Houston and Marrakech previews and predictions

Good news for the rest of the ATP Tour: Novak Djokovic is not playing this week! The clay-court swing is getting underway with the week in between Miami and Monte-Carlo, as 250-point events in Houston and Marrakech take center stage. Djokovic is taking a well-deserved break along with the rest of the top 10, so both titles are relatively up for grabs.

U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship

Where: Houston, TX
Surface: Clay
Prize Money: $515,025
Points: 250

Top seed: John Isner
Defending champion: Jack Sock

Draw analysis: In last year’s tournament, all four men with first-round byes were ranked in the top 20. The story is not much different this time around in Houston, where four players in the top 25 headline a strong 250-point field. John Isner leads the way ahead of Benoit Paire, Feliciano Lopez, and Jack Sock (who all register between Nos. 22 and 25 in the rankings). Although Isner and Sock are on a collision course for the semifinals as opposed to the title match, the Americans are distributed evenly in the bracket with four on the Isner-Sock side and four in the opposite half. Steve Johnson and Donald Young have to go head-to-head in the first round, while Sock’s opener may come against wild card Frances Tiafoe.

In addition to Johnson vs. Young, an intriguing first-rounder pits Sam Querrey against Dustin Brown. Both players have enjoyed past success at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship and the winner should be able to reach at least the quarterfinals to ensure a date with either Benoit Paire or Juan Monaco. Facing Monaco right off the bat may add insult to injury for Paire, who has slumped in recent months. Monaco is slowly returning from a wrist injury, but he captured the Houston title in 2012 and reached the semis in 2013.

First-round upset alert: Dustin Brown over (5) Sam Querrey. This will be their fifth career meeting and fifth at an outdoor 250-point event in the United States. They faced each other at this same Houston event in 2014, when Querrey survived a quarterfinal encounter 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-3. Neither man is in particularly good form and the American is coming off a bizarre loss to Adrian Mannarino in the Miami second round.

Hot: Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe, Matthew Barton, Tim Smyczek

Cold: Benoit Paire, Donald Young, Carlos Berlocq, Juan Monaco

Semifinal predictions: Jack Sock over John Isner and Feliciano Lopez over Benoit Paire

Final: Sock over Lopez

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Grand Prix Hassan II

Where: Marrakech, Morocco
Surface: Clay
Prize money: 463,520 Euros
Points: 250

Top seed: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez
2015 champion: Martin Klizan (not playing)

Draw analysis: You know a tournament is wide open when Guillermo Garcia-Lopez is the No. 1 seed. That’s right—nobody ranked in the top 35 is on hand in Marrakech, which took over control of the Grand Prix Hassan II from Casablanca. Garcia-Lopez appears to have a tough draw with Nicolas Almagro as a possible opening opponent. Almagro, the Buenos Aires runner-up, is the second highest-ranked unseeded player in the field behind Inigo Cervantes—who also finds himself in the top quarter of the bracket. The top half also features Borna Coric and Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Traditional clay-courters are few and far between in the third section, so Federico Delbonis and Pablo Carreno Busta may not have too much trouble setting up a quarterfinal showdown. No. 2 seed Joao Sousa should enjoy a friendlier trek than Garcia-Lopez, likely resulting in a semifinal clash between Portugal’s top player and either Delbonis or Carreno Busta.

First-round upset alert: Inigo Cervantes over (8) Jiri Vesely. An in-form Cervantes owns seven of his 11 career ATP-level match victories in 2016. The Spaniard advanced to the second round in both Indian Wells and Miami in addition to a recent semifinal showing on the clay courts of Sao Paulo. Vesely would match rather contest this one on either an indoor hard court or grass.

Hot: Federico Delbonis, Inigo Cervantes, Albert Ramos-Vinolas

Cold: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Simone Bolelli, Denis Istomin, Albert Montanes

Semifinal predictions: Nicolas Almagro over Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Pablo Carreno Busta over Joao Sousa

Final: Almagro over Carreno Busta

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Comments and your own predictions are appreciated!