- Mubadala Citi DC Open Men’s and Women’s Tennis Draws and Order Of Play for Saturday, July 27, 2024
- Paris Olympic Tennis Draws and Order Of Play for Saturday, July 27, 2024
- Kitzbuhel Generali Open Draws and Order of Play for Friday, July 26, 2024
- Paris Olympic Tennis Singles and Doubles Draws
- Croatia Open Umag Draws and Schedule for Friday, July 26, 2024
- Atlanta Open Draws and Order of Play for Thursday, July 25, 2024
- Croatia Open Umag Draws and Schedule for Thursday, July 25, 2024
- Laver Cup Tennis 2024 Is in Berlin September 20-22 • Almost all the top men’s players will be playing
- Coco Gauff Named Team USA Flag Bearer for Olympic Games
- Kitzbuhel Generali Open Draws and Order of Play for Wednesday, July 24, 2024
- Croatia Open Umag Draws and Schedule for Wednesday, July 24, 2024
- Atlanta Open Draws and Order of Play for Tuesday, July 23, 2024
- Fils upsets Zverev for Hamburg title, Borges beats Nadal in Bastad
- Kitzbuhel Generali Open Draws and Order of Play for Tuesday, July 23, 2024
- Croatia Open Umag Draws and Schedule for Tuesday, July 23, 2024
Tennis Balls | 10sBalls • Ricky’s preview and picks for this week’s ATP tournaments in Hamburg and Gstaad
- Updated: July 18, 2022
![](https://i2.wp.com/www.10sballs.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/AlcarazShoutGetty-5-25-22.jpg?w=615&ssl=1)
By Ricky Dimon
Summertime is generally a safe haven for hard-court lovers, but this coming week is reserved strictly for clay-courters. It is a somewhat random stretch of dirt-balling in between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, but at the same time it offers plenty of intrigue with respectable fields in Hamburg and Gstaad. Among the competitors in action are Carlos Alcaraz, Andrey Rublev, Casper Ruud, Matteo Berrettini, and Dominic Thiem.
Hamburg European Open
Where: Hamburg, Germany
Points: 500
Top seed: Carlos Alcaraz
Defending champion: Pablo Carreno Busta
Alcaraz and Rublev are without question the cream of the crop in Hamburg, but neither one will have it easy. Things could get especially difficult for Alcaraz starting in the second round. That’s where the 19-year-old Spaniard is expected to face Sebastian Baez, who is looking like one of the best clay-courters in the world this season and currently finds himself in the Bastad title match. Alcaraz probably would not run into anyone tougher than Baez prior to the Hamburg final even though Karen Khachanov, Pablo Carreno Busta, and Holger Rune are also in the top half of the draw.
The bottom half is much deeper with a strong contingent of unseeded threats. It would come as no shock whatsoever if all four quarterfinalists on that side of the bracket are unseeded, the most likely of which are Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Emil Ruusuvuori, Federico Coria, and whoever wins an opening-round showdown between Dusan Lajovic and Lorenzo Musetti. Rublev is a two-time Hamburg finalist (one-time champion) and could certainly make it that far once again, but the Russian isn’t in his best form right now and Cerundolo could be a tough second-round test.
Quarterfinal picks: Carlos Alcaraz over Karen Khachanov, Alex Molcan over Laslo Djere, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina over Dusan Lajovic, and Andrey Rublev over Federico Coria
Semifinals: Alcaraz over Molcan and Davidovich Fokina over Rublev
Final: Alcaraz over Davidovich Fokina
![](https://i1.wp.com/www.10sballs.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/ruud-06032022-rg.jpg?w=615&ssl=1)
EFG Swiss Open
Where: Gstaad, Switzerland
Points: 250
Top seed: Casper Ruud
Defending champion: Casper Ruud
Thiem finally has some momentum behind him following his quarterfinal performance in Bastad, where he defeated Ruusuvuori and Roberto Bautista Agut. The 27-year-old Austrian will kick off his Gstaad campaign against a solid clay-courter in Hugo Gaston before potentially meeting Bautista Agut again in the quarters. Berrettini is a likely semifinal opponent for either Thiem or Bautista Agut in what is not a particularly deep bottom half of the bracket. That being said, unseeded players Lorenzo Sonego and Richard Gasquet can’t be entirely discounted.
Ruud’s title defense should get off to a routine start. The fifth-ranked Norwegian is in an otherwise weak quarter of the draw, so he has absolutely no reason to lose prior to the semis. At that stage either Albert Ramos-Vinolas or Cristian Garin could pose a threat. Garin is coming off a quarterfinal run at Wimbledon and is obviously much more dangerous on clay than he is on grass.
Quarterfinal picks: Casper Ruud over Bernabe Zapata Miralles, Cristian Garin over Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Dominic Thiem over Roberto Bautista Agut, and Matteo Berrettini over Pedro Martinez
Semifinals: Ruud over Garin and Berrettini over Thiem
Final: Ruud over Berrettini
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.