Ricky’s picks for this week’s ATP 250 tournaments in Seoul, Sofia, and Tel Aviv

By Ricky Dimon

The Laver Cup has come and gone, and now the ATP fall swing continues in Seoul, Sofia, and Tel Aviv. They’re a trio of 250 tournaments earlier than the schedule finally heats again up with some 500s, a Masters 1000 in Paris, and at last the Nitto ATP Finals and Davis Cup Finals.

Listed below are my picks for this week’s occasions:

Korea Open

The place: Seoul, South Korea
Floor: Arduous
Factors: 250
Prize Cash: $1,117,930
Prime seed: Casper Ruud
Defending champion: Inaugural occasion

It is a time of yr when a whole lot of gamers don’t actually care an excessive amount of, however Taylor Fritz will probably be motivated as a result of he’s in rivalry for a first-ever look on the Nitto ATP Finals. Denis Shapovalov confirmed indicators of life on the U.S. Open, so he could possibly be getting again on observe.

Quarterfinal picks: Casper Ruud over Yoshihito Nishioka, Taylor Fritz over Chun Hsin Tseng, Denis Shapovalov over Radu Albot, and Cameron Norrie over Soonwoo Kwon

Semifinals: Fritz over Ruud and Shapovalov over Norrie

Closing: Fritz over Shapovalov

Sofia Open

The place: Sofia, Bulgaria
Floor: Indoor laborious
Factors: 250
Prize Cash: 534,555 Euros
Prime seed: Jannik Sinner
Defending champion: Jannik Sinner

Jannik Sinner is the two-time defending champion in Sofia and he must be thought-about the favourite to triumph as soon as once more. Nonetheless, he could possibly be challenged in a strong subject that additionally options Pablo Carreno Busta, Ilya Ivashka, Metz champion Lorenzo Sonego, and Bulgaria’s personal Grigor Dimitrov.

Quarterfinal picks: Jannik Sinner over Fabio Fognini, Ilya Ivashka over Lorenzo Sonego, Ugo Humbert over Lorenzo Musetti, and Pablo Carreno Busta over Oscar Otte

Semifinals: Sinner over Ivashka and Carreno Busta over Humbert

Closing: Carreno Busta over Sinner

Tel Aviv Open

The place: Tel Aviv, Israel
Floor: Indoor laborious
Factors: 250
Prize Cash: $949,475
Prime seed: Novak Djokovic
Defending champion: Inaugural occasion

Novak Djokovic is a little bit of a query mark after he regarded lower than one hundred pc due to an obvious wrist challenge throughout Sunday’s Laver Cup loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime. Nonetheless, the Serb ought to be capable to beat anybody on this subject if he’s anyplace near one hundred pc.

Quarterfinal picks: Novak Djokovic over Tallon Griekspoor, Arthur Rinderknech over Roman Safiullin, Sebastian Korda over Fixed Lestienne, and Marin Cilic over Botic van de Zandschulp

Semifinals: Djokovic over Rinderknech and Cilic over Korda

Closing: Djokovic over Cilic

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and in addition maintains his personal tennis web site, The Grandstand. You may observe him on twitter at @Dimonator.