Once the Queens tournament arrives, you know we’re getting close to Wimbledon! One of two traditional 500 events this week, the other across in Halle, Germany. For this edition, 8 of the top 16 in the world will take their place in the field, headed by the newly crowned French Open champion, Carlos Alcaraz. It will be fascinating to see how he transitions from the clay to grass after such a big career moment. We know he’s already a Wimbledon champion, so the surface won’t be an issue, it’ll be more about the amount of time he’s had for practice, and the motivation since Paris.
He’ll take on Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo in round one, with a likely match up against the surprise Stuttgart champion, Jack Draper in round two.
Draper had a very ordinary clay court season, but already looks far more at home on the freshly cut lawn, taking out his first ever ATP title, overcoming Matteo Berrettini in the final.
Tommy Paul also lurks in that top section, and has shown he can be dangerous on grass, but I’d expect Alcaraz to get through.
Grigor Dimitrov comes up against Adrian Mannarino, who has fallen in a heap since the Australian Open. The two met on the hard courts in Indian Wells, and Grigor won that comfortably. I’d expect him to do the same again. But round two would find him up against either Sebastian Korda, who made the final of s’Hertogenbosch, or Karen Khachanov. A tough second rounder regardless of who gets through. I think the winner of that round two clash will move onto the final here.
The third quarter has some big names, with Holger Rune, Andy Murray, Milos Raonic, and Taylor Fritz all vying for success on the grass. We know Murray and Raonic are proven on the surface, but whether they are fit enough, or good enough at this stage of their careers is another question. Rune made the semis here last year, and the quarters at Wimbledon. He seems to be coming into a bit of form, so I like his chances of beating Jordan Thompson in the first round, and possibly getting out of this quarter.
The bottom quarter appears to the weakest on paper, with s’Hertogenbosch winner, Alex de Minaur the standout as number two seed. Ben Shelton somewhat surprisingly, hasn’t shown a lot of grass court form early in his career, but his draw here might give him a shot at winning a couple of matches.
Semi final predictions:
Alcaraz v Dimitrov
Rune v De Minaur
Final:
Dimitrov v Rune
Predicted Champion: Grigor Dimitrov
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