination, and I have the veteran winning a title this week.
Lopez Heats Up With Eastbourne Win Before Wimbledon, Bautista Agut Wins Maiden Title at Den Bosch
Feli Lopez
ATP Eastbourne
After coming up just a point short of taking the title at Queens club, Feliciano Lopez repeated as Eastbourne champion with a three set victory over top seed Richard Gasquet 6-3 6-7 7-5.
Lopez was able to bounce back after having a chance to close out the match in straight sets and breaking for the win over the Frenchman.
Lopez has been on fire the past two weeks and he didn’t drop a set against Tobias Kamke, Jeremy Chardy and Sam Querrey this week.
Gasquet found some form with a three set win over Bernard Tomic, and straight set victories over Martin Klizan and Denis Istomin.
Treat Huey and Dominic Inglot won the doubles title, they beat Alex Peya and Bruno Soares in the final.
ATP ‘s-Hertogenbosch
Roberto Bautista Agut won a much deserved first career ATP title in Den Bosch this week. The Spaniard has now moved into the top 30 and is having a career season. He improves to 1-1 in ATP finals in his career.
RBA beat former champion Benjamin Becker 2-6 7-6 6-4 in the final and he played some long matches this week, as his semifinal win over Jurgen Melzer had a 4-6 6-2 7-6 scoreline, and his quarterfinal win over Nicolas Mahut had a 6-3 4-6 6-3 scoreline. RBA also beat Daniel Gimeno-Traver and Matt Ebden this week.
The German vet Becker reached his third career ATP final and his first since 2009 with a three set win over Marcel Granollers, a straight sets drubbing of Dudi Sela, a three set victory over Vasek Pospisil and a two set win over Joao Sousa.
His play was a welcome surprise this week and Den Bosch was an entertaining event even without a lot of big names
in the field.
Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau won the doubles title over Santiago Gonzalez and Scott Lipsky.
2014 ATP Eastbourne, ‘s-Hertogenbosch Previews & Picks Steen Kirby, Tennis East Coast
It’s the week before Wimbledon and many players are choosing to make their final preparations for the next slam in the pair of 250 grass court tournaments this week.
ATP Eastbourne
Aegon International
ATP World Tour 250
Eastbourne, Great Britain
June 16-June 21, 2014
Prize Money: € 503,185
Top 4 seeds (Who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Richard Gasquet (14)
2: Alex Dolgopolov (19)
3: Feliciano Lopez (29)
4: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (31)
It is the week before Wimbledon, so not the strongest field in Eastbourne, but the tournament should be competitive.
First Round matchups to watch:
Donald Young vs. (WC)James Ward
This is the only match of interest in round 1 that I see. Young comes off a successful string of play on clay, including a third round French Open appearance, and he will look to improve his relatively poor record on grass in Eastbourne. He faces the Brit wild card Ward who has had some success on grass, and they have never met before. It should be a close match and a good warm-up for Young.
Top Half:
Top seed Richard Gasquet is struggling and is perhaps carrying a shoulder injury into this tournament. He could quite possibly fall to Bernard Tomic in his first match and the draw would open up from there.
Gasquet comes off an opening match loss in Halle and Tomic showed some renewed play in Queens with a round 1 win and a 3 set loss in round 2. Tomic beat Gasquet at Wimbledon last year in 4 tight sets, though Gasquet is 4-0 in matches on other surfaces and crushed Tomic (even while not healthy) at the French a couple of weeks ago. Tomic must beat Andrey Golubev first, I might add, and one of those three players will face Young/Ward or Martin Klizan/Federico Delbonis in the quarters. Delbonis is a clay courter and Klizan has a very poor record on grass, but he appears to be in form as he had a strong clay court season.
