Originally Posted by
EaglesPhan36
Mini previews for Dubai & Acapulco, the two tournaments I will be following this week.
ATP Acapulco
1st Round Upset Watch
Karlovic over Isner
Qualifier over Simon
Roger-Vasselin over F.Lopez [ERV might wind up the favorite]
Preview: Ferrer is the top seed as Acapulco switches from clay to outdoor hard courts. I don't expect the transition from dirt to hardcourt to affect Ferrer much. Kevin Anderson comes in off a tough three set loss to Cilic in the Delray Beach Final. He might be on upset watch depending on his draw of qualifiers. Roger-Vasselin or F.Lopez might be one to watch in this quarter if the seeds flop. Isner is the 3rd seed and leads the 2nd quarter. Isner still has not looked quite right to me, so Karlovic has a chance to pull the upset if he recovered from the virus that took him out last week. Pospisil is supposed to be back this week as the 8th seed. Don't touch him until you see him play. Dare I say, watch out for Chardy here. Andy Murray, Grigor Dimitrov & Ernests Gulbis lead the bottom of the draw. I like Murray's draw with Simon as the other seed in his quarter. Simon has been struggling now with a back issue and Murray needs to find the range now to push himself back to 100%. Dimitrov and Gulbis is a quarterfinal we might not see if Gulbis struggles to adapt to the courts after a long week of winning in Marseille. It would be an electric QF though if the Latvian can recover and keep his form intact. Dimitrov has the draw to get to the semis.
Futures: No prices available. Think Murray, Dimitrov and monitor the other half of the draw for some potential big prices. This tournament with a new surface is one where it might pay to watch a round before you invest.
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ATP Dubai
1st Round Upset Watch
Lacko over Turnsunov
Stakhovsky over Dodig
Preview: Djokovic has won four of the last five Dubai titles. Only Roger Federer broke his stranglehold on this event two years ago. Overall, Djokovic has lost just three matches out of 31 here. The top four seeds have generally made the semis over the past three years with few exceptions. Djokovic has a fairly simple draw. Expect him to have focus and motivation this week. Federer has a workable draw and with an out-of-form Tursunov as the seed in his quarter, he should find a way to work through. The bottom of the draw should provide a bit more drama. Berdych and Tsonga land in the same quarter of the draw here. Tsonga has some miles on him after Marseille. Dodig and Stakhovsky is a good 1st rounder. Don't overlook Davydenko here if Tsonga shows any fatigue. I like Berdych though. Del Potro lands as the third seed. His wrist is still something to consider, but not too heavily. Kohlschreiber is the other seed in that quarter. Watch out for Kolhi or fellow German Florian Mayer if Del Potro's form is less than stellar.
Futures: Djokovic @ -150. Berdych @ +550. Djokovic is short and a lot of people don't like investing on that price, but his draw and history here make him worthwhile to me. Berdych is in the best form of the bottom half players and makes sense to me. You shouldn't have to worry about him until a potential QF with Tsonga that may not materialize.
