Despite being sandwiched in between multiple Masters 1000 events and a Grand Slam, a pair of 250-point tournaments on this week’s schedule boast surprisingly outstanding draws. Among those taking the court in Lyon and Geneva are Milos Raonic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Tomas Berdych, Nick Kyrgios, Juan Martin Del Potro, Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, and John Isner.
Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon
Where: Lyon, France
Surface: Clay
Points: 250
Prize money: 540,310 Euros
Top seed: Milos Raonic
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Draw analysis: Four Grand Slam finalists, including one champion, headline a strong field in Lyon. Two of them (Del Potro and Raonic) may have to go head-to-head as early as the quarterfinals. Del Potro first has to get past Marcel Granollers and either Radu Albot or Gastao Elias in the second round, while Raonic awaits either Denis Istomin or Thanasi Kokkinakis. In the second section of the draw, Tomas Berdych has a more favorable road that could begin with qualifier Hyeon Chung–which would likely be even tougher than Berdych’s potential quarterfinal match.
On the other side of the bracket, Tsonga and Kyrgios—who have played sparingly this spring—are searching for some momentum heading into Roland Garros. Tsonga could have a tough clay-court opener with Carlos Berlocq and he is on a collision course with Karen Khachanov for the quarterfinals. Kyrgios draw looks like a friendly one, but a highly entertaining showdown against Dustin Brown could be in the cards for round two.
First-round upset alert: Daniil Medvedev over (5) Gilles Simon. Medvedev has been a disaster since February, but he has the firepower with which to flip on the switch at any moment. The good news for the up-and-coming Russian is that Simon has also slumped of late. Due to lots of losses and few matches under his belt, the Frenchman asked for a wild card into this event prior to the French Open. Simon is 8-10 this season, including 2-4 on clay.
Hot: Hyeon Chung, Steve Darcis
Cold: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gilles Simon, Daniil Medvedev, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Denis Istomin, Andreas Seppi
Semifinal predictions: Tomas Berdych over Juan Martin Del Potro and Karen Khachanov over Nick Kyrgios
Final: Berdych over Khachanov
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Banque Eric Studza Geneva Open
Where: Geneva, Switzerland
Surface: Clay
Points: 250
Prize money: 482,060 Euros
Top seed: Stan Wawrinka
Defending champion: Stan Wawrinka
Draw analysis: Not unlike Simon, Wawrinka has played fewer clay-court matches than expected and thus took a wild card for a tournament in front of his home fans. The third-ranked Swiss is on course to meet Joao Sousa in the last 16, Sam Querrey in the quarterfinals, and an in-form Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the semis. Both Querrey and Ramos-Vinolas have every reason to progress through relatively soft sections of the draw, although Andrey Kuznetsov is capable of giving Ramos-Vinolas some trouble in round two.
Isner’s stay in Geneva could be a short one, which may not be a bad thing given that he should want all the rest he can get prior to a Grand Slam. The 6’10’’ American is coming off a long week in Rome (singles semifinals, doubles quarterfinals), is likely to open with decent clay-courter Robin Haase, and could run into recent nemesis Steve Johnson in the last eight. If 100 percent, Nishikori should have no trouble playing his way into the weekend.
First-round upset alert: Kevin Anderson over (7) Paolo Lorenzi. Anderson leads the head-to-head series 2-0, with victories in 2012 (Atlanta) and 2013 (Australian Open). They have never faced each other on clay, which favors Lorenzi, but Anderson should still like his chances. The 6’8” South African is finally heating up in the wake of various injuries, as recent results include a third-round showing in Barcelona, a semifinal run in Estoril, and successful qualification in Rome—where he took a set off eventual champion Alexander Zverev. Lorenzi most recently played in Istnabul, losing his opener in straight sets to Laslo Djere.
Hot: Albert Ramos-Vinolas
Cold: Paolo Lorenzi, Mischa Zverev, Stephane Robert, Janko Tipsarevic
Semifinal predictions: Albert Ramos-Vinolas over Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori over Steve Johnson
Final: Nishikori over Ramos-Vinolas
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Comments and your own predictions are appreciated!
who ya got?
None of the above finalists.
Too close to RG.
Exactly what I’m thinking. I expect many upsets this week.
I like JDP in Lyon and Nishi in Geneva….can’t wait for RG action!
Tsonga over Raonic; Stan over Kei.
I still believe in Stan. I think it’s time he makes a move. He did that in 2016 – did poorly at the clay masters, won Geneva and then reached the SF at the FO. In 2015, he was great at the masters but won the FO. I think Stan works in this manner, poor at the warm ups but when it matters, he just keeps grinding and grinding away match after match until he reaches good form at business end.
That’s one of the reasons I love Stan. His game is really exciting and he brings it out the most at slams.
I really want to see Stan vs Thiem at the FO (but not in a final!) just to see who plays the power game better at a slam.
Delpo vs Zverev is another match I wish will happen too at the FO and hope by then Delpo is good enough to make a match of it, pitching easy power FH/BH vs each other.
Raonic and Nishi FTW.
Geneva:
Geneva:
QF-
Querrey over Stan
Struff over Ramos-Vinolas
Johnson over Isner
Anderson over Nishikori
SF-
Querrey over Struff
Anderson over Johnson
Final-
Querrey over Anderson
Lyon:
QF-
Del Potro over Raonic
Edmund over Chung
Kyrgios over Coric
Tsonga over Paire
SF-
Del Potro over Edmund
Tsonga over Kyrgios
Final-
Del Potro over Tsonga
Anderson was a heavy favourite to beat Lorenzi. Lorenzi hadn’t played in weeks and Anderson was carving up. Also your dreaming if you think Berdych will win Lyon. It will come down to Kyrgios, Raonic and Del Potro
I went for Stan over Nishi and Del Potro over Kyrgios.