Scouting Report: 30 Things To Watch In Umag, Bastad & Newport

The third Grand Slam of the season came to an end on Sunday when Novak Djokovic lifted his fourth Wimbledon trophy. But the action is not slowing down as there are three ATP World Tour 250-level events this week. 

#NextGenATP Russian Andrey Rublev returns to the site of his maiden ATP World Tour victory at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag, competing for the first time in three months due to a lower-back stress fracture. He will be challenged on the Croatian clay by a tough field, including three-time ATP World Tour titlist Damir Dzumhur and Roland Garros semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato. Three-time champion David Ferrer will pursue his fourth trophy at the SkiStar Swedish Open, with three Top 20 players in the ATP Rankings — Diego Schwartzman, Pablo Carreno Busta and Fabio Fognini — also in the draw.

In Newport, Rhode Island, top seed Adrian Mannarino will try to capture his maiden tour-level victory at the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open in the final ATP World Tour grass-court tournament of 2018. Recent Nature Valley International winner Mischa Zverev is the No. 2 seed.

View Draws: Umag | Bastad | Newport

10 THINGS TO WATCH IN UMAG
1) Back to the Breakthrough: Rublev lost to Attila Balazs in qualifying at 2017 Umag before replacing Borna Coric and becoming the first lucky loser in eight years to win an ATP World Tour title. The #NextGenATP star started the 2018 season by reaching another final in Doha, but he has not played since 17 April due to a lower-back stress fracture. Rublev is the No. 4 seed this week.

2) First Time for Everything: It’s been a season of firsts for Edmund with his maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final at Madrid, Grand Slam semi-final at the Australian Open, ATP World Tour singles final at Marrakech and ATP World Tour doubles title at Estoril alongside first-time partner Cameron Norrie. Edmund is a No. 1 seed for the first time at tour-level this week and seeks his first singles title.

3) Turning Point: No. 2 seed Damir Dzumhur ended 2017 on a 24-7 run, highlighted by his first two ATP World Tour titles at St. Petersburg and Moscow. The 26-year-old Bosnian earned his third championship just weeks ago in Antalya, Turkey.

4) Sicilian Sensation: In his last clay-court event at Roland Garros, Marco Cecchinato emerged as Italy’s first Grand Slam semi-finalist since 1978. The Budapest champion trailed Marius Copil by two sets in the first round before advancing and later beating 2016 champion Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals.

5) Champions’ Club: Cecchinato and Dzumhur are among the five players in the Umag field who have won an ATP World Tour title this season. Joao Sousa (Estoril), Taro Daniel (Istanbul) and Marton Fucsovics (Geneva) all won clay-court championships earlier in the year.

6) Most Improved: Maximilian Marterer was 0-14 at tour-level entering 2018. He arrives in Umag with a winning record of 15-13 this season, highlighted by runs to the fourth round at Roland Garros, quarter-finals at Sofia and semi-finals at Munich. Marterer won his sixth ATP Challenger Tour title in February.

7) Similar Story: Like Marterer, Nicolas Jarry is enjoying a breakout year. The 22-year-old Chilean is 14-8 on clay and 17-13 overall in 2018, reaching the Sao Paulo final in February with four straight three-set victories.

8) Next Big Thing: Umag wild card Felix Auger-Aliassime, 17, became the first player born in the 2000s to win a tour-level match at Indian Wells. Auger-Aliassime, Djokovic, Juan Martin del Potro and Richard Gasquet are the only players to have ever won three ATP Challenger Tour titles before turning 18.

9) Fresh from Wimbledon: Croatia’s own Franko Skugor will feature in singles and doubles. Skugor reached the Wimbledon doubles semi-finals in 2017 with Nikola Mektic and 2018 with Dominic Inglot, who will be his partner this week. In both semi-finals, Skugor and his partner fell in five sets. He is also a singles wild card.

10) Flying Dutchmen: Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop are the No. 2 seeds in the doubles draw. The pair triumphed earlier this year at the Tata Open Maharashtra and the Diema Xtra Sofia Open.

10 THINGS TO WATCH IN BASTAD
1) Ferrer’s Streak: Spaniard David Ferrer has been inside the Top 50 of the ATP Rankings since 31 January 2005. Only World No. 1 Rafael Nadal and No. 2 Roger Federer have longer active streaks inside the Top 50. The three-time champion is 26-7 lifetime at the SkiStar Swedish Open, where he is the defending titlist.

2) Big Accomplishments: Schwartzman has achieved a new career-high ATP Ranking 17 times since the start of the 2017 season, peaking at No. 11 on 11 June 2018. The Roland Garros quarter-finalist is the highest-ranked player to stand 5’7” or shorter since 5’6” Harold Solomon was No. 10 on 27 July 1981. Schwartzman did not drop a set en route to the Rio de Janeiro title in February.

3) Carreno Busta On Clay: Pablo Carreno Busta is playing his ninth clay-court event of 2018, highlighted by the biggest win of his career over then-No. 5 Grigor Dimitrov in Barcelona. Carreno Busta has a 73-61 record on the surface.

