It’s the week before a Grand Slam, which usually means not very good things. With the French Open on the immediate horizon, however, the Geneva tournament has attracted an amazing field. Novak Djokovic accepted a late wild card, while Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, and Andy Murray are also in the draw.
Here are my previews and picks for this week’s tournaments in Geneva and Lyon.
Gonet Geneva Open
Where: Geneva, Switzerland
Prize money: 579,320 Euros
Top seed: Novak Djokovic
2023 champion: Nicolas Jarry (not playing)
How strong is the Geneva field? Well, the difficult of this event can be summed up by the fact that Djokovic’s opening match could come against Murray. The top-ranked Serb may also have to get past either Denis Shapovalov and Tallon Griekspoor just to reach the semifinals. Fritz and Jack Draper are among those who could face Djokovic in the last four.
The other half of the bracket includes Ruud and Shelton. Those two players own first-round byes, but Sebastian Baez can never be discounted at any clay-court outfit and others such as Fabian Marozsan, Alexander Shevchenko, and Flavio Cobolli are capable of doing damage. Shelton vs. Cobolli is potential second-round contest, while Ruud could match up with Baez in the quarterfinals.
Quarterfinal picks: Novak Djokovic over Federico Coria, Taylor Fritz over Jack Draper, Flavio Cobolli over Fabian Marozsan, and Sebastian Baez over Casper Ruud
Semifinals: Fritz over Djokovic and Baez over Cobolli
Final: Fritz over Baez
Open Parc
Where: Lyon, France
Prize money: 579,320 Euros
Top seed: Ugo Humbert
2023 champion: Arthur Fils (not playing)
Draw analysis: Lyon lacks the star power of Lyon, but it is still a pretty good ATP 250 based on the player lineup. Ugo Humbert, the top seed, has seemingly been winning titles all over the place dating back to last fall. The French contingent also includes Adrian Mannarino, Gael Monfils, Alexandre Muller, and Richard Gasquet. Muller, who upset Andrey Rublev on his way to the fourth round of the Rome Masters, is set for an all-French affair with Gasquet in round one.
Mannarino may be the third seed, but on clay he isn’t really a factor. The left-hander is in the same section as an ice-cold Frances Tiafoe, so that part of the brackt could not be more wide open. Jaume Munar and Luciano Darderi are among those who will be looking take advantage. The story is similar near the bottom of the draw. No. 2 Alexander Bublik isn’t comfortable on clay and Monfils (No. 7) has not done anything notable of late. As a result, Francisco Cerundolo and Mariano Navone have to be considered the top two favorites to earn a final spot.
Quarterfinal picks: Tomas Martin Etcheverry over Dominik Koepfer, Jaume Munar over Luciano Darderi, Francisco Cerundolo over Lorenzo Sonego, and Mariano Navone over Alexander Bublik
Semifinals: Etcheverry over Munar and Cerundolo over Navone
Final: Etcheverry over Cerundolo
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.