Ricky’s Rotterdam Daily For Richard And 10sBalls • ATP Tennis • Nishikori Tops Field, Wawrinka In Action On Day 1

By Ricky Dimon

 

The first 500-point tournament of the season is upon us, with the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament taking place in the Netherlands (Rotterdam, to be exact). Kei Nishikori is the top seed, followed by Karen Khachanov Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Milos Raonic.

 

Ricky takes a look at the draw, the seeds, and Day 1:

 

Draw

(1) Kei Nishikori vs.
(SE) Pierre-Hugues Herbert

(LL) Marius Copil vs.
(LL) Ernests Gulbis

Martin Klizan vs.
Marton Fucsovics

Hyeon Chung vs.
(9) Nikoloz Basilashvili

(4) Milos Raonic vs.
Philipp Kohlschreiber

Benoit Paire vs.
(WC) Stan Wawrinka

(Q) Gilles Simon vs.
(WC) Tomas Berdych

(Q) Franko Skugor vs.
(10) Denis Shapovalov

(8) David Goffin vs.
Gael Monfils

Andreas Seppi vs.
(Q) Peter Gojowyczk

Mikhail Kukushkin vs.
Robin Haase

Damir Dzumhur vs.
(3) Stefanos Tsitsipas

(5) Daniil Medvedev vs.
Jeremy Chardy

Matthew Ebden vs.
Fernando Verdasco

(PR) Jo-WIlfried Tsonga vs.
(Q) Thomas Fabbiano

(WC) Tallon Griekspoor vs.
(2) Karen Khachanov

 

Seeds

1) Kei Nishikori: R1 vs. Herbert
2) Karen Khachanov: R1 vs. Griekspoor
3) Stefanos Tsitsipas: R1 vs. Dzumhur
4) Milos Raonic: R1 vs. Kohlshcreiber
5) Daniil Medvedev: R1 vs. Chardy
6) Lucas Pouille: WITHDREW
7) Roberto Bautista Agut: WITHDREW
8) David Goffin: R1 vs. Monfils
9) Nikoloz Basilashvili: R1 vs. Chung
10) Denis Shapovalov: R1 vs. Skugor

Day 1

Benoit Paire vs. (WC) Stan Wawrinka

Wawrinka and Paire will be facing each other for the 12th time in their careers. The head-to-head series stands at 8-3 in favor of Wawrinka, although they have split two previous indoor hard-court meetings. Paire is just 3-5 in his last eight matches–including challengers–following a terrible 6-2, 6-0 setback against Berdych in Montpellier.

 

Hyeon Chung vs. (9) Nikoloz Basilashvili

This time last year, Chung was busy reaching the Australian Open semifinals plus back-to-back quarters in Indian Wells and Miami. However, an 11-month run of injuries and poor play has left the South Korean at 50th in the world while putting him in danger of losing almost all of his ranking points upon the conclusion of the Miami Masters. Basilashvili enjoyed a breakout 2018 campaign and he won multiple matches in Doha (quarterfinals, lost to Novak Djokovic in three sets) and in Melbourne (third round).

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.