The first full week of February is upon us. It kicks off the busiest stretch of tennis in the entire season—at least in terms of quantity. Four weeks. Three tournaments per week. Twelve in total—all at the 250 or 500-point level.
It all begins this week in Marseille, Dallas, and Cordoba.
Open 13
Where: Marseille, France
Surface: Indoor hard
Prize money: 724,015 Euros
Points: 250
Top seed: Hubert Hurkacz
Defending champion: Hubert Hurkacz
Draw analysis: Nothing will come easy for the seeded players in what is a stacked Marseille field. Hubert Hurkacz, who is the top seed and defending champion, could meet Alexander Shevchenko in round two and either Andy Murray or Lorenzo Musetti in the quarterfinals. Ugo Humbert’s potential path to a possible semifinal showdown against Hurkacz includes Denis Shapovalov and likely either Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Emil Ruusuvuori.
At the bottom of the bracket, No. 2 seed Grigor Dimitrov is expected to begin his week against Sebastian Korda. Yes, the draw is so deep that Korda—ranked 33rd–is unseeded. Karen Khachanov and Montpellier semifinalist Felix Auger-Aliassime are also contenders to reach the final if not even to lift the trophy.
Hot: Hubert Hurkacz, Grigor Dimitrov, Ugo Humbert, Tomas Machac
Cold: Felix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov, Andy Murray, Richard Gasquet, Roberto Bautista Agut, Benjamin Bonzi
Quarterfinal predictions: Hubert Hurkacz over Tomas Machac, Ugo Humbert over Emil Ruusuvuori, Karen Khachanov over Zhizhen Zhang, and Sebastian Korda over Jiri Lehecka
Semifinals: Hurkacz over Humbert and Korda over Khachanov
Final: Hurkacz over Korda
Dallas Open
Where: Dallas, Texas
Surface: Indoor hard
Prize money: $841,590
Points: 250
Top seed: Frances Tiafoe
2023 champion: Yibing Wu (not playing)
Draw analysis: A prolonged stretch of North American tournaments (also Delray Beach, Los Cabos, Acapulco, Indian Wells, Miami, and Houston) begins in Dallas. This event will be upgraded to an ATP 500 starting in 2025, but at the 250 level it attracts a mediocre field headlined mostly by Americans. Four of the top five seeds hail from the host nation (Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton, and Chris Eubanks), with French veteran Adrian Mannarino being the only exception.
When it comes to the surface, Shelton and Mannarino should have the best chance to take the title. Shelton has enjoyed plenty of Challenger success indoors and he has the most powerful game of anyone in the field. If he serves well, watch out. Mannarino ended last season on fire during the indoor swing and began 2024 with a fourth-round performance at the Australian Open. Shelton and Paul are expected to reach the semis in a relatively soft bottom half of the Dallas draw, while Mannarino will be challenged by the likes of Tiafoe, Eubanks, Max Purcell, and Alex Michelsen. It’s a rough path for Tiafoe, who could meet Michelsen in round two, Purcell in the quarters, and Mannarino in the semis.
Hot: Ben Shelton, Adrian Mannarino, Max Purcell, Jordan Thompson, Taro Daniel
Cold: Radu Albot, Aleksandar Vukic
Quarterfinal predictions: Alex Michelsen over Max Purcell, Adrian Mannarino over Chris Eubanks, Ben Shelton over Jordan Thompson, and Tommy Paul over Aleksandar Kovacevic
Semifinals: Mannarino over Michelsen and Paul over Shelton
Final: Mannarino over Paul
Cordoba Open
Where: Cordoba, Argentina
Surface: Clay
Prize money: $562,345
Points: 250
Top seed: Francisco Cerundolo
Defending champion: Sebastian Baez
Draw analysis: The Golden Swing is here. It defines the dog days of February, with tournament after tournament left and right but not many big names of which to speak. Carlos Alcaraz will be taking his talents to South America later this month, but in Cordoba a relatively unspectacular field is headlined by Francisco Cerundolo, Sebastian Baez, and Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
As usual, everyone in the Cordoba is extremely adept on the red stuff if not a full-fledged clay-court specialist. A deep field with no clear-cut dominant players means this title is completely up for grabs. Baez is arguably the favorite as the No. 2 seed and defending champion, but he could face stiff competition in round two (Thiago Seyboth Wild) and the quarterfinals (Auckland winner and 2022 Cordoba runner-up Alejandro Tabilo). Cerundolo could face his brother, Juan Manuel, in the quarters and Etcheverry in the semis. In addition to Seyboth Wild, unseeded floaters to keep an eye on are Diego Schwartzman, Cristian Garin, and Pedro Cachin.
Hot: Sebastian Ofner, Alejandro Tabilo
Cold: Francisco Cerundolo, Diego Schwartzman, Albert Ramos-Vinolas
Quarterfinal predictions: Roberto Carballes Baena over Jaume Munar, Tomas Martin Etcheverry over Daniel Altmaier, Yannick Hanfmann over Sebastian Ofner, and Sebastian Baez over Facundo Diaz Acosta
Semifinals: Etcheverry over Carballes Baena and Baez over Diaz Acosta
Final: Etcheverry over Baez
WWW?
Your finalists in Cordoba look about right. With so many good players on clay though, its tough to pick in South America.
Marseilles: No mention of in-form Dimitrov ?
Havent see Dallas draw .
Dimitrov needs a rest – he’s another one that shouldn’t touch a racquet until the clay season. Some people like to learn the hard way.
If you want to perform like a pro, you have to schedule like a pro.
Dimitrov’s best chance is probably on hard courts, so an ideal schedule for him would be to watch Indian Wells, play Miami, then Madrid, Rome, and Roland Garros because he probably won’t go deep at those events. Then play Queen’s and Wimbledon. If he goes deep at either of those events, he should skip Toronto, play Cincinnati, the US Open, China, and Paris.
Dimitrov probably thinks that if he doesn’t play an event, he’ll miss out on an opportunity to do well because of the draw and you don’t know which event you will do better at, but that’s probably the wrong approach. You can always add more events to your schedule when you lose early in an event but you can’t remove events when you’ve over scheduled.