10 THINGS TO WATCH IN WASHINGTON
1) The Champs Are Here: The last four Citi Open champions return to the nation’s capital this week in search of another ATP World Tour 500 title: Juan Martin del Potro (2008-09, 2013), Milos Raonic (2014), Kei Nishikori (2015) and Gael Monfils (2016). All four men can claim that they are defending champions because none have played in Washington since winning the Citi Open title.
14 Straight Wins: Del Potro is 14-1 at the Citi Open with his only loss coming as an 18-year-old in 2007 (l. to Wayne Odesnik). The three-time champion is on a 14-match win streak at the tournament, but just 14-8 with no finals this season. Del Potro is 0-6 against Top 6 players in 2017.
Title Drought: Raonic won the biggest title of his career at 2014 Washington, defeating Vasek Pospisil in the first all-Canadian final on tour. However, Raonic has not lifted a championship trophy since beating Roger Federer at 2016 Brisbane -- a stretch of 29 events and 18+ months.
Speaking of Which: Nishikori knows how Raonic feels because he has also played 29 ATP World Tour or Grand Slam events since his last title at 2016 Memphis. The Japanese superstar is 0-6 in finals over the last 16 months. He won his sixth ATP World Tour 500 title at Washington in 2015.
Back To The Breakthrough: Like Raonic, Monfils won the biggest title of his career at Washington, saving a match point to defeat Ivo Karlovic in the 2016 final. The Frenchman is 12-2 overall at the Citi Open, reaching the 2007 semi-finals (l. to John Isner) and 2011 final (l. to Radek Stepanek).
Dominant Thiem: Debuting in DC this week is 23-year-old Dominic Thiem, who is 38-16 this season with wins over World No. 1 Andy Murray, World No. 2 Rafael Nadal and World No. 4 Novak Djokovic. Thiem is the No. 1 seed for the first time at an ATP World Tour 500 event.
Top 10 Again: Grigor Dimitrov broke back into the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings on July 17 for the first time since the week of February 23, 2015. He fell as low as No. 40, which is what he was ranked when he lost his opening match at the 2016 Citi Open to Daniel Evans 6-4, 6-4.
Sascha Leads #NextGenATP: Seven #NextGenATP players gained direct acceptance into the Citi Open, including 2015 quarter-finalist and 2016 semi-finalist Alexander Zverev. The 20-year-old is on pace to qualify for both the Nitto ATP Finals (6th in race) and Next Gen ATP Finals (1st in race).
American Hopes: No Americans in the Citi Open field have won an ATP World Tour 500 singles title. Isner has come close in DC, where he is making his 10th appearance (25-9). The 2007, 2013 and 2015 finalist met countryman Steve Johnson in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Johnson went 2-1.
Double Your Fun: The doubles draw in Washington will feature reigning Wimbledon champions Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, Roland Garros champions Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus, and US Open champions Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares. Expected to sign in on-site are Americans Bob and Mike Bryan, who have won four of their record 113 titles at the Citi Open.
10 THINGS TO WATCH IN KITZBUEHEL
Clay-Court Finale: The final clay-court event of the 2017 season begins Monday when past champions Paolo Lorenzi (2016), Philipp Kohlschreiber (2015) and Robin Haase (2011-12) headline the Generali Open. Pablo Cuevas will make his Kitzbuehel debut as the No. 1 seed.
Back To The Breakthrough: Last year in Kitzbuehel, Lorenzi became the oldest first-time singles champion on the ATP World Tour. Now 35, the Italian returns to Austria having reached two more clay-court finals this season: Quito (l. to Victor Estrella Burgos) and Umag (l. to Andrey Rublev).
Welcome Home: Kohlschreiber, who resides in Kitzbuehel, is playing at the Generali Open for the seventh straight year and 10th overall. He rode his bike to the tennis club in 2015 and defeated Dominic Thiem en route to the title. The German fell to No. 60 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on July 3, which was his lowest ranking in more than a decade (also No. 60 from April 2-8, 2007).
Haase’s House: Haase won his first 12 Generali Open matches, including a three-set victory in the 2012 final over Kohlschreiber. However, he is 1-3 in Kitzbuehel since then and did not play in 2016. Instead, Haase reached the Gstaad final during the same tournament week (l. to Feliciano Lopez).
Seeking A Spark: Cuevas has not won a match since June 1, struggling with a right knee injury after starting the season strongly. He followed his third straight Sao Paulo title (d. Albert Ramos-Vinolas) with one semi-final and two quarter-final finishes at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events.
