Former Champs John Isner and Nick Kyrgios The Top Seeds at ATP Atlanta 2018 Steen Kirby,Tennis Atlantic
The 2018 US Open Series kicks off in Atlanta as top caliber ATP Tennis returns stateside with the 250 stop in the tennis capital of the American South. Here is your full preview, with predictions.
Top Half:
John Isner is seeking a 5th Atlanta Open title, the defending champion is doing so from a career high #8 ranking. His first match should come against Alex De Minaur or lucky loser Hubert Hurkacz, both are promising players, but Isner’s serve on the Atlanta hard courts should be too much for them.
Local favorite Emil Reinberg (University of Georgia), faces tour veteran Mikhail Youzhny in the opening round. Newport semifinalist Tim Smyczek drew Nottingham champion Mischa Zverev with Zverev most likely to go through to face Isner in the quarters, with Isner a heavy favorite.
American young gun Frances Tiafoe will begin against Marius Copil, with Alex Bolt or Marcos Baghdatis waiting on deck. Tiafoe has had the best season of his career already and should ease past Copil and Bolt to reach the quarters.
Now 30, Matt Ebden has gotten himself to the point he’s now a top 4 seed in an ATP tournament. Ebden will have a tough test against either big serving Ivo Karlovic or a struggling Donald Young in round 2. Karlovic is in the twilight of his career and hasn’t had a good season, so Ebden should be a slight favorite in his section with Tiafoe winning their quarterfinal to reach the semis.
Bottom Half:
Nick Kyrgios won the 2016 title in Atlanta, to reach that stage again he’ll likely have to get past his friend and countryman Thanasi Kokkinakis, presuming Kokkinakis defeats fellow qualifier Noah Rubin in round 1. Kyrgios when healthy is hard to stop so he should get past Kokkinakis and also Jeremy Chardy (or Cam Norrie) in the quarters. Chardy opens with Ricardas Berankis, while Norrie drew a struggling Malek Jaziri.
A finalist last year, Ryan Harrison faces James Duckworth in his opening match this year in dire need of a form boost. Harrison should beat Duckworth but Lukas Lacko presents a tougher challenge. Lacko draws Prajnesh Gunneswaran in round 1. I have Harrison going through to the quarters against Hyeon Chung.
Chung, when fit, has already shown what a dangerous player he can be. The Korean #1 faces Taylor Fritz or Ramkumar Ramanathan in round 2. Fritz should beat a tired Ramanthan but Chung will be favored to reach the semis.
Predictions
Semis
Isner d. Tiafoe
Kyrgios d. Chung
Isner will be a heavy favorite to retain his Atlanta title after the great run at Wimbledon, while Kyrgios, Tiafoe, and Chung look to steel themselves for a good hard court summer in North America.
Exclusive Interview: Kiki Mladenovic Perseveres in the Heat of Battle at Citi Open; Lisicki Back to Winning Ways in Washington Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic
Kiki Mladenovic was struggling throughout her match with the heat yesterday in a brutal 3-set win against Tatjana Maria at the Citi Open in Washington. In the end, she easily showed that she’s earned the title of prime contender against top seed Simona Halep, who was resting from her win more for than 24 hours after Mladenovic advanced. She made time for an exclusive interview with Tennis Atlantic after the match.
There was some talk in the media this week (and every year) about the fact that the women play in the afternoon and the men follow later during what are inevitably cooler temperatures with more fans in the stands. So what about the idea that the WTA players get the worst tee-times at Citi Open, in the high heat of the D.C.-in-August day? Would she like to play a little later in the afternoon? Mladenovic put it in perspective.
Kristina ‘Kiki’ Mladenovic, 2017 Citi Open (Photo: Teninis Atlantic)
“I would love to. I wish” she said, “but I cannot complain. The men and the women struggle the same way. They played really late last night. We were in bed watching, them, the men, last night so you get some compromises, I guess. Hopefully, it gets easier with the upcoming scheduling in the coming days.”
Exactly 10 months ago, she was #57 in the world. Today, she’s #13. Exactly what is going on here?
“My motto hasn’t changed. Lots of work, like everybody, I guess. But I believe in the process and the journey. I’m giving it all everyday. I’m trying to find all the details I can to improve and be a better player each day.”
