Tennis - ATP & WTA Schedule: Queen's, Halle, Berlin, Birmingham... Discover the Tournaments of the Week and Our Favorites!
by Tyler Doty | by Tyler Doty
It's time for a new week of preparation for the biggest grass-court tournament of the year, for which you can already find our Wimbledon predictions. Last week brought us a good dose of surprises we could be in for a few more with these pre-Wimbledon grass tournaments! The schedule is packed with 4 tournaments and loads stars on the courts!
ATP Queen’s: Alcaraz defends his title!
Queen’s is one of the most beautiful tournaments of the season. On absolutely magnificent grass courts, 32 players will compete for the title. For this edition, we have a well-filled draw with the presence of players like Carlos Alcaraz, Grigor Dimitrov, and Alex De Minaur.
The main favorite for this tournament is none other than the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. The young prodigy is brimming with confidence after his success at Roland Garros. After a week of rest, the world number 2 is back in action and will face tough competition. He will likely encounter Jack Draper and Alex De Minaur along the way, both of whom won titles last week in Stuttgart and 's-Hertogenbosch, respectively.
Despite this, the Spaniard has a good chance of winning. He won all 12 matches he played on grass last year.
Our ATP Queen’s prediction: Carlos Alcaraz to win the tournament!
ATP Halle: Sinner vs. Zverev, a major clash ahead?
For the 2024 Halle tournament, we will see the cream of the world's tennis crop, with numerous top 10 players participating. Throughout the week, there will be major clashes with 8 players from the top 20. Headlining the event are Jannik Sinner, the top seed, and Alexander Zverev, the number 2 seed.
Last year, Alexander Bublik caused an upset by winning the tournament, defeating 4 seeded players, including Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev, and... Jannik Sinner. Quite a week, right? Will he pull off the same feat this year? It's much less certain. In fact, he retired last week against Lorenzo Musetti.
There are many good players this week, and it's challenging to predict who will stand out... Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner can be considered favorites based on their recent results on grass. Both players were very effective on this surface last season. Daniil Medvedev stumbled in the Wimbledon semifinals against Carlos Alcaraz. Meanwhile, the world number 1 lost to Novak Djokovic in 3 sets. However, these two players are in the same section of the draw and could therefore meet in the semifinals.
There are also a good number of dark horses for this edition. Naturally, we think of Andrey Rublev, last year's finalist in this tournament, and Hubert Hurkacz, who performs very well on this surface. However, we advise against betting on Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Alexander Bublik. The Kazakh is injured and may not be in top form. Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas are not necessarily very comfortable on grass. Their playing style and physicality are not necessarily the best suited for this surface.
Our ATP Halle 2024 prediction: Jannik Sinner to win the tournament!
WTA Berlin: Vondrousova back in action!
This WTA tournament in Berlin is an excellent preparation for Wimbledon. Many top 20 players are competing, promising us an exciting tournament! We can count on the presence of Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, and Elena Rybakina. We will also see the performances of the last Wimbledon champion, Marketa Vondrousova, who is the fifth seed in this tournament.
The Czech player has many points to defend in the coming weeks and will need to gain as much confidence as possible during this first preparation tournament. As good news never comes alone, we will also witness a big clash in the first round between Naomi Osaka and Qinwen Zheng (6). Will the Japanese player continue her climb up the rankings? It will be interesting to follow!
It's challenging to predict the winner of this tournament given the number of excellent players in the draw. Nonetheless, we give a slight edge to Aryna Sabalenka and Marketa Vondrousova. The Belarusian performs well on grass and notably reached the Wimbledon semifinals last season.
However, the world number 3 has never won a title on this surface. At the same time, how can we not consider last year's Wimbledon champion a favorite? The Czech player is confident after a good tournament at the French Open and could very well continue this week.
Our WTA Berlin 2024 prediction: Aryna Sabalenka to reach the final.
WTA Birmingham: Ostapenko the big favorite for the Birmingham tournament!
This Birmingham tournament is a bit less attractive with only one top 20 player (Ostapenko, who is ranked 13th). However, this allows for a relatively open draw, and we might witness some exciting surprises. Jelena Ostapenko, the defending champion, will be the clear favorite in this tournament and will benefit from a draw without too many major difficulties. Despite this, the Latvian is not at her best lately and lost in the second round of the French Open.
Therefore, this tournament will be a great opportunity for her to bounce back. We know that the world number 13 is very inconsistent and capable of both the best and the worst, especially when it comes to serving. Karolina Pliskova, the former world number 1, also has a good chance in this tournament. The Czech player has experienced difficult months with numerous underperformances. However, last week she reached the final of the Nottingham tournament. With regained confidence, we know that the Czech player can be very dangerous.
Our WTA Birmingham 2024 prediction: Jelena Ostapenko to win the tournament!