Elated Italian: No. 2 seed Fabio Fognini has enjoyed a successful season on and off the court. In ATP Masters 1000 play, the Italian advanced to the Miami semi-finals and defeated World No. 1 Andy Murray at Rome. Three days after upsetting Murray, he became a father to son Federico. He also moved into the final in Gstaad.
One Last Hurrah: The 14th stop on Tommy Haas’ farewell tour comes in Kitzbuehel, where he lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero in his only prior appearance 18 years ago. Haas, who announced 2017 will be his final season, is one of two men to defeat Roger Federer this year (also Evgeny Donskoy).
#NextGenATP Austrian: Less than a month after his Wimbledon breakthrough, 21-year-old Sebastian Ofner returns to his native Austria. Ofner rallied from two sets down to defeat Jay Clarke and qualify for his first tour-level event at the All England Club, then beat Thomaz Bellucci in straight sets and Jack Sock in five sets to reach the third round (l. to Alexander Zverev).
Feeling Special: Federico Delbonis and Yannick Hanfmann earned special exempts into the Kitzbuehel main draw by winning quarter-finals on Friday at Hamburg and Gstaad respectively. Hanfmann will arrive in Austria after playing eight matches in Gstaad, where he qualified and went on to reach the final.
700 Wins Club: Nenad Zimonjic reunited with Marcin Matkowski last week at Hamburg and became the 10th player in the Open Era with 700+ doubles wins. They team again in Kitzbuehel.
10 THINGS TO WATCH IN LOS CABOS
From Wimbledon to Cabo: No. 1 seed Tomas Berdych and No. 2 seed Sam Querrey will play their first ATP World Tour events since reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals at the Abierto Mexicano de Tenis Mifel presentado por Cinemex. Berdych upset former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Querrey stunned current World No. 1 Andy Murray in the Wimbledon quarter-finals on July 12.
Bienvenidos a México: Berdych is playing tennis in Mexico for the very first time, including both his professional career on the ATP World Tour and his time on the ITF Juniors Circuit from 1999 to 2003. The Czech is seeking his first title of the season. He entered Wimbledon at No. 15 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, which was his lowest ranking since No. 17 from May 31 to June 6, 2010.
Welcome Back: Querrey, on the other hand, is no stranger to Mexico. The American upset Rafael Nadal to win the ATP World Tour 500 title at Acapulco on March 4. As a child, Querrey and his family often vacationed in Los Cabos. He fell to Santiago Giraldo in his opener at 2016 Los Cabos.
All Hail, Ivo: Last year, Ivo Karlovic won the inaugural Los Cabos title as a 37-year-old to become the oldest champion on the ATP World Tour since 1979. The Croat is 22-23 since then. Karlovic opted to play at Los Cabos this week instead of Washington, where he reached the final in 2016.
Lopez Returns Too: Also back in Los Cabos is Feliciano Lopez, who fell to Karlovic in last year’s final. Lopez, who turns 36 on Sept. 20, captured the biggest singles title of his career by beating Berdych, Stan Wawrinka, Grigor Dimitrov and Marin Cilic at London/Queen’s Club in June.
Spanish Armada: Lopez is one of three left-handed Spaniards in Los Cabos along with Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Fernando Verdasco. In April, Ramos-Vinolas beat Murray en route to the fifth and biggest final of his career at Monte-Carlo. In March, Verdasco fell to Murray in the Dubai final.
All Eyes on Escobedo: Four #NextGenATP players are in the Los Cabos main draw prior to the conclusion of qualifying, including Mexican-American Ernesto Escobedo. The 21-year-old won the Monterrey, MEX Challenger title in October and advanced to the second round at Acapulco.
#NextGenATP Invasion: Los Cabos’ other #NextGenATP players are Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe and Thanasi Kokkinakis. While Fritz reached the 2016 Memphis final in only his third tour-level event, Tiafoe and Kokkinakis are seeking their first ATP World Tour quarter-finals respectively.
Gonzalez’ Homecoming: Santiago Gonzalez returns home for the first time since reaching the Roland Garros doubles final with Donald Young. Gonzalez will make his Los Cabos debut alongside Scott Lipsky. The Mexican and American have won seven ATP doubles titles together.
Raja/Sharan Set to Defend: Reigning champions Purav Raja and Divij Sharan will defend their title as part of a doubles field that features Rio Olympics gold medalist Marc Lopez. The Spaniard, who turns 35 on Monday, will team with countryman David Marrero for the first time this season.