Weekly Roundup: ATP Winners

ATP Kitzbuhel

Robin Haase became the seventh player (most recently Albert Costa 98/99) to defend the Kitzbuhel title with his defeat of Philipp Kohlschreiber in three sets. The first set was a tight one, with serve dominating and the Dutchman saving numerous break points. However, in the tiebreaker he could not hold off Kohlschreiber who took it 7-2. After that Haase took control in the second and third sets and was only broke once throughout the whole match on his way to a (2)6-7 6-3 6-2 victory. It appears that Kohlschreiber was carrying an injury of sorts during the week as after the final he announced his withdrawal from the Olympics.

Meanwhile in the doubles there was some Austrian success as No.1 seeds Julian Knowle and Czech teammate Frantisek Cermak picked up the Doubles title in an extremely close encounter. They defeated the No.2 pairing of Dustin Brown and Paul Hanley in three sets winning 7-6(4) 3-6 12-10

 

Source: Bet-at-home Kitzbuhel Facebook

 

ATP Los Angeles

Sam Querrey joined an impressive list of three-times winners at the Los Angeles Open, that includes Arthur Ashe and Fred Perry, with a comprehensive defeat over the Lithuanian qualifier Ricardas Berankis 6-0 6-2. Querrey was unstoppable as he took eight games in a row with Berankis failing to get even to deuce until game 9 where he failed to take break points on the Querrey serve. It capped an excellent week for Querrey who has served brilliantly throughout, hitting 32 aces in four matches and only getting broken once all week (against Rajeev Ram SF).

Unseeded Belgians Ruben Bemelmans and Xavier Malisse took their first doubles title as a pairing with an impressive victory over the No.3 seeds Ken Skupski and Jamie Delgado. Both teams were dominant on serve and breaks were minimal as the match went into the final set deciding tiebreak. Bemelmans and Malisse earned the mini-break early and did not relinquish it as they took the match 7-6(5) 4-6 10-7.

 

Source: AFP/Getty Images/Frederic J Brown

ATP Kitzbuhel Preview

Kitzbuhel 250

The clay court season ends on the main tour here in Kitzbuhel, Austria. Again, with the Olympics the draw is much weaker than usual but is headed by two top 25 Germans in Philip Kohlschreiber and Florian Mayer and two capable Spaniards in Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Albert Ramos.

Favourite – No.1 seed Philip Kohlschreiber possesses an 8-5 record on the year, and more importantly has already picked up a title in Munich, where he defeated Marin Cilic in the final. While it is clear that the German’s game suits faster surfaces, he is clearly a competent clay player against the standard of players in this draw and is coming off a good run of form having made the quarter finals at Wimbledon. Much like many other players, the thought of the Olympics may be in the back of his mind and so an early exit is possible.

Outsider – This will not be an issue for Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who has dropped in the rankings recently after a poor 2011. The Spaniard took the Kitzbuhel title in 2009 defeating Julien Benneteau but has not played here in the past two years. Most recently, Garcia-Lopez had a good run in Stuttgart where he made the Semi Final, only to be defeated by Juan Monaco in a thrilling three set encounter – having came back from 5-0 down in the third to tie it up, only to drop the set 7-5. He has a good chance of going far if he can keep up the level he showed in Stuttgart.

One To Watch – A four times Hungarian National champion, Attila Balazs made quite a splash in his first tour event of the year in Bucharest, making the semi final as qualifier where he was defeated by Fabio Fognini. However on the way, he recorded impressive victories over Xavier Malisse, Lukas Lacko and Potito Starace. At the lower level, he has picked up numerous clay titles but is yet to make the step up so much on the Challenger circuit. However, as his Bucharest run showed, he appears to be a momentum play and having gone into the tournament on a three match winning streak to make the first round, he has potential to do damage again and could draw worse than wildcard Martin Fischer.

Did You Know…?

Kitzbuhel was a ATP 500 event until 2008, an ATP 250 event in 2009 and 2011, but a Challenger Tour event in 2010 where it was won by Andreas Seppi.

Ernest Gulbis is the only seed not to have won a title on clay, be it ATP World Tour or ATP Challenger Tour.

Martin Klizan against Dominic Thiem is a battle of two former French Open junior finalists. Thiem was a loser in 2011 while Klizan picked up the trophy in 2006.

Finals Prediction – Garcia-Lopez defeats Ramos in 2 sets