ATP Stockholm, Vienna: Preview and Predictions

After the excitement of the penultimate Masters event, it is a quieter week for the top 10 on the ATP tour with just 3 of them showing up at this week's 250 events in Stockholm, Vienna and Moscow.

*I forgot all about the ATP event in Moscow so I haven't done a full preview*

ATP Vienna

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had his best week since returning from injury in Metz with three wins in Shanghai, which has boosted him back into contention for the World Tour Finals at the O2.  It is a pretty uninspiring draw in Vienna, which should see Tsonga fly into the quarter-finals where he could meet Gael Monfils in the most exciting potential match-up in the whole draw.

Tommy Haas bookends the draw, which is a surprise considering he pulled out of his third round match in Shanghai last week due to a back injury.  His draw passes by Radek Stepanek in the quarter-finals and Philipp Kohlscheiber in the semi-finals.  I do not see Haas making the final this week and it would be Kohlschreiber, who plays Jan Hajek or a qualifier in the second round, that is my predicted finalist from the bottom half.  

Lleyton Hewitt continues his tireless pursuits on the ATP tour and faces young upstart, Vasek Pospisil in the first round.  Fabio Fognini, constantly mysterious in his performances, will be the favourite to make the semi-finals from the second quarter.  He could meet Florian Mayer in the second round though who made the quarters of Shanghai last week and owns a 3-0 head-to-head lead in their match-up.

1st Round Predictions: Brands to beat Haider-Maurer in 3 sets, Monfils to beat Matosevic in 3 sets, Mayer to beat Kubot in 2 tight sets, Hewitt to beat Pospisil in 3 sets and Stepanek to beat Fischer in 2 sets

Moo's Final Prediction: Tsonga d. Kohlschreiber

ATP Stockholm

David Ferrer

David Ferrer and Milos Raonic are the headline acts in Stockholm this week.  Ferrer has really struggled since making the quarter-finals of the US Open and he suffered another worrying loss at the hands of Florian Mayer in Shanghai.  He will face Jack Sock or Bernard Tomic in the second round before a potential quarter-final with Ivan Dodig.  If he brings the form that has dominated his fall season into Stockholm then he's not winning here.

Jerzy Janowicz makes a rather muted comeback to the tour having missed Asia.  He has big points to defend coming up in Paris so will want to get back into the swing of things before then.  His first match of the week will be against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez or a qualifier.  Ernest Gulbis is also in this section of the draw.  He is making his first appearance since winning the title in St Petersburg after skipping Asia.

The final two quarters feature Grigor Dimitrov and Kevin Anderson, and Milos Raonic and Benoit Paire.  Both Dimitrov and Anderson have stuttered in the last few weeks, but their draws look paper thin so they really should be making the quarters.  Paire, who took a late wildcard into the tournament, opens against Santiago Giraldo and could get Pablo Carrena-Busta in the second round, who has been winning for fun on the Challenger tour and made the semi-finals of Oeiras earlier this year.  Raonic is looking to book a spot at the O2 and with a few days off and a big target in his mind, I think he should do well here.

1st Round Predictions: Tomic to beat Sock in 2 sets, Nieminen to beat Becker in 2 sets, Dodig to beat Verdasco in 2 tight sets, Gulbis to beat Chardy in 3 sets, Paire to beat Giraldo in 2 tight sets and Carreno-Busta to beat Zopp in 2 sets

Moo's Final Prediction: Raonic d. Gulbis