The tours roll on - Europe Asia USA

The tennis never stops - this week we have another five tournaments on the go, three on red clay and two on hard deco turf.

The German Tennis Championship, on red clay in Hamburg, Germany (ATP 500 category) 

The Moscow River Cup presented by Ingrad, on red clay in  Moscow, Russia (Women’s International category)

BB&T Atlanta Open, on hard deco turf in Atlanta, USA (ATP 250 category)

J Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad, on red clay in Gstaad, Switzerland (ATP 250 category)

2018 Jiangxi Open, on hard deco turf in Nanchang, China (Women’s International category)

Hamburg:

Dominic Thiem is top seed, ranked 8, and two other top twenty players are in the draw.  Seven of the eight seeds are in the top thirty.

So far we have seen the demise of fourth seed Damir Dzumhur, gone to a Slovakian qualifier, Jozef Kovalik,  in the opening round.

Two other wins to lowly ranked players - 17 year old German wildcard Rudolf Molleker, ranked 272, thrilled his home nation fans by kicking out veteran David Ferrer,  nineteen years his senior, in three sets.

Another German, qualifier Daniel Masur, ranked 349, ousted compatriot Maximilian Marterer, a top fifty opponent, in straight sets.

Moscow:

Julia Goerges is top seed, ranked 10, and is joined in the draw by two other top twenty players.  All eight seeds are in the top fifty.

17 year old Russian wildcard, Anastasia Potapova, ranked 204, enjoyed a first round win over Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova, herself ranked in the hundreds.  Other matches went to script.

Atlanta:

John Isner is top seed, ranked 9, and has only Nick Kyrgios as another top twenty player in the draw.  Four of the other seeds are in the top fifty and the top four seeds have been granted first round byes.  

I don’t understand why a number of the ATP tournaments can’t collect four extra players together and have a proper 32 player event.  Byes are a blight on the game, giving 4 players an unnecessary advantage, and also fans missing out on seeing their favourites until the second round.

No surprises in the two completed opening round matches 

Gstaad:

Last weeks Bastad winner, Fabio Fognini is top seed, ranked 14.  Roberto Bautista Agut is the other top twenty player in the draw.  Four of the other seeds are in the top fifty and the top four seeds have first round byes.

The only first round matches completed so far have featured lower ranked players, and results have not exactly shocked.  One seed, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (7), lost, but he is ranked 67,  and he was defeated by Roberto Carballes Baena who is ranked just eight spots below.

Nanchang:

Top seed is Shuai Zhang, ranked 32.  Three of the other seeds are in the top hundred, so this event is a chance for lower ranked players to enjoy a boost to their positions.

Already Lin Zhu, ranked 137, and Jing-Jing Lu, ranked 180, have won their opening round matches over Yingying Duan (7) and Kurumi Nara (4) respectively.