By Chris Oddo | Saturday February 20, 2017
Kei Nishikori will make his debut at Rio as the Golden Swing continues. This and more in our weekly what's on tap.
Photo Source: Argentina Open
What’s on Tap? Dubai, Rio, Marseille and Delray Beach And away we go! The fourth week of February will feature the second 500-level ATP event of the season as well as a stacked WTA Premier event in Doha and 250’s in Buenos Aires and Memphis.
Let’s break ‘em down, shall we?
Draws:
Dubai
Rio
Marseille
Delray Beach
Budapest
Kerber with a Shot at the Top in Dubai
Action is already underway at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the first Premier 5 WTA event of the season, and storylines are abundant.
Such as:
Can Angelique Kerber relocate her missing mojo and if she does, can she reclaim the No.1 ranking? The German, 4-4 on the season thus far, would need a title run to get the No.1 ranking back. She’ll open with Mona Barthel of Germany and will come in with very low expectations based on her disappointing results thus far in 2017.
Can Karolina Pliskova emerge as he dominant WTA player when Serena Williams is absent? If she wins the title this week in Dubai, it would send a serious message about the viability of the Czech as a future No.1 and major winner. She’s headed in that direction, and if she keeps improving she could get there sooner rather than later.
With 16 Top 25 players in the draw the action will be fast and furious from the get-go. It will be interesting to see which players can build some momentum ahead of the Indian Wells-Miami double. Dubai isn’t thought of as one of the biggest tournaments prestige-wise (quick: can you name the last three champions?) but it is an opportunity for the players to really test their games on the hard court and set the tone for the season to come.
WTA Budapest
Time Babos and Lucie Safarova are the No.1 and No.2 seeds at the Hungarian Ladies Open. The tour makes its return to Budapest in the inaugural edition of this brand new event, managed by the Hungarian Federation.
ATP Rio
The ATP’s Golden Swing continues with the second 500-level event of the season. Defending champion Pablo Cuevas will look to steady his game (he is 1-3 on the season) and 2015 champion David Ferrer will look to send a message to the tour that he is not done winning title, especially on clay. That said, Ferrer has not been to a final since 2015, and there are many wondering if he hasn’t simply hit the wall.
Kei Nishikori, last week’s runner-up at Buenos Aires will make his Rio debut, and the ever-busy Dominic Thiem will take his place as the No.2 seed. Will a rub on the clay help Thiem get that commandeering presence in his game back?
Other Names to Watch:
Buenos Aires winner Alexandr Dolgopolov faces Ferrer in the first round, while wild card Janko Tipsarevic faces Thiem. 18-year-old wild card Casper Ruud will bid for his first ATP win against Rogerio Dutra-Silva in the first round.
Delpo Returns to Delray Beach
Juan Martin del Potro will play his first competitive tennis since winning the Davis Cup title last November when he takes the court as the seventh seed at the Delray Beach Open. How will the Tower of Tandil fare after a long off-season? He faces Kevin Anderson in the first round, so he better be ready for a battle.
Milos Raonic will make his Delray Beach Open debut as the top seed, and Borna Coric, Jack Sock and Dustin Brown will help round out the field, along with 38-year-old Tommy Haas.
Open 13, Marseille
Top-seeded Gael Monfils and second-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will give the French faithful plenty to cheer for in Marseille. So will Richard Gasquet, Lucas Pouille, Gilles Simon and Benoit Paire. Tsonga, straight off his 13th career title in Rotterdam, and his 400th career win, will look to keep his momentum rolling.
Defending champion Nick Kyrgios will attempt his first title defense, while No.5-seeded Alexander Zverev and unseeded Karen Khachanov will compete for #NextGen notoriety.