“The biggest difference would be my physical condition. I think I’ve improved a lot in my movement and my strength.”
She noted that she’s “very happy” with the 2017 season thus far.
Mladenovic plays Canada’s Bianca Andreescu tomorrow on Grandstand 2, which hardly seems fitting for the putative #1 seed of the tournament until Simona Halep was denied a wild card to Stanford. Either way, Mladenovic is content to earn everything she achieves, here and beyond.
Sabine Lisicki, 2017 Citi Open (Photo: Tennis Atlantic)
Sabine Lisicki is indeed back to her winning ways. After an absence from the tour due to injury, Lisicki edged past plucky Valentini Grammatikopoulou 7-6, 7-6 at Citi Open in Washington today. Lisicki wasn’t thrilled with her play, but she’ll take the win and advance to the second round against Aryna Sabalenka tomorrow. “It was my first hard court match since last year. Lots of things I need to improve on,” she told Citi Open Radio immediately after the match. Lisicki was sidelined for the first half of the season with shoulder problems. No matter what her ranking, the US fans adore Lisicki and the feeling was clearly mutual today after the match.
The final stop on the US Open Series is Winston-Salem.
Winston-Salem
2015 Winston-Salem Open Predictions
Steen Kirby’s picks
Round 2 matches: Simon vs. Bedene, Herbert vs. Baghdatis, Sousa vs. Haas, Bolelli vs. Querrey, Tsonga vs. Young, Donaldson vs. Johnson, Paire vs. Chung, Lu vs. Garcia-Lopez, Bellucci vs. Duckworth, Klizan vs. Vesely, Gabashvili vs. Kokkinakis, Jaziri vs. Troicki, Coric vs. Giraldo, Schwartzman vs. Andujar, Janowicz vs. Rosol, Kukushkin vs. Anderson Round 3 matches: Simon vs. Baghdatis, Sousa vs. Querrey, Tsonga vs. Johnson, Paire vs. Lu, Bellucci vs. Klizan, Kokkinakis vs. Jaziri, Coric vs. Andujar, Janowicz vs. Anderson Quarterfinals: Baghdatis vs. Querrey, Tsonga vs. Paire, Bellucci vs. Kokkinakis, Coric vs. Anderson Semifinals: Querrey vs. Tsonga, Kokkinakis vs. Anderson
Final: Tsonga vs. Anderson Champion: Anderson
Chris de Waard’s picks
Round 2 matches: Simon vs. Bedene, Stakhovsky vs. Baghdatis, Sousa vs. Haas, Bolelli vs. Querrey, Tsonga vs. Young, Groth vs. Johnson, Paire vs. Chung, Lu vs. Garcia-Lopez, Bellucci vs. Duckworth, Ilhan vs. Vesely, Gabashvili vs. Kokkinakis, Jaziri vs. Troicki, Coric vs. Giraldo, Schwartzman vs. Andujar, Janowicz vs. Gulbis, Mahut vs. Anderson Round 3 matches: Simon vs. Baghdatis, Sousa vs. Querrey, Tsonga vs. Johnson, Paire vs. Garcia-Lopez, Duckworth vs. Vesely, Kokkinakis vs. Troicki, Coric vs. Andujar, Gulbis vs. Anderson
Quarterfinals: Simon vs. Querrey, Tsonga vs. Paire, Vesely vs. Kokkinakis, Coric vs. Gulbis Semifinals: Simon vs. Tsonga, Kokkinakis vs. Coric
Final: Tsonga vs. Coric Champion: Tsonga
Four qualifiers joined the large Winston-Salem Open field for 2015, as they demonstrated their good form in advance of the 2015 US Open.
Two of the players set to feature at the open, Martin Klizan, and young gun American Frances Tiafoe were the stars of the qualifying draw.
Klizan, a top 40 player, was a surprise entrant in the qualifying draw, and will now look to boost is below .500 hard court record this year at the main draw level with a good run in Winston-Salem. The Slovakian beat Eric Quigley in round 1 and Deiton Baughman in round 2 before finishing his sweep of American qualifying competitors with a straight set win over in-form American Bjorn Fratangelo who found his hopes of playing in an ATP main draw for the second straight week stopped in their tracks. Klizan scored a minor upset over Dominic Thiem in Cincinnati and is likely to get through round 1 given the lower ranked and less talented Marsel Ilhan is his opponent.
