RICKY DIMON LOOKS AT BUSY WEEK HEADLINED BY MURRAY IN ROTTERDAM, NISHIKORI IN MEMPHIS

Written by: Staff on 8th February 2015

RICKY DIMON LOOKS AT BUSY WEEK HEADLINED BY MURRAY IN ROTTERDAM, NISHIKORI IN MEMPHIS |

“Look who’s back in Rotterdam. Welcome @andymurray! #andymurray #abnamrowtt #tennis #ATP #ahoy #rotterdam” – Photo by @abnamrowtt via Instagram

Busy week headlined by Murray in Rotterdam, Nishikori in Memphis

By Ricky Dimon

In terms of quantity, no month on the tennis schedule is busier than February. And things really heat up this week in Rotterdam, Memphis, and Sao Paulo. Rotterdam is especially loaded, with Andy Murray, Milos Raonic, Tomas Berdych, and Stan Wawrinka all on board. Meanwhile, Kei Nishikori headlines the field in Memphis and Feliciano Lopez is the top seed in Sao Paulo.

“Stan the Man is in the house! Welcome to @ahoyrotterdam @stanwawrinka85! #abnamrowtt #tennis #atp #wawrinka” – Photo by @abnamrowtt

Marin Cilic is still out due to shoulder troubles, so only one of last year’s finalists is back at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. Berdych, the defending champion, faces a tough opening match against Jerzy Janowicz. The Pole, however, is a question mark after retiring from Sunday’s Montpellier final against Richard Gasuet because of illness. Berdych and Murray are on a collision course for a semifinal rematch of their Australian Open showdown.

The bottom half of the draw features Raonic, Wawrinka, Grigor Dimitrov, Ernests Gulbis, Dominic Thiem, David Goffin, Gilles Muller, and Zagreb champion Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Gulbis and Thiem, who are best friends on tour, have to go head-to-head in the first round.

At the Memphis Open, Nishikori’s outstanding return game and defensive skills will have to be working if he wants to capture a third consecutive title. The No. 1 seed may run into both Ivo Karlovic and John Isner prior to the final. Isner finds himself in an American-heavy quarter—where a total of four USA representatives reside (also Sam Querrey, Jared Donaldson, and Stefan Kozlov). No other section has more than one American (qualifiers not yet included).

The bottom half is not at all top-heavy but it is extremely deep. Kevin Anderson is in solid but unspectacular form and Alexandr Dolgopolov has not gotten back on track since a knee injury last summer. The throng of contenders looking to capitalize features Steve Johnson, Bernard Tomic, Donald Young, Yen-Hsun Lu, and Marinko Matosevic.

Lopez is the top seed for a second consecutive week on the Golden Swing as he looks to bounce back from a loss in the Quito final to Victor Estrella Burgos. The Spaniard may be faced with another test against Fernando Verdasco or Dusan Lajovic. Lopez beat both players in Quito and could meet the winner of a possible Verdaso-Lajovic second-round match in the quarterfinals.

The main question mark in the bottom half is Fabio Fognini. The Italian has been a disaster in singles for many months now, but he won the Australian Open doubles title with countryman Simone Bolelli. Will that inspire him into some singles form, as well? Fognini is in by far the weakest quarter of the draw, so he has no excuse. Should the third seed reach the semifinals, he could go up against either Tommy Robredo or defending champion Federico Delbonis.

“Opname De Wereld Draait Door. Richard met Alec Deckers en Isolde de Jong” – Photo by @abnamrowtt

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

Topics: Andy Murray, Feliciano Lopez, Kei Nishikori, Memphis, milos raonic, Montpellier, Ricky Dimon, Rotterdam, Sports, Stan Wawrinka, Tennis, Tomas Berdych

Follow 10SBALLS.COM on:

Facebook:

Twitter:

10sBalls_com says:

February 8, 2015 at 7:31 pm

-@Dimonator LOOKS AT BUSY WEEK HEADLINED BY @andy_murray IN #ROTTERDAM, @keinishikori IN #MEMPHIS http://t.co/y3gdBwGFBf #abnamrowtt #tennis
dusanVemic says:

February 8, 2015 at 7:40 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: -@Dimonator LOOKS AT BUSY WEEK HEADLINED BY @andy_murray IN #ROTTERDAM, @keinishikori IN #MEMPHIS http://t.co/y3gdBwGFBf …
Dimonator says:

February 8, 2015 at 7:51 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: -@Dimonator LOOKS AT BUSY WEEK HEADLINED BY @andy_murray IN #ROTTERDAM, @keinishikori IN #MEMPHIS http://t.co/y3gdBwGFBf …
svata4 says:

February 8, 2015 at 11:36 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: -@Dimonator LOOKS AT BUSY WEEK HEADLINED BY @andy_murray IN #ROTTERDAM, @keinishikori IN #MEMPHIS http://t.co/y3gdBwGFBf …