Bernard Tomic has yet to regain the form he had on hard court earlier in the season. The 23-year-old crashed out in the round of 16 of both the Citi Open and the Canadian Masters in recent weeks. But never discount the Aussie when he’s playing on his preferred hard court. Tomic is 15-8 on the surface this season.
Tomic has yet to win a title this year, but the closest he’s gotten was also in Mexico: a final loss in the Acapulco Open. The World No. 20 will get a much-needed first-round bye as the No. 2 seed in Los Cabos.
Sam Querrey
Sam Querrey is similarly through to the round of 16 thanks to a first-round bye as the No. 4 seed. The World No. 29 recently made it to the quarterfinals of a hard court tournament, the Citi Open, where he lost to eventual champion Gael Monfils. The American’s lone title this season came on the hard courts of Delray Beach.
Querrey, though, has a real chance of reaching at least the semifinals of this tournament thanks to a particularly favorable draw. His potential quarterfinal opponents are No. 6 seed Jeremy Chardy, who has hardly been playing his best tennis in recent weeks, and a couple of wild cards.
Feliciano Lopez
Feliciano Lopez hasn’t played on hard court since the Miami Masters back in March. But the World No. 19 will head into Los Cabos brimming with confidence after grabbing his first tournament win of the year in the clay courts of Gstaad.
The tournament’s No. 1 seed can also hold his own on hard court, as he showed earlier this year in Dubai. He reached the semifinals of that tournament, which was admittedly aided by a Novak Djokovic retirement in the quarters.
Sleeper
Adrian Mannarino
Adrian Mannarino has exited in the second round of each of his last three hard court tournaments, which includes a Challenger event in Lexington. But the 28-year-old Frenchman has a good chance of getting past the second round and beyond in Mexico thanks to a decent enough draw.
Mannarino will face a qualifier in the first round and Ivo Karlovic in the second. Although he lost to Karlovic in their meeting this season, Mannarino does own two wins in their other four career meetings. Furthermore, no one has yet claimed back-to-back wins in their matchups.
Long Shot
Tobias Kamke
Tobias Kamke is having one of his better years on hard court this season. He’s 5-2 on outdoor hard court Challenger events, and is 11-2 on indoor hard court. This includes his lone title of the year at the Kazan Challenger.
Kamke is a long shot to translate that success onto the main draw; at age 30, he’s never come close to winning a Tour title in his career. But with a few breaks, he might be able to finally taste his first title success in Los Cabos.
Writer’s Prediction
Querrey adds a second hard court title of the season by winning the Abierto Mexicano Los Cabos.
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