The 2022 ATP tennis season is here. Pretty much all the stars have already arrived Down Under with the Australian Open only a couple of weeks away, either currently playing in the United Cup or gearing up for the Adelaide International. Also in the opening-week schedule is an ATP 250 in Pune, where former champion Marin Cilic is the top seed.
Adelaide International
Where: Adelaide, Australia
Surface: Hard
Points: 250
Prize money: $642,735
Top seed: Novak Djokovic
2022 champion: Gael Monfils (not playing)
Draw analysis: ATP 250s don’t get any better than this. Roberto Bautista Agut is ranked 21st in the world and is not even seeded. Eight top-20 players are in the field of 32: Novak Djokovic, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Holger Rune, Jannik Sinner, Denis Shapovalov, and Karen Khachanov. Both Djokovic and Medvedev are in the top half of the bracket, so that is a potential semifinal showdown. Medvedev has a tougher path to get there, as he opens with Lorenzo Sonego, could meet Miomir Kecmanovic in round two, and is on a quarterfinal collision course with Karen Khachanov.
Another potential quarterfinal is Auger-Aliassime vs Rune, a matchup that we saw twice this past fall (they split meetings in Basel and Paris). Rublev and Sinner are on a path to square off in the last eight, but the eighth-ranked Russian was dealt a terrible draw: Roberto Bautista Agut in the opening round and either Andy Murray or Sebastian Korda in the last 16.
Quarterfinal picks: Novak Djokovic over Denis Shapovalov, Daniil Medvedev over Jack Draper, Andrey Rublev over Jannik Sinner, and Felix Auger-Aliassime over Holger Rune
Semifinals: Djokovic over Medvedev and Rublev over Auger-Aliassime
Final: Djokovic over Rublev
Tata Open Maharashtra
Where: Pune, India
Surface: Hard
Points: 250
Prize money: $642,735
Top seed: Marin Cilic
2022 champion: Joao Sousa (not playing)
Draw analysis: Pune won’t get much of the spotlight this week when so much is going on in Australia, and an unspectacular field of 28 doesn’t help. World No. 17 Marin Cilic is the No. 1 seed, and then you have to scroll all the way down to No. 35 Botic van de Zandschulp and No. 40 Emil Ruusuvuori to find the next entrants. Eighth and final seed Aslan Karatsev would just barely have made it into the Adelaide draw.
Cilic, who won this tournament twice when it was in Chennai (2009, 2010), is coming off a resurgent 2022 campaign that firmly cements his status as title favorite. The 34-year-old Croat should not have much trouble advancing his way through the bracket, although you never know what you are going to get from potential quarterfinal opponent Nikoloz Basilashvili on any given day. Fourth seed Sebastian Baez ended last season in a considerable slump and is not at his best on hard courts. Meanwhile, the top contenders in the bottom half of the draw are Van de Zandschulp and Ruusuvuori.
Semifinal picks: Marin Cilic over Tim van Rijthoven and Emil Ruusuvuori over Laslo Djere
Final: Cilic over Ruusuvuori
WHO YA GOT?
Cilic over either Van de Zand or Ruusuvuoori (lean towards the former)
Hi Big AL,
Excellent job picking W, F, and SFs for Pune😉 It is nice to see there is still a small group of us getting up for a bracket challenge! Life can be pretty depressing and sad these days, and it sounds a bit strange to admit this, but it’s a bright spot to see other familiar names return for another year of tournament picking!
Shout out to the bracket players! Also pleasant to read the posts here from familiar friends on TG.
Cheers to another year of tennis!
Thanks from a fellow brack-a-holic 😉