The furious February swing on the ATP Tour is finally coming to an end, but it is going out with a bang. A pair of 500-point tournaments are on this week’s schedule, drawing both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal back to the court. Djokovic headlines the Dubai field along with Andrey Rublev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Jannik Sinner. Nadal is joined in Acapulco by Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Matteo Berrettini. Meanwhile, the Golden Swing wraps up in Santiago.
Abierto Mexicano Telcel
Where: Acapulco, Mexico
Surface: Hard
Points: 500
Prize money: $1,678.065
Top seed: Daniil Medvedev
Defending champion: Alexander Zverev
Draw analysis: This is just about as good as it gets for an ATP 500. In fact, five of the top six players on hand—the only exception being Djokovic, who is in Dubai. Nadal is back in action for the first time since his record-breaking Australian Open title, and a rude draw awaits him. The 35-year-old Spaniard will kick off his campaign against Dallas champion and current Delray Beach finalist Reilly Opelka before possibly facing another big-serving American in Maxime Cressy. Acapulco conditions suit Nadal’s game just fine, but they do the same for Opelka and Cressy. Berrettini is in the same quarter of the bracket, while Medvedev is in the same half. Taylor Fritz, who finished runner-up to Nadal in 2020, could meet Medvedev in the quarterfinals.
Like Berrettini, Carlos Alcaraz is making a move from clay to hard courts. Currently in the Rio de Janeiro final, Alcaraz will begin in Acapulco against current Delray Beach finalist Cameron Norrie. The winner of that showdown is likely to run into John Isner during second-round action and then possibly Zverev in the quarters. Tsitsipas finds himself in by far the weakest quarter of the draw, and he may need all the help he can get given his recent struggles in Rotterdam and Marseille.
Hot: Daniil Medvedev, Rafael Nadal, Matteo Berrettini, Taylor Fritz, Jenson Brooksby, Carlos Alcaraz, Marcos Giron, Reilly Opelka, Maxime Cressy, Adrian Mannarino
Cold: Alexander Zverev, John Isner, Fernando Verdasco, Benoit Paire, Feliciano Lopez
Quarterfinal predictions: Taylor Fritz over Daniil Medvedev, Matteo Berrettini over Rafael Nadal, Pablo Carreno Busta over Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Jenson Brooksby over Cameron Norrie
Semifinals: Berrettini over Fritz and Carreno Busta over Norrie
Final: Berrettini over Carreno Busta
Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
Where: Dubai, U.A.E.
Surface: Hard
Points: 500
Prize money: $2,794,840
Top seed: Novak Djokovic
Defending champion: Aslan Karatsev
Draw analysis: Djokovic is back. It remains to be seen how many tournaments and which ones he will play as the Covid-19 pandemic continues and his vaccination status (or lack thereof) remains unchanged, but he is good to go in Dubai. The world No. 1 is playing for the first time in 2022 and his game will have to get up to speed in a hurry. Djokovic starts off with Lorenzo Musetti, who took two sets in their French Open match last spring. Karen Khachanov in the second round and Marin Cilic in the last eight could be the Serb’s next two opponents. An intriguing opener in the top half of the draw pits Auger-Aliassime—the Rotterdam winner and Marseille finalist—against Doha runner-up Nikoloz Basilashvili. Shapovalov is part of his fellow Canadian’s quarter, but the left-hander’s current form doesn’t inspire much confidence.
With fellow seeds Hubert Hurkacz and Aslan Karatsev in less than impressive form, Rublev and Sinner have every reason to reach the semis. Rublev captured the Marseille title on Sunday, and when the Russian gets on a roll he is tough to stop. Sinner is coming off a quarterfinal showing at the Australian Open. Andy Murray is a potential second-round for Sinner, but nothing about the 34-year-old Scot’s level right now suggests he is on the verge of scoring a top-10 win.
Hot: Andrey Rublev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Jannik Sinner, Roberto Bautista Agut, Taro Daniel, Arthur Rinderknech, Marin Cilic
Cold: Hubert Hurkacz, Aslan Karatsev, Ilya Ivashka, Malek Jaziri, David Goffin
Quarterfinal predictions: Novak Djokovic over Roberto Bautista Agut, Nikoloz Basilashvili over Marton Fucsovics, Jannik Sinner over Botic Van de Zandschulp, and Andrey Rublev over Mackenzie McDonald
Semifinals: Djokovic over Basilashvili and Sinner over Rublev
Final: Djokovic over Sinner
Chile Dove Men+Care Open
Where: Santiago, Chile
Surface: Clay
Points: 250
Prize money: $475,960
Top seed: Cristian Garin
Defending champion: Cristian Garin
Draw analysis: Chilean tennis—and the fans in Santiago—are not going to like this draw one bit. Cristian Garin and Alejandro Tabilo are the country’s two best players, but at least one will be out in the second round. Garin has a first-round bye as the top seed and he awaits the winner of Tabilo vs. Renzo Olivo. It is an all-around rough section of the bracket, as Miomir Kecmanovic, Holger Rune, and former French Open semifinalist Marco Cecchinato also find themselves in the top quarter.
