Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur previews and predictions

September 23, 2013 Ricky Predictions, Tournament previews 0

The Asian swing is ready to get underway, and we won’t have to wait until Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal take center stage at next week’s 500-point events to get some stellar fields. Top 10 players Tomas Berdych, Stanislas Wawrinka, David Ferrer, and Richard Gasquet are all on board in either Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur. Berdych and Wawrinka are the two favorites in the former, while Ferrer and Gasquet are the top two seeds at the latter.

Thailand Open

Where: Bangkok, Thailand
Surface: Indoor hard
Prize money: $567,530
Points: 250

Top seed: Tomas Berdych
Defending champion: Richard Gasquet

Draw analysis: Berdych initially appeared to have gotten a break by having Gilles Simon instead of Milos Raonic land in the top of the draw. But no so fast. Simon captured the Metz title on Sunday (also on an indoor hard court), upsetting fellow Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final. The good news for Berdych is that he has much friendlier path to the semis than does Simon. Berdych’s nearest seed is a slumping Rosol, while Simon will open against either Ivo Karlovic or Bernard Tomic before a possible date with seventh-seeded Jarkko Nieminen.

On the other side, Raonic and Richard Gasquet are on a collision course for the semifinals in what would be a rematch of a five-set thriller in the U.S. Open fourth round (won by Gasquet). Raonic likely awaits either Marinko Matosevic in his opener and the Canadian could meet Feliciano Lopez in the quarters (Raonic also played Lopez in New York, prevailing in four sets). Gasquet could go up against either Mikhail Youzhny or Denis Istomin in the Bangkok quarterfinals.

First-round upset alert: Lukasz Kubot over (8) Lukas Rosol. Kubot has the more interesting name (by one letter) and the more interesting game. His stellar all-court arsenal and net prowess took him all the way to the Wimbledon quarterfinals, but he has not won an ATP main-draw match since losing to Jerzy Janowicz at the All-England Club. Rosol was never on top of his game at any point this summer. He captured the first ATP title of his career on the clay courts of Bucharest back in April, but he is just 4-14 at the ATP level since that triumph.

Hot: Tomas Berdych, Richard Gasquet, Denis Istomin

Cold: Lukas Rosol, Igor Sijsling, Paolo Lorenzi

Semifinal predictions: Tomas Berdych over Jarkko Nieminen and Milos Raonic over Mikhail Youzhny

Final: Berdych over Raonic

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Malaysian Open

Where: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Surface: Indoor hard
Prize money: $984,300
Points: 250

Top seed: David Ferrer
2012 champion: Juan Monaco (not playing)

Draw analysis: Is it time to put Julien Benneteau on title watch? The 31-year-old Frenchman has never won an ATP title and he is 0-8 lifetime in finals. Benneteau will open against Michal Przysiezny in Kuala Lumpur before a potential encounter with Pablo Andujar. He should cruise into the last eight and his nearest seed is an out-of-form Nicolas Almagro. Adrian Mannarino may be a more likely quarterfinal opponent for Benneteau. Of course, Wawrinka has to be the favorite in the bottom half of the bracket. The second-seeded Swiss is coming off a semifinal showing at the U.S. Open, where he fell to Djokovic in five sets. Wawrinka has a tough draw this week with Marcos Baghdatis possibly in the second round and Dmitry Tursunov in the quarters.

Ferrer should have an easier time of things at the top of the bracket. The Spaniard will kick off his campaign against a qualifier before looking ahead to either Nikolay Davydenko, Ryan Harrison, Joao Sousa, or Pablo Cuevas. In addition to Ferrer, Wawrinka, and Almagro, Jurgen Melzer is the fourth player with a first-round bye. Melzer finds himself in the weakest section, where Vasek Pospisil may be favored to reach the semifinals.

First-round upset alert: Victor Hanescu over (7) Vasek Pospisil. Pospisil is playing by far the better tennis of the two competitors, but he has endured more than his fair share of heartbreak of late. The Canadian lost in final-set tiebreakers in the Toronto semifinals, the Cincinnati second round, and the U.S. Open first round (he had multiple match points in the last two). Pospisil, who has not won a non-retirement match since the Toronto third round, suffered a tough Davis Cup loss to Janko Tipsarevic in the decisive rubber earlier this month. Of course, whether or not Hanescu can capitalize is very much in doubt. The Romanian has not won a hard-court match since Miami and he has not won a non-retirement match on the hard stuff since Rotterdam in February.

