The final pair of clay court tournaments in the run up to Roland Garros kick off on Monday with American number 1 John Isner among those in action. Here's all you need to know about the ATP 250 level tournaments in Nice and Dusseldorf this week:
Nice
Seeds: John Isner, Ernests Gulbis, Gilles Simon, Vasek Pospisil, Dmitry Tursunov, Nicolas Mahut, Federico Delbonis, Julien Benneteau
2013 Champion: Albert Montanes
Despite the withdrawal of Milos Raonic following his exploits in Rome this week, there's sure to be plenty of big serving in Nice with John Isner and Ernests Gulbis among the top seeds. Isner in particular will be looking to build some momentum ahead of the French Open, having won just two of his five clay court matches this year, he'll be looking for a second title in 2014.
Gilles Simon, Nicolas Mahut and Julien Benneteau, who is still yet to win a title on the ATP World Tour, represent the home crowds best hopes of a home grown champion at a tournament which returned to the tour in 2010. Simon will be looking to build on the performance that saw him seriously threaten Rafael Nadal in the early stages of the Rome Masters to compete for the trophy in his city of birth.
Albert Montanes returns to Nice aiming to emulate his title-winning run from last year, which saw him pick up his 6th tour-level success and his first since 2010, Gael Monfils his victim in the final. All of the Spaniards tournament wins have come on clay, and this will be his 8th tournament on the surface this year.
Dark horses for a deep run at l'Open de Nice Côte d'Azur include Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Carlos Berlocq, who have each won clay court titles at the 250 level already this year, in Casablanca and Oeiras respectively.
Dusseldorf
Seeds: Philipp Kohlschreiber, Marcel Granollers, Andreas Seppi, Joao Sousa, Yen-Hsun Lu, Jarkko Nieminen, Ivo Karlovic, Igor Sijsling
2013 Champion: Juan Monaco
New to the tour in 2013, the Düsseldorf Open saw Juan Monaco take his only title of the year, defeating Jarkko Nieminen in a straight sets final. Both players return in 2014 and will be hoping to be around again come the weekend. The defending champion will open his title defence against Benjamin Becker, with the winner of that clash facing 2nd seed Marcel Granollers in the second round.
Elsewhere in the draw, rising stars Jiri Vesely and Pablo Carreno Busta will be looking to enhance their reputations with strong performances, and Jurgen Melzer will be looking to build on the form that saw him overcome John Isner and Marin Cilic in Rome.
Top seed Philipp Kohlschreiber will be looking for his first title in over two years on home turf. The 30-year old has won three of his four tour-level championships in Germany, twice succeeding on the clay in Munich. He fell at the first hurdle last year, losing in three sets to this year's 8th seed Igor Sijsling. Kohlschreiber is joined by compatriots Dustin Brown and Tobias Kamke in the draw this year, who both received wildcard entries.
For blog updates and tennis tweets, follow @TennisFanatic7 on Twitter, thanks for reading!
Seeds: John Isner, Ernests Gulbis, Gilles Simon, Vasek Pospisil, Dmitry Tursunov, Nicolas Mahut, Federico Delbonis, Julien Benneteau
2013 Champion: Albert Montanes
Despite the withdrawal of Milos Raonic following his exploits in Rome this week, there's sure to be plenty of big serving in Nice with John Isner and Ernests Gulbis among the top seeds. Isner in particular will be looking to build some momentum ahead of the French Open, having won just two of his five clay court matches this year, he'll be looking for a second title in 2014.
Gilles Simon, Nicolas Mahut and Julien Benneteau, who is still yet to win a title on the ATP World Tour, represent the home crowds best hopes of a home grown champion at a tournament which returned to the tour in 2010. Simon will be looking to build on the performance that saw him seriously threaten Rafael Nadal in the early stages of the Rome Masters to compete for the trophy in his city of birth.
Albert Montanes returns to Nice aiming to emulate his title-winning run from last year, which saw him pick up his 6th tour-level success and his first since 2010, Gael Monfils his victim in the final. All of the Spaniards tournament wins have come on clay, and this will be his 8th tournament on the surface this year.
Dark horses for a deep run at l'Open de Nice Côte d'Azur include Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Carlos Berlocq, who have each won clay court titles at the 250 level already this year, in Casablanca and Oeiras respectively.
Dusseldorf
Seeds: Philipp Kohlschreiber, Marcel Granollers, Andreas Seppi, Joao Sousa, Yen-Hsun Lu, Jarkko Nieminen, Ivo Karlovic, Igor Sijsling
2013 Champion: Juan Monaco
New to the tour in 2013, the Düsseldorf Open saw Juan Monaco take his only title of the year, defeating Jarkko Nieminen in a straight sets final. Both players return in 2014 and will be hoping to be around again come the weekend. The defending champion will open his title defence against Benjamin Becker, with the winner of that clash facing 2nd seed Marcel Granollers in the second round.
Elsewhere in the draw, rising stars Jiri Vesely and Pablo Carreno Busta will be looking to enhance their reputations with strong performances, and Jurgen Melzer will be looking to build on the form that saw him overcome John Isner and Marin Cilic in Rome.
Top seed Philipp Kohlschreiber will be looking for his first title in over two years on home turf. The 30-year old has won three of his four tour-level championships in Germany, twice succeeding on the clay in Munich. He fell at the first hurdle last year, losing in three sets to this year's 8th seed Igor Sijsling. Kohlschreiber is joined by compatriots Dustin Brown and Tobias Kamke in the draw this year, who both received wildcard entries.
For blog updates and tennis tweets, follow @TennisFanatic7 on Twitter, thanks for reading!
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