Queen’s Club and Halle previews and predictions

The buildup to Wimbledon picks up steam this week in London and Halle, with a trio of top 10 players in action across two 500-point tournaments. Stefanos Tsitsipas tops a particularly deep field at Queen’s Club, while Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev lead the way on German soil.

Fever-Tree Championships

Where: London, England
Surface: Grass
Prize money: 2,081,830 Euros
Points: 500

Top seed: Stefanos Tsitsipas
Defending champion: Marin Cilic

Draw analysis: The British press will make sure that doubles makes the most headlines at Queen’s Club in 2019. That’s not to say the singles draw is any less mouth-watering than usual; it simply has everything to do with Andy Murray’s return to tennis (he feels fit enough to play doubles, but not for singles until perhaps the fall of this year). As for the singles field of 32, it is once again loaded from top to bottom. Its impressive depth is reflected in the following first-round matchups, just to name a few: Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Grigor Dimitrov, Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Denis Shapovalov, Stan Wawrinka vs. Dan Evans, and Daniil Medvedev vs. Fernando Verdasco.

Auger-Aliassime and Dimitrov must deal with especially tough draws in a brutal top half. The winner of that showdown will go up against either Nick Kyrgios or ‘s-Hertogenbosch finalist Adrian Mannarino before possibly facing Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals. The Del Potro-Shapovalov section also includes former Wimbledon runner-up Milos Raonic (2016) and former Queen’s Club champion Feliciano Lopez (2017). As for the bottom half, it is more wide open because seeds Medvedev, Kevin Anderson, and Marin Cilic are vulnerable. Medvedev and Cilic are slumping, while Anderson has not played since the Miami Masters in March because of an injury.

First-round upset alert: Grigor Dimitrov over (8) Felix Auger-Aliassime. Dimitov has pretty much been a disaster ever since winning the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals. Nonetheless, the world No. 46 started to show signs of life at the conclusion of the clay-court swing. He won multiple matches in each of his last two tournaments, including the French Open (beat Janko Tipsarevic and Cilic in five sets before losing to Wawrinka 7-6(5), 7-6(4), 7-6(8). Dimitrov should be able to take advantage of an opponent coming off a long week in Stuttgart.

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Hot: Stefanos Tsitsipas, Stan Wawrinka, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Christian Garin

Cold: Kevin Anderson, Marin Cilic, Denis Shapovalov, Kyle Edmund, Alex de Minaur, Nick Kyrgios, Gilles Simon

Quarterfinal predictions: Stefanos Tsitsipas over Grigor Dimitrov, Juan Martin Del Potro over Alex de Minaur, Marin Cilic over Fernando Verdasco, and Stan Wawrinka over Gilles Simon

Semifinals: Tsitsipas over Del Potro and Wawrinka over Cilic

Final: Tsitsipas over Wawrinka

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Noventi Open

Where: Halle, Germany
Surface: Grass
Prize money: 2,081,830 Euros
Points: 500

Top seed: Roger Federer
Defending champion: Borna Coric

Draw analysis: Federer has a chance to win 10 titles at a single tournament for the first time in his career…. Another chance, to be exact. The Swiss came within one set of accomplishing the feat last summer in Halle but ended up losing in the final to Borna Coric. Going one step farther this time around would give Federer double-digits and break a tie with his nine titles at the Swiss Indoors Basel. First in the 37-year-old’s way is familiar foe John Millman, who stunned Federer in round four of the 2018 U.S. Open. Frenchmen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Benoit Paire are potential second-round adversaries, while Roberto Bautista Agut is Federer’s nearest seed (0-8 lifetime in the head-to-head series). Coric, Gael Monfils, and Hubert Hurkacz are among those who round out the top half.

Just about everyone would prefer to be on the other side–with Zverev instead of Federer. The second-seeded German made it back to the quarters of the French Open, but in general he is struggling this season and he dropped his Stuttgart to Dustin Brown. A strong unseeded contingent at the bottom of the bracket led by David Goffin, Philipp Kohlschreiber, and Robin Haase may be able to capitalize. This is also a big opportunity for unseeded floaters Matteo Berrettini and Jan-Lennard Struff to continue their awesome form.

First-round upset alert: David Goffin over (8) Guido Pella. This, of course, would only be an upset according to ranking and seed; Pella is No. 8 in Halle at 22nd in the world, 11 spots better than Goffin. The Belgian, however, is more accomplished on grass and leads the head-to-head series 2-0. Both of their previous encounters have gone the distance, with Goffin prevailing 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 at the 2016 Indian Wells Masters and 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 7-6(4), 6-3 at the 2017 U.S. Open. This one should be more straightforward.

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Hot: Roger Federer, Guido Pella, Jan-Lennard Struff, Matteo Berrettini

Cold: Alexander Zverev, Philipp Kohlschreiber

Quarterfinal predictions: Roger Federer over Roberto Bautista Agut, Hubert Hurkacz over Gael Monfils, Jan-Lennard Struff over Nikoloz Basilashvili, and David Goffin over Philipp Kohlschreiber

Semifinals: Federer over Hurkacz and Goffin over Struff

Final: Federer over Goffin

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