Young or Ward have a great chance at the quarterfinals or better. Klizan beat Tomic on clay last month
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez is another in-form player who is beginning his grass court campaign this season at a tournament where he is a former finalist. GGL will face Denis Istomin or Mikhail Kukushkin in round 2, and neither player looks overly imposing, so I’m tipping GGL vs Edouard Roger-Vasselin in a competitive quarterfinal. ERV won a couple of rounds in Queens and after a qualifier, he will face Jarkko Nieminen/Santiago Giraldo in round 2. Nieminen retired in his last match and Giraldo is sort of an unreliable player right now. He beat ERV on hard courts two years ago, but I don’t think that result matters that much. As for the predicted quarterfinal, GGL won a 10-8 fifth set against ERV at Wimbledon 2 years ago, but ERV beat him at the Aussie open this year (and GGL has two probably unimportant wins on clay as well), so it should be close and I’m leaning towards ERV to reach the semis.
Bottom Half:
Alex Dolgopolov will face Sam Querrey or Kyle Edmund in his first match. Dolgo gave a walkover in his last match in Queens and may not be entirely together.
I feel Querrey has a nice chance at the quarterfinals here. Dolgopolov leads the h2h 2-1 between them in all hard court meetings.
Dolgo/Querrey could face defending finalist Gilles Simon in the quarters or perhaps Julien Benneteau, who was upset in the opening round of Queens, or Yen-Hsun Lu, who reached the quarterfinals in Halle but gave a walkover in his last match. Simon plays a qualifier and then Benneteau/Lu. Gilles showed some renewed form at the French, unlike he has all season really and I like him as a semifinalist here.
Current Queens finalist Feliciano Lopez is the defending champ here in Eastbourne. If he doesn’t pull out because of fatigue, he will face Dan Evans or a qualifier in his first match. Should he not be exhausted, expect him in the quarters against one of Ivo Karlovic/Jeremy Chardy/Carlos Berlocq/qualifier. Karlovic lost in round 2 in Halle, but he is a two-time champion here and has a 12-1 record overall.
Given the other choices, the semifinalist should come down to Lopez/Karlovic and how fatigued is Lopez. His form has looked great in Queens and he could get on a winning a streak.
Dark Horse: Bernard Tomic/Edouard Roger-Vasselin
I feel one of these two players will be the finalist here from the top half of the draw: Tomic can play very well on grass but he’s horribly inconsistent, while ERV has a lower ceiling for peak play, but is less likely to see his game entirely collapse. In three head to head meetings, all on grass amazingly, Tomic has won twice and ERV has won once, the last meeting coming in 2011. Either one of them is a dark horse to take the title regardless.
Predictions Semis:
Roger-Vasselin d. Tomic
Karlovic d. Simon
I just went over ERV-Tomic. While I like Karlovic by a hair over Simon (because he won a h2h grass meeting in 2007 between the two and also won their most recent meeting in 2011), I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Simon made the final again, but Ivo is who I’m picking.
Final:
Karlovic d. Roger-Vasselin
Ivo beat ERV in Newport last year and has a 2-1 overall h2h lead. The final could go either way, but I like the big serving Croat as a titlist this week.
ATP ‘s-Hertogenbosch
Topshelf Open
ATP World Tour 250
‘s-Hertogenboch, the Netherlands
June 15-June 21, 2014
Prize Money: € 426,605
Top 4 seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: David Ferrer (7)
2: Fernando Verdasco (23)
3: Roberto Bautista Agut (28)
4: Marcel Granollers (30)
Holland just annihilated the Spanish in the World Cup and local celebrations cannot be sitting well with the four top seeds here, all Spanish players.
First Round matchups to watch:
Nicolas Mahut vs. (WC)Kimmer Coppejans
Defending champion Nicolas Mahut could have trouble against young Belgian wild card Kimmer Coppejans, who is untested on grass. Mahut comes off a round 2 loss in Queens that was close and though I still think he will prevail, this match is a good opportunity for Coppejans to show his mettle.
