Scouting Report: Coric On The Prowl In Marrakech

Apr042016

An executive summary of what every fan should know about the coming week on the ATP World Tour

Spring Clay Season Commences: The focus shifts to the red clay in April with eight tournaments on the ATP World Tour taking place. The lone North American clay tournament in Houston and the only African event of the season in Marrakech, which is a new stop, kick off the swing. There are 12 clay court tournaments in the next seven weeks, leading into Roland Garros, which begins on May 22.

Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship (Houston): This year’s event will mark the 82^nd tournament hosted at River Oaks Country Club. The last four winners are in the 28-player field, with reigning champion Jack Sock, 2014 titlist Fernando Verdasco, 2013 champ John Isner, who is the top seed for the second time in three years, and 2012 titleholder Juan Monaco. The other seeds are: No. 2 Benoit Paire, No. 3 Feliciano Lopez, No. 4 Sock, No. 5/two-time finalist Sam Querrey, No. 6 Steve Johnson, No. 7 Marcos Baghdatis and No. 8 Denis Kudla. Overall, there are seven players in the Top 50 Emirates ATP Rankings in the draw.

Reigning Champion: Last year Sock defeated countryman Querrey 76(9) 76(2) to earn his maiden ATP World Tour singles crown. It was the first all-American final in Houston since 2003 (Agassi d. Roddick). Sock came in unseeded and ranked No. 46 before winning his last 10 sets (lost the opening set). Sock went on to reach the 4R at Roland Garros (l. to Nadal), his best career Grand Slam singles result. He finished a year-end best No. 26. This season he opened with a runner-up in Auckland (ret. vs. Bautista Agut) and afterwards reached a career-high No. 22 on Jan. 18.

Milestone Watch: Isner is four match wins away from reaching 300 in his career (296-183). The 30-year-old American comes in with an 8-6 match record on the season. He helped the U.S. to the Davis Cup quarter-finals (vs. Croatia) with a pair of wins in Australia. His last four losses have come in a third-set tie-break. He is 9-9 in tie-breaks on the season. Isner is making his ninth straight appearance in Houston (11-7 record) and he won his first clay court title in 2013 (d. Almagro). The last two years he lost in the opening round (after bye to D. Brown, Gabashvili). Last season Isner finished a year-end best No. 11 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Next Generation in Draw: There are three members of the ATP World Tour’s Next Generation in the main draw: last year’s ATP Most Improved Player of the Year, 19-year-old Hyeon Chung of Korea along with 18-year-old wild cards Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe. Paul won the Roland Garros boys’ title last year and was runner-up at the US Open boys’ tournament. He is expected to crack the Top 200 (from No. 215) after qualifying at the Miami Open. Tiafoe is ranked a career-high No. 167.

Querrey Starts Strong: No. 3 American and 2010 & last year’s runner-up Querrey is off to a 12-6 start this season, having captured his eighth career ATP World Tour title in Delray Beach (d. Ram) in February. Querrey has an 11-6 career record in Houston and along with his two runner-up finishes, he advanced to the SF in 2014.

Spaniards Return: Madrid natives Lopez and Verdasco are both playing in Houston for the fourth time. Lopez has a 4-3 record, reaching the SF in his 2012 debut while Verdasco won the title two years ago and SF last year. Verdasco has an 8-2 record at River Oaks Country Club.

Bryans Back: Five-time U.S. Clay Courts champions Bob and Mike Bryan, who have finished No. 1 on the ATP World Tour in 10 of the last 13 years, are making their 12th appearance in Houston. They have won five titles (2007, ‘09’-10-11, ’14) in their last seven visits (DNP ’08, ’12) and have compiled a 24-2 mark since 2007. They are looking for their first title of the year. Their best result is a runner-up in Delray Beach. Their last title came at ATP Masters 1000 Montreal last August.

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 at the newly relocated Royal Tennis Club de Marrakech. Leading the way is top seed and 2014 champion Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, No. 2 Joao Sousa, No. 3 Borna Coric, No. 4 Federico Delbonis, No. 5 Teymuraz Gabashvili, No. 6 Albert Ramos-Vinolas, No. 7 Pablo Carreno Busta and No. 8 Jiri Vesely.

Spanish Success: A Spaniard has hoisted the Casablanca trophy in five of the last seven years, with Stan Wawrinka lifting the trophy in 2010 and Martin Klizan last year. The Spanish winners are Garcia-Lopez (2014), Tommy Robredo (2013), Pablo Andujar, who won back-to-back titles in 2011-12, and Juan Carlos Ferrero (2009). There are a tournament-high eight Spaniards in the main draw, including three former finalists: Daniel Gimeno-Traver (2015), Albert Ramos-Vinolas (2012) and Albert Montanes (2007).

Garcia-Lopez Top Seed: Garcia-Lopez, who won the title two years ago, is the top seed in the tournament for the second straight year. The 32-year-old Spaniard is making his fifth straight tournament appearance and eighth overall (10-6 record). Along with his title, Garcia-Lopez has reached the QFs three times. This season he has compiled a 6-8 match record with his best results the QFs in Chennai and Sofia. He also advanced to the 3R at the Australian Open.

Almagro on the Move: Former World No. 9 Nicolas Almagro is making his third tournament appearance and last year he returned for the first time in 10 years to reach the quarter-finals. In February, he reached the final in Buenos Aires with wins over No. 9 Tsonga (QF) and No. 6 Ferrer (SF) before losing to Thiem in a 3^rd set TB.

Morocco’s Hope: The are three local players in the draw: wild cards Amine Ahouda, Reda El Amrani and Lamine Ouahab. The 31-year-old Ouahab is the No. 1 Moroccan player at No. 315 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Moroccans won titles in 1997 with current tournament director Hicham Arazi and Younes El Aynaoui in 2002.

Next Generation Star: No. 3 seed Borna Coric, who is making his tournament debut, is the only teenager in the Top 50 Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 46. The 19-year-old Croat opened the season by reaching his maiden ATP World Tour final in Chennai (l. to Wawrinka).

Defending Champ Out: Reigning champion Martin Klizan withdrew from the tournament due to an ongoing foot injury. The No. 1 Slovak Republic player won the biggest ATP World Tour title of his career at the 500 level tournament in Rotterdam in February (d. Monfils).

In Case You Missed It

Novak Djokovic downed Kei Nishikori in Miami to win a record 28^th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title. Read

Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut captured their second consecutive ATP World Tour Masters 1000 doubles title. Read

Birthdays

4 April – Dudi Sela (31)

6 April – Robin Haase (29)

7 April – Pere Riba (28)

Ranking Movers

13 – David Goffin (+2, career-best)

20 – Nick Kyrgios (+6, career-best)

79 – Taylor Fritz (+2, career-best)

Milestones