Houston Claycourt Championships 2022: Draw Preview and Prediction
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Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka - Top 3 seeds of the Houston Claycourt Championships 2022
Houston Claycourt Championships 2022 returns to the ATP Tour after a gap of two years with both the 2020 and 2021 editions being cancelled due to the Pandemic. It will be the 52nd edition of the tournament that began in 1910. It is the only Tour-level Clay tournament to be held in the USA.
Tournament Details:
- Tournament: Houston Claycourt Championships 2022
- Date: April 4 – April 10
- Number of Entrants: 28 (Singles), 16 (Doubles)
- Venue: River Oaks Country Club, Houston
- Surface: Clay Court
- Prize Money: $665,330
- Defending Champion: Cristian Garin
Top Seeds
- Casper Ruud
- Taylor Fritz
- Reilly Opelka
- John Isner
- Cristian Garin
- Frances Tiafoe
- Tommy Paul
- Jenson Brooksby
Men’s Singles Draw Analysis and Prediction
Top Half
Top-seed Casper Ruud gets a bye in the first round and will play the winner of the clash between Daniel Elahi Galan and American veteran Sam Querrey. Wildcard entrant Nick Kyrgios starts against Mackenzie McDonald with the winner set to take on the winner between Peter Gojowczyk and 7th seeded Tommy Paul.
3rd seeded Reilly Opelka advances into the second round with a bye and is likely to take on Juan Pablo Varillas who awaits a qualifier. Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez also awaits a qualifier and the winner will take on the victorious player from the all-American clash between J.J. Wolf and Jenson Brooksby.
First Semi-Final Prediction: Casper Ruud vs Reilly Opelka
Bottom Half
6th seeded Frances Tiafoe starts against compatriot Marcos Giron with the winner to meet Pablo Cuevas who awaits a qualifier in the first round. Americans Denis Kudla and Steve Johnson will begin against each other and the winner will take on 4th seeded John Isner who advances into the second round with a bye.
2nd seeded Taylor Fritz with a first-round bye is into the second round and is likely to take on Alejandro Tabilo who will be the favourite against the qualifier who is yet to be confirmed. Jordan Thompson will also take on a qualifier in the first round with the winner set to take on the winner from the match between defending champion and the 5th seeded Cristian Garin and wildcard entrant Jack Sock.
Second Semi-Final Prediction: Taylor Fritz vs Cristian Garin
Semifinals
Ruud and Opelka have met four times so far with Ruud winning 3 of those matches. Ruud has been fantastic on the surface in the last season and it will be difficult for Opelka to overcome the Norwegian. Similar could be the story between Garin and Fritz as the Chilean is better suited to the surface as compared to the in-form American who recently made his Top-15 debut.
Houston Claycourt Championships 2022 Final: Casper Ruud vs Cristian Garin
Final
In a repeat of the 2019 finals, Ruud and Garin could meet again which will be their fourth meeting. While Garin leads the head-to-head against Casper, it seems to be the perfect time for Ruud to take revenge and settle the score with the Chilean.
Champion: Casper Ruud
Also Read: ‘Delayed start on Clay’ World No.1 Iga Swiatek withdraws from the WTA-500 Charleston Open 2022
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)