2011 ATP Summer Schedule: Where Will Nadal, Djokovic, Federer Be Playing?
In the “dead zone” period on the tennis calender, this is a good time to preview what’s ahead on the ATP hardcourts this summer.
Fortunately, there are no major injuries to the top players to speak of. Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray have all scheduled smartly this season and should be fully rested and healthy this summer.
And when you add the return of Juan Martin Del Potro, David Nalbandian, Lleyton Hewitt and the hopeful early recovery of Milos Raonic, who had hip surgery but could be back in mid August, we should have a great, competitive summer of tennis.
Here’s the US Open Series-ish calendar and the top/notable names at each event (subject to change):
ATLANTA – July 18
Mardy Fish
John Isner
Tommy Haas
Lleyton Hewitt
Grigor Dimitrov
LOS ANGELES – July 25
Juan Martin Del Potro
Mardy Fish
Fernando Verdasco
Jurgen Melzer
Grigor Dimitrov
Marcos Baghdatis
Lleyton Hewitt
WASHINGTON – August 1
Andy Roddick
Juan Martin Del Potro
Gael Monfils
John Isner
Mardy Fish
Fernando Verdasco
Jurgen Melzer
Lleyton Hewitt
Fernando Gonzalez
MONTREAL – August 8
Top 40 Players
Novak Djokovic
Rafael Nadal
Roger Federer
Andy Murray
Milos Raonic (returns?)
CINCINNATI – August 14
Top 40 Players
Novak Djokovic
Rafael Nadal
Roger Federer
Andy Murray
WINSTON SALEM – August 21 (NEW EVENT)
John Isner
Mardy Fish
Ryan Harrison
Alexandr Dolgopolov
Nikolay Davydenko
Marcos Baghdatis
Bernard Tomic
US OPEN – August 29
A few quick thoughts. The Big Four – Djokovic, Federer, Nadal and Murray – seem content on playing just the two weeks in Montreal and Cincinnati. That guarantees at least two of the guys will enter the US Open without a summer title (I think Djokovic gets at least one, Murray the other?).
Speaking of the Big Four, a healthy-again Juan Martin Del Potro should really make his presence felt. The last time he played the US summer season he went on to win the US Open. His summer begins in Los Angeles and if he gets hot again look out!
Mardy Fish has himself a busy summer ahead. Fish played Davis Cup last weekend and after a quick restbit this week he’ll play every tournament starting in Atlanta through the US Open! Fish has a lot of points to defend from last summer (Atlanta title, Cincinnati final, US Open R16) and I wonder if burnout will hit him by the time he gets to New York.
Along with Fish, I’ll be interested to see how well and how motivated Andy Roddick is after that tough Davis Cup defeat. Roddick opens his summer in a very deep Washington field.
And it’s good see some of the young European stars like Grigor Dimitrov making himself available for the U.S. events. The 20-year-old will be in the main draw at Atlanta, Los Angeles and Washington.
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