ATP Queens 2021 Preview and Picks

History

One of the oldest tournaments in the Tennis Calendar – the Queen’s Club Championships has been staged since 1890 or in other words 131 years ago.

Andy Murray has the most single titles here with 5 and a total of 6 if we add up his 1 double one. Also, worth to mention that 7 players has done the Queens + Wimbledon double with John Mcenroe (1981,1984) and Murray (2013,2016) doing that twice to separate them from the pack.

Feliciano Lopez Is the defending champion defeating Gilles Simon in an entertaining 3 set thriller in 2019. Simon decided to play the same week in Halle instead, but Lopez is back to try defending the crown.  

Favorites and Top Seeds

The event is couple of steps below comparing to Halle in Germany during the same week. Only 1 top 10 player in the face of Berrettini and a total of 3 from top 20.

Matteo is the top seed and has had good record on the green including runs to the Stuttgart title and a SF in Halle in 2019. His Wimbledon campaign was cut earlier by Federer in Wimbledon that year in the 4th round, but despite his limited experience due to only 24 matches played he does however hold a respectable 17-7 record with +15.5% ROI on the Moneyline.

Andy Murray is due to be back here for a single action for the first time since beginning of March. He was hampered by an groin injury and also felt some sort of discomfort while playing doubles in Rome and after which he decided he will skip the French Open to focus and prepare for the Grass season. He is Matteo’s potential 2rd round opponent if the Brit manages to get through Benoit Paire first. 5 time winner of the event it would be interesting to see where his preparation is.

Underdogs and Dark Horses

Reilly Opelka is the definite dark horse from the top part of the draw. The tall American has come a long way with a SF in Rome on clay and would surely look to achieve more on a surface where his blistering serve can do enough for him to snatch some tiebreaks and win against far better opponents. He is only 6-9 on the green but I will be in awe if he doesn’t manage to breakout soon, there is just too much potential in him not to.

Denis Shapovalov grass court game continues to suffer. His higher rank and getting him a much better draws doesn’t mean much on Grass, as often tall guys and green specialists are lurking in the draw looking to surprise. That’s exactly what happened last week in Stuttgart where he had to start against Feliciano Lopez, who he barely beat, only to have Marin Cilic next which led to early exit. Feliciano who is the defending champ here, is Denis possible 2-nd round opponent.

Bottom part of the draw is a complete fog for me, we have a mix of players who just don’t have grass game with such as Lopez who is far from his prime, so treat carefully.   

Picks

Matteo Berrettini is the favorite from the top part of the draw, but he doesn’t carry much value so I would suggest risking on Opelka with maybe Cameron Norrie coming up from the bottom part where is anyone’s guess who will advance.