Tennis expert Andy Schooler delivers his betting preview of this week’s action on the ATP Tour with events taking place in Stuttgart and Den Bosch.

 

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Stuttgart, Germany (outdoor grass)

The ATP Tour moves onto the grass this week and while the lead-up to Wimbledon always begins with a fairly low-key start these days, three of the new top 10 will be in action this week as they shake the clay away and start afresh.

The Stuttgart tournament used to be held on the red stuff but this is now its fifth green year. Roger Federer won last year and Rafael Nadal is a former champion but neither is in attendance this season.

Instead, Alex Zverev heads the field having requested another wild card. He’s taken a few of those this season in a bid to play himself back into form.

It’s had limited success but the German did show improvement at the French Open where he battled his way to the quarter-finals only to surrender rather meekly to Novak Djokovic.

 

He’s twice made grasscourt finals (both times in Halle) but is yet to claim a title on the surface and given what I’ve seen of him this season I’m not tempted to back him as the 4/1 favourite, even if coach Ivan Lendl will be will him this week.

As with Zverev, it is possible to make a case for a number of those towards the head of the market but none convinces me to bet on them.

Daniil Medvedev comes closest after an impressive season to date. He’s claimed some decent results on the grass in the past, including beating Stan Wawrinka at Wimbledon and reaching he Eastbourne semis, but frankly I’d prefer to look for something bigger than 6/1.

 

Philipp Kohlschreiber

That comes in the shape of Philipp Kohlschreiber, the veteran German who likes the grass and often plays his best tennis on home soil.

His form may not be sensational (it’s also far from awful) but the fact that he’s in the top 10 this season for service games won.

Odds are correct at the time of posting

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