Hot: Stanislas Wawrinka, Dmitry Tursunov, Joao Sousa, Michal Przyseizny, Adrian Mannarino, Pablo Carreno Busta

Cold: Nicolas Almagro, Pablo Cuevas, Horacio Zeballos, Pablo Andujar

Semifinals: David Ferrer over Jurgen Melzer and Julien Benneteau over Stanislas Wawrinka

Final: Ferrer over Benneteau

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Comments and your own predictions are appreciated!

21 Comments on Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur previews and predictions

  4. The Australian Open trophy goes on tour! The tour is meant to promote the AO and it’s supported by its major sponsor KIA and long time partner Lacoste. KIA is also Rafa’s sponsor.
    Rafa will take part in the Trophy Tour kick-off event in Seoul on Friday. Another Rafa-Trophy reunion in January would be joyful! 🙂
    Australian Open International Trophy Tour itinerary:
    Seoul, Korea: 27 Sept
    Singapore: 29 Sept – 2 Oct
    Beijing, China: 4-7 Oct
    Shanghai, China: 8-10 Oct
    Guangzhou, China: 12-15 Oct
    Shenzhen, China: 17-18 Oct
    Hong Kong: 20-22 Oct
    http://rafaelnadalfans.com/2013/09/27/rafael-nadal-to-be-reunited-with-australian-open-trophy-norm-in-seoul/

    Reply

  5. @ NNY, hahaha… cannot blame you for not getting used to seeing my real name , I would get the same feeling if you start posting with your real name, so used to Nativenewyorker ! Thank you soo much for the good words, highly appreciated 🙂 🙂

    @ed, thanks ! and yeah the matches could go to 3 sets, esp the wawa-tursonoc…good chance that tursunov takes a set off wawa

    @holdserve, lol, you are always full of praise and I will try hard to meet your expectations ,now that I know you have high expectations from me lol

    @Ricky, hahha..thanks for giving me the chance to preview and yeah, I can see its not easy for everyone to get used to my real name haha

    I am sure everyone will get more used to Hasan Murad, but dont worry vamosrafa will always be there in the comments with you guys 😀

    Reply

  6. @augusta, clayqueen, rafaisthebest, jpacnw,duecy and All other fellow posters , would like all of you to give a read 🙂 I feel the urge to get my previews read ,hahah.. esp from my long-known pals friends from TT 😀

    p.s, all sorts of constructive criticism most welcome !!

    Reply

    • I think it is very brave of you to take on the task. Particularly after all the ribbing poor Ricky gets.

      PS: We’ll be bit more gentle with you ?

      Reply

    • vamosrafa@September 27, 2013 at 10:13 am
      I’m sorry, I have little interest in the current tournaments.
      I am only interested in how many points T.Berdych will earn in Bangkok. Rafa’s possible opponenent in the QF and SF of the Shanghai Masters is dependent on Berdych’s ranking after the current tournament.

      Reply

  8. cannot wait for beijing ! Rafa and nole will be there… Rafa will come out and play pretty aggressive tennis I am sure…

    How many of you think rafa will recalim the no.1 ranking in beijing? he just needs to reach the final and it will be his…I am keen to see the draws when they come out

    Reply

  9. and somebody described augusta8 as the reuters of the tennis fan community and I agree 100% ! and its a much quicker version of reuters lol… love all your updates on rafa, keep this up

    Reply

  11. @12.05pm
    Thanks for the info Gussy.
    I was thinking all the Asian Swing was on indoor courts. In that case it could come to pass. I just don’t want to see him overdoing things though. I’m not that hung up on the World No.1 scenario and all the extra pressures that brings.

    Reply

  12. yup,both beijing and shanghai are outdoor…so I am confident of rafa doing well…shanghai’s court is also a medium paced hard court

    Reply

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