Ricky Dimon

• Approach Shots: U.S. Open Series begins in Atlanta

  2010-07-19 06:19:58
  

  “Approach Shots” is Ricky’s weekly look at what’s ahead (or “approaching”) on the ATP Tour. Every Sunday he previews the tournaments scheduled for the upcoming week.

   

  The annual six-week push toward the U.S. Open officially gets underway this week as the Atlanta Tennis Championships kick off the 2010 U.S. Open Series.
  
  Appropriately, the tournament will have a decidedly American flavor. Andy Roddick and John Isner are the top two seeds, with James Blake, Taylor Dent, and Robby Ginepri also looking to contend. The party, though, could be crashed by Lleyton Hewitt, Horacio Zeballos, or Janko Tipsarevic.
  
  Overshadowing the Atlanta event is a bigger and more valuable clay-court tournament. Hamburg’s International German Open is worth 500 points and features a host of Top 30 players including Nikolay Davydenko, David Ferrer, Jurgen Melzer, Juan Carlos Ferrero, and last week’s two title-winners Nicolas Almagro and Albert Montanes.

   

  Atlanta Tennis Championships

   

  Where: Atlanta, Georgia
  Surface: Hard
  Prize Money: $531,000
  Points: 250

   

  Top Seed: Andy Roddick
  Defending Champion: (inaugural event)

   

  Draw Analysis: Before Roddick made a late entry into the tournament, Isner was slated to be the top seed and in the other half of the draw away from Hewitt. Now, though, Isner is the No. 2 seed and Hewitt landed in the same half when the draw ceremony was held on Saturday. Roddick, meanwhile, would meet Zeballos in the semis if the seeds hold to form.

   

  Of course, there is a long way to go prior to that point. Isner could face either Benjamin Becker (the No. 8 seed) or Teimuraz Gabashvili (French Open fourth round) in the quarters. Hewitt’s path to the semis is likely to include Lukas Lacko and either Tipsarevic or Dudi Sela.
  
  Roddick triumphed the last time Atlanta hosted an ATP event (on clay in 2001) for his first career title and he is a considerable favorite to do the same this week. The seventh-ranked American should have no trouble reaching the semis out of a section that includes No. 7 seed Xavier Malisse (the 2001 Atlanta runner-up).
  
  The second quarter of the draw is wide open with Zeballos, Fish, Blake, Dent, and Ginepri. Blake and Dent are set to square off in a tough first-round encounter and the winner will have a great shot against Zeballos on a fast hard court. Fish is coming off a title in Newport and Ginepri is technically the defending champion of this event (in Indianapolis last year).

   

  First-Round Upset Alert: Kevin Anderson over (5) Janko Tipsarevic. The top four seeds all have byes to the second round, so there is little opportunity for a serious stunner in the immediate stages of the tournament. Tipsarevic, though, could be ripe for an upset as his mind has been focused on marriage rather than tennis (the Serb got married last week).
  
  Anderson is no stranger to the upset, having once defeated Novak Djokovic at the Sony Ericsson Open. The 6’7’’ South African owns a huge serve and he can beat almost anyone when it’s working.

   

  Hot: John Isner, Mardy Fish, Teimuraz Gabashvili

   

  Cold: Rajeev Ram, Kristof Vliegen, James Blake, Robby Ginepri, Rainer Schuettler

   

  Semifinal Predictions: Andy Roddick over Mardy Fish and Lleyton Hewitt over John Isner
  
  Final Prediction: Roddick over Hewitt
  
  International German Open

   

  Where: Hamburg, Germany
  Surface: Clay
  Prize Money: 1,115,000 Euros
  Points: 500

   

  Top Seed: Nikolay Davydenko
  Defending Champion: Nikolay Davydenko

   

  Draw Analysis: Two of the sport’s most renowned clay-court specialists (Almagro and Montanes) took advantage of the post-Wimbledon return to the slow stuff last week and a plethora of clay-courters will now be looking to find success in Hamburg.
  
  Coming off their titles last week, Almagro and Montanes have difficult draws. Following a first-round bye, Almagro could open against an in-form Denis Istomin and the Spaniard is on a collision course with Davydenko for the quarterfinals. Fellow seeds Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Victor Hanescu are also dangerous on clay.
  
  Montanes is in a third quarter of the draw that also includes Jurgen Melzer, Tommy Robredo, and Philipp Petzschner. A rematch between Montanes and Melzer (Montanes rolled over Melzer in Stuttgart) in the quarters is far from a foregone conclusion with Montanes possibly having to get past Paul-Henri Mathieu and Robredo, and Melzer potentially needing to score wins over Eduardo Schwank and Petzschner.
  
  Ferrero, who fell to Montanes in the Stuttgart semis, has a friendlier draw in Hamburg. The Spaniard is in a second section of the bracket that features by far the fewest clay-court specialists. Gael Monfils is technically the favorite on paper to reach the semis, but he retired against Montanes in the Stuttgart final with an ankle injury. Gilles Simon, Ferrero’s nearest seeded opponent, has also been dealing with physical problems.

   

  The fourth and final quarter, on the other hand, is loaded with clay-court talent. Ferrer, who has been arguably the best clay-courter in 2010 outside of Rafael Nadal, will be challenged right away by either Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo or Fabio Fognini and the second-ranked Spaniard could meet Thomaz Bellucci in the semis. Other dangerous threats in this section include Philipp Kohlschreiber, Andreas Seppi, and Juan Ignacio Chela.

   

  Second-Round Upset Alert: Florian Mayer over (15) Alexandr Dolgopolov. All 16 seeds have byes to the second round, so that’s when the upsets will begin. Dolgopolov has soared to a career-high ranking of No. 39 in the world thanks to a third-round showing at the French Open, a semifinal run in Eastbourne, and a second-round appearance at Wimbledon (where he took Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to 10-8 in the fifth set). Let’s not forget, however, that the 21-year-old Ukrainian is still a mere 10-16 at the ATP level…for his entire career.
  
  Dolgopolov got a nice draw at the French Open and then got blitzed by Almagro. Don’t confuse him with a clay-court specialist. Mayer is no clay-court specialist, himself, but his heavy topspin works well on the surface and he reached the Stuttgart quarterfinals last week before falling to Monfils in a high-quality three-setter. The German will also have a home-court advantage in Hamburg, so this really would not be much of an upset.

   

  Hot: Jurgen Melzer, Nicolas Almagro, Albert Montanes, Philipp Petzschner, Alexander Dolgopolov, Denis Istomin, Fabio Fognini, Daniel Brands

   

  Cold: Nikolay Davydenko, Gilles Simon, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Tommy Robredo, Maximo Gonzalez, Marco Chiudinelli, Simone Bolelli

   

  Semifinal Predictions: Juan Carlos Ferrero over Nicolas Almagro and Thomaz Bellucci over Albert Montanes
  
  Final Prediction: Ferrero over Bellucci
  
  Comments and your own predictions are appreciated!

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