Rafael Nadal conquered Roland Garros for the ninth time with a 3-6 7-5 6-2 6-4 over Novak Djokovic in Sunday.  It was a final that had its moments, but never quite got going.  Now we move very quickly on to the grass… keep up! Last year, I completely sucked at predicting anything correct on the grass.  You can witness the embarassment in 2013 for the men HERE and women HERE.  Queens has attracted a line-up featuring Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Grigor Dimitrov and Alexandr Dolgopolov.  The late entry of Stanislas Wawrinka has given this tournament a real boost.  Out of all the Wimbledon tune-ups, Queens is the closest to me; however the extortionate prices have always put me off attending.  Anyway, let’s take a look at the draw and the one for Halle too…

ATP Queens

Stanislas Wawrinka headlines this year’s Queens event, which has attracted some quality names; however when you look deep into the draw, there is not a whole lot of depth to it.  Wawrinka could face a very tricky second round where he is due to meet either Marcos Baghdatis or Bradley Klahn.  Baggy, who has won the AEGON Trophy event in Nottingham, is an excellent grass courter and his general form for the whole year can kind of be disregarded for that reason.  The first seed Stan could meet is Jeremy Chardy, who features in one of the better first rounders against former champion, Sam Querrey.  The American has not had a good season; however he has a great record at this event having won the title in 2010 and reached the semi-finals in 2012 so it could be a chance for him to rediscover some form.

The toughest eighth of the draw is set to see a third rounder between Marin Cilic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, two more players who have had great success at this tournament.  Cilic won the event in 2012 and was last year’s runner-up, meanwhile Tsonga reached the final in 2011 and the semi-finals last year. Tsonga won’t have an easy ride as he will play either David Goffin or Dominic Thiem in the second round.  Thiem has proven himself to be one of the most talented up-and-comers on the tour; however this will be his first ever grass court season so expectations shouldn’t be as high, particularly for his first tournament at Queens.

The second quarter features the two D’s who have had great years, but performed poorly at Roland Garros, Grigor Dimitrov and Alexandr Dolgopolov.  Dimitrov will open against James Ward or Blaz Rola; this is a reasonable draw for Ward.  Nicolas Mahut is also in this section and always comes alive on the grass, which is by far and away his best surface to play on.  Dolgopolov could meet Dmitry Tursunov in the third round.  The Russian player actually did pretty well at Roland Garros, getting a set off Federer in the third round.  He could be a real match for Dolgo on this surface.

Andy Murray is in the third section and is paired with fellow top eight seed, Kevin Anderson.  Murray is coming off the back of a very successful Roland Garros where he made the semi-finals.  Unlike last year where he came into Queens completely refreshed, there are likely to be some niggles and less time to adapt to the grass.  Murray won the tournament in 2009, 2011 and 2013 with a third round exit in 2010 and a second round exit in 2012.  There is a pretty neat pattern there.  His first match of the week will be against Paul-Henri Mathieu or Aljaz Bedene.  In terms of depth, this is the weakest quarter of the draw and Murray should have no difficulties in reaching the quarters.

The final quarter of the draw features the number two seed, Tomas Berdych and his conqueror at Roland Garros, Ernests Gulbis.  Ernie had a terrific run in Paris although I am not sure if he will be able to carry that straight away into Queens.  His draw features a potential clash with Feliciano Lopez or Lleyton Hewitt in the third round, both excellent grass courters.  Hewitt rolled back the years to reach the semi-finals here last year and it would be no surprise at all to see him do it again this year despite losing his last four matches on tour.  Berdych is seeded to meet Julien Benneteau in the third round and should have the opportunity to get wins and all important match practice before Wimbledon.

Murray will be the favourite, particularly with his draw, but I think fatigue could be a serious issue.  There are a number of players who have done marvellously well at this event in the past and I expect one of them to bag the trophy come next Sunday.

1st Round Predictions:

Baghdatis d. Klahn in 2 tight sets, Russell d. Kudla in 3 sets, Querrey d. Chardy in 2 tight sets, Cilic d. Matosevic in 2 sets, Thiem d. Goffin in 3 sets, Ward d. Rola in 2 sets, Roger-Vasselin d. Donskoy in 2 sets, Tursunov d. Sijsling in 3 sets, Nieminen d. Paire in 2 sets, Melzer d. Evans in 3 sets, Stepanek d. Kukushkin in 2 tight sets, Tomic d. Smyczek in 3 sets, Hewitt d. Gimeno-Traver in 2 sets, Lopez d. Lajovic in 3 sets, Benneteau d. Estrella-Burgos in 2 sets and Mannarino d. Cox in 2 sets

QF Predictions:

Querrey v Cilic

Dimitrov v Tursunov

Anderson v Murray

Hewitt v Berdych

Final Prediction: Cilic d. Berdych

ATP Halle

This year’s Halle draw is considerably stronger than Queens with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer both in the main draw.  Given his performance at Roland Garros, you would expect there is a fair chance that Nadal may pull out.  If Nadal turns up, his first round match will be against Dustin Brown or a qualifier.  Brown knocked out Lleyton Hewitt at last year’s Wimbledon and although erratic, is a terrific character and has a game suited for grass.  Nadal’s projected quarter-final opponent is Jerzy Janowicz; the Pole finally won some matches at Roland Garros having not won since February.  He needs to find some confidence ahead of Wimbledon where he is defending semi-final points.  He could meet Philipp Kohlschreiber or Andreas Seppi in the second round.

Milos Raonic and Richard Gasquet are the highest seeds in the second quarter; Raonic had a brilliant clay court season.  Milos has never performed particularly well on grass and it has come as a mystery because his game would look to be perfect for this surface.  This is a good draw for Raonic and a perfect opportunity to get matches, having only won one of four matches on grass in 2013.  Kei Nishikori is back in action in the third quarter where he is seeded to meet Tommy Haas in the quarters.  Nishikori make the quarters of the Olympics at Wimbledon in 2012, beating David Ferrer along the way, but has never had great results on grass.  He could meet Gael Monfils in the second round, which would be fun.

The final quarter is spearheaded by Federer, who is in the same quarter as Mikhail Youzhny.  The Russian player opens against Ivo Karlovic, a fearsome opponent on grass, and then could play Yen-Hsun Lu in the second round, who is also pretty useful on this surface.  To sum up, I’ll be surprised if Nadal plays, Federer looks to have a great draw and this should be a good opportunity for Raonic to finally succeed on this surface.

1st Round Predictions: Kohlschreiber d. Seppi in 2 sets, Gojowczyk d. Przysiezny in 3 sets, Kubot d. Falla in 3 sets, Gasquet d. Haase in 3 sets, Haas d. Johnson in 2 tight sets, Monfils d. Becker in 2 sets, Karlovic d. Youzhny in 2 tight sets and Struff d. Sousa in 2 sets.

QF Predictions:

Brown v Kohlschreiber

Raonic v Gasquet

Haas v Nishikori

Karlovic v Federer

Moo’s Final Prediction: Federer d. Raonic