Queen’s Club and Halle previews and predictions

Rafael Nadal may be out, but the recipe is there for what should be an entertaining week at Queen’s Club. For a second straight season, a week in between the French Open and this tournament has given the competitors some much-needed rest (unless they played in either Stuttgart or ‘s-Hertogenbosch). And what a list of competitors it is; Andy Murray leads the way as the top seed and defending champion, with Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic, Nick Kyrgios, and Juan Martin Del Potro also on board.

In Halle, meanwhile, Roger Federer hopes to bounce back from a Stuttgart loss to Dominic Thiem by restoring dominance at some of his favorite stomping grounds on the pro tour. Federer’s bid for a ninth Gerry Weber Open title will be challenged by Thiem, Kei Nishikori, Tomas Berdych, David Goffin, David Ferrer, and many more.

AEGON Championships

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

Top seed: Andy Murray
Defending champion: Andy Murray

Draw analysis: Look no further than a few of the first-round matchups to find out just how impressive this field is: Raonic has to play Kyrgios, Del Potro is going up against John Isner, and Richard Gasquet will likely have his hands full with Feliciano Lopez. But the biggest name, especially in London, is Murray. The second-ranked Scot, who just rehired Ivan Lendl for the grass-court swing, has captured this title four times—in every odd year dating back to 2009. While the trend indicates Murray will not triumph in 2016, current form suggests he will. His clay-court swing featured a title in Rome and runner-up performances in Madrid and at Roland Garros.

Murray will kick off his campaign against accomplished grass-courter and top-ranked doubles player Nicolas Mahut, who almost lifted the Queen’s Club trophy in 2007 before falling to Andy Roddick in a third-set tiebreaker. For the most part, though, Murray’s draw is a good one. His nearest seed is Gilles Simon, who is most comfortable on hard courts. Among the potential semifinal opponents for the crowd favorite are Gasquet, Lopez, and Marin Cilic.

A loaded bottom half of the bracket features Wawrinka, Raonic, Kyrgios, Del Potro, Isner, Roberto Bautista Agut, Fernando Verdasco, Bernard Tomic, and Gilles Muller. The Raonic-Kyrgios winner should be able to coast into the semifinals, but Wawrinka may be tested from start to finish. Verdasco is up first for the second-seeded Swiss, possibly followed by Tomic, Del Potro or Isner, and then Raonic or Kyrgios in the semis.

First-round upset alert: Nick Kyrgios over (3) Milos Raonic. A whole host of seeded players could be in trouble right off the bat, but Raonic has to be especially displeased with his draw. Although the head-to-head series stands at a relatively competitive 3-2 in Kyrgios’ favor, Raonic has lost three in a row to the Australian on three different surfaces dating back to Wimbledon last summer. It won’t help that the Canadian has been less than 100 percent physically for much of this season—despite the fact that it has been a very good one. As for Kyrgios, he has been downright scary on fast surfaces of late.

Hot: Andy Murray, Roberto Bautista Agut, Nicolas Mahut, Gilles Muller

Cold: Marin Cilic, Bernard Tomic, Grigor Dimitrov, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Janko Tipsarevic, James Ward

Quarterfinal predictions: Andy Murray over Gilles Simon, Feliciano Lopez over Richard Gasquet, Nick Kyrgios over Roberto Bautista Agut, and Stan Wawrinka over Juan Martin Del Potro

Semifinals: Murray over Lopez and Kyrgios over Wawrinka

Final: Murray over Kyrgios

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Gerry Weber Open

Where: Halle, Germany
Surface: Grass
Prize money: 1,700,610 Euros
Points: 500

Top seed: Roger Federer
Defending champion: Roger Federer

Draw analysis: Federer is 51-5 lifetime in Halle and 44-2 in his last 46 matches there, with eight titles dating back to his fourth appearance at this tournament in 2003. The 34-year-old Swiss is the three-time defending champion and aiming to win four in a row for the second time (previously 2003-2006).

He could not have asked for a better draw through two rounds, after which Goffin could await in the quarterfinals. The 11th-ranked Belgian is playing the best tennis of his life, but a victory over Federer on grass (if the top seed is close to 100 percent physically) would constitute a major upset. Berdych, Alexander Zverev, and Marcos Baghdatis are part of the bracket’s up-for-grabs second quarter.

In the bottom half, baseliners Nishikori and Ferrer are on a collision course for the last eight. That’s a matchup more accustomed to 500-point title matches, but Ferrer has fallen out of the top 10 and thus finds himself with the No. 6 seed. Grass is by far Nishikori’s worst surface, so the door to a final spot could be open for Ferrer, Thiem, Philipp Kohlschreiber, or Ivo Karlovic. Doubles partners Thiem and Kohlschreiber, who are battling each other for the Stuttgart title, may meet again in the Halle quarters.

First-round upset alert: Alexander Zverev over (7) Viktor Troicki. This would only be an upset according to ranking and seed, as current form obviously favors Zverev. The 19-year-old German is 23-14 this season and has not lost his opening match at any tournament since drawing Murray in round one of the Australian Open. Although Zverev is a relative grass-court novice, he played well enough on the surface last summer. In his first grass event as a professional, he lost to Troicki 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3 last year in Stuttgart. Fast forward 12 months and Zverev is more than ready to turn the tide.

Hot: Dominic Thiem, David Goffin, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz

Cold: Roger Federer, David Ferrer, Brian Baker

Quarterfinal predictions: Roger Federer over David Goffin, Alexander Zverev over Tomas Berdych, Ivo Karlovic over Dominic Thiem, and David Ferrer over Kei Nishikori

Semifinals: Federer over Zverev and Ferrer over Karlovic

Final: Federer over Ferrer

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