10SBALLS SHARES RICKY DIMON’S TENNIS PICKS FOR BMW OPEN AND ESTORIL OPEN AND ISTANBUL OPEN

Written by: Staff on 24th April 2016

10SBALLS SHARES RICKY DIMON'S TENNIS PICKS FOR BMW OPEN AND ESTORIL OPEN AND ISTANBUL OPEN

epa05273764 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain in action against Fernando Verdasco of Spain during their semi final tennis match at the BRD Nastase-Tiriac Trophy 2016 ATP tournament in Bucharest, Romania, 23 April 2016. EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT |

Rafa Nadal rests, clay-court swing continues with Goffin and Thiem in action

We’re going two whole weeks without a Masters 1000 tournament on the schedule. By recent standards, that is nothing short of a drought. Indian Wells, Miami, and Monte-Carlo have come and gone; Madrid and Rome will take center stage May. Rafael Nadal followed up his Monte-Carlo triumph by winning a 500-point title in Barcelona, but now a trio of 250-point events are in the cards. That means a week of rest for the top 10 and a few titles that are relatively up for grabs to the rest of the tour. The strongest field in Munich features David Goffin, Gael Monfils, and Dominic Thiem.

BMW Open

Rarely do 250-point tournaments get more impressive than this—especially in the middle of a jam-packed spring season. Barcelona semifinalist Philipp Kohlschreiber joins Goffin, Monfils, and Thiem in the opening-round bye contingent and the field also includes Juan Martin Del Potro, Alexander Zverev, Vasek Pospisil, and wildly up-and-down performers Fabio Fognini, Ernests Gulbis, and Dustin Brown.

Goffin had the misfortune of seeing Thiem’s name land in the same half of the draw. They could collide in a blockbuster semifinal, but Goffin may first have to get past Zverev in the quarterfinals. Zverev, though, is staring at a rematch with Malek Jaziri right off the bat (the German just fell to Jaziri in Barcelona). Thiem has a more favorable road that could start with the older Zverev brother (Mischa). Del Potro will hope to crash the party in a German-heavy bottom half of the bracket. The Argentine kicks off his campaign with Brown before possibly meeting Kohlschreiber in the quarters.

An intriguing first-rounder pits Vasek Pospisil against Jan-Lennard Struff. Their only previous encounter came in 2014, when Pospisil rolled 6-4, 6-2 on the grass courts of ‘s-Hertogenbosch. Clay should give Stuff a much better chance, as Pospisil greatly prefers fast surfaces (he made a run to the Wimbledon quarters last summer). The Canadian is an awful 4-9 this season and he has not yet played a single clay-court tournament.

Final pick: Thiem over Monfils

Estoril Open

Even though Richard Gasquet is not defending his title, Estoril still has a decidedly French flavor—at least in the top half of the draw. Gilles Simon and Benoit Paire own opening-round byes. Simon, the No. 1 seed, could begin his week versus fellow Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu. In the same section as qualifier Stephane Robert, Paire faces a potentially tough road that may include Kyle Edmund and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Nick Kyrgios and Portugal’s own Joao Sousa headline the other side of the bracket. Kyrgios finished runner-up to Gasquet in 2015 but he may be hard-pressed to make it that far this time. The Aussie has not played on clay this season and his section also is home to Inigo Cervantes and Borna Coric. As for Sousa, the draw ceremony certainly did not do him any real favors. The No. 4 seed will likely begin against Nicolas Almagro before possibly battling either Leonardo Mayer or Paolo Lorenzi.

An appetizing all-Spanish opener will feature Fernando Verdasco and Pablo Carreno Busta. This would be an upset according to ranking, but based on the recent eye test it seems like Verdasco should probably win. He is simply in better form than his fellow Spaniard right now. Of concern for Verdasco, however, is that his Bucharest final against Lucas Pouille got rained out on Sunday and therefore has to played on Monday.

Final pick: Mayer over Garcia-Lopez

Istanbul Open

At the inaugural Istanbul Open in 2015, Roger Federer was the No. 1 seed. This time around it is none other than…Bernard Tomic. Tomic may think that is an even tradeoff, but…it isn’t. Not coincidently, this event is by far the weakest of the three this week. Among those earning byes straight to the last 16 are Federico Delbonis and Ivo Karlovic. Both players register outside the top 30 and Karlovic has not won a single match this year (0-6).

The Croat’s section is especially wide open and an in-form Marcel Granollers may be the one to capitalize on the opportunity by booking a semifinal spot. At the top of the draw, Tomic will open against one of two Argentines (Diego Schwartzman or Facundo Bagnis) before possibly running into Pouille in the quarters. No. 2 seed Grigor Dimitrov is on a quarterfinal collision course with Jiri Vesely, who stunned Novak Djokovic in Monte-Carlo.

In the first round, Damir Dzumhur will look to maintain his fine form against Teymuraz Gabashvili. Prior to 2016, Dzumhur owned 17 career ATP-level match wins. He will likely double that number this year alone. The Bosnian is 11-10 and recently pocketed three victories in Miami (albeit with plenty of help) and two in Monte-Carlo. Gabashvili is 1-7 in his last eight tournament matches.

Final pick: Delbonis over Dimitrov