A distinct Argentine flavor marks the bottom half of the bracket. It is home to Federico Delbonis, Sebastian Baez, Facundo Bagnis, Juan Manuel Cerundolo, Juan Ignacio Londero, and Tomas Martin Etcheverry. Baez is one of the rising stars on tour, but Ramos-Vinolas has to be considered the favorite to reach the final. The 33-year-old Spaniard triumphed in Cordoba at the beginning of the clay-court swing, beating Tabilo in the final.
Hot: Federico Coria, Sebastian Baez, Facundo Bagnis, Francisco Cerundolo, Alejandro Tabilo
Cold: Cristian Garin, Hugo Dellien, Juan Manuel Cerundolo, Marco Cecchinato
Quarterfinal predictions: Alejandro Tabilo over Miomir Kecmanovic, Jaume Munar over Federico Coria, Sebastian Baez over Federico Delbonis, and Albert Ramos-Vinolas over Francisco Cerundolo
Semifinals: Tabilo over Munar and Ramos-Vinolas over Baez
Final: Tabilo over Ramos-Vinolas
WWW?
All top seeds will loose in QF in Acapulco? but, in Dubai, top seed will go on to win title?
Funny, isn’t it?
I just looked at Ricky’s twitter. He asked if there is any good reason why Rafa is playing Acapulco?!
I have to say that I agree with him. He should take a leaf out of Fed’s book after winning AO 2017 and pare down his schedule. He is playing IW in a couple of weeks with clay starting in April. It isn’t sensible to be risking the foot injury by playing now in an ATP 500.( It’s not that necessarily he gets injured in Acapulco but that he is going to be playing too much).
Please don’t all attack me!
I can’t help worrying about 2009. We all know how he was at the end of RG last year and it will be sickening if it happens again. That’s the principal reason he lost to Novax not Novax’s wonderful play.
I wasn’t really making a point. I was genuinely wondering if there were some good reasons.
I saw some decent answers, but nothing great.
Amy relax, Nadal is not federer nor is Djokovic. Fed n Djoko can skip everything and come and play a grand slam and win it or do very well. He needs match play to fine tune his game and most importantly increase his seeding so that in grandslams he will not get the nightmare draw he got at the Australian open. He has to get to number 4 or 3 to avoid top players. He’s not after being no 1. Everyone seems to have forgotten that Rafa himself said that him not playing much is not good for his foot, that he needs more match play not just to fine tune his game but to keep his foot fit and healthy. He said this himself and alluded to the doctors advising him as well.
Rafa and his team know what they are doing. He’s not overplaying anything. He needs to seriously improve his game as well even on clay. Let’s not kid ourselves in thinking that rafa’s foot is what contributed to him losing to Djokovic at the French. He was quite poor by his standards last year clay season, the foot just made it worse. He needs to seriously improve his clay game n overall game if he wants to win slams. That doesn’t come by magic or relaxing on the sofa. It comes with match play. This is not 2009, that was ages ago, he’s not a kid anymore, he’s a very experienced player now and more experienced with injuries than anybody so him and his team know what they are doing.
Rafa withdrew from playing Wimbledon n Olympics bc of his foot last year and came back and played a little before the US open and reinjured it. He learnt that not playing for so long in the name of protecting his foot even worsened the condition to the point that he needed surgery. It’s all about balance. So everybody should relax. He knows what he’s doing and I support him. Let’s not forget that there were some rafans that thought he shouldn’t be playing Melbourne or Australian open so soon after surgery and Covid as not to reinjure his foot bc ofcourse he was never going to win the Australian open. Well, we all know now how catastrophically wrong they were.
Rafa knows what he’s doing. Let him improve his game bc he’s not winning the French playing the way he played last year clay season; let him improve his seeding to get a decent draw at slams and he knows his foot more than any of us so let him handle it with his team the way they see fit and I fully support him.
Happy,
Bravo! Loved your post! You said so much of what I am feeling. Let him play! Why are we worrying now? If anything bad was going to happen, it would have been at the AO. Rafa said after his matches that he was not physically ready for the AO. That’s why he almost decided not to go. We know the risks of going into a slam undercooked. We saw the heat stroke in the quarterfinals with Shapo. That was because he was off for so long and had not played enough. We saw him play two great sets of tennis and then watched as his level dropped in the match with Khachanov and Berrettini. Lack of enough match play.
