There is one more week of tournaments before things really kick into gear for the US Open Series and the road to Flushing Meadows.  The series actually begins next week in Atlanta where John Isner and Kevin Anderson are the top seeds.  These draws are always difficult to pick out a winner but it adds to the intrigue and hilarity.  Gstaad’s draw has taken several pummellings with Stan Wawrinka the most notable withdrawal.  The highlight of the draw is probably the return of Victor Troicki.  Umag’s is marginally better, but nothing is likely to make the headlines.  Anyway here are my thoughts about the three draws…

ATP Atlanta

John Isner, Kevin Anderson, Gael Monfils and Vasek Pospisil are the top four seeds in Atlanta and all receive byes into the second round.  Isner’s quarter features Marinko Matosevic, who had a quality grass court season, Sergiy Stakhovsky and an all-American first rounder between Tim Smyczek and Ryan Harrison.  Currently ranked outside of the top 100, this will be a big match for both players with the winner likely to meet Matosevic in the second round.

Monfils hasn’t played since his characteristically strange performance at Wimbledon where he lost in five sets to Jiri Vesely in the second round.  He could meet Wimbledon doubles champion, Jack Sock in the second round.  The 21-year-old teamed up with Vasek Pospisil to win the mens doubles title.  He backed that up with a semi-final showing in singles in Newport.  He ran out of gas in the semi-finals against Lleyton Hewitt but there were signs that the run at Wimbledon could be the kick up the backside that he needs to push on in singles.  Denis Istomin is the other seed in the second quarter and is one to watch.  He has built together a solid year, reaching four quarter-finals and two semi-finals this year.

After Radek Stepanek‘s withdrawal from Atlanta, Sam Querrey was bumped up to the number nine seed and he will play Steve Johnson in the first round.  Two places separate the pair in the rankings and i’d back Querrey to win that after he displayed a series of encouraging performances on the grass.  The final quarter features the number two seed, Kevin Anderson.  He’ll take on a qualifier in the second round and is paired with Yen-Hsun Lu in the quarters.

1st Round Predictions: Stakhovsky d. Ginepri in 2 sets, Harrison d. Smyczek in 3 sets, Matosevic d. Estrella-Burgos in 2 sets, Sock d. Gonzalez in 2 sets, Stepanek d. Johnson in 3 sets, Young d. Sela in 3 sets and Becker d. Ebden in 2 sets

Moo’s Final Prediction: Anderson d. Istomin

ATP Gstaad

As mentioned above, Gstaad has suffered a number of withdrawals including Stan Wawrinka, Nicolas Almagro, Roberto Bautista Agut and Feliciano Lopez.  This means that Mikhail Youzhny will headline the tournament, which is held in one of the most picturesque settings of any tennis tournament in the world.  Youzhny’s half of the draw is wide open.  The other seeds in this section are Robin Haase, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Federico Delbonis.  All three players lost their first match in Hamburg last week.  The most intriguing of the first round matches features Delbonis up against Dustin Brown.  The German dude is a real enigma on the tennis court and has been in much better form than Delbonis of late.

The bottom half of the draw is stronger; Fernando Verdasco, Gilles Simon, Dominic Thiem and the number two seed, Marcel Granollers are all here.  Thiem gets a seeding and will play Viktor Troicki in the first round.  The Serbian player has been out of action for a year after being given a one year ban for failing to give a blood sample at last year’s Monte-Carlo Masters.  Troicki received a wildcard into the tournament.  Simon’s first match will be also be interesting up against Pablo Andujar.  It’s hard to pick out a winner from this draw because it’s not exactly alive with consistent players.  Out of everyone, I’d take Verdasco.

1st Round Predictions: De Schepper d. Volandri in 3 sets, Monaco d. Hanescu in 3 sets, Brown d. Delbonis in 2 sets (1 tight, 1 easy), Thiem d. Troicki in 2 sets, Struff d. Haider-Maurer in 2 sets, Andujar d. Simon in 3 sets and Gimeno-Traver d. Marti in 3 sets

Moo’s Final Prediction: Verdasco d. Youzhny

ATP Umag

Fabio Fognini is the number one seed in Umag.  I’m ashamed at myself for picking the Italian to win in Hamburg last year.  Fognini put in another embarrassing and petulant display, losing to Filip Krajinovic, 6-4 6-0 in his second round match.  Frankly, the less said about Fognini the better.  He doesn’t deserve the attention.  His first match will be against Alexander Zverev or Albert Montanes.  Zverev had a tremendous breakthrough week in Hamburg where he eventually lost in a one-sided semi-final to David Ferrer, 6-0 6-1.  I wonder how much Alex will have left in the tank for this tournament.  The top half also features Andreas Seppi, Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Joao Sousa… so yeah, wide open.

The bottom half of the Umag draw is much more interesting.  Arguably the two biggest threats in the draw, Marin Cilic and Lukas Rosol, are drawn in the same quarter.  Cilic will play Julian Reister or Igor Sijsling in his first match of the week, meanwhile Rosol opens against Diego Sebastian Schwartzman.  Rosol could play Jiri Vesely in the second round.  Rosol reached the final of Stuttgart and the quarter-finals of Hamburg so it’s possible fatigue could be an issue.   At the bottom of the draw Tommy Robredo will open his tournament against Albert Ramos-Vinolas or Benoit Paire.  The Spaniard reached the fourth round of Wimbledon, but has won only one match at the last two clay court tournaments he has played.

1st Round Predictions: BYE d. Fognini in 2 sets, Montanes d. Zverev in 3 sets. Roger-Vasselin d. Coric in 3 sets, Lajovic d. Gabashvili in 2 sets, Vesely d. Riba in 2 sets, Reister d. Sisjling in 2 sets, Carreno-Busta d. Lorenzi in 2 sets and Ramos-Vinolas d. Paire in 3 sets

Moo’s Final Prediction: Cilic d. Seppi