RICKY’S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR RIO DE JANEIRO, DELRAY BEACH, AND MARSEILLE TENNIS ATP TOUR

Written by: Staff on 19th February 2017

RICKY'S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR RIO DE JANEIRO, DELRAY BEACH, AND MARSEILLE TENNIS ATP TOUR

epa05594184 Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina returns the ball in his match against Spain's Nicolas Almagro during the ATP Stockholm Open tennis tournament in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 20, 2016. EPA/Fredrik Sandberg SWEDEN OUT |

Ricky’s previews and picks for Rio de Janeiro, Delray Beach, and Marseille

By Ricky Dimon

Juan Martin Del Potro’s 2016 comeback started in Delray Bech and his 2017 return to tennis will be hosted by the same tournament. The most recent layoff was not as extensive; Del Potro led Argentina to the Davis Cup title this past November before choosing to take a break for longer than just the allotted offseason. The former world No. 4 is joined in an intriguing Delray Beach field that also features Milos Raonic, Jack Sock, and Tommy Haas.

This year’s second 500-point event is being hosted in Rio de Janeiro, where Kei Nishikori and Dominic Thiem are the top two seeds. In Marseille, 2016 winner Nick Kyrgios is on board along with Gael Monfils, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Alexander Zverev.

Ricky previews this week’s action and makes his predictions:

Rio Open

Where: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Surface: Clay

Points: 500

Defending champion: Pablo Cuevas

Dominic Thiem of Austria in action against David Goffin of Belgium during round four of the Men’s Singles at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 23 January 2017. EPA/LYNN BO BO

Draw analysis: Thiem is ditching hard courts–perhaps two weeks too late–to play on the clay of South America. From now through the French Open, the Austrian has a smorgasbord of ranking points to defend. Thiem did next to nothing in either Sofia or Rotterdam during the European hard-court swing, so he is hoping to turn things around in Rio de Janeiro. The 23-year-old’s preferred clay-court surface gives him a much better chance of defending his points, and his draw this week should also help. In the weakest section by far, Thiem will kick off his campaign against a rusty Janko Tipsarevic before potentially running into either Poalo Lorenzi or Federico Delbonis in the quarterfinals. Possible semifinal foes are Fabio Fognini, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, and defending champion Pablo Cuevas.

The most highly anticipated first-round showdown—because this is in Brazil—will see Nishikori face Thomaz Bellucci. Bellucci has never enjoyed much success at this tournament, but he made a quarterfinal run at the Rio Olympics this past summer and extended Rafael Nadal to three sets. In another difficult opening-rounder, a struggling David Ferrer will battle Buenos Aires champion Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Quarterfinal picks: Joao Sousa over Thomaz Bellucci, Pablo Carreno Busta over David Ferrer, Fabio Fognini over Pablo Cuevas, and Dominic Thiem over Federico Delbonis

Semifinals: Carreno Busta over Sousa and Thiem over Fognini

Final: Thiem over Carreno Busta

Delray Beach Open

Where: Delray Beach, Florida

Surface: Hard

Points: 250

Defending champion: Sam Querrey

Draw analysis: Del Potro’s short but sweet 2016 campaign began with a semifinal finish in Delray Beach and ended with Argentina’s first Davis Cup title. The scheduled offseason did not offer enough rest, so he skipped the Australian summer. Thus a comeback is starting in Delray Beach yet again, with Del Potro 8-1 lifetime at the tournament (title in 2011). Well-rested, he should be able to reach at least the semis this week, although a first-rounder against Kevin Anderson and a possible quarterfinal contest against Sam Querrey could pose problems. Raonic, the No. 1 seed, will likely cruise into a big-serving semifinal against either Del Potro or Querrey.

Ivo Karlovic must be happy to see something other than a No. 1 by his name. The 6’11’’ Croat was the top seed in both Quito and Memphis only to lose his opening match at each event. But even as the No. 2 seed that trend might continue because Karlovic has to go up against Memphis semifinalist Donald Young right away. Jack Sock, the only seed in the bottom half who is playing especially well at the moment, may not encounter any serious difficulty until the semis or final.

Semifinal picks: Juan Martin Del Potro over Milos Raonic and Jack Sock over Donald Young

Final: Sock over Del Potro

Open 13

Where: Marseille, France

Surface: Indoor hard

Points: 250

Defending champion: Nick Kyrgios

Alexander Zverev of Germany in action against Rafael Nadal of Spain during their Men’s Singles third round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 21 January 2017. EPA/JULIAN SMITH

Draw analysis: Kyrgios was just about unplayable en route to last year’s Marseille title. The fiery Australian earned five wins without dropping a set, including over Richard Gasquet, Tomas Berdych, and Marin Cilic. Kyrgios, however, was a different kind of unplayable this past week. He pulled out of Rotterdam to play in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game and he ended up not even play in that basketball game. The world No. 15 last took the court at the Aussie Open, where he blew a two-set lead over Andreas Seppi in round three. Kyrgios should coast back into the quarters this week, but he may have to defeat Zverev and Tsonga just to reach championship Sunday. Gilles Simon, Julien Benneteau, and Nicolas Mahut also find themselves in the bottom half of the draw.

A much weaker top half includes all kinds of unreliable players. The top-seeded Monfils has been stellar over the past year but has not played since Melbourne. Although Gasquet is in decent form, he got crushed by Berdych in Rotterdam. Lucas Pouille has been awful since last September, a month that saw him shock Nadal at the U.S. Open and capture the Metz title. Benoit Paire can never be trusted. Thus the door could be open for an unseeded floater like Robin Haase, Daniil Medvedev, or Jeremy Chardy.

Semifinal picks: Alexander Zverev over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils over Benoit Paire

Final: Monfils over Zverev