The annual U.S. Open Series once began in Los Angeles during this spot on the calendar, but now it is a different hard-court event in Bogota that is bridging the gap between the grass-court stretch and the summer stretch on the North American hard stuff. The second installment of this Bogota tournament features Richard Gasquet and Newport runner-up Ivo Karlovic, but it will be overshadowed by a stronger field on the clay courts of Hamburg. Roger Federer is not on board like he was in 2013, but the 500-pointer still boasts David Ferrer, Fabio Fognini, and a red-hot Roberto Bautista Agut.
bet-at-home Open
Where: Hamburg, Germany
Surface: Clay
Prize money: 1,190,700 Euros
Points: 500
Top seed: David Ferrer
Defending champion: Fabio Fognini
Draw analysis:It’s hard to imagine anything as surprising as what transpired last year in Hamburg taking place again 2014. Federico Delbonis upset Roger Federer before losing a wild final to Fognini. But this field is so deep and so balanced that almost nothing would come as a major shock. Ferrer is the No. 1 seed and the biggest name, but he has been off his game this season and he is in a difficult half of the draw that also features Bautista Agut, Delbonis, Fernando Verdasco, Alexandr Dolgopolov, and Santiago Giraldo. Ferrer’s road to the title match could go Mikhail Kukushkin, Andreas Seppi, either Bautista Agut or Verdasco, and then Dolgopolov. Dolgopolov, though, faces the winner of a tough opener between Jerzy Janowicz and Albert Ramos.
Among the seeds in on the bottom side of the bracket are Fognini, Tommy Robredo, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Gilles Simon, and Joao Sousa. A possible second-round showdown between Sousa and Lukas Rosol will come to fruition if Rosol can win his opener against German wild card Julian Reister. Both Sousa (in Bastad) and Rosol (in Stuttgart) are coming off runner-up performances on clay last week. In a relatively open eighth of the draw, Dominic Thiem will face Marcel Granollers prior to a potential date with Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the last 16.
Second-round upset alert: Robin Haase over (5) Mikhail Youzhny. Youzhny leads the head-to-head series 5-1, but Haase finally got over the hump and won their most recent encounter 6-3, 6-3 on the clay courts of Bucharest this spring. At 32 years old, Youzhny seems to be slowing down with just a 10-13 record to his credit this season. His flat, penetrating shots work better on hard courts. Haase, meanwhile, has earned his two career ATP titles on clay (both in Kitzbuhel) and three of his four final appearances have come on the slow stuff.
Hot: Roberto Bautista Agut, Joao Sousa, Mate Delic, Lukas Rosol, Leonardo Mayer, Dusan Lajovic
Cold: David Ferrer, Mikhail Youzhny, Gilles Simon, Juan Monaco, Jerzy Janowicz, Benoit Paire, Albert Montanes
Quarterfinal predictions: Fernando Verdasco over David Ferrer, Santiago Giraldo over Federico Delbonis, Tommy Robredo over Philipp Kohlschreiber, and Dominic Thiem over Carlos Berlocq
Semifinals: Verdasco over Giraldo and Robredo over Thiem
Final: Verdasco over Robredo
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Claro Open Colombia
Where: Bogota, Colombia
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $663,610
Points: 250
Top seed: Richard Gasquet
Defending champion: Ivo Karlovic
Draw analysis: Gasquet is making up for lost time during what was an abbreviated spring on clay due to a back injury. He is signed up for all three hard-court events before Toronto and Cincinnati even begin, and the stretch starts this week in Bogota. The Frenchman certainly has a favorable draw in a section riddled with qualifiers and an unimposing fellow seed in Victor Estrella Burgos. A potential semifinal opponent for Gasquet is Vasek Pospisil, who captured a Wimbledon doubles title in stunning fashion with partner Jack Sock. Sock used the momentum to reach the Newport semis last week, so now it is Pospisil’s turn to see if he can parlay doubles success into stopping a singles slump. The Canadian finds himself in a much deeper and tougher quarter of the bracket that also includes Bernard Tomic, Adrian Mannarino, and Alejandro Falla.
At the bottom of the draw, Karlovic will be making a quick turnaround after contesting the Newport title match against Lleyton Hewitt on Sunday afternoon (Hewitt prevailed in a third-set tiebreaker). The 6’11” Croat, who beat Falla in last year’s Bogota final, will kick off his campaign versus either Facundo Arguello or Dudi Sela before a possible quarterfinal date with Matthew Ebden. Radek Stepanek, Alejandro Gonzalez, and Evgeny Donskoy are potential semifinal adversaries for Karlovic.
First-round upset alert: Evgeny Donskoy over (6) Alejandro Gonzalez. The somewhat late-blooming Gonzalez had never won a match at the ATP level prior to this season. He is finally making a name for himself at 25 years old, but six ATP victories have come at the expense of 14 losses. Gonzalez has the benefit of playing at home in Colombia, where fan support should be rabid, but he generally does his best work on clay. Donskoy’s game, on the other hand, is well-suited for hard courts. This would be an upset because the Russian has not been in good form this season, but he obviously has a chance if his forehand is clicking.
Hot: Ivo Karlovic, Samuel Groth, Jimmy Wang
Cold: Richard Gasquet, Vasek Pospisil, Matthew Ebden, Evgeny Donskoy
Semifinal predictions: Richard Gasquet over Alejandro Falla and Radek Stepanek over Ivo Karlovic
Final: Stepanek over Gasquet
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