Sandwiched in between a pair of Masters 1000 events and the U.S. Open, and once again overlapping for a couple of days with the U.S. Open mixed doubles tournament, the Winston-Salem Open will largely be overlooked.
However, by ATP 250 standards it is certainly worth watching. A field of 48 features Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Luciano Darderi, Tomas Machac, Lorenzo Sonego, and Botic van de Zandschulp. Medvedev, the top seed, was a late entry as he seeks matches — and confidence — in advance of the season’s final Grand Slam. Tsitsipas is starting to heat up following a rough first half of the year, while Machac is playing for just the second time since the French Open.
As is always the case in a week before a major, pretty much anything could happen in Winston-Salem. Medvedev and Tsitsipas are on a collision course for the semifinals in the top half of the draw, but neither one is any kind of lock to make it that far. After all, you can never be sure of anyone’s motivation level when a Grand Slam is on the immediate horizon. Sonego, the 2024 champion of this event, could capitalize if Medvedev goes out early. Meanwhile, Tsitsipas will likely have a tough opening match on his hands against either Jenson Brooksby or Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
With both Medvedev and Tsitsipas up top, the bottom half of the bracket is especially wide open. Darderi is far from his best on hard courts, as are four of the other seeded players on his side. This should be a nice opportunity for Van de Zandschulp, Quentin Halys, or perhaps whoever wins a first-round meeting between Martin Landaluce and Mattia Bellucci.
Quarterfinal picks: Lorenzo Sonego over Fabian Marozsan, Stefanos Tsitsipas over Dino Prizmic, Marcos Giron over Adam Walton, and Botic van de Zandschulp over Quentin Halys
Semifinals: Tsitsipas over Sonego and Van de Zandschulp over Giron
Final: Van de Zandschulp over Tsitsipas
who ya got?
Not-Medvedev!
If Collignon and Machac are feeling brilliant they could go further than expected. And Fery could surprise.
Van de Zandschulp isn’t an unrealistic pick IMO but some people will disagree.
it’s the week before a slam. ANYTHING could happen.
Martin Damm got a memorable win there. It’s becoming quite a tradition for young players to cut their teeth on Medvedev. Tien did that too as his first “big win”.
And van de Zandschulp made a bagel. Probably won’t do that against Darderi.
very well might bagel Darderi, too
Wow, he really did! 6:1 6:0 🔥
And that was a step up in competition, #2 seed. What made you think this likely? Is the Dutchman supercharged ATM? I’m not watching matches there, only looking at scoreboards.
Gonna take Zarazua over Tauson tomorrow. I’m tellin’ ya, this generation of players only have a handful of games a year in ’em. The way these tournaments are setup, they just farm points, and show purse, while playing half of the time.
Tauson is always a fantastic fade
I know Ricky thinks it would have been insane but I reckon Djokovic could have won this tournament. And possibly had enough left for NYC.
There’s four left: Buse playing vs Bonzi and Duckie vs Fery. Duckie beat Fery twice in Challengers before Fery beat him in a three-setter in Cincinnati recently. Can he get his revenge? And who will win the final?