As many of you will know, the European Championships are being played in France this year and I will be one of thousands of fans descending on the country to watch a match or two. I have been fortunate to land tickets for the Belgium match against Italy in Lyon and then will be travelling to St Etienne on Tuesday to see Portugal take on Iceland.
That means I will not be able to cover the Wednesday matches to be played in the tennis tournaments this week as I will be returning to the United Kingdom late on Wednesday evening and I am not taking my laptop with me to France.
However I am able to cover the First Round matches I like in Halle and Queens which will be played on Monday and Tuesday, weather permitting, which I will place in this one thread. I will then have picks for the Thursday matches on Wednesday evening and complete the events this week as usual.
David Ferrer - 3.5 games v Andreas Seppi: Last week might have been a disappointment for David Ferrer as he was beaten in the Quarter Final in Hertogenbosch. The Spaniard has fallen to the World Number 14 spot in the Rankings and it is beginning to feel like his best days are behind more and more.
In saying that, I think Ferrer will be very comfortable with his First Round match in Halle as he takes on Andreas Seppi who he has beaten nine times, every time they have played on the main Tour. Seppi has had some good results on the grass and he did reach the Final in Halle last year, but the Italian has suffered some poor form through 2016.
Seppi has only won one set against Ferrer in the past and his game does match up well for Ferrer. Without a really big serve, Seppi is forced to work around the court against Ferrer and usually I would say the latter is going to win the extended rallies more often than not, even if he is not at his best at the moment.
Being at his best might not matter and I think Ferrer is able to come through with a 64, 64 win and move into the Second Round.
Richard Gasquet - 4.5 games v Steve Johnson: Steve Johnson has a big serve and an aggressive style of play off the ground so you would think he would be able to be quite effective on the grass. Unfortunately for the American, he has been unable to really put it together when playing on this surface and that might be a real issue for him when he plays someone like Richard Gasquet who is comfortable on grass.
The Frenchman had a very strong Roland Garros as he reached the Quarter Final for the first time in his career in his home tournament. He should have some confidence to take into Queens as Gasquet has won titles on grass before while he has twice been a Semi Finalist at Wimbledon including last year.
Gasquet will need to serve well to try and put Johnson under pressure and raise the discomfort the latter might be feeling on the grass.
If he can do that, I think Gasquet will feel very good in this match up and can find his way to a couple of breaks of serve which may be enough for him to cover this number. Johnson was beaten very easily by Stefan Kozlov last week in Hertogenbosch and I can see Gasquet find his way to a 63, 64 win in this one.
Feliciano Lopez + 1.5 games v Marin Cilic: These two players are both very solid on the grass with some very good results on the surface through their careers. However both lost their first match on the grass last week in disappointing fashion and Feliciano Lopez and Marin Cilic return to Queens where they have had success in the past.
Marin Cilic won the title here in 2012 and reached the Final in 2013, but he has gone 1-2 in the last couple of visits to this part of West London since then. He has reached the Quarter Final twice in the last three years at Wimbledon too and it is no surprise he is comfortable on grass with a big serve and an underrated returning game.
Last year was a very difficult season for Feliciano Lopez on the grass as he went 3-4 but in 2014 he was a Finalist in Queens and he won the title in Eastbourne in 2013 and 2014. Lopez is very comfortable on the grass and he has a serve-volley game which is tough to play against when you are as effective in that role as the Spaniard is.
Tie-breakers are likely to be critical in this one and their previous meeting on grass did go three sets with very little to separate them. I think there is little to separate them again and I believe Lopez can make use of the limited games he is being given to at least keep this competitive.
Tuesday Tennis Picks can be found in the 'MY PICKS' section.
MY PICKS: David Ferrer - 3.5 Games @ 2.10 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Richard Gasquet - 4.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Feliciano Lopez + 1.5 Games @ 2.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez - 1.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Nick Kyrgios - 1.5 Games @ 2.20 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Nicolas Mahut + 4.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Stan Wawrinka - 3.5 Games @ 2.00 William Hill (2 Units)
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