With the French Open having concluded just a week ago and Wimbledon on the immediate horizon, it’s no surprise that almost all of the top players in the world are resting as the tour heads to Eastbourne and ‘s-Hertogenbosch. None of the top six is in action this week and No. 7 David Ferrer is the lone Top 10 representative taking the court. Ferrer headlines the field at the Topshelf Open, while Richard Gasquet, Alexandr Dolgopolov, and Feliciano Lopez are possible contenders for the Aegon International title.
Lopez is the defending champion in Eastbourne. Interestingly, he beat Gilles Simon in last year’s final then faced Simon a few days later in the Wimbledon first round–and the Spaniard won again. Lopez, however, is coming off a long albeit successful week at Queen’s Club and it remains to be seen how motivated he is to play in Eastbourne having gotten so much Wimbledon preparation this past week.
“It has been a great preparation for Wimbledon and hopefully in Eastbourne next week I can do well again,” the 32-year-old said. “It’s true that I’m feeling great. I’m playing good and hopefully I can continue playing like this for the next two or three weeks.”
Lopez is in a tough bottom half of the bracket that could see him meet the winner of a first-round showdown between Ivo Karlovic and Jeremy Chardy in the quarterfinals. Dolgopolov is dealing with injury issues and he may have to contest a second-round match against accomplished grass-courter Sam Querrey. Speaking of physical problems, Gasquet’s back makes the other side of the draw completely wide open. Someone like Donald Young, James Ward, Denis Istomin, or Edouard Roger-Vasselin could take advantage.
In ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Nicolas Mahut is defending a title. The Frenchman is on the half of the draw opposite top seed and arguable title favorite Ferrer, which is good news for Mahut’s back-to-back bid. Ferrer also has a favorable draw, in which he should be untroubled until a possible quarterfinal date with Dmitry Tursunov.
Topics: Alexandr Dolgopolov, David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez, Nicolas Mahut, Richard Gasquet, Ricky Dimon, S Hertogenbosch, Sam Querrey, Tennis, Wimbledon
WIMBLEDON WARMUP ENDS IN EASTBOURNE AND ‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH BY RICKY DIMON @RD_Tennistalk – http://t.co/ONg0ojoPMp #Wimbledon #tennis #sports
RT @10sBalls_com: WIMBLEDON WARMUP ENDS IN EASTBOURNE AND ‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH BY RICKY DIMON @RD_Tennistalk – http://t.co/ONg0ojoPMp #Wimbled…