Queen's Club and Halle previews and predictions

An extra week was built in for the 2015 installment of the annual summer grass-court swing, and thus a majority of competitors enjoyed some rest in between the French Open and the upcoming events at Queen’s Club and in Halle. The result should be a whole host of high-quality tennis over the next seven days.

If the entry lists have anything to do with it, the entertainment will be spectacular from start to finish. Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, and Rafael Nadal are on hand at Queen’s Club, which is so loaded that that John Isner, Richard Gasquet, and David Goffin—just to name a few—go in without a seed. Roger Federer is once again leading the way in Halle, where the field is so deep that unseeded floaters include Philipp Kohlschreiber, Lukas Rosol, Dominic Thiem, and Jerzy Janowicz.

AEGON Championships

Where: London, England
Surface: Grass
Prize money: 1,574,640 Euros
Points: 500

Top seed: Andy Murray
Defending champion: Grigor Dimitrov

Draw analysis: It’s safe to say the reigning French Open champion did not have any favors done for him at the Queen’s Club draw ceremony. Wawrinka, Nadal, and Milos Raonic are all in the bottom half of the bracket. In fact, the last quarter alone features Wawrinka and Nadal. But before the Swiss can worry about that potential blockbuster quarterfinal, he has to open against Nick Kyrgios in advance of a possible date with either Kevin Anderson or Lleyton Hewitt. Nadal’s opener will come against familiar foe Alexandr Dolgopolov. Raonic, meanwhile, could run into Gasquet in round two.

As for Murray, expectations will be high after he won two consecutive clay-court titles and lost on the red stuff only when Novak Djokovic knocked him out of the Roland Garros semis in five sets. The Scot has to be considered the title favorite at Queen’s Club, especially based on the draw. Danger abounds everywhere because the field is so strong, but Murray’s half is weaker by comparison. It also includes Marin Cilic, Grigor Dimitrov, and Feliciano Lopez. Murray, Dimitrov, Fernando Verdasco, and Roberto Bautista Agut are all in the same section.

First-round upset alert: Sam Querrey over (6) Grigor Dimitrov. Dimitrov dominated their only previous encounter 6-3, 6-2, but it came two years ago on the hard courts of Washington, D.C. A stuck-in-neutral Bulgarian is a disappointing 18-11 on the season and he recently lost in the French Open first round to Jack Sock. Dimitrov also has the pressure of playing as the defending Queen’s Club champion. Querrey is not exactly on fire, himself, but the American has always fared relatively well on grass.

Hot: Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Viktor Troicki, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Jeremy Chardy

Cold: Milos Raonic, Grigor Dimitrov, James Ward, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Lleyton Hewitt

Quarterfinal predictions: Andy Murray over Gilles Muller, Marin Cilic over Feliciano Lopez, Milos Raonic over David Goffin, and Rafael Nadal over Kevin Anderson

Semifinals: Murray over Cilic and Raonic over Nadal

Final: Murray over Raonic

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Gerry Weber Open

Where: Halle, Germany
Surface: Grass
Prize money: 1,574,640 Euros
Points: 500

Top seed: Roger Federer
Defending champion: Roger Federer

Draw analysis: Federer finds himself in by far the tougher half of the bracket as he bids for a third consecutive Halle title. To begin with, he drew Tomas Berdych instead of Gael Monfils as his top-four seed. Before that comes into play, though, Federer first has to open with Kohlschreiber before old Wimbledon nemesis Sergiy Stakhovsky potentially awaits in the last 16. Dangerous grass-courters Bernard Tomic and Ivo Karlovic are also part of the top half.

Nishikori should enjoy a friendlier path to the Halle final. The No. 2 seed has a difficult first-rounder on paper against Thiem, but Thiem is not as comfortable on the slick stuff as he is on hard courts or clay. Janowicz and Dustin Brown could present problems on grass, but both men are prone to the occasional—if not frequent—disastrous performance. The draw’s third quarter is especially wide open with Monfils and Tommy Robredo as the two seeds. This may be a golden opportunity for 37-year-old German Tommy Haas to shift his latest comeback from injury into high gear. Haas, who begins his campaign against Andreas Seppi, is a two-time Halle champion (2009 and 2012).

First-round upset alert: Lukas Rosol over (4) Gael Monfils. Monfils is in fine form, but he has never loved clay and he also may be less than 100 percent (what’s new?). Although the Frenchman at least managed to reach the Stuttgart semifinals, he promptly got routined by Nadal. Rosol may be able to use the surface to his advantage and hit through Monfils’ defense. Janowicz also has a good chance of taking out sixth-seeded Pablo Cuevas, but that cannot be considered a big upset on grass.

Hot: Kei Nishikori, Gael Monfils, Pablo Cuevas, Andreas Haider-Maurer

Cold: Tommy Robredo, Ernests Gulbis, Florian Mayer, Andreas Seppi, Tommy Haas, Mikhail Kukushkin

Quarterfinal predictions: Roger Federer over Bernard Tomic, Tomas Berdych over Ivo Karlovic, Tommy Haas over Lukas Rosol, and Kei Nishikori over Jerzy Janowicz

Semifinals: Federer over Berdych and Nishikori over Haas

Final: Federer over Nishikori

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