RICKY’S PICKS THIS WEEK – ROGER FEDERER AND RAFA NADAL RETURN TO TENNIS ACTION IN BASEL, SWITZERLAND & DAVID FERRER PLAYING AGAIN THIS WEEK IN VALENCIA

Written by: on 25th October 2015
Swiss Indoors tennis tournament
RICKY'S PICKS THIS WEEK - ROGER FEDERER AND RAFA NADAL RETURN TO TENNIS ACTION IN BASEL, SWITZERLAND & DAVID FERRER PLAYING AGAIN THIS WEEK IN VALENCIA

epa04994969 Switzerland's Roger Federer speaks during a press conference at the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament in the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, 25 October 2015. EPA/GEORGIOS KEFALAS  |

By Ricky Dimon

Roger Federer has played only one ATP tournament match since the U.S. Open, but he hopes to get five under his belt this week in Basel. The crowd favorite is 56-9 lifetime at this home event with six titles (including last year) and he has reached the final in nine consecutive appearances.

 

As usual, Federer will have plenty of competition—the 2015 field also features Stan Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal, and Marin Cilic, just to a name a few.

 

But the Swiss’ side of the draw is by far the weakest of the two halves. He will kick off his campaign against Mikhail Kukushkin before likely running into Philipp Kohlschreiber and then David Goffin (the latter would represent a rematch of last season’s final). Even Nadal is on the other side of the bracket, thus presumably making life easier for Federer. Potential semifinal opponents for the No. 1 seed include Kevin Anderson John Isner, and Stockholm runner-up Jack Sock.

 

Nadal’s path, on the other hand, is taxing to say the least. The third-seeded Spaniard is going up against Lukas Rosol on Monday before possible dates with Grigor Dimitrov and Cilic. Wawrinka’s draw is similarly difficult. In fact, everyone in this half other than Cilic has something tough—at least on paper—prior to the quarters.

 

Wawrinka has to face Ivo Karlovic right off the bat, with the winner potentially meeting Alexandr Dolgopolov.

 

Final pick: Roger Federer over Stan Wawrinka

Although the 500-point tournament in Basel headlines the action, a strong 250-pointer will also be in progress. Valencia, formerly a 500 until it switched with Valencia this year, still boasts an entertainment-heavy draw consisting of David Ferrer, Benoit Paire, and Nick Kyrgios.

 

Both of the Vienna finalists–Ferrer and Steve Johnson–are getting right back in action.

 

While Ferrer has the benefit of a bye and may not have to play again until Thursday, his draw is not a friendly one. The Spaniard’s opening match will likely come against Kyrgios, who is back in decent form after a rough summer both on and off the court. Jeremy Chardy, who is playing well and especially dangerous indoors, looms as a potential quarterfinal opponent for either Ferrer or Kyrgios. The top half is also home to Paire and Bernard Tomic, whose mental games are at least starting to show signs of catching up to their talent.

 

At the bottom of the bracket, Johnson will open with Martin Klizan—likely on Wednesday—and would face Lopez in the last 16. The entire side is considerably weaker than the top half, in part because it includes all three wild cards plus two qualifiers. Two of the seeds—Fabio Fognini and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez—can be vulnerable and another, Roberto Bautista Agut, is coming off a long week in Moscow (runner-up to Cilic).

 

A huge edge in current form goes to Bautista Agut in his opener against fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, but the seventh seed may be more interested in rest than Valencia success. He also finished runner-up to Cilic last year in Moscow (also by a 6-4, 6-4 scoreline, in fact) then pulled out of Valencia prior to his second-round match. Almagro has not yet regained top form following a long injury layoff, but he advanced one round in Stockholm after picking up his first ATP-level win since a post-Wimbledon stretch on clay.

Final pick: Feliciano Lopez over Nick Kyrgios

 

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

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