The Rotterdam tournament is normally one that has big names draw to it. Worth 500 points, and close to home for many of the top European players, it is viewed as a less taxing journey than some. Yet this year, for a variety of reasons, the big names normally associated with the event are absent. Four of this year’s seeds are French.
Roger Federer, who had originally planned to play the event, is undergoing surgery for a meniscus injury suffered the day after his Australian Open semi-final defeat to Novak Djokovic. Andy Murray, who was the top seed last year, is absent as his wife Kim is expecting the couple’s first child. Last year’s champion Stan Wawrinka, and beaten finalist Tomas Berdych are both also absent from this year’s draw.
Rotterdam still has a number of recognisable names. Richard Gasquet is the top seed, and he is joined by former US Open champion Marin Cilic, compatriot Gilles Simon, and Davis Cup finalist David Goffin as the highest ranked seeds.
The lower seeds see two out-of-form players with Gael Monfils and Benoit Paire both fresh off of early defeats in Montpellier. Roberto Baustista-Agut is also in action for the first time since the Australian Open, and Viktor Troicki is the eighth seed.
Some intriguing match-ups seed David Goffin handed a tough first-round draw against former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis, and Richard Gasquet will have to beat consistent compatriot Jeremy Chardy. There is an all Czech tie between Lukas Rosol and Jiri Vesely, and the out-of-form Borna Coric will have the chance to get his season back on track against local wildcard Thiemo De Bakker.
Full Draw, picks for first round included in bold.
(1) Richard Gasquet vs Jeremy Chardy
Qualifier vs Teymuraz Gabashvili
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez vs Hyeon Chung
Qualifier vs (8) Viktor Troicki
(4) David Goffin vs Marcos Baghdatis
Tommy Robredo vs Martin Klizan
Lukas Rosol vs Jiri Vesely
Joao Sousa vs (6) Roberto Bautista-Agut
(5) Gael Monfils vs Qualifier
Borna Coric vs (wc) Thiemo De Bakker
Vasek Pospisil vs Alexander Zverev
Robin Haase vs (3) Gilles Simon
(7) Benoit Paire vs Qualifier
Philipp Kohlschreiber vs (pr) Julien Benneteau
Andreas Seppi vs Gilles Muller
Denis Istomin vs (2) Marin Cilic
