Atlanta, Gstaad, and Umag previews and predictions

The U.S. Open Series begins this week in Atlanta, where No. 1 seed and defending champion John Isner will kick off what is always his favorite time of year. Richard Gasquet withdrew, but fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils will be making his debut at the 250-point hard-court event. Meanwhile, the post-Wimbledon clay-court swing continues in Gstaad and Umag. Among the headlines in Europe is the return of Viktor Troicki, who has not played since this same week in 2013 due to a doping-related suspension.

BB&T Atlanta Open

Where: Atlanta, Georgia
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $568,805
Points: 250

Top seed: John Isner
Defending champion: John Isner

Draw analysis: It does not get much better than this for Isner: playing at his home away from home on American hard courts. Not far from his college town of Athens, Ga., Atlanta has always been the scene for some of Isner’s best crowd support. And he has delivered, just as he has at almost every U.S. Open Series event. In four appearances in Atlanta, the 6’10’’ American has one title, two runner-ups, and has never lost prior to the semis. The good news about Isner’s draw is that his nearest seed is Victor Estrella Burgos, who has to be fatigued after a long week in Bogota and emotional semifinal loss to Bernard Tomic. Potential roadblocks for Isner include Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round and Monfils in the semis. Monfils has a tough path, likely featuring Wimbledon doubles champion Jack Sock in the last 16 followed by Denis Istomin.

No. 2 seed Kevin Anderson, who held championship points before going down to Isner in last year’s title match, finds himself in the weakest quarter of the bracket. It is home to three open slots (qualifiers or a lucky loser) plus a vulnerable seed in the form of Yen-Hsun Lu. A North American-heavy third section of the draw is more up for grabs. Canada’s Vasek Pospisil, who won the Wimbledon doubles title with Sock, is joined by USA representatives Steve Johnson, Donald Young, and Sam Querrey. All three have showed promising signs of late. An intriguing first-round clash will see Johnson and Querrey square off in a showdown between Atlanta doubles partners. With Isner and Anderson on opposite sides of the bracket as the top two seeds, we could be in line for another stretch of back-to-back Atlanta finals not unlike Isner vs. Mardy Fish in 2010 and 2011.

First-round upset alert: Steve Johnson over (9) Sam Querrey. Querrey snuck into a seeded spot when Radek Stepanek withdrew, and it is somewhat deserved. The 6’6’’ American heated up on grass, but he may not be the Querrey of old and he is still toiling down at No. 62 in the world. Johnson, meanwhile, generally plays some of his best tennis around these parts; he won two NCAA team and individual title in Athens, Ga., won this season’s USTA Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs in Atlanta, and he won his first ATP-level match two years ago at this event. The in-form American is coming off a quarterfinal in Newport and he registers one spot off his career-high ranking at No. 64 in the world as of Sunday. In other words, it won’t be a real upset regardless of which doubles partner wins this one.

Hot: Victor Estrella Burgos, Steve Johnson, Donald Young

Cold: Vasek Pospisil, Ryan Harrison, Tim Smyczek, Lukas Lacko, Matthew Ebden

Quarterfinal predictions: John Isner over Ryan Harrison, Denis Istomin over Gael Monfils, Vasek Pospisil over Steve Johnson, and Kevin Anderson over Yen-Hsun Lu

Semifinals: Isner over Istomin and Anderson over Pospisil

Final: Isner over Anderson

[polldaddy poll=8196483]

Suisse Open Gstaad

Where: Gstaad, Switzerland
Surface: Clay
Prize money: 426,605 Euros
Points: 250

Top seed: Mikhail Youzhny
Defending champion: Mikhail Youzhny

Draw analysis: Troicki is back, having been granted a wild card into the main draw. His first opponent will be a man whom many in the tennis world had never heard of the last time Troicki played a match. Dominic Thiem has surged into prominence in 2014 and is up to No. 55 in the world thanks mostly to a stellar stretch on clay this spring. The Troicki-Thiem winner could face Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals and either Marcel Granollers, Gilles Simon, or Pablo Andujar in the semis.

As for the top half of the draw, there might as well not even be seeds—except that Mikhail Youzhny and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez have the benefit of byes to the second round. Aside from that, it looks like a free-for-all. This is generally Robin Haase’s favorite part of the year and he could be a quarterfinal opponent for Youzhny. The Dutchman, however, is coming off a 6-0, 6-2 blowout loss to Alexander Zverev in Hamburg. Garcia-Lopez is in a deep second quarter of the bracket that is laced with parity. Other contenders include Federico Delbonis, Dustin Brown, and Juan Monaco.

First-round upset alert: Pablo Andujar over (6) Gilles Simon. Simon at least played decent at the French Open and Wimbledon, but for the most part he is slumping. The Frenchman got a free pass into the Hamburg third round then promptly lost his opener to Philipp Kohlschreiber. Andujar reached the Hamburg quarterfinals before falling to current finalist David Ferrer. The head-to-head series between Simon and Andujar is tied at one win apiece. Not surprisingly, Simon prevailed on a hard court and Andujar took care of business on clay.

Hot: Blaz Rola

Cold: Mikhail Youzhny, Gilles Simon, Juan Monaco, Thomaz Bellucci, Viktor Troicki

Semifinal predictions: Robin Haase over Federico Delbonis and Fernando Verdasco over Pablo Andujar

Final: Verdasco over Haase

[polldaddy poll=8196484]

Vegeta Croatia Open

Where: Umag, Croatia
Surface: Clay
Prize money: 426,605 Euros
Points: 250

Top seed: Fabio Fognini
Defending champion: Tommy Robredo

Draw analysis: Should Fabio Fognini reach the Umag final? Will he? Who knows. He is one his modes—not out of the ordinary, it can be noted—in which you never know what he is going to bring to the table on any given day. The top-seeded Italian will be a considerable favorite in every match he plays this week, but there are players who are more than capable of taking advantage of an off day. He will open against either Zverev, who just made an improbable run to the Hamburg semis, or accomplished clay-courter Albert Montanes. Andreas Seppi, Joao Sousa, and an in-form Dusan Lajovic are potential semifinal adversaries for Fognini.

The bottom half of the bracket is loaded with both a strong seeded contingent and plenty of dangerous unseeded floaters. Marin Cilic and Lukas Rosol are in fine form and on a collision course for the quarterfinals. Rosol may have an all-Czech collision with Jiri Vesely on his hands in the last 16. Defending champ Tommy Robredo will begin his week against either Albert Ramos or the talented but slumping Benoit Paire. Stellar clay-courter Carlos Berlocq and Pablo Carreno Busta are also with Robredo in the fourth and final quarter of the draw.

First-round upset alert: (WC) Borna Coric over (7) Edouard Roger-Vasselin. Just 17 years old, Coric is up to a career-high ranking of No. 232 in the world. The Croat has been successful at the Futures and Challenger levels this season and he also upset Jerzy Janowicz in five sets in Davis Cup action. Coric will be playing at home in Croatia against an opponent who went a dismal 2-6 during the spring clay-court swing.

Hot: Marin Cilic, Lukas Rosol, Alexander Zverev, Borna Coric, Dusan Lajovic

Cold: Igor Sijsling, Benoit Paire

Semifinal predictions: Andreas Seppi over Fabio Fognini and Tommy Robredo over Marin Cilic

Final: Robredo over Seppi

[polldaddy poll=8196488]

Comments and your own predictions are appreciated!