By Ricky Dimon
There is some good news–great news, in fact–for the rest of the ATP Tour: Novak Djokovic is not playing! The spring clay-court swing is getting underway with the week in between the Miami Open and the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, as 250-point events in Houston and Marrakech take center stage. After completing the Indian Wells-Miami double, Djokovic is taking a well-deserved break along with the rest of the top 10. As such, both titles are relatively up for grabs.
U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship
In last year’s event, all four players with opening-round byes were ranked in the top 20. The story is not much different this season in Houston, where four men in the top 25 headline a strong 250-point field. John Isner tops the draw ahead of Benoit Paire, Feliciano Lopez, and Jack Sock (all three of whom come in between Nos. 22 and 25 in the rankings). Although Isner and Sock are on a collision course for the semis as opposed to the final, the Americans are distributed evenly in the bracket with four on the Isner-Sock side and four in the other half. Steve Johnson and Donald Young have to go head-to-head right off the bat, while Sock’s opener may come against Frances Tiafoe.
In addition to Johnson vs. Young, an intriguing first-rounder pits Sam Querrey against Dustin Brown. Both players have enjoyed past success in Houston and the winner should be able to reach at least the quarterfinals to ensure a date with either Benoit Paire or Juan Monaco. This will be their fifth career meeting and fifth at an outdoor 250-point event in the U.S.A. They faced each other at this same tournament in 2014, when Querrey survived a quarterfinal contest 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-3. Neither man is in particularly good form and the American is coming off a bizarre loss to Adrian Mannarino in Miami. Facing Monaco right off the bat may add insult to injury for Paire, who is slumping at the moment. Monaco captured the Houston title in 2012 and reached the semifinals in 2013.
Semifinal predictions: Jack Sock over John Isner and Feliciano Lopez over Benoit Paire
Final: Sock over Lopez
Grand Prix Hassan II
It has to be said that an event is wide open when Guillermo Garcia-Lopez is the No. 1 seed. That’s right—nobody ranked in the top 35 is part of the Marrakech field, which took over control of the Grand Prix Hassan II from Casablanca. Garcia-Lopez appears to have a tough road head of him with Nicolas Almagro as a possible opening opponent. Almagro, the Buenos Aires runner-up, is the second highest-ranked unseeded player in the field behind Inigo Cervantes—who is also in the top quarter of the bracket. The top half also includes Borna Coric and Albert Ramos-Vinolas. An in-form Cervantes owns seven of his 11 career ATP-level match wins in 2016. The Spaniard advanced to the second round in both Indian Wells and Miami in addition to a recent semifinal performance on the clay courts of Sao Paulo, so he could upset Jiri Vesely in round one. Vesely would prefer to play this one on either an indoor hard court or grass.
Traditional clay-courters are few and far between in the third quarter, so Federico Delbonis and Pablo Carreno Busta may not have too much trouble setting up a quarterfinal clash. No. 2 seed Joao Sousa should enjoy a friendlier path than Garcia-Lopez, likely resulting in a semifinal battle between Portugal’s top player and either Delbonis or Carreno Busta.
Semifinal predictions: Nicolas Almagro over Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Pablo Carreno Busta over Joao Sousa
Final: Almagro over Carreno Busta
U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship
Men’s singles: click here
Men’s doubles: click here
Order of play: click here
Grand Prix Hassan ll
Men’s singles: click here
Men’s doubles: click here
Order of play: click here
Topics: 10sballs.com, Atp World Tour, Casablanca, Clay tennis, Grand Prix Hassan ll, Houston, Ricky Dimon, Sports, Tennis News, US Men's Clay Court Championship