American Contingent Including Sam Querrey Highlight ATP Winston-Salem 250 Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
The ATP Winston-Salem 250 is the final tune up before the US Open for a varied contingent of mid-level to fringe ATP players. Here is your look at all the action under the North Carolina sun.
Top Half:
Marton Fucsovics should be a strong favorite against Guido Andreozzi and Radu Albot in rounds 1 and 2. Daniil Medvedev vs. Alex De Minaur looks like an exciting matchup. The DC finalist De Minaur should be a slight favorite against the young Russian who already defeated Mirza Basic in round 1. De Minaur should emerge from the section as a quarterfinalist.
Ryan Harrison should run past wild card Borna Gojo, and then struggling veteran Gilles Simon. Harrison is good enough on American hard courts he could have a great run here. Taylor Fritz should emerge to face Harrison in round 3, Fritz needs to get past Malek Jaziri and Filip Krajinovic, both of whom are struggling. Harrison should reach the quarters.
Jan-Lennard Struff is in good form after beating Benoit Paire round 1, he should beat Marco Cecchinato to reach round 3 while Andreas Seppi will be favored in the section after beating Joao Sousa, with Nicolas Jarry on deck.
Sam Querrey should be the 4th quarterfinalist. neither Taro Daniel/John Millman in round 2 are in great form, and the rest of the section is weak. Damir Dzumhur/Tennys Sandgren will face off in round 2 presuming Sandgren defeats a slumping Ricardas Berankis. The winner in that matchup should fall to Querrey in round 3.
Pablo Carreno Busta is a potential champion, PCB should roll past Pierre-Hugues Herbert or Franko Skugor, with Peter Gojowczyk likely in round 3. Both Lukas Lacko and Horacio Zeballos are struggling. PCB will reach the quarters and should go further.
This is perhaps Hyeon Chung‘s moment to shine post-injury, Chung hasn’t had a significant result since his return to tour but a draw featuring Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in round 2 (GGL defeated Marcos Baghdatis), and most likely Nikoloz Basilashvili or Matteo Berrettini in round 3 looks to be easy enough to reach the quarters. I’ll back Berrettini past Julien Benneteau and Basilashvili, with Chung reaching the quarters.
Leonardo Mayer‘s good form suggests he’s well positioned to upset Kyle Edmund and then defeat Albert Ramos or Roberto Carballes Baena after RCB defeated Guido Pella in round 1. Mayer looks like a dark horse this week and should reach the quarters.
I have qualifier Tommy Paul defeating Laslo Djere, while Steve Johnson is looking to find form and should reach round 3. Andrey Rublev has struggled since playing well in Washington, Rublev should defeat Jaume Munar/Brayden Schnur in round 2, and I’ll back Johnson past Rublev on home soil to reach the quarters.
2016 ATP Winston-Salem Preview and Predictions Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
The final tournament before the US Open is a large field 250 in North Carolina. Here is a preview of the tournament with predictions.
Winston-Salem Open
ATP World Tour 250
Winston-Salem, NC, U.S.A.
August 21-27, 2016
Prize Money: $639,255
Top 4 seeds (Top 16 seeds receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Richard Gasquet (15)
2: Roberto Bautista Agut (17)
3: Pablo Cuevas (19)
4: Steve Johnson (23)
Kokkinakis has been injured most of the year but he played his first match of the season at the Rio Olympics, and now will face Youzhny, a veteran who has been playing well lately. Youzhny should prevail, but this is a great form check for Kokkinakis, as he looks to finish the season strong and head into next year with good form.
Taylor Fritz vs. (WC)Frances Tiafoe
Fritz reached the quarterfinals in Atlanta, but otherwise he’s shown signs be’s been struggling to adapt to ATP level competition on a weekly basis. His fellow young gun Tiafoe has had a great run of form in challengers lately, and although Fritz is more advanced in terms of development and ranking, I could see Tiafoe notching an upset in this one.