But Rafa survived! Nothing bad happened to his body. The foot held up. We need to have faith in Rafa. He knows what it’s all about. He wants to play! That’s why he fought so hard to come back. He loves to play tennis! So let him play and have confidence that he and his team know what he’s doing.
I also agree strongly that Rafa needs to move up in the rankings to 3 or 4. Otherwise his draws will be a nightmare. He is about 480 points behind Tsitsipas for the #4 ranking. So let him play!
Amy ..Rafa just played 12 tournaments in last 2 years . He’s rested more than enough ..let him play .if he feels his body can handle so be it. He should though not play both iw n Miami .one suffices ..n maybe skip Madrid too .Madrid is anyway no good prep for rg
I have totally given up on Ricky’s predictions. Yes I know anything can happen but predictions shouldn’t be plucked from the air. Rafa has just beaten Berrettini fairly easily in Australia and easily beat him at the USO. So their h2h is 2:0 to Rafa both on h/c, in slams. Give me a break.
Nadal beating himself could happen against anyone.
In fact, it might even be before the quarterfinals.
It seems like you’re always expecting Rafa to beat himself. He’s 10:0 on hardcourt this year with 2 h/c titles and you still don’t give him a chance.
Nothing is set in stone but I always thought predictions were based on actual metrix.
So did I. I thought there was a way to work out the winner.But thats changing .
Well if Sam Querrey could do it…the conditions obviously suit that type of big hitter …just like Berrettini.
That was to posts at 2.08 and 2.16
This is kind of a truism and applies to any player in any sport.
Rafa will be playing at Acapulco and IW and maybe Miami, but he may lose early in one or even two of them, therefore he may not be overplaying. Should he play well to win any of them, he would be match ready to play well on clay.
I think Rafa is good enough, not needing to play many matches in order to feel confident to play well at the slams (he didn’t play many warm up matches before winning the AO this year!), but yes, he needs to test his foot to see whether it can withstand all the stress from playing matches.
I think he’s mature and wise enough now not to endure unnecessary pain during matches, something he failed to do when he was younger.
His next target is winning the FO, so he will pace himself nicely and be ready for the FO.
Happy February 21, 2022 at 2:51 PM
“Amy relax, Nadal is not federer nor is Djokovic. Fed n Djoko can skip everything and come and play a grand slam and win it or do very well.”
What?
Did Rafa not come from 6 months out to win the Melbourne Summer Set and the AO 2022? When Djokovic came back from his time out he lost in the 2nd round at the AO to Istomin. That’s the only time Djokovic has had to comeback from along break so we have no other evidence for how he’ll do after at least 6 months out.
“…..after a long break……”
I did read here that Rafa would never have lost to Djoko if his foot hadnt been injured, fair enough . A pity Rafa fans on here cant enjoy and discuss other players not just him.They were nowhere to be seen for months after the FO .One or two appeared briefly when Nole lost the US Open, seemingly to rub it in.
Im just being factual .
Rub it in? Are you kidding with that? Or have you forgotten what went on with the Novak fans when he beat Rafa at RG last year in the semis? Because I haven’t. The worst if the worst came here to gloat and rub it in our faces.
I took time off after Rafa had to take six months off. I was very upset and wondered if that was it for him. Usually I follow tennis even if he’s not playing, but this time I just needed to take a break. Excuse me for living.
I am really getting tired of reading these cheap shots at Rafa fans. I neve4 rubbed it in about his Novak lost the calendar slam last year. But what done Novak fans did in coming here just to trash Rafa and his fans, was despicable.
Some Novak fans!
Yes, well you can’t tar all fans with the same brush but that’s the way some people are.There are lots of Nadal fans I’ve a lot of respect for and who aren’t one player fans and don’t need to take six months off.But I did read a comment above denigrating Noles ‘wonderful play’ I’m glad the next poster gave a more balanced answer.
Sometimes I wonder how seriously we all take this its only a game.
While Ive been disappointed many times when favourite players lost, esp when it was obvious they were never going to win big again, excuse me but I was fine a few days later. Ive read comments about people not sleeping for days over a tough match or loss , but its your privilege to take six months to get over it if thats what it takes. Its a game where you hit a spherical object over a net.
Guve it aren’t with the psychological bullshit. You are taking this too far.
I don’t give a damn what you think about me taking six months off. I have watched this sport since I was very young. I don’t need to read this garbage.
Sorry autocorrect.
Give it up with the psychological bullshit!
I think I got it the first time.Your privilege I don’t care
I, for one, don’t really have time to follow tennis nowadays and I don’t really like where tennis is heading anyways. For Rafa I am making an exception, that’s all. The fact that a tennis player which I don’t like beat another one which I really don’t like is hardly a reason to spend valuable time commenting on. I am still following what’s going on when Rafa is not around, but that’s about it.
I guess that Novax kind of drew comments from non-fans with his pre-USO final declarations. Also when he got defaulted, the year before, he probably startled his detractors as well.
