The Frenchman is playing fantastic tennis right now. Monfils has made it at least into the quarterfinals in five of his last seven tournaments, including a successful campaign at Washington and three semifinal appearances (Canadian Masters, US Open and Japan Open). All of those events, by the way, were played on the hard courts.
Monfils also brought home the hardware back in the 2011 edition of the Stockholm Open, which is another reason why he’s the leading favorite here.
It’s worth noting, though, that Monfils was eliminated earlier than expected in Shangai. He squeaked past Kevin Anderson in the second round, but was bested by David Goffin after three close sets in the succeeding round.
Juan Martin Del Potro
Delpo’s current world ranking—No. 63—shouldn’t fool you about his form. The Argentine is having a strong and injury-free year, which is very bad news for his future opponents. Del Potro, for those who are unaware or may have forgotten, finished as the silver medalist in the Rio Olympics and followed that up with a respectable quarterfinal exit at the US Open.
The 28-year-old veteran, however, was beaten by David Goffin in the opening round of the on-going Shanghai Masters. Don’t expect a redemption-seeking Delpo to fall out that early in next week’s Stockholm Open.
Grigor Dimitrov
Like Monfils, Dimitrov is a former champion at Stockholm. He won the title in 2013 and was just one win shy of completing his title defense in the year after. The Bulgarian’s form also looks good right now as he has a pair of semifinal appearances and a runner-up finish in his last five tournaments. That stretch includes a very impressive campaign at Beijing, where he defeated premier players like Milos Raonic, Rafael Nadal and Lucas Pouille.
Sleeper
Lucas Pouille
Pouille’s run in Shanghai was cut short in the Round of 16, where Andy Murray crushed him after two dominant sets. Nevertheless, the on-the-rise Frenchman is an intriguing sleeper to watch out for in the upcoming Stockholm Open. He’s proven to us this year that he can keep up and even beat the best of the bests. A testament to that were his first career ATP title at Metz and his quarterfinal finish at the US Open. Pouille is also 4-1 on indoor hard courts this season.
Long Shot
Donald Young
Young is only 17-9 overall this season, including 9-12 in hard-court matches. But even so, there’s a relatively good chance for him to make some bettors, who are willing to take a risk on him, a few bucks richer. The American has had a number of tough, yet fruitful losses against top-tier pros like Bernard Tomic, Jack Sock, Marcos Baghdatis, Ivo Karlovic and Kei Nishikori in his last six tournaments. Young might be able to utilize those experiences in helping him come up with big wins in Stockholm next week.
Writer’s Prediction
Grigor Dimitrov claims his second title at Stockholm.
