ATP Weekend Preview
By Leo Koukakis
It is Friday again which means quarterfinals in all of the ATP tournaments. This week featured 3 tournaments with star players, and major headlines scattered across the world.
Lets begin the preview in France where Marin Cilic kicked off the quaterfinals with a dominant 6-3 6-4 win over Kuznetsov. The next 3 matches are truly exceptional for a 250 event. First up we have Nick Kyrgios up against Richard Gasquet. Gasquet has dominated this match up having beaten Nicky in their last 3 encounters. The next clash features Stan Wawrinka against Benoit Paire. Both men have yet to play up to their abilities, but if both play up to standard this should be a cracking contest. The final match on court this afternoon will be David Goffin against Tomas Berdych. Berdych should smoke Goffin, but Berdych is coming off an incredible 3 setter against the youngster Zverev, and seemed to be hobbled toward the end of the match.
All 7 of the remaining guys could get hot and win the tournament, but the one I really want to keep an eye on is Benoit Paire. Paire usually plays better with the crowd at his back, and features plenty of weapons that could hurt a top player. I like him to get through his match with Stan this afternoon, and for him to make a run at least to the final.
The other hard court tournament taking place this week is the one in Delray Beach. The headline has been Juan Martin Del Potro’s comeback, and he has not disappointed. He has dispatched of both Dennis Kudla and JP Smith in straight sets, but will face a tough competitor in Jeremy Chardy this evening. However, there is plenty of tennis to be played before Del Po takes the court. The first match of the day should be a snoozer as everyone expects Dimitrov to get through Mannarino without an issue. Next up we have the shocking Rajeev Ram up against German Benjamin Becker. Ram has been one of the best stories of the early season, but I don’t like his chances against the red hot Becker. The final match up is one between Americans Sam Querry and Tim Smyczek. Timmy should be confident after a crazy comeback against Donald Young yesterday, but will certainly have issues dealing with Sam’s huge serve. Sam really played a solid match against Krajicek last night, and I like him to do the same to advance to the semi’s.
Obviously the guy to watch here has to be Del Potro. It has been awesome to see him back on the court crushing the forehand, but his backhand still doesn’t look good enough right now. He may get through his match with Chardy tonight, but I don’t give him much of a shot against a top player like Dimitrov. Grigor looks really focused right now, and a solid draw has me believing that he will be the one to lift the trophy Sunday afternoon.
The other tournament this week is the one with the most points on the line. The 500 event in Rio de Janeiro has been thrilling from the start. We’ve seen the king of clay tested by the likes of Almagro yesterday, underdogs like Pella and Gimeno-Travor make impressive runs to the final 8, and other clay court specialists like Cuevas do their thing on the red stuff.
The first match of the day is one between the two biggest underdogs. Both Gimeno-Traver and Pella weren’t given much of a shot at the start of the tournament, but one of them will make it to their first semi. Pella has really shown me something in his two wins over big John Isner and a straight set win over Giraldo, so I like him to come through this one as well. The next one is a battle of clay courters in Cuevas and Del Bonis. Del Bonis likes to play on clay, but Cuevas is one of the sneakiest players out there. Cuevas has been one of the most successful guys on clay since the start of last season, so I expect him to continue his run in Brazil.
The final two matches of the afternoon are true headline matches. First off we have Dominic Thiem against David Ferrer. Thiem is not exactly known as a clay courter, but he was the one that beat Rafa and won the title in Buenos Aires last week. This will be his first head to head match against Ferrer, but its coming at a good time as Ferrer really struggled against Ramos yesterday. It should be a tight one throughout, but I like Thiem to pull another upset. The final match on court should be a thrilling one. Rafa Nadal is up against Dolgopolov. Rafa may be in some trouble here. The Ukrainian is one of the streakiest players on tour, but if he starts to get hot he can hit anyone off the court. Rafa is going to need to get off to a good start, and step on his throat early. The longer this goes the more of an edge Dolgopolov will have. I like Rafa to escape, but this one should be a thriller.
That should set up a rematch of last weekends thriller between Thiem and Rafa. Nadal is so incredibly fragile right now. He is the king of clay, the greatest of all time on this surface, but has seemingly forgotten that. You can just see that he is getting nervous in big moments, and that is causing him to choke away some big points. If he comes through to lift this trophy it would do him a world of good, but his lack of confidence paired with a difficult draw makes me believe that he won’t be able to do it.
This weekend offers something for every tennis fan. Enjoy!