The end of the Miami Masters tournament means the end of the early hard court portion of the Tour in 2022.
There is no rest on the Tour though and we are going straight into clay court tennis events being played in North America, South America and Africa this week.
I will have some selections through the week with the biggest event being the WTA Charleston tournament, although the clay courts being used there are usually significantly different to the ones the players will face when they head over to Europe in the build towards the French Open.
Monte Carlo is the next big event on deck and that will begin next week, but this is a week of opportunity for players to build Ranking points and some clay court experience this season.
Yannick Hanfmann v Carlos Taberner: Both of these players will be happy to see the Tour move onto the clay courts, but Yannick Hanfmann and Carlos Taberner are Ranked outside the top 100 and that means working their way through Qualifiers to enter main ATP Tour events.
It makes matches like this one that much more important for them to try and move the Ranking into a position where they can avoid that going forward and this is an open tournament in Morocco as the clay court season begins.
Both have played plenty of clay court tennis already this season and there is little between them in terms of their numbers. Carlos Taberner and Yannick Hanfmann have serves that can be a little vulnerable on the clay courts, but the two players have been competent return players and the feeling is that there will not be much between them in this First Round match.
Over the last twelve months, Yannick Hanfmann has been the slightly superior player when it comes to holding serve on the clay courts against some of the better players on the Tour. In general Carlos Taberner has shown a little more upside and he has won a title on the surface in a Challenger event earlier this month, but it is Yannick Hanfmann who has won their previous two matches on the Tour and that may provide the mental edge in what feels like being a close match.
It has been a couple of years since these two last met and Carlos Taberner is clearly an improved player since then, while Yannick Hanfmann has to be close to being on the slide.
However, with very little between them on the clay courts, that mental edge of having a couple of wins over Carlos Taberner may help the veteran work his way through to the Second Round with a win as the underdog.
Richard Gasquet - 2.5 games v Henri Laaksonen: Two veterans will meet in the First Round in this tournament in Morocco and it is a chance to erase some difficult matches from the mind.
Richard Gasquet is coming off an unproductive time in the United States, but Henri Laaksonen has been struggling all season for form. The latter may appreciate the move back onto the clay courts a little more than Richard Gasquet, especially as the Frenchman has not really played a lot of tennis on this surface in recent years as injuries have stalled the last stages of his career.
Last season Henri Laaksonen produced some solid results on the clay, but he is going to have to step up his level after some poor results and performances so far in 2022. His serve has been vulnerable on the hard courts, while the Henri Laaksonen return has also been struggling to be as effective as he would like.
Being back on the clay should help, but it was the performance on the return which really made Henri Laaksonen a solid player on the surface over the last twelve months.
He should have some success against the Richard Gasquet serve, but I also think the former top ten player will be able to get his return going in a match like this one. Richard Gasquet has been the slightly more efficient return player in 2022 and he is someone who can be effective as a returner on this surface.
The Frenchman has beaten Henri Laaksonen in their previous meeting, which also came on the clay courts, although that match was played in July 2018 and Richard Gasquet is clearly coming to the end of his career. However, Henri Laaksonen is another veteran and that should mean Gasquet still has the quality of tennis to win a match like this and cover the handicap mark set on his way through to the Second Round.
MY PICKS: Yannick Hanfmann @ 2.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Richard Gasquet - 2.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)
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