Tennis Trading News – Friday 20th July 2012

It’s been another week of World Tour 250 action this week, as the Men have been battling it out in Atlanta, Gstaad and Hamburg.

Credit Agricole Suisse Open, Gstaad

Janko Tipsarevic is the top name for the Suisse Open in Gstaad and after winning in Stuttgart last week, the Serb no.2 is really starting to make some movements in the world’s top 10. He’s currently up to no.8 in the rankings, just six places behind his compatriot, Novak Djokovic. If Tipsarevic can go all the way in Gstaad he’ll have another 250 points added to his total and the great climb will continue.

The main worry for Tipsarevic was that he would be a little tired in the early part of the week, after coming through such a long week in Stuttgart. That did appear to be the case when he lost the opening set of his first round encounter with Martin Fischer. The second set went to a tie-break, but that’s when Tipsarevic finally found another gear, winning 7-1 in the breaker and comfortably taking the decider 6-3.

Elsewhere in the draw, Marcel Granollers came in as unlikely no.2 seed but he too had progressed to a final in Croatia last week and the prospect of an early exit for the Spaniard looked far greater than they did for Tipsarevic. That’s exactly what happened as Granollers fell to Lukasz Kubot in his opening match.

That defeat opened up the draw for Brazilian, Thomaz Bellucci and the fifth seed, Feliciano Lopez. The pair will meet in the quarter-final and one of these two is likely to go on and meet Tipsarevic in the final.

Back in the top half of the draw, Latvian, Ernests Gulbis has had a couple of epic three set victories and could give Tipsarevic a match in the semis.

BB&T Atlanta Open

It’s almost an all-American line-up for this hard court event in Atlanta and the two men who had both faced each other in the previous two finals here were both in contention again.

Mardy Fish and John Isner met in the final at Atlanta in 2010 and 2011, with Fish coming out on top in both encounters.

After a disappointing Wimbledon, Isner seemed to be getting back toward his best when he successfully defended his title in Newport last week, but Fish was the no.2 seed and the pair had looked to be on a collision course again.

Unfortunately for Fish, he won’t get his chance to record a hatrick of Atlanta successes as he was forced to pull out with an injured left ankle during his opening encounter with Gilles Muller. Fish had won the opening set and led in the second set when he was forced to withdraw.

That withdrawal would appear to leave the way clear for Isner to finally go one step further and win this event. It won’t be quite as easy as that though, as Andy Roddick looks like a semi-final opponent and the no.3 seed, Kei Nishikori could be the man standing in his way in the final.

You’d have to expect either Isner or Roddick to win here and after success in Newport last week, Isner may just be feeling a little tired ahead of a tough weekend.

Bet-at-Home Open – Hamburg, Germany

Two big names stood out at opposite ends of the draw as this event got underway at the start of the week and it’s those two names who are still appear to be heading towards an ultimate face-off in Sunday’s final.

Having been beaten in the final in Bastad last week, Nicolas Almagro knows that clay court supremo, David Ferrer is not here to stop him again this week, and he arrives in this one as the no.1 seed.
No.2 seed, Marin Cilic is in attendance though and after winning the Croatian Open last Sunday he has advanced through his opening couple of rounds with ease. Almagro himself came through his first two matches without the loss of a set but things do appear to be looking a little trickier for him between now and the final, as he must face German, Philipp Kohlschreiber in the last 8, before a likely meeting with last week’s beaten Stuttgart finalist, Juan Monaco in the semis.

Down in the bottom half of the draw, things look a little easier for Cilic. A quarter final meeting with Spaniard, Albert Ramos should be negotiable, before a semi-final match-up with either Mayer or Haas.

Possible Weekend Matches

Credit Agricole Suisse Open, Gstaad

Janko Tipsarevic v Ernests Gulbis
Feliciano Lopez v Thomaz Bellucci
Janko Tipsarevic v Thomaz Bellucci

BB&T Atlanta Open

John Isner v Andy Roddick
John Isner/Andy Roddick v Kei Nishikori

Bet-at-Home Open – Hamburg, Germany

Nicolas Almagro v Philipp Kohlschreiber
Albert Ramo v Marin Cilic
Nicolas Almagro v Juan Monaco
Nicolas Almagro v Marin Cilic