Tennis Tuesday - Abrams picks Men’s Wimbledon warm-ups Fever-Tree Championships, Noventi Open, Federer, Edmund, Bedene, Coric, Tsonga
The start of Wimbledon is only two weeks away and it seems like all the players on the WTA and ATP Tours are using this week well in trying to get some grass court experience in. Roger Federer and Sascha Zverev are among the 32 players entered in the grass court tournament in Halle, Germany, while Stefanos Tsitsipas, Kevin Anderson, Juan-Martin del Potro, Marin Cilic and Stan Wawrinka are participants in the stacked draw at the Fever-Tree Championships taking place at the famed Queens Club in London, England.
For the women, Naomi Osaka, Ash Barty, Karolina Pliskova, Elina Svitolina and red-hot Johanna Konta head the entries in the Nature Valley Classic taking place in Birmingham, Great Britain. Additionally, Angie Kerber, Belinda Bencic, Sofia Kenin, Eise Mertens and French Open semi-finalist Amanda Anisimova headline those staying on the Continent and playing this week in the Mallorca Open in Mallorca, Spain. Interesting side notes include Maria Sharapova showing up in the Mallorca draw for her first tournament since the Australian Open in January, and Caroline Wozniacki taking a pass this week after getting married over the weekend to baller David Lee. Both Simona Halep and Serena Williams also appear to taking this week off, each for their own reasons.
On the Men’s side, neither Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic nor Fabio Fognini’s names have shown up in either ATP tournament draws this week, leaving their Wimbledon grass court preparation to themselves without much, or any, match play as a warm-up. However, they still have an opportunity to get grass matches in as there are two small Wimbledon warm-up tournaments being played next week, one in Antalya, Turkey and the other in Eastbourne, Great Britain, both on grass, as are the two taking place this week.
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MEN’S PICKS
Fever-Tree Championships
Queens Club/London, Great Britain
Stan Wawrinka over Daniel Evans
Evans has had a great come-back year after serving a one-year cocaine suspension and will be playing in front of his hometown crowd, but Wawrinka showed in Paris that he has his “A” game back. Wawrinka should triumph, but Evans is dangerous.
Juan Martin del Potro over Denis Shapovalov
This is a really tough draw for both of these guys, but I like del Potro because of the intangibles. As long as del Potro is healthy, his game on grass should be too tough for the rising Canadian star. The Argentine’s serve, booming forehand, and slice backhand should be able to dominate the exciting, all-court game and movement of Shapovalov, a future champion just biding his time.
Stefanos Tsitsipas over Kyle Edmund
Tsitsipas has already proclaimed himself as one of the two or three NexGen players who will succeed to the throne of the Big Three over the next couple of years as they age and retire. I think he’s right. His game is beautiful to watch, but also very effective, and should be too much for the fight in England’s own Kyle Edmund. Edmund knows how to play on grass, but it’s hard to beat a better player, and the Greek God is the better player.
Grigor Dimitrov over Felix Auger-Aliassime
FA2 has become one of the very best players in the world, bursting on the scene over the past eight months or so. At No. 21 − at age 18 − he is the highest ranked teen on the ATP Tour that has a few teens knocking at the door. But Dimitrov, who has struggled immensely in 2019, looks like he has regained most of the magic that he showed when he was ranked in the Top Five. He lost in Paris in three straight tie-breakers to Wawrinka in one of the best matches of the tournament, and appears ready to break out. Whereas usually I’d go with FA2, because he’s become such a force on Tour, I think Dimitrov has put in the work and effort to win this match.
Milos Raonic over Marco Cecchinato
Raonic just pulled out of a semifinal matchup with FA2 last week, citing injury, so I don’t know if he’s healthy. At this time of the year, players have a tendency to get a bit scared at any small physical concern that they think might keep them out of Wimbledon, which is important from the aspect of both ranking points and prize money. If Raonic pulled out last week because of a little nagging injury, then I like him over Cecchinato. If, in fact, his shoulder, which has bugged him all Spring, is back as a real injury, then Cecchinato should dig this out.
Adrian Mannarino over Nick Kyrgios
Okay, I have to say it again. If Kyrgios is healthy, both mentally and physically, and he’s willing to compete because he wants to win, he will. He has the best game of any player on the planet when he’s right. But he is rarely − if ever − right, and you can never count on him wanting to put in the work to win. So I’m going with Adrian Mannarino, who won his first ATP tournament of his career last week, at age 30.
Alex de Minaur over Aljaz Bedene
De Minaur, the young Aussie who burst on the global scene in the Australian Open, is a pure grass court player, and that will be more than enough to beat Bedene, who likes the slow red stuff. But de Minaur is not match tough, so I expect this to be more than a battle than it really has to be.
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Noventi Open
Halle, Germany
Jan-Lennard Struff over Laslo Djere
Struff, at age 29, is playing the best tennis of his career right now. He’s shown toughness, resilience, and a great aggressive style that pays off on fast grass courts. Although Djere is ranked 8 spots higher than Struff, his game will not get the same boost as Struff’s from the grass. Besides, Struff is playing at home, and he’s won the only match played between these guys.
Borna Coric over Jaume Munar
Borna Coric has shown that the grass doesn’t bother him, while Munar, who is an absolute terror on the clay, is not as prone to playing his best tennis on the fast, slick surface that they’re playing on. I like Coric, but this could be awfully fun to watch.
Jo-Willie Tsonga over Benoit Paire
This is a match that I’d really rate as a total toss-up. Under normal circumstances I’d go with Tsonga without reservation, because he is the heavier hitter and he sports a better overall record and resume, particularly on fast surfaces. But Tsonga has shown extreme inconsistency this year, going from a champion to a first-round casualty with no warning, and it’s clear that, although he may be healthy, he’s not at his best. Meanwhile, Paire has had a nice year (as long as you throw out anything played before the New York Open), as had a lot of the French players, and he’s not afraid of his compatriot. I’ve also seen Paire play horribly, like Tsonga, and not even show a desire to compete, which is a bummer, and I’ve seen him bring out his bombs, smile, hit winners, and celebrate holding hardware, all in the same season. So who to bet on? Well, Tsonga has a 3-1 career record over the bearded Paire, and I think that means a lot. However, they’ve never played on grass, so this should be interesting.
Roger Federer over John Millman
I love watching Millman play because he’s a throwback. He’s aggressive without apology, and I love watching that kind of game. But he’s coming up against a guy that style of play doesn’t seem to matter much. Federer is, simply, Federer, and should win this match.
Roberto Bautista Agut over Taylor Fritz
I’d love to see Taylor Fritz win this match. He’s shown every sign of a player who will do anything to improve his game, and he’s picked up wins on the red clay while other Americans have been too afraid to even enter tournaments. Unfortunately for him, RBA is just a fantastic talent. Although RBA’s game was fostered on clay, he showed in this year’s Australian Open that he can win on hard, fast courts too, and I think he’ll take out Fritz. But not before a real dogfight, which should be good for both of them, going into Wimbledon.