Another classic lineup
The women’s final might be taking the limelight at the ASB Classic today, but the men are already in Auckland ready for their tournament. Tennis writer casts his eye over the eight seeded players for the men’s draw.
1 Fabio Fognini (main image)
Ranked: Career high: 9 Age: 32 Nationality: Italy Career prize money: $21,472,006 ASB Classic best result: Quarterfinal (2016). Fognini is one of the great entertainers in men’s tennis. but he can also get himself into hot water. That happened during a match at Wimbledon last year he yelled out ‘‘I wish a bomb would explode on this club!’’ If he can control his temper he’ll definitely be one to watch this week.
2 Denis Shapovalov
Ranked: Career high: 14 Age: Nationality: Canada Career prize money: $6,800,693 ASB Classic best result: Second round (2018). Shapovalov has continued his steady rise and comes to Auckland with a career high ranking. At the ATP Cup in Brisbane last week he crushed Alexander Zverev 6-2 6-2 and earlier in that tournament beat Stefanos Tsitsipas. He’s never done well at the Classic, but that could change this time.
3 Karen Khachanov
Ranked: Career high: 8 Age: Nationality: Russia Career prize money: $11,437,896 ASB Classic best result: Quarterfinal (2018). After an incredible 2018 where he won three titles, including the Paris Masters, 2019 was a bit of a down year for the young Russian. He failed to win any tournaments, but he did have his best result in a grand slam, reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros.
4 John Isner
Ranked: Career high: Age: 34 Nationality: USA Career prize money: $27,985,213 ASB Classic best result: Winner (2010, 2014). Isner is coming towards the end of his career, but for as long as he can keep on sending down that big serve he’ll be effective. Isner has been a regular at the Classic during his career, but it has been a long time since he won the tournament, and the last time he won a match in Auckland was in 2017.
5 Benoit Paire
Ranked: Career high: Age: Nationality: France Career prize money: $11,656,869 ASB Classic best result: Quarterfinal (2012). Paire plays with such a casual attitude on court, it can look like he’s tanking his match at times. But when he’s on, Paire can be thrilling to watch. and he’ll pull out bizarre shots that other players would never consider. The big question is which Paire will turn up in Auckland this week.
6 Hubert Hurkacz
Ranked: Career high: Age: 22 Nationality:
Poland Career prize money: $2,645,108 ASB Classic best result: N/A. Hurkacz is one of the up-and-comers on the men’s circuit, but New Zealand tennis fans could be forgiven for knowing little about him. So here goes, last year he reached the quarterfinals at Indian Wells and also won his first ATP title, triumphing at Winston-Salem, where he beat Paire in the final.
7 Adrian Mannarino
Ranked: Career high: 22 Age: Nationality: France Career prize money: $10,590,366 ASB Classic best result: Final (2015). Mannarino has only been back to Auckland once since he lost to Jiri Yesely in the final five years ago, and that time he lost in the first round to Marcos Baghdatis. Mannarino had a patchy 2019, lots of first-round exits, but also won the s-Hertogenbosch tournament and made two other finals.
8 Radu Albot
Ranked: Career high: 39 Age: 30 Nationality: Moldova Career prize money: $4,716,484. ASB Classic best result: First round (2018). Albot became a seed when Daniil Medvedev pulled out on Friday night. He has been to Auckland once before, in 2018 when he came through qualifying but lost in the first round of the main draw to Jiri Vesely. He recently played in the ATP Cup where he lost to David Goffin, Grigor Dimitrov and Dan Evans.