HARD-COURT TENNIS CONTINUES IN WASHINGTON, THIEM BACK IN ACTION IN KITZBUHEL

Written by: on 2nd August 2015
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HARD-COURT TENNIS CONTINUES IN WASHINGTON, THIEM BACK IN ACTION IN KITZBUHEL

Dominic Thiem of Austria returns the ball to Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain during their quarter final match at the Swiss Open tennis tournament in Gstaad, Switzerland, 31 July 2015. EPA/PETER SCHNEIDER  |

Hard-court swing continues in Washington, Thiem back in action in Kitzbuhel

 

By Ricky Dimon

 

Washington, D.C. is actually no longer part of the U.S. Open Series, so it would not be accurate to say that said series is going to heat up this week. But it is true that the American hard-court swing is taking its talents to new heights starting on Monday. A loaded 48-man field in the nation’s capital includes Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic, Richard Gasquet, Grigor Dimitrov, and a whole host of other top 30 stars.

 

Dominic Thiem, meanwhile, will look to continue his scorching-hot clay-court run in Kitzbuhel–where he finished runner-up last year. The Austrian is joined by Andreas Seppi, Fabio Fognini, and Juan Monaco, just to name a few.

 

You won’t see a better draw the rest of 2015 outside of the four remaining Masters 1000 events and the U.S. Open than what is on display this week in Washington, D.C. A balanced bracket should make for plenty of intriguing matchups early and often throughout the week in Washington, D.C. Murray, the top seed, could go up against John Isner in the quarterfinals. Isner, though, is on course to face either Vasek Pospisil or Tommy Haas in round three.

 

Pospisil still has to be feeling confident after a quarterfinal run at Wimbledon, but he is coming off a difficult week in Atlanta. The Canadian, who last year in Atlanta won the doubles title and reached the singles semis, fell in doubles first round and in his second singles match. Haas is just 2-4 in his comeback from a year away from the game, but he has endured several tough and somewhat impressive losses–including to Milos Raonic at Wimbledon.

 

The top also features a new-look Dimitrov, who will be playing for the first time since parting ways from coach Roger Rasheed and breaking up with girlfriend Maria Sharapova. The Bulgarian may have to battle the likes of Gasquet, Jack Sock, Bernard Tomic, and/or Marcos Baghdatis for a semifinal spot. Both Gasquet (Gilles Muller) and Tomic (Steve Johnson) could have tough opening matches on their hands.

 

A big-hitting bottom half is home to Nishikori, Cilic, Kevin Anderson, Ivo Karlovic, and Sam Querrey. Anderson and Baghdatis are on a collision course for a huge-serving affair in the last 16. Nishikori and Cilic both appear to have relatively favorable paths to at least the quarterfinals.

 

Just last month Thiem was struggling at home in Austria during a Davis Cup loss to the Netherlands. Now he is arguably the hottest player on tour. The 21-year-old is coming off back-to-back titles in Umag and Gstaad, both on clay. But he returns this week to his homeland and has the pressure of defending runner-up points in 2014 (although technically those have already come off the board since the tournament was one week earlier last season).

 

Thiem is an extremely soft quarter of the draw, whereas the other section in the top half features Fabio Fognini, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Santiago Giraldo, and Aljaz Bedene. Fognini could open with Bedene, whom the Spaniard beat on his way to the recent Hamburg final.

 

The other side is particularly wide open, with Andreas Seppi and Martin Klizan the holders of first-round byes. Unseeded floaters who could take advantage are Nicolas Almagro, Federico Delbonis, Pablo Carreno Busta, and Robin Haase–all of whom are capable of doing damage on the slow stuff. Delbonis and Carreno Busta are set to face each other in an intriguing first-rounder.

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

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