Donald Young vs. Pierre–Hugues Herbert
Young has had a few decent showings this summer, including a quarterfinal in Atlanta and he should be the favorite in this match. Herbert is a doubles specialist and a serve and volleyer who last played singles at Wimbledon. This is a good test for Young, who has a great chance to do well this tournament.
Richard Gasquet struggled in Cincy, while his potential first round opponent Dan Evans is in great form, having just won a challenger. Evans will open with Gastao Elias, and will have a shot against Gasquet, but the Frenchman should prevail and also defeat his countryman Paul-Henri Mathieu, who opens with Stephane Robert, and then will face the seed Federico Delbonis in round 2. Both Delbonis and Robert are in terrible form, thus PHM should reach the third round.
Wild card Bjorn Fratangelo has a great shot at reaching the quarterfinals in a weak section. Fratangelo has been steadily improving and moving into ATP caliber tennis up from the challenger level. He’ll open with Evgeny Donskoy, a tough opponent, Paolo Lorenzi, a clay courter, will follow, with one of a qualifier, Albert Ramos or John Millman up in round 3. Millman played well in Cincy, and if he can beat a qualifier, and a struggling Ramos, I give him a slight edge over Fratangelo in the third round. Gasquet should defeat Millman in the quarterfinals.
Pablo Cuevas will face Malek Jaziri or a qualifier, Jaziri can play well at times, and Cuevas isn’t a pro on hard courts but I do have him prevailing in his match and reaching the third round to face Pablo Carreno Busta, a semifinalist in Cabo. PCB will face the winner of Andreas Seppi vs. J.L. Struff, and with both players struggling, he’s favored to advance. I also have him upsetting Cuevas to reach the quarterfinals.
Kevin Anderson has played well in both hard court Masters tournaments this summer, despite having a poor season he has a great chance to win this tournament. Anderson will face Jiri Vesely or a qualifier first off, with Andrey Kuznetsov or the Kokkinakis/Youzhny winner in round 3. I have Youzhny beating Kokkinakis, and Kuznetsov, who was injured in Rio, to setup a third round match with Anderson. Anderson should defeat Vesely and Youzhny, then Carreno Busta in the quarterfinals to reach the semis.
Roberto Bautista Agut reached the quarterfinals of Rio. and looks set to make a deep run in this tournament as well. RBA will face Aljaz Bedene or a qualifier, with Marcos Baghdatis likely in the third round. Baghdatis should defeat Young or Herbert before falling to RBA in round 3.
Gilles Simon will face Mikhail Kukushkin or Diego Schwartzman in round 2, neither player is in good form, which means Simon should go through to the third round. His third round opponent should be Joao Sousa, Sousa will face Illya Marchenko or Yen-Hsun Lu in the second round. Both players are struggling, and thus Simon over Sousa is my pick in round 3. RBA should then defeat Simon to reach the semifinals.
Steve Johnson is the new American #1, Johnson has been in great form all year and should roll past Lukas Rosol or Victor Estrella, then defeat Fernando Verdasco who faces Tiafoe/Fritz in round 2. Expect an all American battle between Johnson and Sam Querrey in quarterfinals. Querrey will face Damir Dzumhur or Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in his first match. Neither player is playing well, so although Querrey has struggled, he’s set to end up facing Viktor Troicki or Kyle Edmund/Rajeev Ram in round 3. Troicki has been in miserable form, so I have Edmund getting past the Olympic doubles medalist Ram, and then Troicki before falling to Querrey. Johnson should dispatch Querrey given his better recent form.
The Australian has always had the talent to be an ATP contender, but he’s struggled to be consistent over the years and has never quite lived up to his potential. Millman looks set to make the quarterfinals here, and if he can upset Gasquet he’d been for a long desired ATP breakthrough.
Predictions
Semis Anderson d. Gasquet
Bautista Agut d. Johnson
Anderson just dominated Gasquet in Cincy, RBA is 4-0 against Johnson and the American should want to preserve himself for the US Open.
Final Anderson d. Bautista Agut
Anderson badly needs an ATP title right now, and he has a great chance to get one here.
