Thursday Tennis: Hall of Fame Championships & Stuttgart Open

We’re edging towards the closing stages of this week’s ATP events in Germany and America and those remaining competitors will be hopeful of getting their hands on another piece of silverware.

It might not be the glitz and glamour of Wimbledon, but the Mercedes Cup and Hall of Fame Championships offer fans plenty of excitement all the same.
Here’s our predictions on what to expect between now and Sunday.

All-American Contest Pick Of Newport Action

We’re down to just eight remaining players in Newport, Rhode Island, and the next few days should provide a thrilling climax to the Hall of Fame Championships.

Undoubtedly, the quarter-final highlight comes from the clash between John Isner and Jack Sock. The two Americans were amongst the pre-tournament favourites here and the International Tennis Hall of Fame crowd can expect to see a fascinating contest between their two home-grown heroes.

Whoever wins this quarter-final will really fancy his chances of going all the way, but a potential semi-final meeting with Leyton Hewitt could provide a huge stumbling block. The Australian’s best days may be long behind him, but he was runner-up in both 2012 and 2013 and will be hopeful of making it a hat-trick of final appearances here.

Hewitt must fire overcome Steve Johnson in the last eight, which won’t be an easy challenge. All four men in the top half have reason to believe that it will be his name on the trophy this Sunday.

In the bottom half of the draw, defending champ Nicolas Mahut is the standout contender and the Frenchman will be fancies to at least reach the final. He lifted both the Singles and Doubles titles twelve months ago and has yet to drop a set at this year’s event.

Mahut faces Australia’s Samuel Groth in the last eight – the winner is likely to face Croat Ivo Karlovic in the semi-final.

There has already been plenty of action in Rhode Island and the next few days promise to follow in a similar vein. Who will book their place in the Hall of Fame?

Stuttgart: Open By Name & Nature

The Mercedes Cup event in Stuttgart offered a fantastic first round and the action is far from over as we look forward to the next stages.

In fact, last year’s runner-up Philipp Kohlscreiber hasn’t even taken to the court for his opener against compatriot Jan-Lennard Struff. Nevertheless, the German remains among the frontrunners to lift this title and will be determined to finally get his week off to a win on Thursday.

Round 2 sees a number of top seeds join the action, including 2013 winner Fabio Fognini. The Italian should progress against Andrey Golubev and will meet either Philipp Davydenko or Santiago Giraldo in the next stage.

There are plenty of other genuine contenders for the Merecedes crown, such as Mikhail Youhzny, Feliciano Lopez and Roberto Bautista-Agut.

Clay court tournaments always have the potential of throwing up some excellent affairs and the latter stages of this week’s event in Germany should be no different.

With a number of matches being streamed live on Bet365, you’d be a fool to miss out on the action.

Thursday’s ATP Tennis Betting

Earlier this week we made our predictions for who would win this week’s main events and both men remain in their respective tournaments. We’re sticking with our selections and are backing Isner and Kohlschreiber.

John Isner to win outright @ 5/4 with Ladbrokes

Philipp Kohlschreiber to win outright @ 4/1 with Ladbrokes

The one bet that stands out to us on Thursday comes from Stuttgart and concerns Feliciano Lopez’s second-round match against Daniel Gimeno-Traver.

Lopez is a very accomplished player and should be too good for his compatriot here. If he can assert his dominance early on, he’ll have a great chance in wrapping this up quickly.

Feliciano Lopez to win 2-0 is 6/4 with Bet365