Djokovic, Thiem among those in action during week prior to Wimbledon

Written by: on 25th June 2017
Djokovic, Thiem among those in action during week prior to Wimbledon  |

By Ricky Dimon

Two strikingly different events will take place this week as the season’s third Grand Slam looms large on the immediate horizon. The AEGON International in Eastbourne, which has been part of the ATP World Tour schedule since 1995, features Novak Djokovic as the No. 1 seed and is so deep–relative to most pre-slam, 250-point tournaments–that Richard Gasquet is all the way down as the seventh seed. As for the Antalya Open, it is in its first year of existence and the field is soft to the extent that Paolo Lorenzi registers as the No. 2 seed.

On the bright side for the Antalya tournament, Dominic Thiem once again resisted the urge to take a break from tennis and is hoping to get his grass-court skills in shape before he pays a visit to the All-England Club for Wimbledon. The two-time Roland Garros semifinalist is coming off a second-round Halle setback at the hands of Robin Haase.

Thiem is joined in the draw by Lorenzi, David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco, Martin Klizan, and Viktor Troicki, among others.

In Eastbourne, meanwhile, Djokovic and Gasquet are part of a strong field that also includes Gael Monfils, John Isner, Steve Johnson, Mischa Zverev, and Sam Querrey. The latter, of course, famously stunned Djokovic at Wimbledon last summer. A tough top section of the AEGON International bracket will pit Djokovic against the winner of a first-round battle between Jiri Vesely and qualifier Vasek Pospisil, while Donald Young is a potential quarterfinal opponent for the second-ranked Serb. Monfils and Isner own the two first-round byes in the bottom half, but they could be challenged by solid grass-court players such as Zverev and Kevin Anderson.

AEGON International

Semifinal picks: Steve Johnson over Novak Djokovic and Mischa Zverev over Kevin Anderson

Final: Zverev over Johnson

Antalya Open

Semifinal picks: Viktor Troicki over David Ferrer and Adrian Mannarino over Andreas Seppi

Final: Mannarino over Troicki

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.

 

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