Although the dust is only just now settling on another Rafael Nadal triumph at Roland Garros, the ATP Tour action continues as the grass-court season gets underway at the ATP Den Bosch Open and in Stuttgart. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on day one in the Netherlands, but who will book their place in the second round?
ATP Den Bosch Day 1 Predictions
Hugo Gaston vs Kwon Soonwoo
Head-to-head: Kwon 2-0 Gaston
This pair have met twice already this year and Kwon Soonwoo has won both matches comfortably. That does not bode well for Hugo Gaston’s chances here. The Frenchman put together some solid performances at the French Open, reaching the third round, but he is at his best on the clay and is rather less comfortable on grass courts. Kwon’s record on the grass isn’t necessarily anything to write home about either, but he did reach the semifinals in Eastbourne year and already has a match under his belt on the surface this year after playing in Surbiton last week. This should be a straightforward day at the office.
Prediction: Kwon in 2
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Dominik Koepfer vs Kamil Majchrzak
Head-to-head: Koepfer 1-0 Majchrzak
This has the makings of an interesting match. Dominik Koepfer is the more solid of the two players and demonstrated as much in beating Kamil Majchrzak 6-3 6-4 three years ago on the grass in Nottingham. However, it has been a miserable year for the German who, having been out of action since Miami, has played just six matches at tour-level and seen his ranking plummet to 93rd in the world. Majchrzak has been in rather better form and has won 11 of his 20 matches this year. But his game doesn’t seem particularly well-suited to the grass and Koepfer might just be able to take advantage.
Prediction: Koepfer in 3
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Tallon Griekspoor vs Aljaz Bedene
Head-to-head: first meeting
Aljaz Bedene’s efforts to work his way back from injury had yielded few results until the French Open, but his run to the third round in Paris was encouraging, even if he was outclassed there by Novak Djokovic. But facing Tallon Griekspoor will be a challenge for the Slovakian, particularly as the Dutchman will be playing on home turf. Griekspoor is at his best when playing on the front foot and is rarely hesitant about coming forward which should be too his advantage on the grass. At his best, Bedene would be good enough to win this match, but he is not quite there yet.
Prediction: Griekspoor in 3
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Jenson Brooksby vs Jesper de Jong
Head-to-head: first meeting
It will be interesting to see how Jenson Brooksby performs on the grass over the coming weeks. He clearly did not find his first clay-court season playing at the highest level particularly enjoyable, but he find the grass-court swing more agreeable thanks to his flat groundstrokes and a serve that is surprisingly hard to read. Dutch wildcard Jesper de Jong, meanwhile, will having nothing to lose on his tour-level debut. But though the future may be bright for the 22-year-old, this will surely be too big of a step up in the quality of opposition.
Prediction: de Jong in 3
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