Watch List: Nadal returns to action in Hamburg; Isner leads Atlanta field
The Watch List highlights the must-know storylines for the upcoming week in tennis. Rafael Nadal returns to action after his early loss at Wimbledon as the top seed in Hamburg, Germany, while John Isner leads the field on the hard courts in Atlanta. Jelena Jankovic is also in action in Nanchang, China, as the No. 1 seed.
bet-at-home OPEN (Hamburg, Germany)
After being upset at Wimbledon by Dustin Brown, Rafael Nadal is back in action as the No. 1 seed on the red clay in Hamburg after taking a wildcard into the event he won back in 2008. In his opening match on Tuesday, he topped Fernando Verdasco 3–6, 6–1, 6–1 to advance to the second round. Tommy Robredo, Roberto Bautista Agut, Andreas Seppi and Pablo Cuevas round out the top five seeds. Nadal also teamed up with countryman Jaume Munar to play doubles, but the pair was knocked out by the tournament’s top seeds Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini in their opener on Monday.
Roddick takes break from retirement to play doubles
Swiss Open Gstaad (Gstaad, Switzerland)
David Goffin is making his debut in Gstaad as the top seed after Stan Wawrinka pulled out of the event. Other notable seeds include Dominic Thiem, who is coming off a title at the Croatia Open, Feliciano Lopez, two-time Gstaad winner (2009, ’12) Thomaz Bellucci and 2015 Umag finalist Joao Sousa.
BB&T Atlanta Open (Atlanta, Georgia)
The summer hard court swing begins in Atlanta and top seed John Isner leads the field as the tournament’s reigning champ. Former champion Mardy Fish will play in his first tournament since March in Indian Wells after announcing last week that he will finish his career at this year’s U.S. Open. Fish is also playing doubles with Andy Roddick, who is taking a break from retirement to play in Atlanta. Fish and Roddick have a 19-6 career record together, with their last match coming in 2012 in Indian Wells. VasekPospisil, Jack Sock and Adrian Mannarino round out the top four seeds and all received a bye into the second round. Americans Ryan Harrison and Frances Tiafoe also received wildcards into the tournament, while Sam Groth, Steve Johnson, Gilles Muller and Benjamin Becker are also in action.
Serena Williams can join elite group of only five calendar Grand Slam winners
Brasil Tennis Cup (Florianopolis, Brazil)
Germany’s Tatjana Maria is the No. 1 seed on the red clay in Florianopolis. Ajla Tomljanovic, Annika Beck, Teliana Pereira and Bethanie Mattek-Sands rounding out the top five. Last year’s champion Elina Svitolina is not in the field and there are no top 50 players participating in the tournament.
Jiangxi Women's Open (Nanchang, China)
World No. 25 Jelena Jankovic took a wildcard into the event in Nanchang, China, and is the top seed of the tournament, in its second year. China’s Peng Shuai won the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2014. Rounding out the seeds are Zheng Saisai, Wang Qiang, Hsieh Su-Wei and Duan Ying-Ying.
Baku Cup (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is seeded No. 1 at the Baku Cup and won her opening match against Russia’s Elizaveta Kulichkova. Karin Knapp, Dominika Cibulkova, Kurumi Nara and Bojana Jovanovski round out the top five seeds. Other notable players in the field include Vitalia Diatchenko, Francesca Schiavone, Danka Kovinic and Kirsten Flipkens.
