BB&T Atlanta Open
Atlanta, Ga., USA; Surface: hard
Seeds: John Isner, Mardy Fish, Kei Nishikori, Andy Roddick, Kevin Anderson, Ryan Harrison, Alex Bogomolov Jr., Go Soeda
ADHEREL
Floaters: Rajeev Ram, Xavier Malisse, James Blake
Notes: Top 4 seeds receive first round byes, but plenty of good opening round matches including (1) Isner vs. Ram/qualifier winner (Ram coming off Newport SF), (7) Bogomolov vs. (WC) Jack Sock, (8) Soeda vs. X-Man, and (6) Harrison vs. Blake in a U.S. new vs. old match-up; additional wildcards went to Steve Johnson and Brian Baker; Mardy Fish (2011-10) has won the event both years since its re-inception in Atlanta, last year beating Isner and saving match points in brutal temperatures.
bet-at-home Open German Tennis Championships
Hamburg, Germany; Surface: red clay
Seeds: Nicolas Almagro, Gilles Simon, Juan Monaco, Marin Cilic, Fernando “Hot Sauce” Verdasco, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Florian Mayer, Viktor Troicki
Floaters: Nikolay Davydenko, Fabio Fognini, Lukas Rosol, (Q) Horacio Zeballos, (WC) Tommy Haas, Carlos Berlocq
Notes: The ATP war on betting must be going pretty well with the bet-at-home sponsorship; openers of interest include former champ Davydenko vs. Jarkko Nieminen (winner to face (1) Almagro), (8) Troicki vs. the Nadal-slayer Rosol, (7) Mayer vs. (Q) Zeballos, and (2) Simon vs. the tough out Berlocq; Simon beat Almagro in last year’s final; returning champs are Simon (2011), Davydenko (2009); Simon seeking to become first successful defending champ since Roger Federer in 2004-05.
Credit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad
Gstaad, Switzerland; Surface: red clay
Seeds: Janko Tipsarevic, Marcel Granollers, Stanislas Wawrinka, Mikhail Youzhny, Feliciano “F-Lo” Lopez, Julien Benneteau, Santiago Giraldo, Bernard Tomic
Floaters: Igor Andreev, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Benoit Paire, Grigor Dimitrov
Notes: Top-seeded Tipsarevic makes Gstaad debut; the Top 4 seeds receive opening round byes, but early round meetings of interest include (3) Wawrinka vs. the winner of Andreev-Mathieu, (8) Tomic vs. the hot-handed Frenchman Paire, and (6) Benneteau vs. Dimitrov; returning champs in the draw are Granollers who beat Fernando Verdasco in last year’s final, Thomaz Bellucci (2009) and Mathieu (2007); Granollers trying to become the first player to win back-to-back Gstaad titles since Sergi Bruguera in 1994-93.
Mercury Insurance Open
Carlsbad, Calif., USA; Surface: hard
Seeds: Marion Bartoli, Dominika Cibulkova, Jelena Jankovic, Nadia Petrova, Christina McHale, Daniela Hantuchova, Yanina Wickmayer, Chanelle Scheepers
Floaters: Heather Watson, (WC) Coco Vandeweghe, Sorana Cirstea, Sloane Stephens
Notes: No Williams sisters at the U.S. event but Christina McHale flies the U.S. seeded flag; (8) Scheepers tough start against the hot-handed wildcard Vandeweghe; other wildcards went to Americans Lauren Davis and Nicole Gibbs, and Hantuchova; players pulling from the draw were Angelique Kerber, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Sabine Lisicki, Monica Niculescu and Tamira Paszek; no returning champions in the field as Aggie Radwanska, who last year beat Vera Zvonareva in the final, is a no-show.
Sony Swedish Open
Bastad, Sweden; Surface: red clay
Seeds: Sara Errani, Julia Goerges, Anabel Medina Garrigues, Roberta Vinci, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Klara Zakopalova, Mona Barthel, Carla Suarez Navarro
Floaters: Shahar Peer, (WC) Laura Robson
Notes: (3) Medina Garrigues interesting opener vs. (WC) Robson; Errani the lone Top 10er in the field; missing is Polona Hercog, who won the title last year, defeating Swede Johanna Larsson.
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