Frances Tiafoe failed to win a match in his main draw opportunity in Atlanta this summer, but he’ll get another crack at his first ATP main draw win as a professional against James Duckworth in the opening round in Winston-Salem. The confident 17 year old beat Patrick Daciek. Radu Albot, and fellow American Ryan Harrison to qualifying, beating the experienced baseline grinder Harrison in three sets, as he recovered from a first set breadstick to get the win. Tiafoe has already been awarded a main draw wild card for the US Open, so he gets to bypass qualifying, and he’s he has a lot of tennis ahead as he will also be playing in the US Open Juniors as he’s still 17 and got a wild card for that tournament.
Joining Klizan and Tiafoe in the main draw are a pair of Europeans, Marco Cecchinato and Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
Cecchinato normally prefers clay, but he has a surprisingly positive 7-6 hard court record on the season now, after blazing through qualifying without a set dropped against Andrew Carter, Skander Mansouri and Wil Spencer. He’ll open against Aljaz Bedene in round 1, another player who prefers clay.
Herbert, a 24 year old Frenchman and quasi doubles specialist, continued his success at the ATP qualifying level this season and relied on his serve to get past Kimmer Coppejans, Kevin King and Sekou Bangoura without dropping a set. Herbert had one of the tougher draws to qualify, so his results have been impressive in North Carolina and he’ll have a great chance to get a win over ATP veteran Sergiy Stakhovsky in round 1.
Roger Federer gave himself momentum heading into the US Open with a masterclass 7-6(1) 6-3 victory over world #1 Novak Djokovic in Cincinnati on Sunday. The victory gives Federer seven career titles in Cincinnati, as he repeats as champion, and once more denies Djokovic the lone Masters 1000 title that he lacks.
Federer was aggressive against Novak on the day, and finished the match in just an hour and a half of afternoon play in the warm sunshine. Djokoic, though he reached the final, was clearly less than 100% and his failure to generate a single break point against the Federer serve demonstrated that fact. Normally one of the best returners in the mens’ game, Djokovic was on the defensive from the start, and though he saved seven of eight break point chances in the match, after the first set tiebreak he had a limited chance of engineering a comeback. His poor tiebreak proving to be the defining moment of the match.
Federer choosing to skip Montreal and play just Cincy as a warm up for the US Open seemed to pay off as the fresh veteran #2 seed didn’t drop a set all week in Ohio. He started his title campaign with routine wins over Roberto Bautista Agut and Kevin Anderson, and then rolled past Feliciano Lopez and Montreal champ Andy Murray to reach the final. Lopez had upset Rafael Nadal in the previous round, his best win of the season, and Murray was in good form, but fatigued by the time the semifinal took place.
Djokovic still demonstrated why he’s the world #1 this week, without being entirely healthy and fit, he got past Benoit Paire in straights, David Goffin in three sets, Stan Wawrinka in straights, losing just five games total to his rival, and surprise semifinalist Alexandr Dolgopolov, who posted his best result of the season with a win over Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals, but came up just short of upsetting Novak once again this year, losing in three sets, after being up a set and in a second set tiebreak. Both Goffin and Dolgopolov saw their level drop, the closer they got to a potential victory against Djokovic.
Presuming he can gets some rest and recover his health and conditioning, Novak will remain the favorite to take the US Open title, while Federer ensured he’s going to be part of the title conversation with Andy Murray, all of whom had good summers on the US Open Series. Murray also won the 2015 Emirates Airlines US Open Series bonus challenge over Djokovic.
In doubles Daniel Nestor and Edouard Roger-Vasselin did one better than their final in Montreal and took the title over fellow veterans Marcin Matkowski and Nenad Zimonjic.
2015 ATP Winston-Salem Preview and Predictions Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
Winston-Salem, the final stop for the ATP tour on the 2015 Emirates Airlines US Open Series is also the final 2015 US Open tune up for the men’s players opting to participate this week and get in matches just before the final slam of the year, the US Open. Here is a preview of ATP tennis, Carolina style.