#2 seed Kevin Anderson boosted his ranking, broke out of a summer slump, and captured his first ATP title since 2012 with a routine 6-4 7-5 victory over qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert in Winston-Salem. Anderson came into the Winston-Salem Open with just two match wins since Wimbledon, and after a slow start in his opening match against Mikhail Kukushkin, where he had to serve his way back from a set down, he didn’t drop another set against Jerzy Janowicz, Borna Coric, and Malek Jaziri before the final. The South African moves back into the top 15, and puts himself into the dark horse conversation for the US Open as well with his powerful and steady hard court game. Anderson didn’t drop serve after his opening match through the rest of the week.
Herbert, along with Jaziri, and Steve Johnson, the other semifinalist, was a pleasant surprise this week. The talented Frenchman had seen his singles career decline and was close to becoming perhaps a doubles specialist, but at 24 he’s certainly going to be back focusing on singles after reaching his first ATP final. PHH, who also has a quality serve, didn’t drop a set in qualifying and then ousted veterans Sergiy Stakhovsky and Marcos Baghdatis, in 3 sets to reach the quarterfinals. From there he scored tough comeback wins against Pablo Carreno Busta from a set down and a second set tiebreak won, and likewise against Johnson, who came up just short in his bid to reach his first ever ATP title in front of home fans no less.
It’s hard to tell what type of player Herbert will develop into in coming seasons, but his play this week once more demonstrated his under appreciated potential.
In doubles the veteran pairing of Dominic Inglot/Robert Lindstedt scored a routine win over Eric Butorac/Scott Lipsky to go home with the title. Attention now shifts to the US Open which starts on Monday, as the Emirates Airlines US Open Series has now concluded for 2015.
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.
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.
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.
The second day of main draw play at the Winston-Salem open brought the first round to conclusion and saw fifth seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez open the second round in the night session. The day’s play was on the whole a level higher than Sunday’s, with a number of exceptional clashes and notable names.
The day session was opened with defending champion Jurgen Melzer falling to qualifier David Goffin 6-3 6-4. Melzer, who would later lose in the first round of doubles as well, will see his ranking fall outside the top 100 after an injury-plagued last twelve months. Goffin, meanwhile, continues an incredible run of form that saw him win his first title in Kitzbuhel.
On court two, Jerzy Janowicz put up an impressive performance against Carlos Berlocq. Although the two are close in the rankings currently, Berlocq was a serious underdog on the quick hard courts of Winston-Salem and looked lost in the first set before steadying himself slightly in the second. Janowicz, however, simply had too much power for Berlocq to absorb in the end, and won 6-1 6-4.
Janowicz dispatches Berlocq
On court three, Federico Delbonis pulled off an upset victory over a superior hard-courter in Martin Klizan, 7-6(5) 6-4. Klizan produced nearly all of the match’s best shots and received almost universal crowd support, but was too erratic and dealt with Delbonis’s impressive serving too poorly to prevail. On the distant court four, Igor Sijsling defeated Andrey Golubev in a tight two-setter. Golubev failed to take advantage of poor volleying by Sijsling and allowed himself to be outrallied by the Dutchman, surrendering his serve from 40-0 for the decisive break in a 7-6(5) 6-3 match.
Delbonis had one of the first big upsets of the tournament
In what was surprisingly possibly the day’s best match, Frank Dancevic faced off against Thomaz Bellucci. Both players’ smooth and powerful serves and groundstrokes drew a larger crowd than one would expect on the third court, and Dancevic produced a number of stunning backhands equaled by a stream of Bellucci winners off the forehand wing. An extended rally saw Dancevic take a very tight first set, but Bellucci rebounded to take the second set with ease. In the end, it was the Canadian who prevailed in a three-set match interrupted by rain with Bellucci down break point in the third set, 7-5 3-6 6-2.
