ATP Rotterdam - DRAW: Nishikori, Khachanov and Tsitsipas are top seeds
Ahoy Rotterdam Arena will host the 46th edition of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament between February 11-17, standing as the first ATP 500 event of the new season and the biggest indoor event before October. ATP 500 event in Rotterdam started in 1974 and it has been a regular stop in the ATP calendar ever since, building its reputation of one of the best indoor tournaments and with impressive names on the winning list that includes Ashe, Connors, Borg, Vilas, Edberg, Becker, Stich, Ivanisevic, Hewitt, Federer, Murray, del Potro and Wawrinka.
Twelve months ago, Roger Federer claimed the third Rotterdam crown to win 500 points and pass Rafael Nadal on the ATP ranking list, becoming the oldest no. 1 since 1973 when the current ranking started. Roger will not be in Rotterdam to defend the crown, skipping the event together with Alexander Zverev, Marin Cilic, Kyle Edmund, Lucas Pouille, Grigor Dimitrov and Nick Kyrgios, leaving the draw much weaker in comparison to what we had on the initial entry list. Kei Nishikori is the top seed and he has a tricky first-round opponent in Pierre-Hugues Herbert who has reached the final in Montpellier.
The winner of that one will face a lucky loser, Marius Copil or Ernests Gulbis, with Martin Klizan, Marton Fucsovics, Hyeon Chung and Nikoloz Basilashvili completing the first quarter. Milos Raonic and Denis Shapovalov lead the packed second section, together with Philipp Kohlschreiber, Benoit Paire, Gilles Simon and former champions Stan Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych. The struggling Belgian David Goffin and the Australian Open semi-finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas are the players to beat in the third quarter, joined by Gael Monfils, Andreas Seppi, Peter Gojowczyk, Mikhail Kukushkin, Robin Haase and Damir Dzumhur who will try to spoil their party and reach the semis from there.
The 5th seed Daniil Medvedev had a great week in Sofia and he will open the Rotterdam campaign against Jeremy Chardy before the second round clash versus Fernando Verdasco or Matthew Ebden. Montpellier champion and 2017 Rotterdam winner Jo-Wilfried Tsonga plays against Thomas Fabbiano before the second round encounter against the 2nd seed Karen Khachanov who has to beat Tallon Griekspoor in the first match. Full draw:
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2TEQ3sh
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