Winston-Salem Open
ATP World Tour 250
Winston-Salem,NC,USA
August 23-August 30, 2015
Prize Money: $616,210
Top 8 seeds (top 16 seeds receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Gilles Simon (11)
2: Kevin Anderson (15)
3: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (19)
4: Viktor Troicki (20)
5: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (29)
6: Thomaz Bellucci (33)
7: Sam Querrey (34)
8: Borna Coric (38)
Four top 20 players in the field this week, as Winston-Salem has a relatively strong field for a 250.
The big serving Groth has missed two weeks this summer, after reaching the quarterfinals in Washington, and thus his form should be in question. Donaldson,a rising American, has yet to suffer a first round defeat this summer, and the teenager has a chance to continue that streak in this one. Dealing with Groth’s serve is always a challenge, but Donaldson competes well and tends to play clutch tennis, that should suit him in match that is likely to feature tiebreaks, and I have JD pulling off an upset and reaching round 2 with a win over the Australian.
Alexandr Dolgopolov vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis
Dolgopolov had another random hot streak of run that showcased his inconsistent talent as he reached the semifinals in Cincinnati, his best result this season. After pushing Novak Djokovic to three sets in that semifinal, he should be full of confidence, and he also helped boost his ranking back up. That said, the human highlight reel is likely fatigue after a long week in Ohio, and may not transition well here. Kokkinakis continues to improve his standing on tour and qualified for Cincy, reaching round 2. This should be a showcase first round match, and I have Kokkinakis getting through because I see Dolgopolov as being fatigued.
Lukas Rosol vs. Ernests Gulbis
Gulbis just beat Rosol in three sets in Montreal, and now the defending champion of Winston-Salem will have to try to get past him, as he seeks to defend his ranking points. Gulbis had his best result of the season in Montreal, reaching the quarterfinals, but he struggled in the Vancouver challenger, and he’s been horrid overall this year. With a strange travel schedule, I’m not sure he’ll acclimate well to the matches here, and I see Rosol getting revenge and snapping a two match losing streak to reach round 2. This match should feature a lot of ball bashing as both of these guys are power baseliners.
Gilles Simon, who is a pedestrian 1-2 this summer, will start his Winston-Salem campaign against either a qualifier or Aljaz Bedene, who hasn’t played a hard court match since the spring. Bedene was in good for, this summer, but the qualifier will likely have an edge given the surface, and Simon should be able to get a win and push himself into the round of 16. There, he could face trouble, as Marcos Baghdatis, a finalist in Atlanta, is his likely opponent. Baghdatis will need to beat Sergiy Stakhovsky or a qualifier to get that far. Stako is in poor form, and presuming he’s healthy, I’d give a fit and aggressive Baghdatis an edge over his round 2 opponent. Baghdatis is 2-0 on outdoor hard against Simon, and if healthy, I see him scoring an upset over the out of form Frenchman, in what could be a great week for the ball striking veteran. Baghdatis should reach the quarters from the first section.
Sam Querrey will face either Simone Bolelli or Federico Delbonis first up, Bolelli is 10-9 on a hard court this year but hasn’t played much recently, Delbonis is a dirtballer, so the Italian should win that one, but Querrey is likely to win against Bolelli. The American comes off an upset win over John Isner in Cincy, and his form appears improved, home soil should suit him well. In the third round look for Querrey against Tommy Haas or Joao Sousa. Haas is just 1-3 on US soil this season, but he’s still a veteran talent and should defeat dirtballer Pablo Carreno Busta. Sousa upset Philipp Kohlschreiber in Cincy to improve his hard court record to 4-7 outdoors this season, and that should be good enough for the Portugese #1 to earn a win and face Querrey in the third round, presuming his opponent is a rusty Haas. Given Querrey is normally a superior hard court player, I’d give him the edge over Sousa to reach the quarters.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will collide against either Donald Young or Denis Istomin in his first match. Young hasn’t had a good season but he qualified in Montreal and Istomin has a poor outdoor hard court record this year, thus I have him winning in round 1 but losing to the superior Tsonga in round 2. The Montreal quarterfinalist could get a difficult third round match against American Steve Johnson, presuming Johnson dispatches the Groth/Donaldson winner in round 2. Groth and Donaldson are also possible dark horses. Johnson reached the semis in Washington but has struggled since then, and Tsonga has the most talent here, so he should be able to put some wins together and reach the quarters.
