Stuttgart and ‘s-Hertogenbosch preview and predictions 

The French Open wrapped up on Sunday with Novak Djokovic’s 23rd Grand Slam title, and no time is being wasted jumping right into the grass-court season. In fact, it has already started. It started in fine fashion, too, as Andy Murray won the Surbiton Challenger this past weekend. Now the real three-week grass-court swing begins, starting this week with a pair of ATP 250s in Stuttgart and ‘s-Hertogenbosch. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Taylor Fritz, Nick Kyrgios, Daniil Medvedev, and Jannik Sinner are among those taking the court. 
 
Here is my breakdown of the upcoming action. 

BOSS Open

Where: Stuttgart, Germany 
Surface: Grass 
Prize money: 718,410 Euros 
Points: 250

Top seed: Stefanos Tsitsipas 
Defending champion: Matteo Berrettini

Draw analysis: Murray decided to play another Challenger this week instead of Stuttgart, where he finished runner-up to Matteo Berrettini last summer. Nonetheless, a strong field is once again on hand. Tsitsipas, Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, and Hubert Hurkacz own the first-round byes, while Kyrgios, Berrettini, Tommy Paul, and Lorenzo Musetti round out the seeded contingent. Denis Shapovalov, Lorenzo Sonego, Jan-Lennard Struff, and Jiri Lehecka are also kicking off their grass-court campaigns.

Fritz is in the toughest section at the bottom of the draw, where he could face either Kyrgios or Shapovalov in the quarterfinals. Kyrgios and Shapovalov will go head-to-head in round two if they win their respective openers against Yibing Wu and Marton Fucsovics. In the top half of the bracket, a marquee first-round matchup pits Berrettini against Sonego in a battle of Italians. Tsitsipas will get started against either Richard Gasquet or Chris Eubanks, and the Greek could run into either Paul or Struff in the last eight. 

Hot: Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Lorenzo Sonego, Aslan Karatsev, Jan-Lennard Struff, Marcos Giron, Daniel Altmaier, Chris Eubanks 

Cold: Matteo Berrettini, Nick Kyrgios, Denis Shapovalov, Feliciano Lopez, Benjamin Bonzi

Quarterfinal predictions: Stefanos Tsitsipas over Tommy Paul, Lorenzo Sonego over Hubert Hurkacz, Frances Tiafoe over Borna Gojo, and Taylor Fritz over Nick Kyrgios

Semifinals: Sonego over Tsitsipas and Tiafoe over Fritz

Final: Sonego over Tiafoe

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Libema Open

Where: ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands 
Surface: Grass 
Prize money: 673,630 Euros 
Points: 250

Top seed: Daniil Medvedev 
Defending champion: Tim van Rijthoven (not playing)

Draw analysis: Milos Raonic lives! The 32-year-old Canadian has not played since July of 2021, but he is finally back and giving himself his best chance to win by returning on his grass-court stomping grounds. Of course, all of that rust combined with a tough draw against Miomir Kecmanovic means Raonic probably won’t last very long in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. Whoever wins that Raonic-Kecmanovic match will likely meet Jordan Thompson in the second round and Medvedev in the quarterfinals. Borna Coric joins Medvedev as the other player with a bye in the top half of the bracket, but Coric is borderline hopeless on grass so the door could be open for serve-and-volley tactician Maxime Cressy.

Seeded second, Sinner has a potentially difficult road that could include Alexander Bublik in the last 16, Ugo Humbert in the quarters, and either Alex de Minaur or Alexei Popyrin in the semis. In addition to Bublik and Popyrin, a formidable unseeded group in the bottom half also features Brandon Nakashima, Emil Ruusuvuori, and Jason Kubler. Nakashima and Ruusuvuori are squaring off in round one. 

Hot: Jannik Sinner, Arthur Fils

Cold: Alex de Minaur, Maxime Cressy, Mikael Ymer, Brandon Nakashima, David Goffin, Mackenzie McDonald, Ricardas Berankis, Gijs Brouwer, Milos Raonic

Quarterfinal predictions: Daniil Medvedev over Miomir Kecmanovic, Maxime Cressy over Ilya Ivashka, Alex de Minaur over Alexei Popyrin, and Jannik Sinner over Ugo Humbert

Semifinals: Medvedev over Cressy and Sinner over De Minaur

Final: Sinner over Medvedev

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