Queen’s Club and Halle preview and predictions

The No. 1 ranking musical chairs continues between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, with Federer most recently gaining the ascendancy by triumphing in Stuttgart. Nadal expectedly withdrew from Queen’s Club on the heels of his run to another French Open title, but Federer has a title to defend in Halle and must accomplish that feat if he wants to avoid yet another flip-flop at the top.

Federer is joined in the Halle draw by Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem, but it pales in comparison to the Queen’s Club field. Marin Cilic and Grigor Dimitrov are the top two seeds, but they can barely even sniff the headlines.

Fever-Tree Championships

Where: London, England
Surface: Grass
Prize money: 1,983,595 Euros
Points: 500

Top seed: Marin Cilic
Defending champion: Feliciano Lopez

Draw analysis: Most of the Queen’s Club entrants are not in peak form at the moment, but in terms of name recognition and what they either are or were in their primes, this has to be the most impressive 500-point field since the ATP switched to the current points format in 2009. In fact, you could take eight unseeded players and actually make a decent year-end championship event—featuring Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic, Nick Kyrgios, Fernando Verdasco, Denis Shapovalov, and either Feliciano Lopez, Gilles Muller, Frances Tiafoe, Daniil Medvedev, or Jared Donaldson.

The biggest story of all, of course, is Murray’s long-awaited return from a hip injury. He has not played since Wimbledon last summer, and his comeback match could not be more intriguing—and perhaps not much more difficult. It will come against Kyrgios, who advanced to the Stuttgart semis before succumbing to Federer in a third-set tiebreaker. Murray and Kyrgios find themselves in a tough quarter of the bracket along with Raonic, Lopez, David Goffin, and Kyle Edmund. On the other side, the weakest section includes Medvedev, Tiafoe, Donaldson, Kevin Anderson, and Jack Sock.

First-round upset alert: Danill Medvedev over (6) Jack Sock. In 2017, Sock won five matches at the Paris Masters to earn a spot in the Nitto ATP Finals. He has won five matches this entire season and currently finds himself at No. 136 in the race to London. Adding insult to injury, grass is by far his worst surface. Medvedev has cooled off in a major way since the first few months of the year, but  he is still playing well enough—and comfortably—to extend Sock’s woes.

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Hot: Kyle Edmund, Jeremy Chardy, Cameron Norrie, Frances Tiafoe

Cold: Grigor Dimitrov, Jack Sock, Sam Querrey, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka

Quarterfinal predictions: Marin Cilic over Sam Querrey, Milos Raonic over Kyle Edmund, Kevin Anderson over Daniil Medvedev, and Novak Djokovic over Tomas Berdych

Semifinals: Cilic over Raonic and Anderson over Djokovic

Final: Cilic over Anderson

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Gerry Weber Open

Where: Halle, Germany
Surface: Grass
Prize money: 1,983,595 Euros
Points: 500

Top seed: Roger Federer
Defending champion: Roger Federer

Draw analysis: Nadal probably must wait at least until the end of Wimbledon to take back the top ranking. After all, just look at Federer’s career numbers in Halle: 59-6 overall record, 52-3 in his last 55 matches, and nine titles. The 36-year-old Swiss actually lost in the 2016 semifinals, but he avenged that defeat by beating Zverev in last summer’s final. With Federer well-rested and also coming off a victory in Stuttgart, it is especially hard to see anyone taking him down this week. Aljaz Bedene will get the first crack in round one, followed by either Steve Johnson or Benoit Paire and then perhaps Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarters. Thiem, Lucas Pouille, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Maximilian Marterer are potential semifinal foes for the No. 1 seed.

In the other half of the draw, Zverev likely faces a tougher path to the title match that begins with an intriguing opener against Borna Coric and perhaps includes a quarterfinal showdown against ‘s-Hertogenbosch champion Richard Gasquet. Meanwhile, Kei Nishikori and Roberto Bautista Agut are on a collision course for the quarters in the third section of the bracket.

First-round upset alert: Marton Fucsovics over (6) Philipp Kohlschreiber. Kohlschreiber enjoyed a 10-3 stretch at one point during the clay-court swing, but he heads into Halle on a three-match losing streak—including opening setbacks at Roland Garros and this past week in Stuttgart. Fucsovics, on the other hand, has been one of the breakout players on the ATP Tour in 2018. The Hungarian picked up a solid grass-court win over Denis Kudla in Stuttgart before falling to Raonic.

[polldaddy poll=10033288]

Hot: Roger Federer, Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Matthew Ebden, Marton Fucsovics, Maximilian Marterer, Stefanos Tsitsipas

Cold: Philipp Kohlschreiber, Florian Mayer

Quarterfinal predictions: Roger Federer over Matthew Ebden, Lucas Pouille over Maximilian Marterer, Kei Nishikori over Roberto Bautista Agut, and Alexander Zverev over Andreas Seppi

Semifinals: Federer over Pouille and Zverev over Nishikori

Final: Federer over Zverev

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