The 2024 U.S. Open is just one week away. Yes, the Grand Slam season–and a busy summer complete with the Paris Olympics–is coming to an end.
However, it’s not over yet. In addition to the festivities at Flushing Meadows, we also have the conclusion of the Cincinnati Masters on Monday and the entire Winston-Salem Open to be played this coming week. A field of 48 is taking the court, and it includes Sebastian Baez, Francisco Cerundolo, Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Alex Michelsen, Borna Coric, Pablo Carreno Busta, and David Goffin.
Winston-Salem Open
Where: Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Surface: Hard
Points: 250
Prize money: $779,780
Top seed: Sebastian Baez
Defending champion: Sebastian Baez
Draw analysis: Needless to say, draws for 250-point events in weeks directly preceding a Grand Slam don’t really mean all much–at least not relative to those of other tournaments. Just about anything can happen, which is why these are the toughest weeks of the year to predict. “Surprising” results will not be surprising if you expect the unexpected. And that’s exactly what you should do in Winston-Salem, where the most motivated players are the ones who generally do well. Of course, it’s not easy to pinpoint which players are eager to make a run at an ATP 250 title and which ones are itching to get to New York City and start preparing for the U.S. Open.
As last year’s results indicate, Baez is one guy who will be putting in a max effort. The Argentine lifted the trophy in 2023 and he is back to defend his title as the top seed. Unfortunately for Baez, last season’s victory was an aberration as opposed to the rule–the rule being that he generally struggles on hard courts. It’s not like he is the favorite in Winston-Salem despite being the No. 1 seed. Cerundolo or Jerry Shang (if healthy) will have a great chance to take advantage in a soft top half of the bracket.
The bottom half is tougher (even though No. 2 seed Jack Draper withdrew), headlined by Etcheverry, Michelsen, Carreno Busta, and big-serving Americans Reilly Opelka and Chris Eubanks. Michelsen’s summer already features a runner-up performance in Newport, a quarterfinal showing in Washington, D.C., and successful qualification in Cincinnati. Carreno Busta is finally back from an elbow injury and played well in Cincy, beating Sebastian Korda and Max Purcell before falling to Alexander Zverev 7-5, 7-6(6).
Hot: Mariano Navone, Nuno Borges, Alex Michelsen, Pavel Kotov, James Duckworth
Cold: Adrian Mannarino, Chris Eubanks, Dan Evans, Dominic Stricker, David Goffin, Borna Coric, Botic van de Zandschulp
Quarterfinal predictions: Arthur Rinderknech over Sebastian Baez, Francisco Cerundolo over Jerry Shang, Pablo Carreno Busta over James Duckworth, and Alex Michelsen over Adam Walton
Semifinals: Cerundolo over Rinderknech and Michelsen over Carreno Busta
Final: Michelsen over Cerundolo
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