Federer Back with Doozy of a Draw on Grass at Stuttgart; ATP Previews
Roger Federer is back after skipping the claycourt season, joined during the first week of the grasscourt season by fellow Top 10ers Marin Cilic and Alexander Zverev.
ADHEREL
Who will be Federer’s first match back? How about former world No. 2 Tommy Haas, who has beaten the Swiss in a grasscourt final?
Here’s a look at this week’s two ATP grasscourt events:
MERCEDES CUP
STUTTGART, Germany; surface: grass
Seeds: Roger Federer, Grigor Dimitrov, Tomas Berdych, Lucas Pouille, Steve Johnson, Misha Zverev, Gilles Simon, Viktor Troicki
Floaters: (WC) Tommy Haas, Bernard Tomic, Feliciano Lopez
Notes: (1) Roger Federer could start against (WC) Haas? What is it with these two and grass each year?…Other tough starts for the struggling (3) Berdych vs. the grass-raised Tomic, and (7) Simon vs. the aggressive F-Lo…Wildcards went to Haas, Pouille and German Max Marterer…The Bryan brothers are the top seeds in doubles and start against Tomic/M.Zverev…Dominic Thiem beat Philipp Kohlschreiber in last year’s final…Jeremy Chardy (2009) is the lone former champ in the field of the tournament in its third year on grass.
RICOH OPEN
‘s-HERTOGENBOSCH, The Netherlands; surface: grass
Seeds: Marin Cilic, Alexander Zverev, Ivo Karlovic, Gilles Muller, Steve Darcis, Robin Haase, Nicolas Mahut, Aljaz Bedene
Floaters: Alexandr Dolgopolov, Dustin Brown
Notes: Two Top 10ers in Cilic and Zverev…Not a lot of floating talent but potential tough starts for (5) Darcis vs. The Dog, and (3) Dr. Ivo vs. Brown (why is the German Brown playing in The Netherlands rather than Stuttgart?)…Wildcards were awarded to Zverev, American Stefan Kozlov and Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor…Mahut is the two-time defending champion, last year beating Muller in the final…The three-time champ Mahut (2016-15,’13) is the lone former trophy-raiser in the field. A win this year by Mahut would match Patrick Rafter (1998-00) as three-time consecutive winners at the grasscourt event.
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