Dimitrov, Sock Top Seeds As Clay Season Kicks Off

Spring Clay Season Commences: After an exciting first three months of action on the ATP World Tour, the red clay circuit swings into full gear with five tournaments in April. The lone clay tournament in North America, the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston, and the only event in Africa, the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech, begin the swing. There are 12 clay court tournaments in the next seven weeks leading into Roland Garros, which begins 28 May.

Emirates ATP Race To Milan Leaders: Six of the Top 12 #NextGenATP players in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan standings (as of 3 April) are in action, led by No. 5 Jared Donaldson, No. 7 Ernesto Escobedo and No. 9 Frances Tiafoe in Houston. Overall there are seven of the Top 20 in the main draw:

1 Alexander Zverev 11 Hyeon Chung – Houston

2 Daniil Medvedev 12 Noah Rubin – Houston (Q)

3 Casper Ruud 13 Alexander Bublik

4 Andrey Rublev 14 Omar Jasika

5 Jared Donaldson – Houston 15 Quentin Halys

6 Taylor Fritz 16 Blake Mott

7 Ernesto Escobedo – Houston (WC) 17 Karen Khachanov

8 Borna Coric – Marrakech 18 Alex De Minaur

9 Frances Tiafoe – Houston 19 Matteo Berrettini

10 Denis Shapovalov 20 Felix Auger-Aliassime

Reilly Opelka – Houston (WC)

Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship (Houston): This year’s tournament will mark the 83^rd edition hosted at the River Oaks Country Club. The last five winners are in the 28-player field, including reigning champion Juan Monaco, who also captured the 2012 title. The others are 2015 titleholder Jack Sock, 2014 titlist Fernando Verdasco and 2013 champ John Isner.

Sock is the No. 1 seed for the first time in his career in an ATP World Tour event. The other seeds: No. 2 Isner, No. 3 Sam Querrey, No. 4 Steve Johnson, No. 5 Verdasco, No. 6 Feliciano Lopez, No. 7 Donald Young and No. 8 Thomaz Bellucci. Overall seven players in the Top 50 of the Emirates ATP Rankings are in the draw for the second straight year.

Reigning Champion: Unseeded Monaco comes in as the reigning champion. The 33-year-old Argentine is expected to drop from No. 72 to around No. 128 in the 10 April Emirates ATP Rankings, since the tournament was held one week earlier last year. Monaco missed the first two months of the season with a wrist injury before returning last month.

He has an 0-2 record, losing in the first round of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami. Last year he came into Houston ranked No. 148 and defeated 2015 champion Sock 36 63 75 in the final. Monaco also won the 2012 title (d. No. 10 Isner). Overall, Monaco has a 14-4 record in Houston.

Sock Top Seed: Sock is the top seed in an ATP World Tour tournament for the first time. The 24-year-old top American is off to a career-best 18-5 start, winning ATP World Tour titles in Auckland (d. Sousa) and Delray Beach (W/O vs. Raonic). He also advanced to his first Masters 1000 semi-final in Indian Wells (d No. 5 Nishikori, l. to Federer) and followed with a quarter-final in Miami (l. to Nadal).

Sock has an 11-3 record in Houston, winning his maiden ATP World Tour title in 2015 (d. Querrey) while unseeded and ranked No. 46. Last year he lost to Monaco 36 63 75 in the final.

#NextGenATP in Draw: There are six #NextGenATP stars in the main draw:

Rank Age
No. 75 Jared Donaldson 20
No. 89 Frances Tiafoe 19
No. 92 Hyeon Chung 20
No. 95 Ernesto Escobedo (WC) 20
No. 169 Reilly Opelka (WC) 19
No. 182 Noah Rubin (Q) 21

Querrey Eyes 300 Wins: Two-time finalist (2010, 2015) and No. 3 seed Querrey is four wins away from joining the 300 Match Wins Club on the ATP World Tour. The 29-year-old California native has a career record of 296-243. Querrey captured his ninth career ATP World Tour title in Acapulco last month, defeating two Top 10 (No. 9 Thiem in QF, No. 6 Nadal in final) and two Top 20 opponents (No. 11 Goffin in 2R, No. 17 Kyrgios in SF) along the way.

Querrey has a 13-7 record in Houston, falling to Juan Ignacio Chela in the 2010 final and to Sock in the 2015 championship. He also advanced to the semi-finals in 2014 (W/O vs. Almagro).

Isner Looks To Jumpstart: No. 2 seed and 2013 champion Isner comes in with a 6-7 match record on the season. The No. 2 American has not won back-to-back matches in the six previous tournaments he’s played in 2017.

His best results are quarter-finals in Auckland and Memphis (after a bye). He is playing in Houston for the 10^th straight year (13-8 record) and in addition to his title, he was runner-up in 2012, a semi-finalist last year and quarter-finalist in 2009 and 2011.

