We take a look at the selected round of 16 fixtures taking place at the Memorial Drive Tennis Centre (Outdoor Hardcourt).
ATP Tour 2020 | ATP 250 Series
Adelaide International | Memorial Drive Tennis Centre (Outdoor Hardcourt)
Selected Round of 16 Fixtures
Andrey Rublev (3) (15/20)
vs Sam Querrey (1/1)
Andrey Rublev has had to bide his time for the spotlight over the last two years. First Karen Khachanov and then Danil Medvedev led the new Russian charge on the ATP Tour. But Rublev has slowly maneuvered out of the shadows and carved out his own niche on the tour. The Russian hardcourt specialist is coming off a title victory at an admittedly weak Qatar Open. But it followed a 2019 of steady improvement. He lost in the German Open Final and captured the Kremlin Cup title. But there were steady performances in some of the more illustrious events. The baseliner managed to beat Roger Federer en route to a quarterfinal run at the Cincinnati Masters. He also reached the final 16 at Flushing Meadows, showing the incremental improvement that has been a feature of his time on tour
American Sam Querrey is the sage veteran that Rublev will be facing. I was slightly surprised to discover that he is only 32 years old. I guess he just feels older. The 10-time ATP Champion is a hardcourt aficionado who has made a career out of these satellite events. The 2017 Wimbledon semi-finalist is always a danger on these surfaces, with a gargantuan serve that can render form irrelevant. He had some quasi-decent results towards the end of last year, including a quarterfinal run in Stockholm. But you have to go back to Eastbourne to register his last final. His last hardcourt final came in a 2018 New York Open Final defeat to Kevin Anderson. So it’s fair to say that Querrey has been in a slightly stagnant period of late. But he is a dangerous competitor who can get on a roll with his impressive service game.
This will be the third meeting between these two. They actually met twice last year, sharing the spoils at one apiece. Querrey won comfortably on his beloved grass surface while Rublev toiled to a tight victory at Winston Salem. With that in mind, I think Querrey may prove good value this week. It will be tough for Rublev to follow up his Qatar victory. Querrey is exactly the sort of opponent who could exploit any hangover effects.
Pablo Carreno Busta (4) (9/10)
vs Jeremy Chardy (17/20)
Pablo Carreno Busta will be entering this event after an exhausting and ultimately disappointing ATP Cup defeat to Serbia. The 2017 US Open semi-finalist has flown under the radar for the last two years. Last year was in particular fairly non-descript, especially in the opening salvos. But he slowly started to pick up some more momentum as the season progressed. As seems to be a new trend, Carreno Busta is a Spanish player who doesn’t thrive on clay. His clay-court season was shambolic last year. But he would pick up some encouraging form towards the end of the year. He won his 4th ATP title at the Chengdu Open and went on to reach the semi-final in Stockholm. Carreno Busta is an accomplished hardcourt player who just needs to find a greater degree of consistency.
Jeremy Chardy is your prototypical journeyman. The 32-year-old Frenchman has won only once on the ATP Tour, back in 2009 in Stuttgart. Chardy has found considerably more success on the double’s circuit. Yet there have been faint murmurings of his latent potential. The fabulous shot-maker reached his one and only Masters 1000 semi-final at the Rogers Cup in 2015. He also had his best Grand Slam finish on the hardcourts of the Aussie Open in 2013. But generally, Chardy has failed to really live up to his potential on the singles circuit. But he picked up a few intriguing results towards the end of last season. He beat a red-hot Danil Medvedev in the Paris Masters. He also reached the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup. He beat his Gallic counterpart Gilles Simon is straight sets to open his account this week. Could Chardy be ready to make another unforeseen tilt at success?
This was one of those head-to-head scenarios that I almost couldn’t fathom. Chardy leads Carreno Busta 4-1. He actually beat the Spaniard twice last year on clay. Those were both tight three-set encounters. Their last hardcourt encounter came in 2016, with Carreno Busta claiming victory in straight sets. And I think that’s the only way to play it here. There is a temptation to go for the upset, but sometimes discretion as the better part of valour. The best value lies in a Carreno Busta straight-sets victory at 43/20.
