In terms of picking the winner of a tennis tournament its not easy but its not so hard to give the main contenders im going to give a few players who are sure to be close this week. I do have the advantage of having seen the first round of matches so im kinda cheating a bit here but ill still give it a shot. Starting with Marseille i think there are close to 6 players who are very capable of winning this one but im going to narrow it down to the 3 i think are most likely. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has got a real shout of going all the way and he's got a few things going in his favour. Firstly, it's in his native country which gives him the bonus of having huge support which can never be underestimated. He has also got a very strong game which is suited to the indoor hard courts. He has got plenty of weapons and his ground game is a match for anyone and i think he's got a great chance although he faces a potential semi final against Juan Martin Del Potro should the Argentine beat Nikolay Davydenko. That leads me on to Del Potro who i think might be ready to return to the winners circle. His performances have been steadily improving since his return from the wrist surgery which disrupted his rise to the top. At the time of his injury he was at the very top after winning his first major and should he return to that form it will be sure to frighten the games elite even the seemingly unstoppably Djokovic. Mardy Fish also has a chance this week if he can begin put to bed his poor start to the year. A very disappointing loss to Alejandro Falla at the Aussie Open would have really hurt the American and how he reacts will be key to his season. Last year was extremely progressive for Fish and this week should play to his serve and volley strengths. Out of those 3 im going to go with Del Potro to win it, i just think hes going to be too strong for his opponents this week although that depends on how he negotiates Davydenko tomorrow. Should the Russian upset Delpo then he has a chance of going far himself but i fancy the Argentine.
In Memphis i see only 2 potential winners, I think John Isner has got the game required to go all the way and looking at the draw its hard to see who can stop him from making the final. The only potential banana skin would be a quarter final meeting with Denis Istomin but i still think he will go all the way to the final at least. There he could come face to face with Canadian Milos Raonic. Thats who i feel will win this one. I think hes a certain future top 5 player, maybe higher. His serve is already a major major weapon in the mens game and it can only get better. Last week he won the tournament in San Jose only dropping serve once in the week. Thats an astonishing feat to do once in your career but its becoming a regular occurence with Raonic and hes won twice already this year and has only lost once in total this year. Hes won 96% of his service games in his 3 tournaments so far and when your that secure on serve especially at his age its a huge advantage and he becomes very difficult to beat. I think hes going to make it successive tournament wins and get his third tournament of the year.
In Buenos Aires im going to just pick one winner and thats David Ferrer. Hes too good for the field thats their and thats no disrespect to those players, its simply a reflection of how good Ferrer is playing right now. He pushed Djokovic to 4 sets and he certainly had his chances to get more out of that game. He showed great improvement in beating Djokovic and Andy Murray in London last year and was close to winning the year end title only losing to an inspired Roger Federer. He should win out this event but a small shout also goes to Fernando Verdasco who has been slowly returning to form and could do well this week if he gets past a solid performer in Nicolas Almagro. Even if he does reach the final he still wont beat Ferrer.
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