Canadian veteran Frank Dancevic survived a test from Bellucci
Around the grounds, there was plenty of action to be had between spurts of rain which included what was nearly a two-hour delay. Adrian Mannarino easily put away an erratic Damir Dzumhur 6-2 6-2. Aleksandr Nedovyesov crushed American hopes with a close 6-4 6-4 win over Marcos Giron in which the American was a dismal 1/7 on break chances. Blaz Rola prevailed in two tight sets over fellow leftie Wayne Odesnik, 7-6(3) 6-3. In one of the day’s two second round matches, Jarkko Nieminen came from a break down in the second to defeat Benjamin Becker 7-5 6-4.
Mannarino showed great form against Dzumhur
On Center Court, the night session was led into with a pair of low quality matches, Paul-Henri Mathieu’s messy 6-3 7-5 win over wild card Robby Ginepri and Sam Querrey’s 7-6(5) 6-4 win over Pere Riba, who is unimposing on a hard court. However, the first set of Dustin Brown taking on fifth seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez was probably the highest quality and most dramatic of the event thusfar. Brown’s big serve and beautiful volleys were pitted against Garcia-Lopez’s capable return and piercing groundstrokes off both wings. Brown saved two set points with two aces at 4-5, and took the tiebreak 7-5 after a Garcia-Lopez double fault. Brown’s resistance would fade, however, in the next two sets, with a lackluster final scoreline of 6-7(5) 6-2 6-2.
The doubles draw got underway today with some upset results. The second seeded team of Rohan Bopanna and defending champion Daniel Nestor lost in a pair of tiebreaks to the Columbians Cabal and Farah. Melzer was handed his second loss of the day as he and partner Lukas Rosol lost to Marcel Granollers and his unaccomplished partner, singles specialist Pablo Andujar 7-6(3) 2-6 10-4, with Melzer making a number of errors on critical points. The wild card team of Nicholas Monroe and Donald Young upset the Argentines Delbonis and Leonardo Mayer 7-6(4) 7-5. Robin Haase and Nicolas Mahut defeated Scott Lipsky and Max Mirnyi 7-5 6-4 in a match that may have been decided when Mirnyi missed a sitting duck volley at 5-5 40-40 in the first.
Tomorrow will be the day that fourteen of the event’s 16 seeds begin their campaigns. This includes two-time champion and hometown John Isner, whose practices are better attended than some of the main draw matches, and last week’s Cincy quarterfinalist Tommy Robredo, as well as the top seeded doubles pairing of Leander Paes (the other half of last year’s winning doubles team) and David Marrero. The forecast calls for more rain, but hopefully that will not prevent all the day’s tennis from being played.
Sunday marked the beginning of main draw action at the Winston-Salem Open, as well as completion of the qualifying competition. The tournament’s top sixteen seeds received byes to the second round but there were still plenty of matches played around the ground nonetheless.
In the final round of qualifying, second seed Simone Bolelli was upset by Wayne Odesnik. While I did not watch this match, I was able to hear the crowd’s reaction and it seemed they were on Odesnik’s side, which is somewhat surprising in spite of Odesnik’s nationality given his reputation.
While Odesnik came from a set behind to beat the flashy Italian, fourth seed, Damir Dzumhur struggled through a 6-4 6-4 win against Austrian doubles specialist Philipp Oswald.. The big-serving Oswald, who towered over Dzumhur, grabbed the early break but failed to compete as the match became more physical. Dzumhur struggled to close out the match from 40-0 but held on to seal the win.
Dzumhur pulls through qualifying
Top seeded David Goffin- who would be seeded if he had made the cut for the main draw six weeks ago- had his weak serve punished on numerous occasions but was too solid from the baseline for Jason Jung, who faded to a 6-1 second set after a hard fought 7-5 first. Marcos Giron won a battle of unseeded players as he came back from a set down to qualify against Mate Pavic.
Following the end of the qualifying tournament, the main draw action began. Benjamin Becker took on Pablo Carreño Busta in a topsy-turvy match that spanned three sets. Carreño Busta allowed Becker to dictate the match at all points except perhaps when he was up a break in the second. The German seemed to go on holiday between a first set where he overwhelmed the Spanish clay-courter with his power and a third that was much of the same. Becker’s powerful serve proved to be an obstacle for the Spaniard throughout and Carreño Busta won a dismal 13% of first serve return points in the match. Credit to the good spirits shown from PCB post match, he was more than happy to sign autographs for children even after his defeat.
