Eastbourne and ‘s-Hertogenbosch previews and predictions

The French Open ended one week ago and the Wimbledon draw will be out in a matter of days. In the meantime, two nondescript grass-court events—especially compared to those of the previous week—take the stage. With most of the top players in the world either resting up for the season’s third Grand Slam or still recovering from their fortnight at Roland Garros, David Ferrer is the highest-ranked player in action and the top seed in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. The Eastbourne event, meanwhile, is led by Richard Gasquet, Alexandr Dolgopolov, and Queen’s Club finalist Feliciano Lopez.

Aegon International

Where: Eastbourne, Great Britain
Surface: Grass
Prize money: 503,185 Euros
Points: 250

Top seed: Richard Gasquet
Defending champion: Feliciano Lopez

Draw analysis: The top half of the Eastbourne bracket could not be more wide open. After all, the four seeds are a rusty and possibly injured Gasquet followed by three players who have no real grass-court accolades. This could be a good opportunity for the Frenchman to get some matches under his belt heading into Wimbledon, although he will have to be wary of an opener against either Bernard Tomic or Andrey Golubev. The winner of an intriguing first-rounder between Donald Young and Great Britain’s own James Ward could go a long way. An unseeded floater like Denis Istomin or Edouard Roger-Vasselin could also emerge from the second quarter of the draw.

Even with Dolgopolov less than 100 percent, the bottom half is far stronger. Ivo Karlovic and Jeremy Chardy are facing each other right off the bat in a matchup worthy of a final given this field. The winner could eventually meet Lopez in the quarters. Lopez would arguably be the title favorite when rested, but he will be coming off a long week at Queen’s Club. Dolgopolov was done no favors, as he will likely get tough grass-courter Sam Querrey in the second round and possibly either Gilles Simon, Julien Benneteau, or Yen-Hsun Lu in the quarters.

First-round upset alert: Jarkko Nieminen over (7) Santiago Giraldo. Neither man is particularly adept on the slow stuff. Nieminen has not been past the Wimbledon second round since 2007 and Giraldo is 2-6 lifetime at the All-England Club, qualifying included. Nieminen actually went all the way to the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2006 and he got three grass-court matches under his belt this past week at Queen’s Club, advancing two rounds before losing to Dolgopolov. Giraldo only played doubles in Halle, so he may still be somewhat stuck in clay-court mode.

Hot: Feliciano Lopez, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Ivo Karlovic, Santiago Giraldo, Martin Klizan

Cold: Richard Gasquet, Bernard Tomic, Daniel Evans

Semifinal predictions: Denis Istomin over Richard Gasquet and Ivo Karlovic over Sam Querrey

Final: Karlovic over Istomin

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Topshelf Open

Where: ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands
Surface: Grass
Prize money: 426,605 Euros
Points: 250

Top seed: David Ferrer
Defending champion: Nicolas Mahut

Draw analysis: Nicolas Mahut could not have asked for a much better draw as he attempts to defend his 2013 ‘s-Hertogenbosch title. He will open against Belgian wild card Kimmer Copperjans and his nearest seed is Roberto Bautista Agut, who is in fine form this season but is obviously inexperienced on grass and likely not at his best on the green stuff. Players in the bottom half also avoided Ferrer, who is the top seed and 2012 champion of this event. However, there are some other contenders on this side. Jurgen Melzer and Fernando Verdasco are formidable seeds, while Steve Johnson and Kenny De Schepper can be dangerous with big games.

Ferrer has a great draw from start to finish, especially through two rounds. The Spaniard could run into No. 5 seed Dmitry Tursunov in the quarters. While Ferrer should be able to book a spot in the semis, the seeds may not even be factors in the second quarter. Vasek Pospisil is ice cold and Marcel Granollers is not much of a grass-court threat. They are also surrounded by dangerous unseeded floaters such as Lukas Rosol, Benoit Paire, and Dusan Lajovic.

First-round upset alert: Benjamin Becker over (4) Marcel Granollers. Granollers is by no means a Spanish clay-court specialist, but grass is definitely his worst surface. Becker, on the other hand, does by far his best work on faster surfaces. The 79th-ranked German owns a big serve and hits extremely flat groundstrokes that are especially effective on the slick stuff. Becker lost his opener in Halle, but he had a tough draw against an in-form Gael Monfils.

Hot: Roberto Bautista Agut, Alejandro Gonzalez, Dusan Lajovic, Steve Johnson, Alejandro Falla

Cold: Vasek Pospisil, Benoit Paire, Matthew Ebden

Semifinal predictions: David Ferrer over Lukas Rosol and Jurgen Melzer over Roberto Bautista Agut

Final: Melzer over Ferrer

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Comments and your own predictions are appreciated!