The thought that I might just lose interest for tennis once Rafa retires saddens me; hopefully someone new will come around and bring the same kind of passion.
Excuse me? Which Rafa fans turned up after his USO loss to terrorise people??
And why is watching other tennis players some kind of moral category? I have been cheering Ash Barty while rafa was out. I actually prefer WTA to ATP when there is no Fedal. Talking of which, the standard of tennis without them at wimby was pretty dire. I actually switched the men’s final off after a few games the standard was so atrocious.
There were great matches on the women’s side especially between my 2 fave players Barty and Kerber.
Like stated I wasn’t around at the time. I hope that Rafa fans which comment here did refrain, but I can understand why SOME non-Djoker fans (not necessarily Rafa fans) wouldn’t have missed the chance to slam Novax, generally speaking.
Normally no player is bigger than any given sport and it is somewhat abnormal to watch a sport just for a certain player. That being said, it is what it is and everybody can watch whatever they please 🙂
I am a Rafa fan. I have gibe through the ups and downs of his career. He is my favorite player. I don’t know how I will deal with him retiring. It has been quite a ride.
I have watched tennis all my life. I have seen the greatest players in each era. Of course I watch other players. But if I need to take a break for whatever reason, I do it. Rafa being out for six months with the foot, just crushed me. There were also some very toxic Novak fans that trolled this forum. Everyone, and that includes Al, knows what I am talking about. If you have nothing better to do than trash a player and his fans viciously because he lost to your guy, then you are a lost soul without any purpose in life. I don’t need to be around that kind of toxic hate.
Since I have spent most if my life watching this sport, I don’t feel the need to make excuses if I take a sabbatical. But I am back and enjoying tennis again. Love seeing Rafa get his miracle win at the AO. Loved watching some quality matches. I am ready for more,
Maxine Cressey has withdrawn with stomach problems. He’s been replaced by a LL Stefan Kozlov.
Ricky ..will you give Rafa a chance in the clay swing ? 🙂
Rafa is barely few hundred points behind Stefanos. I think he will get to 4 by french. Stefanos n Rafa have similar points to defend for the clay swing.
Alcaraz will be a banana skin for anyone. Now that he is 20 rank ,fourth round danger for top seeds
Ricky assuming Novak plays all remaining slams ,are you already giving him the remaining 3 ? 🙂
Novak your comment is a bit salty. If you got tons of respect for rafa ,no need to mention the last line. Rafa has missed several GS ,few when he was no 1,he did not use words like me not being there nevertheless ..don’t make this about you please , thankyou. Deep down this show the Rafa win has shaken you out of your wits.
Sanju don’t mind what that Djokovic is babbling about. He’s obviously miserable about rafa’s win hence the back-handed compliment/subtle dig. Anybody including Djoko that is salty about rafa’s win can go and bang their head on the wall.
Some Novak fans are beyond obnoxious and NNY is 100% right. She even put it mildly. Novak fans especially trolled and posted such vitriol and garbage last year after the French open. It was so unbearable. They are the worst. As if rafa’s losses, foot injury, withdrawals from slams and tournaments and thoughts and fears that he might retire-bc we know the foot injury is basically incurable-wasn’t bad enough, we had to suffer the incessant endless putrid garbage posted about Rafa here by Novak fans. Never thought that 2014 Australian open final loss with the back injury can be exceeded but last year for me was even worse. Last year was the worst year by far in rafa’s career and for his fans as well and yes some of us including me kindly took a break from the chaos and we make no apologies about that, period.
Let’s not forget the horrible conspiracy theories about PEDs n Covid n pre-planned government deportations that some Novak fans posted after Nadal won this year’s Australian open. We had to stomach all of that and we have had to deal with all that horrible conspiracy theories and atrocious accusations against Rafa all throughout his career whenever he wins a slam. So As for people criticizing Novak after last year US open final loss to medvedev
, whether they are Rafa fans or not, it is richly deserved. You get what you give. If you can dish it (to Rafa and rafans), you better be ready to take it. It’s called karma. The end.
Happy,
I read about the conspiracy theories on VB. But I had to stop because it was too upsetting. On VB they were furious. I don’t even like to repeat that garbage. I will never forget the worst of the worst Novak fans who relentlessly targeted Rafa fans after he lost to Novak at RG.
Thanks for saying it so well. I needed a break from that filth. Also I needed to deal with my disappointment over Rafa having to stop playing for six months. I wondered if it was the end for him. I wanted to deal with my feelings privately. I also make no apologies.
https://mobile.twitter.com/ReemAbulleil/status/1495859214920851456
This comment
It’s not worth even posting. Just a miserable Novak fan who is bitter about Rafa’s great win. Too bad on him.
This is not a Novak fan comment, it’s novaks
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