Ricky’s Preview and Picks for the Adelaide International ATP 250: Monfils, Khachanov top two seeds

By Ricky Dimon

The Adelaide International may not have the star power of the ATP Cup (14 of the top 20) or the Melbourne Summer Set (Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray), but it is no slouch of a 250 event at the beginning of a new tennis season.

Gael Monfils headlines the field of 28 as the top seed, joined with a first-round bye by Karen Khachanov, Marin Cilic, and Frances Tiafoe. If the seeds hold to form, it will be Monfils vs. Tiafoe and Khachanov vs. Cilic in the semis. Marton Fucsovics, Tommy Paul, Laslo Djere, and Soonwoo Kwon round out the seeded contingent.

Just because Monfils is the No. 1 seed doesn’t mean he has an easy draw. The Frenchman will likely kick off his season against Alex Bolt, who always plays well at home in Australia. Tommy Paul, who capped off a stellar 2021 campaign with the Stockholm title, is a potential quarterfinal opponent for Monfils. Tiafoe also finds himself in the top half of the bracket.

Three of the four qualifiers are in the bottom half, and the most dangerous is Holger Rune. The 18-year-old Dane is up to No. 103 in the world and he would be ranked even higher if not for the coronavirus-related ranking-points restructuring. Rune has a favorable draw in Adelaide and should be able to play his way into a quarterfinal contest against Marin Cilic.

Check out the full draw in PDF format on the ATP website

Predictions

Quarterfinals: Tommy Paul over Gael Monfils, Frances Tiafoe over Soonwoo Kwon, Holger Rune over Marin Cilic, and Marton Fucsovics over Karen Khachanov

Semifinals: Tiafoe over Paul and Rune over Fucsovics

Final: Tiafoe over Rune

Ricky contributes to10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.