Austrian veteran Jurgen ‘Tuna’ Melzer, won back to back titles the last two years and will hope to 3-peat this year, but he has a tough draw
However, he’s not had such a good year and faces stiff competition from the likes of Tsonga, Troicki and Del Potro. Most of the field are showing form save for Robredo, so it’s hard to pick a winner.
Big servers should do well here like Radek ‘The Worm’ Stepanek, Ivo Karlovic and Kevin ‘Mr.’ Anderson. As for the race to London, only Tsonga has much to play for here currently placed 8th, so he’s my pick.
Thomas ‘Iron Man’ Muster, who officially announced his retirement finally, has one last throw of the dice against Austrian wildcard Dominic Thiem. If he wins, he gets Davydenko who will send him right to the Hall of Fame in no time.
Let’s break it down:
Surface: Indoor Hard
Defending Champion: Jurgen Melzer
Dark Horse: Ivo Karlovic
My pick: Jo Tsonga
Mikhail Kukushkin defends his breakthrough title and will be hard pressed to repeat. Tipsarevic is playing with new-found confidence and one should always expect the Russian contingent to do well including Tursunov, Youzhny and Kunitsyn.
Simon: London Calling - Image via Wikipedia
Watch out for Benneteau, who any given week can be playing a Challenger or making a Tour 250 final. Marin Cilic is my dark horse and gets a nice quarter to start.
My pick is Simon though, who is the only one with a place in London at stake. He will need to win the tournament to keep his hopes alive.
Let’s break it down:
Surface: Indoor Hard
Defending Champion: Mikhail Kukushkin
Dark Horse: Marin Cilic
My pick: Gilles Simon
Check out the ATP’s Indoor Season Uncovered:
