ATP Bogota Main Draw Singles Preview

[Redhead]

Claro Open Colombia (ATP 250), Hard Court, $756K. Men’s Main Draw Singles Analysis.

In the first section of the draw Richard Gasquet dominates but these are concerning times for the incredibly talented former top ten player and he comes to Columbia looking to take advantage of a weak line-up in this ATP 250 event. He’s not been at his best form or fitness wise so far this season but he made the final of the Grass Court event in Eastbourne a month ago suggesting he was on his way back only to disappoint at Wimbledon despite having numerous match points & ultimately losing 10-8 in the 5th set against rising star Nick Kyrgios. He’s possibly coming here looking for confidence and a bit of a fresh start and he’s no mug on the Hard Courts but at his current price of 2.92 he’s not for me, there are just too many doubts even though he should on paper breeze through to at least the semi-finals.

In the second half of the top of the draw two players interest me, firstly Vasek Pospisil he made the semi-final here last year and comes into the tournament fresh off the back of his Wimbledon men’s doubles success so confidence will be high & his powerful serve will fly through the air in the altitude of Bogota, if he can get his return game going he could make the semi’s at least. The other player I’m looking at in this section is Bernard Tomic the volatile Australian’s ranking has plummeted from 52 in January to its current 124 today and he’s been given a wild card into the event so it’s quite possible he’s motivated to pick up some cheap tour points, he has the game to go deep here it’s just the question of his mental application, I suggest watching his body language in his match tonight against Farrukh Dustov. Last year’s finalist and local boy Alejandro Falla is also worth a mention but I can see a motivated Tomic seeing him off in the 2nd round and if not Pospisil taking him out in the quarters.

In the bottom half of the draw Radek Stepanek stands out as the class act but consistency is a real problem for him and he sometimes loses matches that he really should win, he comes here in reasonable form, has a decent serve and likes the Hard Courts but now in the twilight of his career I don’t really believe he can add another ATP singles title to the five he has in the bag. The man I like in this section is the big serving Russian Evgeny Donskoy who’s best performance’s since the beginning of the 2013 season have been a 3rd round in the Australian Open, US Open & Indian Wells, all Hard Court tournaments. He comes here off the back of a semi-final appearance in a Hard Court Challenger tournament in Slovenia last week so is in form and he can spring a surprise in this section of the draw.

In the final section defending champion Ivo Karlovic’s serve should see him through a few rounds despite possible fatigue after making a deep run at Newport last week which culminated in him losing the final on Sunday & playing 2 tie-breaks in a 3 set match against Leyton Hewitt. The trouble with this section is there appears to be nobody who can test him and a semi-final spot looks assured but it maybe then when his legs give out.