From the terre battue of Roland Garros, we now move on to the lush grass courts of Halle, Germany as the ATP World Tour continues with the second half of its 2015 season. The Gerry Weber Open starts on Monday, June 15th, and will feature a bevy of great players that walked away empty-handed from the French Open.
Read on as we take a look at the favorites and the underdogs heading into the tournament. And Germany is also alive and well in other sporting events. Catch our preview for the upcoming Women’s World Cup matchup of Germany vs. Norway.
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2015 ATP Gerry Weber Open Betting Preview
Favorites – Roger Federer and Kei Nishikori
If there’s one player that has dominated the Gerry Weber Open throughout its existence, it would be none other than Roger Federer. The 17-year veteran is looking for his third consecutive Gerry Weber Open title, and he already holds the record for most titles at the historic event with seven.
[sc:Other240banner ]The Swiss superstar is having a phenomenal 2015 just as well, having won three titles this season with a record of 29-6. Federer has also advanced to the quarterfinal round or better in six of the nine tournaments he’s participated in this year.
The future Hall-of-Famer will also be more than happy to go back and play on his favorite surface. Federer has won 87 percent of his career matches played on grass (with just 19 losses in 150 matches).
Kei Nishikori is having quite a 2015 season as well. The World No. 5 is 34-8 this year with two titles under his belt. He has advanced to the quarterfinals or better in his last five tournaments, and nine out of 11 for the entire season.
The 25-year old could only hope to avoid going up against Federer in this tournament given the World No. 2’s excellent track record in Halle. Just last year, Nishikori lost to Federer in straight sets in the semifinals round of the Gerry Weber Open.
The lawn also happens to be Nishikori’s weakness. He has a career record of 20-17 on grass, but has improved his performance on it in 2014 where he went 5-2.
Sleepers – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils
Two Frenchmen now look to redeem themselves from the 2015 French Open after failing to win the Coupe de Mousquetaires for their home country. World No. 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is hot off the heels of an impressive showing at Roland Garros. He reached the semifinal round in Paris, but lost to the eventual French Open champion Stan Wawrinka.
Tsonga’s semifinals finish at Roland Garros earlier this month is the farthest progress he has made in a tournament this year. Prior to the French Open, the 30-year old righty had been eliminated in the round of 16 or earlier in five of his other tournaments this season.
Now Tsonga can take that momentum from Paris over to Halle, where he can also take comfort in playing on grass. The pride of Le Mans has a career record of 38-15 playing on the green turf.
Tsonga’s fellow Frenchman, Gael Monfils, also had a good run at the French Open. The 28-year old reached the fourth round of the tournament but lost to Federer in four hard-fought sets. Monfils has a 22-9 record so far, but has yet to win a title this season.
The closest that the Parisian has gotten to a title this year was when he reached the final round of The Open 13 in Marseille back in February. Monfils would lose to another Frenchman in Gilles Simon in that match, and is still on the hunt for his first ATP title since winning in Montpellier at the Open Sud de France back in February of 2014.
And while most of Monfils’ best performances have been in held on the clay courts in his mother country, he fares rather well playing on grass too with his 23-16 record on the verdant surface.
Ready with your own picks for the Gerry Weber Open? Create a betting account now and put your predictions to the test.
Long Shot – Dominic Thiem
World No. 30 Dominic Thiem earned his first title of the season when he won the Open de Nice Cote d’Azur in France this past May. But the Austrian lacks consistency in his play, as he had been eliminated in the opening round in six out of his 14 events this season.
Even worse is that Thiem has never won on grass in all three of his attempts. His most recent defeat on the lush turf came just earlier this week at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, where the 21-year old lost to lowly 502nd-ranked Mischa Zverev in straight sets.
Writer’s Prediction
Federer further improves his record in Halle as he wins his eighth Gerry Weber Open title.