Kenny De Schepper vs Steve Johnson
Johnson leads the h2h 2-0 and their last meeting at the Le Gosier challenger, the final of it in fact, was a crazy 3 setter that ended with a 7-2 final set tiebreak. De Schepper is 4-2 on grass this year, Johnson is 3-2, as both players have shown they can do well on the surface, albeit with different styles. This match is a toss-up to me, but I’ll go with the rising and much improved Johnson to ride his forehand to victory over the big serving Frenchman for the third time.
Top Half:
Two time Den Bosch champion David Ferrer faces a qualifier in round 1 and then a qualifier or Alejandro Gonzalez in round 2. Ferrer should be safe for the quarterfinals against one of Igor Sijsling/Thiemo De Bakker/Bradley Klahn/Dmitry Tursunov. He should watch out for Tursunov as the Russian vanquished him twice last season in their only meetings.
Sijsling is also a bit of a home threat here, but given Tursunov just beat him in Queens I like Tursunov over Klahn and Sijsling over De Bakker and then Tursunov over Sijsling as the path to the quarterfinals. Ferrer to avenge his Tursunov defeats last year is my pick for semifinalist out of this section.
Marcel Granollers is not a good grass court player, but Benjamin Becker, a former champion here, has lost five straight matches and is in terrible form right now. Granollers should get through to round 2 to face Dudi Sela or Benoit Paire, both of whom are also struggling: Paire 2-6 since coming back from injury and Sela 2-8 since Indian Wells. One of these four out-of-form players will be able to win two matches and reach the quarterfinals as a much needed boost for their morale and ranking.
Strapped to a chair, I’d take Granollers by a hair.
One of Granollers/Becker/Sela/Paire will face one of Lukas Rosol/JL Struff/Dusan Lajovic/Vasek Pospisil in the quarters. Rosol is just starting his grass campaign. Struff was poor in Halle. Lajovic took a set off an in form Feliciano Lopez. Though Pospisil finally broke his post-AO losing streak, he was poor in his very next match.
I like Rosol to get through all the way to the semifinals from the top half.
Bottom Half:
Fernando Verdasco, who has had some success on grass, will face Paul-Henri Mathieu, who gave Andy Murray a competitive run in Queens. Dasco dominates PHM in the h2h, so he should be through to face either Jesse Huta Galung or Aleksandr Nedovyesov. Nedo is struggling, so I think JHG will be willed to victory by the home fans and Verdasco will reach the quarterfinals.
Verdasco should also be safe for the semis as his possible opponents are not overly imposing: Jurgen Melzer is struggling a bit and faces current and surprise Halle finalist Alejandro Falla, who will probably be gassed after playing so much in Halle, and then the winner gets Victor Hanescu or a qualifier.
The qualifier has a good chance for the quarters.
Bautista Agut will face his countryman Daniel Gimeno Traver and then the struggling Matt Ebden or a qualifier. Look for RBA to get a real test in the quarters against Mahut/Coppejans or Johnson/De Schepper. I like RBA vs Mahut. The h2h is split, with all of their meetings coming on indoor hard on the challenger tour.
Given this is grass, I tip towards Mahut a bit to reach the semis.
Dark Horse: Lukas Rosol
The in-form Czech I have making the semis. His match with Ferrer will be tough. Ferrer beat him twice last year and leads the h2h 3-0, so he probably comes up short from there, but I expect him to have a good showing this week.
Predictions Semis:
Ferrer d. Rosol
Verdasco d. Mahut
I just broke down Ferrer-Rosol and Verdasco is 3-0 career against Mahut including a win on grass, so it should be an all-Spanish final.
Final:
Ferrer d. Verdasco
A super-weird h2h between a pair with no grass court meetings. Ferrer got a win on clay last year and is on a 5 match winning streak in the rivalry, but going back to 2010 Verdasco had winning streaks of as many as three straight matches in the rivalry with a whole bunch of meetings on clay. Down to the wire, I like Ferrer in 3 sets in the final.
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.
Final:
Ferrer d. Llodra
Ferrer should make it the hat trick. He is 3-0 career against Llodra and beat Llodra last year in Paris on indoor carpet.
