Grigor Dimitrov is arguably the main reason that Bulgaria now has a place on the ATP World Tour, with the Australian Open semi-finalist adding exposure to a country with a limited tennis background in the men’s game.
The Bulgarian headlines the tournament that also sees Dominic Thiem, Roberto Bautista Agut and David Goffin participate, in an impressive draw considering there are competing events in Quito and Montpellier.
Draw: (My picks highlighted in bold)
(1) Dominic Thiem – Bye
Nikoloz Basilashvili vs Adrian Mannarino
Marco Chiudinelli vs Qualifier
Andrey Kuznetsov vs (8) Martin Klizan
(3) Grigor Dimitrov – Bye
(PR) Jerzy Janowicz vs Dudi Sela
Robin Haase vs (WC) Dimitar Kuzmanov
(WC) Cem Ikel vs (9) Viktor Troicki
(5) Gilles Muller vs Qualifier
Qualifier vs Qualifier
Bye – Roberto Bautista Agut
(7) Marcos Baghdatis vs Steve Darcis
Damir Dzumhur vs Andreas Seppi
(WC) Alexandar Lazarov vs Radu Albot
Bye – (2) David Goffin
- I have yet to select winners in the matches with Qualifiers, as with the identities of some of the players yet to be determined, it would be unfair to speculate. I will note however, that Marco Chiudinelli is in especially poor form so the qualifier that draws him may well have a very good chance.
The tournament draw will Dimitrov need to likely overcome top seed Dominic Thiem if he is to reach the final, whilst Roberto Bautista Agut and David Goffin highlight the bottom half of the draw.
Viktor Troicki moves into a seeding position after Philipp Kohlschreiber withdrew with a back injury. Kohlschreiber had played a tough five-set match with Steve Darcis in the Davis Cup and could be feeling the effects still.
That is way I have gone with Darcis to beat seventh seed Baghdatis, as the Belgian’s stunning wins over Kohlschreiber and Alexander Zverev in the Davis Cup, along with a good run in Australia, all point to career-best form for the thirty-two year old.
Similarly, Andrey Kuznetsov is a good shout to beat Martin Klizan, as Klizan has played few matches in the last four months due to injury. He did take Stan Wawrinka to five sets in the first round of the Australian Open, but Kuznetsov did the same with Kei Nishikori.
Jerzy Janowicz is a tough one to call, but he played well in the Quimper Challenger, taking a set from eventual winner Adrian Mannarino in the quarters so I fancy his chances against Dudi Sela.