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez is returning from injury and playing for the first time on hard courts this summer. The Spaniard is 6-6 outdoors this year on hard courts but he still may struggle against either Rendy Lu or Robin Haase. Lu qualified for Montreal and Cincy, and given he’s at his best on this surface and his form appears good for his limited skillset, he could well have a great tournament this week. I see Taiwan’s #1 scoring a win over Haase and an upset over an out of form GGL to reach the third round, where he should face the in-form Benoit Paire. The talented but underachieving Paire won an ATP title on clay not long ago and qualified in Cincy, he’s playing some of his best tennis in years. Presuming he’s dialed in, the Frenchman should have limited difficulties against either James Ward, or more likely young gun Hyeon Chung in round 2, and then I see him getting past Lu with his talented backhand and shotmaking to reach a hard court ATP quarterfinal. Paire is all flair, and Lu is all business in a style contrast.
Bottom Half:
Presuming he’s healthy, Kevin Anderson has a venue and conditions that could create a great week for him, but he’ll have to find his form before the US Open to do that. Big Kev snapped a summer losing streak and won a pair of matches in Cincy, that bodes well for him, and I see him getting a win over Mikhail Kukushkin/Nicolas Mahut in his first match. In the third round he could well have to battle against Rosol/Gulbis, though Jerzy Janowicz is also an option. Janowicz also won a pair of matches in Cincy, and I see him winning a ball bashers battle if he can focus in against Gulbis/Rosol, though it’s a hard section to predict. Anderson with his big serve and strong forehand is the best player in this section for the surface, and thus I see him reaching the quarters, but another player could take his place, as his form has been inconsistent this summer. This section features some big hitters.
Borna Coric has played solid tennis this summer on the US Open Series, though he’s had some tough draws, as he dropped closed matches to Tsonga and Stan Wawrinka in Montreal and Cincy. With that in mind, the young Croatian should defeat either Santiago Giraldo or Steve Darcis in round 2, given how pedestrian both of those veterans have been as of late. He’ll also be a strong favorite in round 3, as one of Pablo Andujar/Diego Schwartzman/Daniel Gimeno-Traver will reach the third round in one of the weakest hard court sections possible at the ATP level. All of those players prefer clay, and Coric has a great opportunity to excel on hard courts right before the US Open, reaching at least the quarterfinals (over Andujar in my bracket).
Viktor Troicki doesn’t have a difficult first match against Malek Jaziri/Joao Souza, but the Serbian #2 is in horrible form and is playing well below his top 20 ranking at the moment. I see Jaziri, who reached the quarterfinals in a pro circuit challenger last week, getting revenge on the dirtballer Souza for his loss in Doha earlier in the season, and then extending Troicki’s losing streak to six matches. With Troicki not much of a threat, and Jaziri a journeyman, the section opens up for Thanasi Kokkinakis most likely. Teymuraz Gabashvili is slated to face the winner of Kokkinakis/Dolgopolov, but besides the fact he beat Andy Murray in Washington, the underachieving Russian has a poor record on ATP level hard courts this year. The young gun Kokkinakis should join his fellow young gun Coric in the quarterfinals this week.
Thomaz Bellucci will face off with either James Duckworth or a qualifier in his first match. Both Bellucci and Duckworth are 2-3 this summer on hard courts, though Bellucci has had tougher draws. The big hitting Brazilian should win his first match before a likely face off with Jiri Vesely, who won an ATP title on hard courts at the start of the season in Auckland. Vesely is 8-6 on outdoor hard this year and has to beat Marsel Ilhan or a qualifier first, Bellucci just beat Vesely last week in Cincy, and thus he should reach the quarterfinals with a weak draw.
