ABN AMRO, Rotterdam, Netherlands, APT 500

[Moxie]

DATE: 12-18 February 2018
SURFACE: Indoor Hard
PRIZE MONEY: 1,862,925 Euros
FIELD SIZE: 32
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Seeds:
1. Roger Federer
2. Grigor Dimitrov
3. Alexander Zverev
4. David Goffin
5. Stan Wawrinka
6. Tomas Berdych
7. Lucas Pouille
8. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

The Tournament:

The first edition of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, held in 1974, was won by Dutch tennis ace Tom Okker. Tennis fans in The Netherlands had to wait until 1995 for another Dutchman, Richard Krajicek, to title at the indoor hard-court event. Winners in the intervening years have included illustrious players, such as Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors, Björn Borg, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg. Since then, stars such as Roger Federer, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Murray have all lifted the trophy. Src: ATP

About Rotterdam

Rotterdam is a major port city in the Netherlands' province of South Holland. The Maritime Museum's vintage ships and exhibits trace the city's seafaring history. The 17th-century Delfshaven neighborhood is home to canalside shopping and the Pilgrim Fathers Church, where pilgrims worshiped before sailing to America. After being almost completely reconstructed following WWII, the city is now known for its bold, modern architecture.

 

[Moxie]

 

[Shivashish Sarkar]

Wow this event has all the big names roped in.

Fed
Stan
Dimi
Bird

and youngsters:

Rublev
FAA

And there are some more good players.

 

[Shivashish Sarkar]

Federer's draw:

R1: Quali
R2: Khachanov
QF: Wawrinka
SF: Zverev/Gasquet
F: Dimitrov

Difficult opponents starting round 2. Looking at the names, this is the toughest possible draw at an ATP 500. But, we don't know if Stan is healthy.

 

[Moxie]

Federer's draw:

R1: Quali
R2: Khachanov
QF: Wawrinka
SF: Zverev/Gasquet
F: Dimitrov

Difficult opponents starting round 2. Looking at the names, this is the toughest possible draw at an ATP 500. But, we don't know if Stan is healthy.

Not to make you nervous, but I watched Stan in Sofia v. Troicki today. Stan was impressive. I was surprised how un-rusty and fit he looked.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Yep, Stan is almost back to normal.

 

[Moxie]

Yep, Stan is almost back to normal.

Actually, he also seemed mentally stable, so I'd say he's better than normal.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Actually, he also seemed mentally stable, so I'd say he's better than normal.

Stan is probably going to win this week's event. You know what means. He will lose to the Dutch wildcard next week in R1.

 

[Moxie]

Stan is probably going to win this week's event. You know what means. He will lose to the Dutch wildcard next week in R1.

That would be the Wawrinka way to ride a wave.

 

[Andy22]

Its going to be a great event. It won't happen but if Federer lost before the semis Federer fan will go mad, but Federer most likely to win Rotterdam.

 

[isabelle]

Federer's draw:

R1: Quali
R2: Khachanov
QF: Wawrinka
SF: Zverev/Gasquet
F: Dimitrov

Difficult opponents starting round 2. Looking at the names, this is the toughest possible draw at an ATP 500. But, we don't know if Stan is healthy.

Stan seems to be healthy, he's in semi in Sofia

 

[GameSetAndMath]

The qualifying matches are over and the qualifiers are placed in the main draw.

Fed plays Bemelmans (a qualifier ranked at 121) for his first match. This will be on Tuesday.
But, Bemelmans defeated Istomin to qualify.

 

[DarthFed]

Pretty solid field, hope Roger's ready to go and get this damn #1 rank so he doesn't start overplaying early this year. Stan had a bad loss and I seriously wonder if it's smart to play consecutive weeks this early on after his injuries. And is Tsonga going to play? I saw he withdrew vs Pouille even though he was up a set and it was 5-5 in the second. It must have been pretty bad.

EDIT: Tsonga withdrew. Pretty nice path for Sascha to the semis.

 

[Andy22]

Stan.Wawrinka can win the this week he's getting back to his best tennis sf last week..

 

[isabelle]

who'll replace Tsonga ?

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Fed will play only on Wednesday. The match is at 5 a.m. EST. Fed has not faced this particular player Bemelmans before.

 

[DarthFed]

Fed will play only on Wednesday. The match is at 5 a.m. EST. Fed has not faced this particular player Bemelmans before.

I don't like that setup, he will have to play 5 days in a row if he does well here. The guys playing today will get 2 days off during the week if they are to make the finals.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I don't like that setup, he will have to play 5 days in a row if he does well here. The guys playing today will get 2 days off during the week if they are to make the finals.

I suppose Fed must have requested it. If he wanted to play on Tuesday, they would have let them play, I suppose.

Considering Fed is playing a qualifier and the qualifiers played matches on Saturday and Sunday, they probably wouldn't have allowed Fed to play on Monday even if he had requested.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

I just hope Roger prepared at least a little for this one...like, actual court time.

 

[GameSetAndMath]