Sergiy Stakhovsky is a threat on grass in Newport this week
After a profitable tournament at Wimbledon, tennis expert Sean Calvert is staying with the grass for this week's tournament preview at the Hall of Fame Championships in Newport, USA...
The grass court season has a little bit of life left in it yet, as the players head to Newport, Rhode Island in week 28 of the ATP World Tour.
We have three ATP 250 events this week and I like to stick with the grass and take an in-depth look at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.
It's a bit of a throwback to traditional grass-court tennis in Newport, with three quick, low-bouncing courts next to each other, no hawk-eye in operation and it's a good test for the players.
Winners here in recent years have included John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, while Lleyton Hewitt has been runner-up for the past couple of years.
For many years there was a 'Casino Curse' on the tournament, whereby no top seed could win it, but that's been banished and number one seed this year is Isner, who's looking for a third Newport title.
The big man is drawn in the top half alongside Jack Sock, Hewitt, Marius Copil, and Steve Johnson, while the bottom half has Mahut, Donald Young, Sam Groth, Adrian Mannarino, Ivo Karlovic and Sergiy Stakhovsky.
It reads like a who's who of the game's biggest servers and as ever it's a wide-open tournament.
Isner will start his tournament against a qualifier and in the qualies draw the likes of Ante Pavic and Luke Saville could be dangerous in these conditions, but Big John has a 13-3 record here and will surely go far again this time around.
He's too short for my liking at 2.75n/a though and Grand Slam winner Sock might have something to say about matters if and when they meet in the quarter finals.
Sock teamed up with Vasek Pospisil to land the Men's Doubles title at Wimbledon and boosted by that he could go on a good run here, although fatigue will be an issue and he faces a tough opener.
Jack faces another big server in Alex Kuznetsov and Hewitt won't mind his draw in the adjacent quarter to Isner, with Johnson, Ryan Harrison and not a lot else for company.
Hewitt looks a little bit on the past-it side to me though this grass swing and 7.06/1 doesn't really appeal and indeed I would prefer Johnson at 17.016/1 in the top half.
Johnson has done okay on the grass this swing and has had some tough draws against Gilles Muller, Kei Nishikori, Mahut and Rosmalen winner Roberto Bautista-Agut.
He defeated big serving Kenny de Schepper and Albano Olivetti in straight sets on the grass and looks the pick of the prices in the top half.
The bottom half is where Groth looks very interesting on this surface, with the Aussie a dangerous outsider at 51n/a if he can get past Young in round one.
'The Don' is hardly a lover of the grass, having compiled a 5-13 record at main level and a 2-3 record here at Newport and Groth has a good chance there.
If he can beat Young he will probably encounter serving contests with the likes of Mahut and Karlovic later on and with a delivery like his Groth has to have shot.
Ivo and Nico will of course be very tough opponents, but the Frenchman's record here isn't that great, with a 15-7 mark and Karlovic has played here just once in the past, losing in the quarters last year to Isner.
I make the pair too short and Stakhovsky could well prove a better choice.
The Ukrainian has wins over the likes of Isner, Mahut and Karlovic, is effective on grass, where he uses the old fashioned serve and volley style and gets the pick over Groth.
Others in the bottom half of the draw include Jimmy Wang and Dudi Sela, but the diminutive pair have their work cut out against the bigger guys.
Wang's Wimbledon thrashing by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga indicates a problem against big servers, while Sela was beaten in straight sets by Mikhail Kukushkin, which hardly makes the Israeli one for the short list either.
Recommended Bets (both Cash Out wagers)
Back Stakhovsky at 21.020/1
Back Johnson at 17.016/1
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