It may not have one of the best slots on the ATP schedule—in fact, it has one of the worst—but the Open de Nice Cote d’Azur once again boasts a strong field. With the French Open less than a week away, players like John Isner, Ernests Gulbis, Gael Monfils, and Gilles Simon are looking for match practice as opposed to fine-tuning their games in Paris. Meanwhile, Germany’s own Philipp Kohlschreiber headlines the Dusseldorf proceedings as the top seed.
Open de Nice Cote d’Azur
Where:Nice, France
Surface: Clay
Prize money:426,605 Euros
Points:250
Top seed:John Isner
Defending champion:Albert Montanes
Draw analysis:Tournament directors could not have asked for a much better field with Isner, Gulbis, Monfils, and Simon on board to go along with Dmitry Tursunov, Nicolas Mahut, Dominic Thiem, and already-ousted entrants Julien Benneteau and Bernard Tomic. The bottom half may be slightly tougher, with Gulbis having to open against recent Munich champion Martin Klizan. A rematch of last year’s Nice final is already in the cards, as Monfils is squaring off against Albert Montanes on Wednesday. Tursunov, Edouard Roger-Vasselin, and Robin Haase could also loom large.
At the top of the bracket, Isner awaits one of two big hitters in Kenny De Schepper or compatriot Jack Sock. The 6’10’’ American would probably not like a quarterfinal matchup against Federico Delbonis, who is stellar on clay and also left-handed (Isner has never fared well against lefties). Simon, meanwhile, awaits the winner of an intriguing first-rounder between in-form players Thiem and Steve Johnson. Thiem took care of Simon earlier this spring on the hard courts of Indian Wells. Also watch out for Oeiras winner Carlos Berlocq, who beat Benneteau on Tuesday. The Argentine will face another Frenchman, Mahut, in the second round.
Second-round upset alert: Albert Montanes over (3) Gael Monfils. Last year they faced each other in the final. This time around, Monfils’ very first match will come against the defending champion. Montanes improved to 4-1 lifetime against the Frenchman—including 4-0 on clay—with a 6-0, 7-6(3) victory in the title match (the head-to-head series now stands at 4-2, 4-1 on clay). The Spaniard extended his streak of main-draw tournaments without a first-round loss by hammering Matthew Ebden 6-1, 6-3 on Monday.
Hot: Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Steve Johnson, Dominic Thiem, Carlos Berlocq, Martin Klizan
Cold: Gael Monfils, Gilles Simon, Dmitry Tursunov, Jack Sock, Bernard Tomic
Quarterfinal predictions: Federico Delbonis over John Isner, Carlos Berlocq over Gilles Simon, Edouard Roger-Vasselin over Albert Montanes, and Martin Klizan over Robin Haase
Semifinal predictions: Delbonis over Berlocq and Roger-Vasselin over Klizan
Final: Roger-Vasselin over Delbonis
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Dusseldorf Open
Where: Dusseldorf, Germany
Surface: Clay
Prize Money:426,605 Euros
Points:250
Top Seed: Philipp Kohlschreiber
Defending champion:Juan Monaco
Draw analysis:Now this looks more like a tournament taking place the week before a Grand Slam, with only one top 30 player in the entire draw (Kohlschreiber). It is conceivable that Kohlschreiber’s toughest test prior to the final—and maybe even in the entire tournament—will come right away in the second round against Teymuraz Gabashvili. Either Andreas Seppi or the winner of a first-round showdown between Jarkko Nieminen and Denis Istomin could be a roadblock for either Kohlschreiber or Gabashvili in the semifinals. An entertaining all-German quarterfinal is also possible between Kohlschreiber and Dustin Brown.
The bottom half may be even more wide open, as an unseeded contestant is arguably the favorite. Jurgen Melzer, who is back on the scene and playing well again, crushed accomplished clay-courter Pablo Carreno Busta in the first round. No. 2 seed Marcel Granollers has a tough opening match on his hands against 2013 champion Juan Monaco. All of them, however, could be at the mercy of Ivo Karlovic. The big-serving Croat kicked off his campaign with a third-set tiebreaker win over Tobias Kamke.
Second-round upset alert: Jurgen Melzer over (4) Joao Sousa. Sousa is 2-0 lifetime in the head-to-head series, but those matches came last year when Sousa was starting to make a name for himself and Melzer was slumping. Back from a shoulder injury, Melzer is heating up again with round of 16 performances in both Barcelona and Rome (beat Isner and Marin Cilic at the latter event).
Hot: Joao Sousa, Teymuraz Gabashvili, Jiri Vesely
Cold: Adrian Mannarino, Nikolay Davydenko, Benjamin Becker, Juan Monaco
Quarterfinal predictions: Philipp Kohlschreiber over Dustin Brown, Jarkko Nieminen over Andreas Seppi, Jurgen Melzer over Nikolay Davydenko, and Marcel Granollers over Ivo Karlovic
Semifinal predictions: Nieminen over Kohlschreiber and Melzer over Granollers
Final: Melzer over Nieminen
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Comments and your own predictions are appreciated!
Vamos Pico!