Grass Tennis Won’t Wait as Nadal, Djokovic Finish; Previews
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will complete the rain-delayed French Open final on Monday morning, but the grasscourt season won’t wait.
ADHEREL
Nadal after Paris will be the top seed in Halle, Germany, along with No. 2 seed Roger Federer this week. Andy Murray is atop the seedings at Queen’s Club, along with headliners Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Andy Roddick among others.
Here is a look at the ATP and WTA grasscourt events this week:
Gerry Weber Open
Halle, Germany; Surface: grass
Seeds: Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Tomas Berdych, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Milos Raonic, Marcel Granollers, Andreas Seppi, Philipp Kohlschreiber
Floaters: (WC) Dustin Brown, (WC) Tommy Haas, Bernard Tomic, Radek “The Worm” Stepanek
Notes: Rafa is 0-1 career in Halle, while Federer has won five titles; openers of interest are (8) Kohlschreiber vs. the upset-maker Brown, (WC) Haas vs. Tomic, and (7) Seppi vs. The Worm; The Top 4 seeds get byes, Nadal starts against the Lukas Lacko/qualifier winner, and Federer against the Florian Mayer/qualifier winner; Raonic lurking for Federer in the QF; past champs in the field are Kohlschreiber (2011), Haas (2009), and Federer (2008,’06-03).
AEGON Championships (Queen’s Club)
London, England; Surface: grass
Seeds: Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Janko Tipsarevic, Gilles Simon, Feliciano Lopez, Marin Cilic, Andy Roddick, Julien Benneteau, Kevin Anderson, David Nalbandian, Marcos Baghdatis, Denis Istomin, Alex Bogomolov Jr., Gilles Muller, Go Soeda, Ivo Karlovic
Floaters: Nicolas Mahut, (WC) Lleyton Hewitt, Sam Querrey
Notes: Few openers of interest besides (16) Karlovic vs. (WC) Hewitt, and potential second round (1) Murray vs. Mahut; Queen’s Club used to be THE EVENT before Wimbledon, but now the ATP Halle tourney has locked-up Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to cash contracts, leaving Queen’s with the rest, not including Novak Djokovic; Roddick says this could be his last grasscourt season/Wimbledon year; not a sterling field as seven seeds have career losing records at Queen’s Club; returning singles champs in the field are Murray (2011,’09), Querrey (2010), Roddick (2007,’05-03), and Hewitt (2006,’02-00); the Bryan brother are the defending doubles champions, but are the No. 2 seeds behind nemesis’ Max “The Beast” Mirnyi/Daniel Nestor.
AEGON Classic
Birmingham. England; Surface: grass
Seeds: Francesca Schiavone, Sabine Lisicki, Daniela Hantuchova, Roberta Vinci, Jelena Jankovic, Mona Barthel, Christina McHale, Ekaterina Makarova, Marina Erakovic, Sorana C�rstea, Iveta Benesova, Tamira Paszek, Hsieh Su-wei, T�mea Babos, Elena Baltacha, Eleni Daniilidou
Floaters: Mirjana Lucic
Notes: No Top 10 players among the seeds as the WTA top players mostly eschew the warm-ups and sit out until Wimbledon; the Top 8 seeds receive first-round byes, with very little to get excited about in early meetings; four Americans qualified in Grace Min, Melanie Oudin, Alison Riske, and Abigail Spears; returning champs in the field are Lisicki (2011) and Jankovic (2007).
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