Wimbledon is over and the U.S. Open Series has not yet begun. But there is plenty of tennis to be played this week, starting on the grass courts of Newport and ending with the four Davis Cup quarterfinal ties. Bernard Tomic links the two, as he took a late wild card into the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships after being banned by Tennis Australia from his country’s matchup with Kazakhstan. Among those joining Tomic in the Newport field are John Isner, Ivo Karlovic, Jack Sock, and Dustin Brown.
Hall of Fame Tennis Championships
Where: Newport, Rhode Island
Surface: Grass
Prize money: $488,225
Points: 250
Top seed: John Isner
2014 champion: Lleyton Hewitt (not playing)
Draw analysis: Look no further than the very top of the Newport bracket to find a first-round battle between two past champions. Isner triumphed in 2011 and 2012, while fellow American Rajeev Ram lifted the trophy in 2009. The two veterans will face each other for the first time in their careers and the winner could go up against countryman Ryan Harrison, an occasional doubles partner of Ram. This is a quarter of the draw that will be heavy on fan favorites, as Tommy Haas is one of the headliners along with Isner and Harrison.
On the bottom half, all three American men are seeded. Sock, No. 4, is looking to bounce back from a tough Wimbledon campaign in which he lost right away in singles and failed to defend his doubles title with Vasek Pospisil. The 22-year-old faces a tough opener against Radek Stepanek, but his road will open up if he can get through that test. Sixth-seeded Sam Querrey is on a collision course for the quarterfinals with Karlovic, while Tim Smyczek—the eighth and final seed—has a favorable draw on the other side of Sock’s section.
The bottom quarter featuring Querrey and Karlovic is especially intriguing. It is also home to Brown, who was already well-respected as a great entertainer and is now a borderline household name in tennis circles after upsetting Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon. Brown could meet Querrey in the last 16.
First-round upset alert: (PR) Radek Stepanek over (4) Jack Sock. Stepanek was out from the 2014 U.S. Open until this April because of a back injury, but he may finally be rounding into some form. The 36-year-old Czech reached the second round of the French Open and played Aljaz Bedene in a five-setter at Wimbledon (Stepanek lost 7-5, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4). Speaking of physical problems, Sock suffered a fractured finger at the All-England Club. He played through it in doubles (lost in the third round) after losing his singles opener, but he heads into Newport as a question mark. While the American should win this one if he his healthy, Stepanek is always a tough customer—especially on grass.
Quarterfinal predictions: John Isner over Adrian Mannarino, Bernard Tomic over Steve Johnson, Jack Sock over Alejandro Falla, and Sam Querrey over Ivo Karlovic
Semifinals: Tomic over Isner and Querrey over Sock
Final: Tomic over Querrey
