Men’s Look Forward: Memphis, Marseille, Buenos Aires

Written by: Staff on 17th February 2013

Men's Look Forward: Memphis, Marseille, Buenos Aires

epa03587824 Milos Raonic of Canada hits a return against Sam Querrey of the US in the semi-final match in the SAP Open tennis at HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, USA, 16 February 2013. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO |

Is there some sort of “dirty dozen” rule about Memphis?

The tournament has none of the Top Ten, but it seems as if almost everyone from #12 to #25 wants to be here. Marin Cilic is the #1 seed at the week’s biggest event. (Well, biggest in terms of points.) Milos Raonic is #2. John Isner has the #3 seed, with Sam Querrey #4. Kei Nishikori, who hasn’t been seen much lately, is #5, Tommy Haas #6 (even though he’d be #4 under the new rankings), Alexandr Dolgopolov #7, and Fernando Verdasco #8. That’s a cutoff of #24, so there are some pretty strong unseeded players. Cilic himself could face last year’s champion Jurgen Melzer in round two. Verdasco’s second round opponent might be Ryan Harrison. Isner opens against Denis Istomin, then maybe Lleyton Hewitt. Haas could face Feliciano Lopez in the Round of Sixteen. And Raonic will face either Florian Mayer or James Blake, who is in on a wildcard.

Marseille is a smaller event than Memphis — a 250 pointer as opposed to a 500 — but it has a history of having a stronger field. And this year is no exception. It doesn’t have any of the Top Five — but it has everyone from #6 to #10. Tomas Berdych has the #1 seed. Juan Martin del Potro is #2. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is #3 and in del Potro’s half. Janko Tipsarevic’s #4 seed earns him the last bye; he is in Berdych’s half. Richard Gasquet is #5 and in Tipsarevic’s quarter, with Gilles Simon #6 and in del Potro’s. Then — things fall off sharply; we’d guess the organizers spent most of their recruiting efforts on Frenchmen. The #7 seed is Jerzy Janowicz, who is in Berdych’s quarter; Martin Klizan is #8 and in Tsonga’s part of the draw. That still leaves room for some pretty good unseeded players; Janowicz could face Julien Benneteau, who just beat Roger Federer, in the second round. Gasquet will face either Gael Monfils or Marcel Granollers in round two. Klizan opens against Bernard Tomic, then maybe Benoit Paire. Tsonga’s first match might be against Nikolay Davydenko. And del Potro will start against either David Goffin or Michael Llodra.

Just as Sao Paulo looked a lot like Vina del Mar, Buenos Aires looks a lot like Sao Paulo — except with a different Spaniard as the #1 seed. Overall, it’s probably the weakest of the three events this week, but it has the highest-ranked top seed: David Ferrer has the top spot. Rafael Nadal is taking the week off, so Nicolas Almagro is the #2 seed. The #3 seed is Stanislas Wawrinka, who joins Ferrer as the only two seeds to have skipped both Latin American warmups. He is also the last Top Thirty player in the field. Thomaz Bellucci has the #4 seed, although that isn’t as much help as in past weeks; interestingly, this is a full 32-draw; the top seeds don’t get byes. Horacio Zeballos is #5, Fabio Fognini #6, Pablo Andujar #7, and Albert Ramost #8. The one really noteworthy unseeded player is David Nalbandian, who could face Ferrer in round two — assuming he’s still up to playing after Sao Paulo.

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Buenos Aires tennis news, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, John Isner, Kei Nishikori, Marseilles tennis news, Memphis tennis news, men tennis update, milos raonic, Sports