The North American hard-court summer kicks off this week in Washington, D.C. and Los Cabos. Alex de Minaur, Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, Lorenzo Musetti, and Frances Tiafoe headline the field in the district. Among those taking their talents south of the border are Jiri Lehecka, Luciano Darderi, Denis Shapovalov, and Grigor Dimitrov.
Here are my previews and picks for this week’s ATP events.
Mubadala DC Open
Where: Washington, D.C.
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $2,469,450
Points: 500
Top seed: Alex de Minaur
Defending champion: Alex de Minaur
Draw analysis: De Minaur’s title defense will begin against recent Gstaad champion Stefanos Tsitsipas. That’s a marquee matchup on paper, but Tsitsipas had been struggling mightily prior the Gstaad result. Jakub Mensik or Brandon Nakashima could give De Minaur bigger problems in the quarterfinals, while Fritz, Learner Tien, Tommy Paul, and Jack Draper also find themselves in the top half of the draw. Paul, Draper, and Alex Michelsen are all unseeded in an extremely deep section.
At the bottom of the bracket, Shelton and Tiafoe are on a quarterfinal collision course. They also faced each other in the quarters of this tournament 12 months ago, when Shelton prevailed 7-6(2), 6-4. Both Americans have favorable draws and should be able to make the rematch a reality. Musetti’s comeback from a leg injury will get underway against fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi, and another must-watch match in the opening round pits Arthur Fils against Rafael Jodar.
Hot: Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Jakub Mensik, Rafael Jodar, Matteo Arnaldi, Kamil Majchrzak
Cold: Lorenzo Musetti, Arthur Fils, Jack Draper, Kei Nishikori, Jerry Shang
Quarterfinal predictions: Alex de Minaur over Brandon Nakashima, Taylor Fritz over Learner Tien, Rafael Jodar over Matteo Arnaldi, and Frances Tiafoe over Ben Shelton
Semifinals: De Minaur over Fritz and Tiafoe over Jodar
Final: De Minaur over Tiafoe
Mifel Tennis Open
Where: Los Cabos, Mexico
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $909,790
Points: 250
Top seed: Jiri Lehecka
Defending champion: Denis Shapovalov
Draw analysis: Los Cabos will get overshadowed by Washington, D.C., but it does have some redeeming qualities — and it also has one can’t-miss showdown in the opening round. Wild cards Dimitrov and Moise Kouame, who are separated by 18 years, will go head-to-head right off the bat. The winner will go up against either Corentin Moutet or Jenson Brooksby before potentially meeting Lehecka in the last eight. Seeds Francisco Cerundolo and Martin Landaluce are also in the top half of the bracket.
Shapovalov is a dreadful 9-14 this season, but he will try to find some form at a tournament he won 12 months ago. Rinky Hijikata is up first for the Canadian, while Darderi is a possible quarterfinal foe for either one of those two players. Darderi will be making a quick turnaround — and a surface change — after losing in the Estoril semifinals to Alexander Blockx on Saturday night. No. 4 seed Karen Khachanov and No. 5 Cameron Norrie are in a section with three qualifiers/lucky losers.
Hot: Martin Landaluce, Michael Zheng, Sho Shimabukuro
Cold: Denis Shapovalov, Gabriel Diallo
Quarterfinal predictions: Jiri Lehecka over Corentin Moutet, Francisco Cerundolo over Michael Zheng, Aleksandar Kovacevic over Karen Khachanov, and Sho Shimabukuro over Adam Walton
Semifinals: Cerundolo over Lehecka and Kovacevic over Shimabukuro
Final: Cerundolo over Kovacevic
who ya got?
Tiafoe in DC now that Ben is out
I cant rate Demon to go far give his record against Tsitsi
Dolo over Kovacevic sounds ok but Norrie or Khachenov could take last years finalist out
????
In the first round, we have Norrie versus Kovacevic.
The draw I’m looking at has Damm against Quinn
I gather one of the three has pulled out and they rescheduling
Quinn WDed. It is Shelton vs. Damm.
And have u seen the Tsitsi Demon H2H with Tsitsi back in form
I can just feel it in my bones that this is going to be Shimabubu’s tournament. Unrivalled statistics, Al… Tsitsi won the final at the same tournament three years ago, but it’s now been 1100 days since then.
Hes just won a tournament