Normally the week after a Major tournament is a little flat, and fairly quiet. However, this year, with the Wimbledon grass barely settled, there’s an abundance of events taking place around the world. If you can’t keep up, we’ve got you covered with a 5-minute preview on all that’s taking place on the ATP and WTA tennis tours this week.
ATP Tour:
Hamburg:
Alexander Zverev is the clear standout top seed here, and the only top 10 player taking part in this 500 event. His draw looks pretty straight-forward until the semi-finals, where he will potentially come up against Wimbledon semi-finalist, Lorenzo Musetti. Francisco Cerundolo might have something to say about that though, and as he beat Zverev in Madrid, he shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Holger Rune sits at the bottom of the draw as the second seed, but with a potential clash against Arthur Fils in the quarter-finals, and Sebastian Baez in the semis (whom he lost to in Rome), the Dane might not have a straight-forward path.
Predicted semis (winners in bold):
Alexander Zverev v Lorenzo Musetti
Sebastian Baez v Holger Rune
Champion: Alexander Zverev
Bastad 250:
Rafael Nadal will make yet another comeback to tennis, after skipping Wimbledon. His first match will be against local wildcard, Leo Borg. Assuming he cruises bast Borg, his likely path will be Cameron Norrie, Mariano Navone, then Casper Ruud in the semis, who will be much more comfortable back on the red dirt. The top seed is Andrey Rublev, who could probably use some time off to get his head cleared. However, looking at his draw, there’s every chance he’ll make his way through to the final without dropping a set, if he can stay composed.
Predicted semis:
Andrey Rublev v Nuno Borges
Rafael Nadal v Casper Ruud
Champion: Casper Ruud
Gstaad 250:
In what might be the most open and exciting field of the week, Stefanos Tsitsipas goes in as top seed, and after an extremely strong clay court season, I would expect him to make his way through the top section of the draw. Matteo Berrettini, Fabio Fognini, and Felix Auger-Aliassime are the other seeds in the top half, and none of that trio could be selected with any great confidence, yet at the same time, can go on a tear and win the event.
The bottom half sees Ugo Humbert as second seed, but with Tomas Etcheverry and Jan-Lennard Struff lurking, it’s a fairly interesting event which could unfold. Add to that, Slam winners, Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Thiem, and picking a winner becomes quite tough.
Predicted Semis:
Stefanos Tsitsipas v Matteo Berrettini
Jan-Lennard Struff v Ugo Humbert
Champion: Stefanos Tsitsipas
Newport 250:
The final grass court event of the year, and clearly the weakest of the quartet of events. Only 2 top 50 players are making an appearance here, Adrian Mannarino, who has barely won a match since Melbourne in January, and Marcos Giron, who has also won less than 50% of his matches this year. Brandon Nakshima has looked quite good on grass this season, as has Aussie, Aleksandar Vukic. Big servers, Reilly Opelka and Maxime Cressy can be dangerous on the surface, while Christopher Eubanks has a big chance to regain some of the points lost during the last month. Rinky Hijikata and Alex Michelson have the potential to also go deep in a tour event. Tough event to predict, and to be honest, a tough one to get excited about. I’m going with an all-Aussie final!
Predicted Semis:
Rinky Hijikata v Alex Michelson
Aleksandar Vukic v Brandon Nakashima
Champion: Aleksandar Vukic
WTA Tour:
Budapest 250:
Honestly, not a field to get excited about. Diana Shnaider is the top seed, ranked 30, but has looked far better on the grass than the clay. Still, winning form is good form, and there’s not many others that look threatening. Moyuka Uchijima had a brilliant run earlier in the year on the ITF tour, but the step up to tour level is a different beast. Again though, she’ll have plenty of confidence. Viktoriya Tomova is the 2nd seed, and has shown some form, but has lost to third seed Xiyu Wang a couple of times recently. It’s a bit of a lottery in Budapest.
Predicted Semis:
Diana Shnaider v Xiyu Wang
Magdalena Frech v Viktoriya Tomova
Champion: Viktoriya Tomova
Palermo 250:
Qinwen Zheng is the only top 30 player in the field, so should go in as favourite. Yet I’m not entirely convinced she’ll dominate this field, as her form has been rather indifferent since the Australian Open. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sara Errani takes it right up to her in the first round.
Lucia Bronzetti, Martina Trevisan, and Arantxa Rus are coming off titles last week, so will be full of confidence. Ann Li and Mayar Sharif were runners-up to Bronzetti and Trevisan, so there is good form in the field. While this is a step up, the field isn’t super strong. I would expect Ajla Tomljanovic to lift this week, after a disappointing Wimbledon campaign. Karolina Muchova is the number two seed, and will also fancy her chances, although perhaps the dark horse (although third seed) might be Peyton Stearns. Has some form on clay this year, and has beaten a few of the contenders here.
Predicted Semis:
Lucia Bronzetti v Diane Parry
Peyton Stearns v Karolina Muchova
Champion: Peyton Stearns
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