Article and Photography by Mike McIntyre
With the first Grand Slam of 2019 now behind us as well as the Davis Cup qualifiers, the ATP Tour can begin to settle into its usual groove of tournaments. This week there will be three level 250 events taking place and here is a short preview of what we can expect. If you're the wagering type and looking for tips on how to bet on sports, then perhaps this preview can be of assistance as well.
Italy's Fabio Fognini will be the No. 1 seed for the inaugural installment of this clay court event in Cordoba, Argentina. He gets a first round bye and then will face the winner between Aljaz Bedene and Max Marterer. Neither should give the World No. 15 much trouble, as Fognini is 1-0 vs Marterer and a whopping 8-0 H2H against Bedene in his career.
Diego Schwartzman is the tournament's third seed and also in the top half of the draw. The Argentinian No. 2 will enjoy tremendous home court support and his first match will be against either a qualifier or wildcard Thiago Seyboth Wild who is ranked 451st in the world.
In the bottom half of the draw, surprise 2018 French Open semifinalist Marco Cecchinato is the No. 2 seed. Since his stunning run at Roland Garros, the 26 year old Italian has gone 10-14 on tour and will very likely have a major ranking tumble this year in Paris.
Best bet for the lower portion of the draw is instead 4th seeded Pablo Carreno Busta or 7th seeded Leonardo Mayer - both very capable clay court players.
Turning our attention over to Europe, there is a hard court tournament for French tennis fans to flock to in Montpellier located near the southern coast. This event has been one by a Frenchman in six of the eight times it has been held, including by Lucas Pouille a year ago. Pouille would be a solid pick to repeat as champion given his past success in the event and the fact that he recently made his first ever Grand Slam semifinal in Melbourne. He opens with a bye and will then face the winner between a qualifier and Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic. Pouille has a 2-0 record against Vesely at the ATP level, but lost both matches that were prior to 2016 against him at the Challenger/Future level of play.
The top half of the draw is littered with other talented yet aging French players such as 4th seeded Gilles Simon, Jo Wilfried Tsonga as well as Jeremy Chardy. All three are over thirty years old and Tsonga required a wildcard to enter the event as he is currently ranked 210th in the world.
The bottom half of the draw has Canada's Denis Shapovalov as the third seed. Shapovalov just helped his country qualify for the Davis Cup finals that will be held in November as he won both of his singles rubbers against Slovakia. The talented 19 year old has yet to win his maiden ATP title, and this week in Monpellier might afford him a solid opportunity to do just that.
David Goffin is the No. 2 seed and has had an underwhelming year thus far, falling in the opening round in Doha before losing to Daniil Medvedev in the third round of the Aussie Open. Veteran Tomas Berdych also lurks in this section of the draw and has had a resurgent start to 2019 by making the finals in Doha and then the last 16 in Melbourne.
In Bulgaria, the Sofia Open has Mirza Basic as defending champion. The World No. 99 represents Bosnia-Herzegovina and accomplished little else at the ATP level in 2018 save for his surprising run of 7 victories in Sofia where he had to endure two qualifying wins before eventually taking down Marius Copil in a close final.
Young Russian sensation Karen Khachanov is the No. 1 seed this year and after an opening round pass will face either Denis Istomin or Matteo Berrettini in the second round. Stan Wawrinka could be a potential third round opponent for Khachanov but he will first have to get by Copil and then potentially face fellow veteran Fernando Verdasco. Robert Bautista Agut had a great run at the Australian Open and he is in the top half of the draw here as the No. 4 seed.
In the bottom half look out for No. 2 Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 3 Daniil Medvedev as likely contenders for the title. You will also find the always entertaining Gael Monfils and last year's champ who we previously mentioned, Mirza Basic, who it appears will have a much tougher time this year if he dreams of repeating as champion.