An executive summary of what every fan should know about the coming week on the ATP World Tour
ATP World Tour 250-level titles are on the line this week at clay-court events in Geneva and Lyon, the final events before Roland Garros. At the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open, two-time defending champion Stan Wawrinka, No. 1 Italian Fabio Fognini and former World No. 3 David Ferrer are the wild cards, attempting to challenge top-seeded Sam Querrey of the United States.
Just more than 100 kilometres away, at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon, Dominic Thiem looks to continue his momentum on clay alongside fellow Top 10 player John Isner and the fast-rising Hyeon Chung, the reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion.
View Draws: Geneva | Lyon
10 THINGS TO WATCH IN GENEVA
1) Stan In Switzerland: Since Geneva returned to the ATP World Tour calendar in 2015, Wawrinka has appeared at each edition of the event. He’s gone on to the 2015 title, 2016 semi-finals and 2017 final at Roland Garros during the fortnight that follows the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open. The Swiss No. 2 continues his comeback from two left knee surgeries last August.
2) 300 Wins: Fognini will make his Geneva debut following a memorable week on home soil in Rome. The Italian defeated Gael Monfils for his 300th match win and upset World No. 8 Dominic Thiem before falling to Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals. Fognini is 20-11 overall this season.
3) Back To The Grind: Ferrer and wife Marta welcomed their first child, Leo, earlier this month. In anticipation, Ferrer withdrew from four tournaments before returning to action last week in Rome. Ferrer reached the Geneva semi-finals in 2016.
4) Top-Seeded Sam: Sam Querrey inched closer to the Top 10 in the ATP Rankings than ever before on 26 February when he reached a career-high No. 11. Querrey rebounded from an early loss in Acapulco nicely with a run to the Indian Wells quarter-finals and he enters Geneva as the World No. 12.
5) Emotional Return: Steve Johnson reached the 2017 Geneva quarter-finals in his first tournament following the death of his father, Steve Johnson Sr. As was the case last year, the American enters Geneva as the Houston champion after retaining his title with wins over five countrymen.
6) Big Foe On The Come Up: After going 9-31 in tour-level matches as a teenager, #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe is 15-6 since turning 20 in January. Tiafoe became the youngest American ATP World Tour champion since Andy Roddick in 2002 when he won the Delray Beach Open on 25 February. He backed that up by reaching the Estoril final earlier this month.
7) First-Time Champions: Also in the Geneva draw are Marco Cecchinato and Mirza Basic, who lifted their first maiden ATP World Tour trophies this year. Cecchinato captured the Budapest title as a 92nd-ranked lucky loser on 29 April and Basic won the Sofia championship as a 129th-ranked qualifier on 11 February.
Make No Mistake: Among the players seeking their first tour-level title this week is Mischa Zverev, who was ranked 32nd and would have been seeded seventh when the 2017 Geneva draw was made. Instead, Zverev reached the final as an unseeded qualifier after forgetting to enter by the deadline.
9) New No. 1: Mate Pavic competes in his first tournament as the No. 1 player in the ATP Doubles Rankings this week — the Croatian will climb to the top spot on Monday. The 24-year-old is the first Croatian No. 1 in singles or doubles and the youngest doubles No. 1 since Australian Todd Woodbridge in February 1996. Pavic and Oliver Marach are the top seeds in Geneva.
10) 39 & Counting: Ivo Karlovic, 39, is making his Geneva debut. In Houston, the Croatian became the oldest player to advance to an ATP World Tour semi-final since Jimmy Connors at 1993 San Francisco. He opens his campaign in Switzerland against German Peter Gojowczyk, whom he trails 0-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.
10 THINGS TO WATCH IN LYON
1) Dominic Dominates On Clay: After Thiem beat Rafael Nadal in the 2017 Rome quarter-finals, the Spaniard swept his next 21 matches and 50 sets on clay. Thiem ended both streaks in the Madrid quarter-finals on 11 May, eventually reaching the final. The Austrian has won seven of his nine ATP World Tour titles and reached 12 of his 15 finals on clay, posting wins on the surface over Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
2) Big Man's Big Turnaround: Isner started the season 2-6 before breaking out in Miami, where he defeated Top 10 players Marin Cilic, Juan Martin del Potro and Alexander Zverev to become the oldest first-time ATP World Tour Masters 1000 champion in history. The 6'10" American turned 33 on 26 April.
3) Sock’s Breakout?: Isner's doubles partner, Jack Sock, is 5-9 this season. But perhaps an impressive victory against Ferrer in Rome will have given the American the confidence for a big run in Lyon. Sock has shown his potential, finishing 2017 by capturing his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title at Paris and using the ATP Rankings points from that victory to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, at which he defeated Cilic and Zverev.
4) Asian Sensation: Chung is 20-9 this season, highlighted by wins over Zverev and Djokovic en route to the Australian Open semi-finals. In Melbourne, he became the first male or female Grand Slam semi-finalist from South Korea. Chung is still seeking the first ATP World Tour final of his career. However, he went 5-0 to capture last year's inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan.
5) Vive le France: French veterans Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon are in the Lyon field. Both won season-opening titles on 6 January. Monfils is 10-9 since capturing his seventh ATP World Tour title at Doha, while Simon has gone 7-10 after winning his 13th title at Pune. They both will look to round into form at one of their home events.
6) Comeback King: John Millman rallied from right shoulder surgery to break into the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings in 2015. So it should come as no surprise that he recovered from groin surgery to reach a career-high No. 58 on 14 May. Millman advanced to his first ATP World Tour final at Budapest last month.
7) Portuguese Pride: Joao Sousa was 0-3 at the Millennium Estoril Open before breaking through in a big way earlier this month. Sousa saved two match points against Pedro Sousa and defeated #NextGenATP players Stefanos Tsitsipas and Frances Tiafoe to win the Estoril title.
ATP Race To Milan: Taylor Fritz is fifth in the ATP Race to Milan as of 14 May. With the Top 7 players ensured a spot at the Next Gen ATP Finals, the 20-year-old American is on pace to qualify. Fritz advanced to his second ATP World Tour semi-final on the clay courts of Houston last month.
9) Reunited: Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi/Jean-Julien Rojer and Rohan Bopanna/Edouard Roger-Vasselin were regular teams in 2013 and are competing together in Lyon this week. Qureshi/Rojer won the 2013 Miami title, while Bopanna/Roger-Vasselin reached the 2013 Wimbledon semi-finals.
10) Titlists All Around: Six players competing in the main draw have won ATP World Tour titles in 2018: top-seeded Dominic Thiem (Buenos Aires), Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena (Quito), Portugal's Joao Sousa (Estoril), Frenchmen Gilles Simon (Pune) and Gael Monfils (Doha), and American John Isner (Miami).