4) Fognini on Fire: No. 1 Italian Fabio Fognini is 27-14 in 2018, highlighted by his sixth ATP World Tour title at Sao Paulo and his 300th tour-level win at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Rome. Fognini advanced to the fourth round at the Australian Open and Roland Garros, as well as the third round at Wimbledon.

5) First-Time Visitor: Frenchman Richard Gasquet is making his Bastad debut after winning his 15th ATP World Tour title last month at ’s-Hertogenbosch. Gasquet, a three-time ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finalist and three-time Grand Slam semi-finalist, will look to lift trophy No. 16 this week.

6) Familiar Fernando: Fernando Verdasco has reached the Bastad quarter-finals or better seven times, highlighted by runner-up finishes in 2013 and 2016. The 34-year-old left-hander’s best result of the season came in Rio de Janeiro, where he beat clay-court stalwart Dominic Thiem and Fognini en route to the final, where he lost to Schwartzman.

7) Swedish Bros: Elias Ymer, 22, will make his sixth appearance after debuting on Tour at this event in 2013 and earning his first ATP World Tour win in Bastad in 2014. His brother Mikael Ymer, 19, is a wild card after reaching semi-finals two straight years at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Bastad that leads into the SkiStar Swedish Open.

8) Next is Now: Wild cards were also awarded to #NextGenATP players Jaume Munar and Casper Ruud, who are from Spain and Norway, respectively. Munar broke into the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings after rallying from two sets down to defeat Ferrer at Roland Garros. Ruud also won a five-setter to reach the Roland Garros second round.

9) Double Your Fun: Six Grand Slam champions are in the Bastad doubles draw, including Fognini and fellow Italian Simone Bolelli. The 2015 Australian Open champions are joined by Max Mirnyi, Marc Lopez and the team of Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner.

10) Millman's Pursuit: Aussie John Millman is the No. 8 seed in Bastad. The 29-year-old is pursuing his maiden ATP World Tour title. Earlier this year, he advanced to his first tour-level final at the Gazprom Hungarian Open.

10 THINGS TO WATCH IN NEWPORT
1) No. 1 Again: Adrian Mannarino had never been the No. 1 seed of an ATP World Tour event entering the grass-court season. Newport will be his third tournament as the top seed after ’s-Hertogenbosch and Antalya. Mannarino is seeking his first ATP World Tour title after five runner-up finishes.

2) 40-Love: Ivo Karlovic’s next birthday will be his 40th and the 6’11’ Croat has a handful of age and ace records. He won the 2016 Newport title on grass to become the oldest champion on the ATP World Tour since 1979. Karlovic has hit the most aces in a match on the ATP World Tour (45) and at the Australian Open (75), Roland Garros (55), US Open (61). His 12,862 total aces are a record, too.

3) Great on Grass: All four of Nicolas Mahut’s ATP World Tour singles titles and all six of his finals have come on grass, including a championship at Newport in 2013 and a runner-up finish in Rhode Island in 2007. Mahut also owns four tour-level doubles titles in six finals on grass. The 36-year-old Mahut and countryman Pierre-Hugues Herbert won their second of three Grand Slam championships at 2016 Wimbledon. 

4) Grass Gilles: Gilles Muller, the 2016 Newport runner-up, continued his fine form on grass in 2017. Muller went 11-2 on grass last season, winning the ’s-Hertogenbosch title and defeating Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon. The Luxembourg star is pursuing his third ATP World Tour triumph.

5) Potential Challengers: In addition to Karlovic, Mahut, Mannarino and Muller, the following five Newport players have advanced to the fourth round or better at Wimbledon: 2006 semi-finalist Marcos Baghdatis, 2015 quarter-finalist Vasek Pospisil, Steve Johnson, Denis Kudla and Dudi Sela.

6) Mischa Moving For More: On 30 June, serve-and-volleyer Mischa Zverev captured his first ATP World Tour title on the lawns of Eastbourne. With his victory over Lukas Lacko, Zverev joined Alexander Zverev as the first brothers to win singles titles since John and Patrick McEnroe.

7) Harrison Brothers: Americans Ryan Harrison and Christian Harrison are in the main draw together, as was the case at Wimbledon. Ryan, 26, is the No. 5 seed and Christian, 24, is a wild card. The younger Harrison has had surgeries on his left femur, right shoulder and both hips, wrists and adductors, but is now inside the Top 200 of the ATP Rankings.

8) Aussie, Aussie, Aussie: Four Australians are in the main draw prior to the end of qualifying: No. 4 seed Matthew Ebden, No. 7 seed Alex de Minaur, James Duckworth and Jordan Thompson. Ebden and De Minaur both reached the third round at Wimbledon.

9) One of a Kind: Indian star Leander Paes, who won the Newport singles and doubles titles in 1998, returns alongside American Jamie Cerretani. The 45-year-old Paes and Cerretani reached the Dubai final in March.

10) Rusty In Action: Former World No. 1 in the ATP Rankings, Lleyton Hewitt, is competing in his seventh doubles tournament of the season at all levels. The Australian, who triumphed at this event in singles four years ago, opens with compatriot Thompson against Jonathan Erlich and Artem Sitak.