In years gone by, Wimbledon would have begun on Monday. This time around, however, it is Nottingham that remains on the schedule as players get a new third week in between the second and third Grand Slams of the season.
Another change is that the AEGON Open is taking place in Nottingham instead of Eastbourne for the first time since 2009. Additionally, the field size has increased from 32 to 48—giving more players an opportunity to gain confidence heading to the All-England Club. Among those looking for some grass-court momentum in the week leading up to Wimbledon are David Ferrer, Gilles Simon, Dominic Thiem, and two-time defending champion Feliciano Lopez.
AEGON Open
Where: Nottingham, Great Britain
Surface: Grass
Prize money: 589,160 Euros
Points: 250
Top seed: David Ferrer
Defending champion: Feliciano Lopez
Draw analysis: Predicting outcomes of 250-point tournaments immediately preceding majors is never an easy task. It is almost impossible to say which players are in it to win it and which ones are more interested in taking their talents to either Melbourne, Roland Garros, Wimbledon (as is the case on this particular occasion), or New York.
But for whatever it’s worth, Lopez appears to have a friendly draw as he bids for a third consecutive AEGON title. The Spaniard’s nearest seed is Andreas Seppi, who did well to finish runner-up in Halle to Roger Federer but now must get back in action right away. Although Simon, Thiem, and Pablo Cuevas are tough customers in the bottom half of the bracket, neither is particularly dangerous on grass. Alexander Dolgopolov and Sam Querrey may be more likely opponents for Lopez in the quarterfinals and semis, respectively.
Unlike Lopez, Ferrer’s danger could come early in the week. The top seed will kick off his Nottingham campaign against Marcos Baghdatis, who can never be counted out (especially not on a fast surface) even though his best days are apparently behind him. With grass-court gurus few and far between in this section of the draw, Ferrer also has to like his projected path to the title match. His most difficult test could eventually come in the semis against the winner of an intriguing first-rounder between Viktor Troicki and Sergiy Stakhovsky.
Second-round upset alerts: Sergiy Stakhovsky over (6) Viktor Troicki: Stakhovsky is a proven winner on grass, and not just because he beat Federer at Wimbledon in 2013. The Ukrainian got back to his winning ways on the green stuff with a routine victory over Steve Johnson on Sunday. Troicki is also adept on grass, but he has to make a quick turnaround after losing to Andy Murray in the Queen’s Club semifinals on Sunday.
Denis Istomin over (9) Juan Monaco: Not surprisingly, the clay-court loving Monaco bypassed the first two weeks of the grass-court swing. Istomin, on the other hand, already has four grass matches under his belt (one in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, two in Queen’s Club qualifying, and one already in Nottingham). The Uzbek opened with a 6-1, 6-4 rout of Nicolas Almagro on Sunday. Don’t be surprised if the surface helps Istomin pull off what would be an upset at least according to ranking and seed.
Alexander Zverev over (13) Thomaz Bellucci: The story is a similar one for this matchup. Bellucci is the favorite on paper, but Zverev has the surface advantage. Just 18 years old and already ranked 76th, Zverev advanced to round two in both Stuttgart and Halle. He kicked off his Nottingham campaign with a 6-0, 6-2 destruction of Mikhail Kukushkin. Bellucci, meanwhile, has not yet ventured onto the slick stuff in 2015.
Hot: David Ferrer, Gilles Simon, Viktor Troicki, Thomaz Bellucci, Andreas Seppi, Alexander Zverev, Hyeon Chung
Cold: Marcos Baghdatis, Go Soeda, Tim Smyczek, Denis Istomin, Dudi Sela, Marcel Granollers
Quarterfinal predictions: David Ferrer over Adrian Mannarino, Sergiy Stakhovsky over Jiri Vesely, Feliciano Lopez over Alexandr Dolgopolov, and Sam Querrey over Gilles Simon
Semifinals: Ferrer over Stakhovsky and Lopez over Querrey
Final: Lopez over Ferrer
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Smyczek is playing James Ward in Nottingham and I’m counting how many times Frew McMillan mentions the fact that Smycsek led Rafa by 2 sets to 1 in Australia. He said it at the coin toss and has said it twice since and they are only into the 3rd game.
Ha, Ha. The worst combination of all is Frew McMillan with David Mercer.
btw: do you know if Boodles has any TV coverage this year? I know I’ve watched it in the past. It’s a bit of a mickey mouse event but would be fun to see Rafa……. .
I haven’t seen anything about TV coverage but will keep my eyes peeled on the Rafa fans’ facebooks for any info.
Assume Rafa will have to play Novak :- unless they decide to put them in different match-ups to spread their ‘stars’ around the exhibition.
rosol is playing there…i really hope he doesn’t have to play him……
Me too! I don’t want Rafa anywhere near the arrogant Rosol!
Seriously doubt that Lopez can win it 2X in a row…..I think that Stakko and Ferrer have a better chance….and congrats to FedEx for winning Halle…again!!!!
Marcos Baghdatis defeated David Ferrer 6-2, 7-6(4) in R2. It was Ferrer’s first match.
Feliciano Lopez lost in R3.