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After a fortnight of major action at Wimbledon, the 2023 season rolls on with Bastad, Gstaad and Newport hosting ATP 250 events from 17-23 July.
Casper Ruud leads the field at the Nordea Open, where Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev will also be competing on the Bastad clay. Roberto Bautista Agut is the top seed at another clay event, the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad, which also features home favourite Stan Wawrinka and former champion Dominic Thiem.
Newport, Rhode Island plays host to the final grass-court action of the 2023 season. Home favourite Tommy Paul is the top seed at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open, where Maxime Cressy is the defending champion and Kevin Anderson makes his return from retirement.
ATPTour.com looks ahead at five things to watch at each event.
View Draws: Bastad | Gstaad | Newport
FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN BASTAD
1) Ruud Top Seed: The World No. 4 Ruud returns to the Nordea Open looking to bounce back from his second-round exit at Wimbledon. The Norwegian will compete in familiar surroundings in Bastad, where he lifted the trophy in 2021. Ruud’s first match on clay since the Roland Garros final will be against Juan Manuel Cerundolo or Alexander Shevchenko.
2) Rublev Returns: Rublev reached the semi-finals on his Bastad debut in 2022 and the World No. 7 returns as the second seed in Sweden. The 25-year-old is 35-14 for the year after reaching his maiden Wimbledon quarter-final and has enjoyed plenty of success on clay in 2023, including lifting his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown in April in Monte-Carlo.
3) Musetti, Zverev Feature: Lorenzo Musetti chases his first Bastad match win in three appearances, and the 21-year-old Italian faces a tough opening test against Emil Ruusuvuori or his in-form countryman Matteo Arnaldi. A stacked field also features former World No. 2 Zverev, who returns to the ATP 250 for the first time since he reached the semi-finals in 2015.
4) Cerundolo Defends Title: The unseeded Francisco Cerundolo charged to his maiden ATP Tour crown last year with a string of big-hitting performances in Bastad. The 24-year-old returns as the fourth seed in Sweden, where he is looking to maintain his form after he lifted his first tour-level grass title two weeks ago in Eastbourne.
5) Martin/Mies Lead Doubles Draw: Fabrice Martin and Andreas Mies are the top-seeded doubles team on the Swedish coast, where their rivals include 2021 winners Sander Arends/David Pel and second seeds Sander Gille/Joran Vliegen, who triumphed in 2019. Third seeds Alexander Erler/Lucas Miedler seek their third ATP Tour crown of the season.
FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN GSTAAD
1) Bautista Agut, Kecmanovic Lead Field: Roberto Bautista Agut was a 2018 finalist at the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad but has won just one match in three subsequent appearances. The Spaniard will hope to be inspired by the stunning Alpine setting for the clay-court ATP 250, where Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic is the second seed.
2) Home Favourite Wawrinka: The former World No. 3 Wawrinka competes in Gstaad for the first time in 10 years. The 38-year-old, who lost to Gaston Gaudio in the 2005 final and holds a 9-10 record at the event, arrives in his homeland off the back of a third-round run at Wimbledon.
3) Thiem Chases Second Gstaad Title: Dominic Thiem enters Gstaad chasing his first tour-level win since April in Madrid. The Austrian, who lifted the title in the Swiss Alps in 2015, is 7-15 for the year, but showed signs of his best form two weeks ago by pushing Stefanos Tsitsipas to five sets at Wimbledon. Thiem’s first-round opponent is Alexandre Muller.
4) #NextGenATP Battle: Arthur Fils and home wild card Dominic Stricker meet in an exciting first-round clash in Switzerland. The 19-year-old Frenchman Fils is fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race, while 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals semi-finalist Stricker is seventh. It will be the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.
5) Swiss Dream Team: Stricker and Wawrinka bring two generations of Swiss talent together in one doubles team for home fans in Gstaad. The duo competes as a wild card duo in a draw that is led by top seeds Marcelo Demoliner/Matwe Middelkoop and second seeds Sadio Doumbia/Fabien Reboul.
FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN NEWPORT
1) Home Favourite Paul Leads Field: The 26-year-old Paul makes his Infosys Hall of Fame Open debut as the top seed. The American reached a championship match on grass in Eastbourne two weeks ago before advancing to the third round at Wimbledon. He is aiming to become the 10th American champion in the past 14 editions of the ATP 250 event.
2) Cressy Defends Crown: The most recent of those home winners is Cressy, who recovered from 2-6, 0-3 to down Alexander Bublik and triumph in last year’s final. The 26-year-old will hope to deploy his renowned serve-and-volley game to great effect again as he looks to turn around his 2023 season.
3) Anderson Returns From Retirement: Another former Newport champion, Kevin Anderson, comes out of retirement to compete as a wild card in Rhode Island. The South African, who lifted the trophy in 2021, announced his comeback to the ATP Tour earlier this month, having initially retired last May. The 37-year-old Anderson is a seven-time tour-level champion.
Kevin Anderson To Return From Retirement In Newport
4) Isner Chases Fifth Newport Crown: John Isner holds a 25-6 record in Newport, where he lifted the trophy in 2011, 2012, 2017 and 2019, and the big-serving American returns in pursuit of a record-extending fifth crown at the ATP 250. Other Americans in the field include Mackenzie McDonald, Michael Mmoh and 2018 champion Steve Johnson.
5) Lammons/Withrow Top Seeds: Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow chase their second ATP Tour title together as the top seeds in Newport. Their rivals on the Rhode Island grass include Adrian Mannarino/Jordan Thompson and Julian Cash/Maxime Cressy, while William Blumberg, who lifted the trophy with Jack Sock in 2021 and Steve Johnson in 2022, plays alongside Max Purcell.
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