Dark Horse: Marcos Baghdatis
I have Thanasi Kokkinakis as a semifinalist, but Baghdatis has a chance to walk away with the title this week as a veteran, though he’ll need to beat Simon, Sam Querrey, and possibly Tsonga/Anderson to do so. Marcos showed renewed vigor, stamina, and passion in his run to the Atlanta final, a similar surface and venue, and he showed his aggressive ball striking was well-suited for hot conditions. An abductor injury is a concern, but if he’s healthy don’t count Baghdatis out to have another remarkable week on the US Open Series.
Predictions
Quarters Querrey d. Baghdatis
Tsonga d. Paire
Kokkinakis d. Bellucci
Anderson d. Coric
Querrey on home soil should have an edge over Baghdatis, who may not be 100%, though I don’t count Marcos out to even win the title. Tsonga is 2-0 against Paire and better on a hard court, Anderson should also have a surface edge in his match, as Coric may struggle with his big serve, and Kokkinakis is also likely superior on hard court to Bellucci in a difficult match to predict.
Semis Tsonga d. Querrey
Anderson d. Kokkinakis
Tsonga has a win over the mentally weak Querrey this year,and Anderson has a h2h win over Kokkinakis from Toronto last year, They are the best two players in terms of talent and form in this draw for the surface, and thus should meet in the final.
A great chance for either player to get an ATP title this week, they have only met once on clay and Tsonga prevailed, but on hard court I feel the advantage shifts to Anderson, who is hoping to walk away with at least one title on the US Open Series this summer.
Djokovic, Murray Among Men Making Montreal Quarters Leicin Sinha for Tennis Atlantic
Djokovic (Photo: Courtney Massey)
Djokovic d. Sock 6-2, 6-1
MONTREAL, August 13–The coin toss was about the only event that could possibly have gone Jack Sock’s way today, but even chance wouldn’t dare hedge its bets against the world number 1 as Djokovic toyed with the young American on Thursday afternoon en route to a dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory. It was oddly enough a match that started well for Sock, as he managed to hold his first service game to love and in the 3rd game force Djokovic to genuflect under a barrage of penetrating inside-out forehands to earn himself a break point opportunity.
This would be as close as he’d ever get to even denting the Serb’s armour in the match. Djokovic, regimented by his brilliant economy of movement and the subtle ability to raise his game ever just enough to lull his opponents out of their comfort zone, set out to break down Sock’s offensive game, which, albeit powerful, lacks the touch and variety necessary to trouble Djokovic’s all court mastery. Sock can hit a devastating flat forehand, but he is unable to surfeit that obvious weapon with precision tools that would allow him to set it up more efficiently. As such, once Sock’s power game was nullified, the Serb was able to coax errors from both wings and turn his best weapon against him.
This is not to say that Djokovic didn’t put on a show of his own, he was simply put, brilliant on this day, serving well and hitting great winners from the baseline, including one crosscourt forehand in the final game to go up 40 love. That particular shot would form a near parallel arc with the baseline and will certainly feature in this week’s highlight reel.
Djokovic will face Gulbis in the quarterfinals on Friday afternoon. It goes without saying that he’s the favourite in this matchup.
Murray d. Muller 6-3, 6-2
The second match of the afternoon session featuring #2 seed Andy Murray and big serving lefty Gilles Muller was just as expeditious as the first, lasting a little over an hour. Westerly winds shuffled through the deck which may have accounted for Murray’s erratic ball tossing early on. He immediately staved off 4 break point opportunities in the very first service game, calmly resisting Muller’s aggressive net approaches with his composure and solid groundstrokes.
The rest of the match would fortunately carry far less friction for the Scot who sealed the first break of the match by calmly lobbing the ball past his opponent in the 4th game of the set. This was preceded by a backhand pass that stunned Muller. Murray, serving strongly, would go on to win the first set 6-3.
The tables would reverse in the second set when Muller went down 0-40 on his serve and eventually conceded the break without winning a point. Muller would ultimately lose his concentration from that point on and start leaking errors while allowing Murray to subdue his relentless chip and charge attack. A 3rd double fault gifted Murray a 2nd break which he would immediately return when Muller finally converted a break point on his fifth attempt. However, Muller served poorly for the remainder of the match, throwing two straight double faults to give Murray a third break. Murray closed out the match with a fitting ace for a 6-3, 6-2 victory. He will face last year’s Champion in Toronto, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