Becker continues his run of form
Nicolas Mahut was never troubled in a straight set win over Blaz Kavcic. Kavcic has bettered his ranking significantly in the past few months with success at Challengers and was arguably in better form than the French veteran, but lost by a tame 6-3 6-2 scoreline.
Dustin Brown delivered the day’s best performance with an incredible 6-3 6-2 shellacking of Alejandro Gonzalez. Brown went up 5-1 in about fifteen minutes with a dazzling display of serve and volley, return winners, drop shots, and huge serves (though relatively rarely aces). It appeared his level had come to Earth briefly when Gonzalez recaptured one break with a “vamos” but Brown was equally ruthless in the second set. Gonzalez did not play poorly, but simply looked out of his league, getting sympathy from the crowd for being on the wrong end of one of the most flawless performances of the season.
Dustin Brown puts up a dazzling performance in round 1
The final match of the day session on Center Court pitted Robin Haase against Benoit Paire in a battle of underachieving talents. Paire argued with the umpire after equaling the match at a set apiece over what appeared to be a Haase toilet break, only to then (in protest?) sit down when Haase broke for 2-0 in the decider saying he couldn’t play and leave the court for an extended period at 3-0, leading Haase to have his own words with the umpire. After Paire extended very little effort at 5-2, Haase won the three setter in what will be remembered as yet another match in which Paire defeated himself.
Benoit Paire didn’t make many friends today
In evening session action, Bradley Klahn survived a topsy turvy 3 setter with young American wild card Noah Rubin to win 6-2 0-6 7-6. Rubin struggled to get accustomed to Klahns big serve in set 1, but after Klahn started spewing errors, his aggressive approach and lanky strokes won him a decided advantage in set 2. In the third, Klahn got back in the saddle and was up 4-1, but Rubin clawed back and from 5-5 they went to a tiebreak that Klahn edged out. Given it was his first match back from injury, the struggles from Klahn were to be expected, and Rubin put up a good account for himself. Both players have plenty to work on going into the US Open. Fellow American Ryan Harrison joins Klahn in round 2 after a late night 6-4 6-2 victory over JL Struff.
Tomorrow’s schedule marks the conclusion of the first round, the beginning of the second, and the start of an extremely drawn-out first round of doubles. Defending champion Jurgen Melzer opens against David Goffin on Center Court, a match that pits the oft-injured Austrian against a player coming back from injury problems of his own. Had they been healthy in the past twelve months, both of these players would have been seeded. As it is, only one will make it to the second round. That match is to be followed by an impossible to call battle of veterans in a match between Paul-Henri Mathieu and wild card Robby Ginepri. Sam Querrey, whose name was properly spelled on the tournament banner this year, will end the day session with what should be a fairly routine match against Spanish clay-courter Pere Riba. The lone singles match of the night session will have fifth seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez facing off against today’s hottest player, Dustin Brown.
On the outside courts, Jerzy Janowicz will face Argentine Carlos Berlocq. Berlocq is the type of player that Janowicz must learn to beat consistently to return to the top twenty after a severe dip in form in 2014. Two up-and-coming lefties will face off when Martin Klizan plays what should be a simple match against Federico Delbonis, who has yet to prove himself off of his favored clay. Jarkko Nieminen will attempt to put last year’s disastrous match against Sam Querrey (in which he squandered a number of match points) behind him as he opens his 2014 campaign against Benjamin Becker.
In doubles action, Daniel Nestor headlines on Center Court with (presumably temporary) partner Rohan Bopanna against the accomplished team of Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal. On Court 2, the wild card team of Jurgen Melzer and Lukas Rosol will face the odd pairing of world number 226 doubles player Pablo Andujar and world number 14 Marcel Granollers.
Tennis Atlantic 