Haas Returns: Former World No. 2 Tommy Haas, the oldest player in the singles draw at 39, returns to Houston for the first time since 2013. Haas is playing in his fourth tournament of the season and he’s looking for his first win (0-3). In his previous tournaments, he lost in the first round at the Australian Open (retired due to illness vs. Paire), in Delray Beach (l. to Basilashvili) and the in Miami (l. to Vesely).

Haas, who is the tournament director at Indian Wells, has a protected ranking of No. 25. He has a 14-7 career record in Houston, winning the title in 2004 (d. No. 2 Roddick), reaching the semi-finals in 2006 and quarter-finals three other times (2005, 2007, 2009). If he defeats wild card Reilly Opelka in the first round, he would be the oldest player to win an ATP World Tour singles match since 1995 Halle when 42-year-old Jimmy Connors reached the quarter-finals.

Bryans Back: Six-time champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, who have finished No. 1 on the ATP World Tour in 10 of the past 14 years, are making their 13^th appearance in Houston. The reigning champions are the top seeds, and they also won titles in 2007, 2009-10-11, 2014. In their last eight visits (DNP ’08, ’12), they have compiled a 28-2 mark since 2007.

They are looking for their first title of the season at River Oaks for the second year in a row. Their best result so far this season is a runner-up at the Australian Open (l. to Kontinen/Peers). Their last title came in Rome in May 2016. The other seeds are No. 2 Cabal/Farah, No. 3 Baker/Mektic and No. 4 Peralta/Zeballos.

Grand Prix Hassan II (Marrakech): The only African tournament on the ATP World Tour, the Grand Prix Hassan II, inaugurated in 1986 in Casablanca, takes place for the second year in a row at the Royal Tennis Club de Marrakech. Leading the way is wild card and top seed Grigor Dimitrov, who is making his debut.

The other seeds: No. 2 Albert Ramos-Vinolas, No. 3 Philipp Kohlschreiber, No. 4 Mischa Zverev, No. 5 Paolo Lorenzi, No. 6 Benoit Paire, No. 7 Diego Schwartzman and No. 8 Marcel Granollers. The reigning champion is Argentine Federico Delbonis. Overall seven of the Top 50 players in the Emirates ATP Rankings are in the field.

Grigor Top Seed: For the second time in his career, Dimitrov is the top seed in an ATP World Tour tournament. The previous time was in 2014 Bucharest where he was a wild card entry. He went on to win his first clay court title (d. Rosol).

The 25-year-old Bulgarian comes in with a 17-4 match record on the season after a 14-1 start. He won two of the first three tournaments he played, in the opening week in Brisbane, the first since June 2014 at Queen’s Club/London. He defeated three Top 10 opponents in consecutive matches: No. 8 Thiem (QF), No. 3 Raonic (SF) and No. 5 Nishikori.

Dimitrov then followed by reaching the semi-finals at the Australian Open, where he lost to No. 9 Nadal 6-4 in the fifth set. In February, he won the first-year tournament on home soil in Sofia (d. Goffin). In the first two Masters 1000 tournaments, he lost in the third round in Indian Wells (bye, d. Youzhny, l. to Sock) and second round (after bye, l. to Pella).

Delbonis Reigning Champion: Unseeded Argentine Delbonis is the defending champion (d. Coric). He also reached the semi-finals in 2014 (l. to Granollers). Overall he has a 7-2 tournament record. This season the 26-year-old left-hander has an 8-6 match record with a quarter-final in Sao Paulo (l. to Sousa) and a fourth-round showing in Miami (l. to No. 4 Nishikori).

Spanish Success: A Spaniard has hoisted the tournament trophy in five of the last eight years: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in 2014, Tommy Robredo in 2013, Pablo Andujar in 2011-12 and Juan Carlos Ferrero in 2009. There are a tournament-high five Spaniards in the draw, including former champions Garcia-Lopez and Robredo.

#NextGenATP Star: Last year’s finalist Borna Coric is the lone #NextGenATP player in the main draw. The 20-year-old Croatian has a 5-8 match record on the season, and he is coming off his best result, a third round at the Miami Open presented by Itau, where he beat No. 8 Dominic Thiem (l to Mannarino).

Strong Doubles Draw: The top seeds in the doubles draw are Indian Wells champions Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram. They are No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings. The other seeds are No. 2 Granollers/M. Lopez, No. 3 Bopanna/Matkowski and No. 4 Mergea/Qureshi.

ICYMI

Andy Murray watched his countryman Aljaz Bedene take home an ATP Challenger Tour title. Read More

“Roger Federer deft touch” named March Masters Golden Hot Shot. Watch Hot Shot

First Time With #NextGenATP player Ernesto Escobedo. Read More

Why American Steve Johnson has been picking fish over fries. Read More