Vancouver @VanOpen

2015 Vancouver, Cordenons and Meerbusch Challenger Previews & Predictions
Chris De Waard, Tennis Atlantic

Odlum Brown Vanopen

ATP Challenger Tour
Vancouver, B.C., Canada
15-23 August 2015
Hardcourt
Prize Money: $100,000

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Ricardas Berankis (74)
2: John Millman (85)
3: Ernests Gulbis (87)
4: Ruben Bemelmans (103)
5: Go Soeda (108)
6: Kyle Edmund (109)
7: Taro Daniel (112)
8: Alejandro Gonzalez (117)

The last direct acceptance is Gastao Elias, ranked 188th.

First round match-ups to watch

(6) Kyle Edmund – Dudi Sela

Sela

Sela pushed world #69 Alexander Dolgopolov to the edge in their first round qualifying match in Montreal last week, losing 6-2 3-6 7-6(2). Despite Sela’s ranking dropping a bit this year, this indicates he still has it in him to trouble higher-ranked opponents like Edmund. They faced each other last year at the Nottingham Challenger on grass, where Sela prevailed 6-4 2-6 6-2.

Jurgen Melzer – Elias Ymer

An interesting clash of generations, with 34-year-old Melzer facing 19-year-old Ymer. Their rankings are very similar, respectively #133 and #141. Ymer hasn’t had the greatest of runs since qualifying for Wimbledon, posting a 2-4 record. Former world #8 Melzer isn’t doing much better, however, having failed to win back to back matches since Indian Wells in March.

Top Half
Ernests Gulbis Cincy 2013

We might be witnessing the biggest chance of scenery in back to back weeks ever with former top ten player Ernests Gulbis participating here. Last week he reached the quarterfinal of Montreal to eventually fall to world number one Novak Djokovic, but not before missing two match points in the process during his 7-5 6-7(7) 6-1 loss. This week he is the third seed at a Challenger, facing Iliya Marchenko in the first round. Naturally, if he continues his form of last week, he is the favorite to win the title here. Another former top ten player, wild card Janko Tipsarevic, is drawn in this half as well and might be Gulbis’ second round opponent.

Bottom Half

Second seed John Millman is going for his third title in a row. Fatigue might be an issue here, although he had a week off between his first two titles. He might face countryman John-Patrick Smith in the quarterfinal, who beat him in the qualifying draw of Roland Garros this year. Seventh seed Taro Daniel faces a tough first round opponent in Matthew Ebden, with fourth seed Ruben Bemelmans and Austin Krajicek also factors in this section.

Predictions

Semis:

Gulbis d. Berankis
Bemelmans d. Smith

Final:

Gulbis d. Bemelmans

ATP Challenger Intermek Tennis Cup Internazionali Di Tennis Del Friuli Venezia Giulia

ATP Challenger Tour
Cordenons, Italy
17-23 August 2015
Red Clay
Prize Money: €42,500

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Albert Ramos-Vinolas (55)
2: Paolo Lorenzi (80)
3: Filip Krajinovic (122)
4: Kenny De Schepper (143)
5: Andrej Martin (159)
6: Roberto Carballes Baena (168)
7: Filippo Volandri (192)
8: Gianluca Naso (194)

The last direct acceptance is Rogerio Dutra Silva, ranked 302nd.

First round match-up to watch

(1) Albert Ramos-Vinolas – (Q) Jaume Munar

The last time Rafael Nadal’s new protégé Munar faced a fellow Spaniard in the main draw, he won. Kind of. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez retired after three games in the first round of Hamburg, where Munar received a wild card after Nadal made it a requirement for playing himself. In the second round he showed it was a deserved one, however, pushing world #71 Simone Bolelli to the brink, with the Italian winning 6-1 6-7(5) 6-4. It will be interesting to see how the 18-year-old holds up against yet another top 100 player.

Top Half

Top seed Ramos-Vinolas has a tricky draw. After Munar he might face last week’s Prague champion Rogerio Dutra Silva, potentially followed by Portoroz runner-up Grega Zemlja. #6 seed Roberto Carballes Baena is also placed in this section. In the bottom section a wild variety of players might come through, with fourth seed Kenny De Schepper not having clay as his favorite surface. Someone like Nikola Mektic, Alessandro Giannessi or Adrian Ungur might become an unseeded semi-finalist.

Bottom Half

Second seed Paolo Lorenzi has a favorable draw to at least reach the semi-final, being placed in a section with Filippo Volandri as the other seed. In the top section fifth seed Andrej Martin and third seed Filip Krajinovic are likely to decide the other semi-finalist, with Krajinovic being the slight favorite to do so.

Predictions

Semis:

Ramos-Vinolas d. Giannessi
Lorenzi d. Krajinovic

Final:

Ramos-Vinolas d. Lorenzi

Maserati Challenger by Cittadino

ATP Challenger Tour
Meerbusch, Germany
17-23 August 2015
Red Clay
Prize Money: €42,500

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Andreas Haider-Maurer (59)
2: Dustin Brown (83)
3: Facundo Arguello (145)
4: Carlos Berlocq (151)
5: Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (157)
6: Andrey Golubev (162)
7: Jordi Samper-Montana (208)
8: Victor Hanescu (223)

The last direct acceptance is Vladimir Ivanov, ranked 310th.

First round match-up to watch

(1) Andreas Haider-Maurer – (Q) Philipp Davydenko

Haider-Maurer

Last week Haider-Maurer got upset by world #382 Nikola Mektic in the second round of Prague and that might be an indication that he struggles with his motivation in these events, even though he preferred this over trying to qualify for the Masters events in these two weeks. Davydenko, Nikolay’s nephew, faced another player with a famous relative in the final round of qualifying, Federico Coria, Guillermo’s brother, whom he beat 7-5 in the third set.

Top Half

Despite his shocking upset of last week, it’s hard not to predict Haider-Maurer to do well here, the ranking difference with the rest is simply too big. The difference with the second highest seed in this half, third seed Facundo Arguello, is almost a hundred spots. A semi-final showdown between them is likely.

Bottom Half

Fourth seed Carlos Berlocq has had an abysmal year so far because of injury struggles, but with this draw he might be able to rekindle some of his old form. Sixth seed Andrey Golubev is in terrible form himself and other competitors like Daniel Brands, Christian Garin and Berlocq’s first round opponent Tim Puetz are very erratic. Talking about erratic, the bottom section is headed by Dustin Brown, who will likely have to get past seventh seed Jordi Samper-Montana or Pere Riba for a place in the semi-final and is a favorite to do so.