Nishikori, Zverev Among Stars Competing In Estoril & Munich
There will be two ATP 250 events on clay this week in Estoril and Munich, respectively, with future and established stars looking to make their mark.
Denis Shapovalov tops the field at the Millennium Estoril Open in Portugal and Alexander Zverev leads the draw at the BMW Open in his home country of Germany. ATPTour.com looks at 10 things to watch at this week’s tournaments.
Draws: Estoril | Munich
FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN ESTORIL
1) Top-Seeded Shapo: Shapovalov will try to win his first ATP Tour title of the season this week in Portugal, where he is the top seed. The lefty is making his tournament debut at the ATP 250, where a Canadian has never lifted the trophy. The 22-year-old has never reached a final on clay, but he will begin his pursuit of achieving that against Marcos Giron or Corentin Moutet in the second round. Last week in Barcelona, Shapovalov reached the third round, in which he lost against countryman Felix Auger-Aliassime.
2) Garin Going For Glory: Second seed Cristian Garin has won all five of his tour-level crowns, including one earlier this year in Santiago, on clay. The Chilean will begin his run against former World No. 7 Richard Gasquet or Argentine Juan Ignacio Londero. Gasquet emerged victorious at this tournament in 2015. Fifth seed Alexander Bublik looms as a potential quarter-final opponent.
3) Former Top 5 Stars In Action: Three players who have cracked the Top 5 of the FedEx ATP Rankings will compete in Estoril. Kei Nishikori is the fourth seed, Marin Cilic is the sixth seed and Kevin Anderson is unseeded. Nishiori is fresh off an impressive performance in Barcelona, where he reached the third round and took a set off eventual champion Rafael Nadal.
4) Home Hopes: There are two Portuguese players in the singles draw. One of the wild cards was awarded to Joao Sousa, who lifted the Estoril trophy in 2018. Sousa became the first Portuguese-born player to claim an ATP Tour title on home soil. Also competing will be Nuno Borges, who battled through qualifying. Borges played college tennis for Mississippi State University, reaching the championship match of the NCAA Singles Championships in 2019.
5) Frenchmen Top Seeds: The top seeds in the doubles draw are Frenchmen Fabrice Martin and Edouard Roger-Vasselin. They are not full-time partners, but Martin and Roger-Vasselin made the Basel final together in 2017 and, more recently, they advanced to the Eastbourne semi-finals in 2019. Former doubles World No. 1 Jamie Murray is also in the field competing with Lloyd Glasspool.
FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN MUNICH
1) Zverev At Home: Zverev has long spoken about the pride he takes in playing his best at home, and the German will try to do that this week in Munich, where he lifted the trophy in 2017 and 2018. The 24-year-old first competed in this tournament in 2014 as a 17-year-old, and this will be his seventh appearance in the ATP 250, where he holds a 13-4 record. Zverev will begin his run for the title against lucky loser Ricardas Berankis or wild card Maximilian Marterer, with sixth seed Dusan Lajovic a potential quarter-final opponent.
2) Karatsev Still Hot: Aslan Karatsev continued his breakthrough season with an impressive run to the Belgrade final last week. In the semi-finals, the Russian eliminated World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in a tough three-set marathon before falling short in a final-set tie-break in the championship match against Matteo Berrettini. The Australian Open semi-finalist will pursue his second ATP Tour title this week in Munich, where he will play qualifier Cedrik-Marcel Stebe or Argentine Federico Coria in the second round.
3) Ruud Awakening: Second seed Casper Ruud will try to maintain the momentum from his run to the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters semi-finals in Munich, where he will play for the third time. The Norwegian, who last appeared here in 2018, will face a tough opening foe in two-time Australian Open quarter-finalist Tennys Sandgren or Uruguayan veteran Pablo Cuevas. Ruud is chasing his second tour-level crown.
4) Korda Moving Forward: #NextGenATP American Sebastian Korda will attempt to continue his ascent up the FedEx ATP Rankings this week in Germany, where he won an ATP Challenger Tour title in Eckental last November. The 20-year-old, who will play qualifier Daniel Elahi Galan in the first round, is World No. 65, three spots off his career-high mark. He recently made his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final in Miami.
5) Doubles In Deutschland: The top seeds in the doubles draw are Wesley Koolhof and Kevin Krawietz, both of whom competed with different partners at last year’s Nitto ATP Finals. This is their team debut. Koolhof and Krawietz will face a tough test in the first round against veteran doubles standout Marcelo Melo and German lefty Mischa Zverev.