Another three-tournament week on the ATP Tour offers action in Hamburg, Atlanta and Umag, where Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz and Stan Wawrinka will headline respectively.
Ruud is the top seed at the Hamburg European Open, an ATP 500 clay-court event, with Andrey Rublev and Lorenzo Musetti also in action. Fritz, Alex de Minaur and Ben Shelton play the court at the Atlanta Open, an ATP 250 hard-court tournament, while Wawrinka and Jiri Lehecka compete on clay at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag, an ATP 250.
ATPTour.com looks ahead to five things to watch at each event.
FIVE THINGS TO SEE IN HAMBURG
1) Top seed Ruud: World No. 4 Ruud leads the field in Hamburg as the top seed. The Norwegian, who has a 20-6 record on clay this season, will make his fourth appearance at the ATP 500 event in Germany, where he advanced to the semifinals in 2020. The 24-year-old, who is in the final in Båstad, is chasing his second tour-level title of the season, having won in April in Estor.
2) Defense champion Musetti: The Italian returns to Hamburg as defending champion after beating Carlos Alcaraz in a three-set final thriller 12 months ago. Musetti, whose best result this season was a semi-final appearance at the ATP 500 in Barcelona, arrives in Hamburg after a run to the last four in Bastad, an ATP 250.
3) Rublev second seed: Former champion Rublev arrives in Hamburg chasing his second crown of the season, having won the biggest title of his career in Monte-Carlo in April. The 25-year-old, who opens against Bernabe Zapata Miralles, lifted the trophy at the ATP 500 event in 2020 while reaching the final in 2019.
4) #NextGenATP stars in action: Frenchmen Arthur Fils and Luca Van Assche will both make their debut in Hamburg. The 19-year-old Fils, currently fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race, won his first tour-level crown on clay in Lyon earlier this year. Van Assche, 19, advanced to the second round in Bastad last week and lifted an ATP Challenger Tour title on clay in April.
5) Home favourites: The Germans Alexander Zverev, Yannick Hanfmann and Daniel Altmaier will bring hope home in Hamburg. Zverev advanced to the semi-finals at the ATP 500 in 2014 and in 2019, while Hanfmann enters after enjoying a career-best season. The 31-year-old reached the quarter-finals at the ATP Masters 1000 event on clay in Rome and the semi-finals in Santiago. Altmaier will aim to go beyond the first round in Hamburg for the first time in his fifth appearance.
FIVE THINGS TO SEE IN ATLANTA
1) Fritz leads the field: Fritz will try to recapture his best form when he competes in Atlanta. The American, who reached the title match at the ATP 250 hard-court event in 2019, has advanced to the quarter-finals in just one of his last five events. However, the 25-year-old has tasted success on hard courts this year, lifting his fifth tour-level trophy in Delray Beach.
2) Two-Time Titleist De Minaur: Australian De Minaur has fond memories in Atlanta, winning the title in 2019 and 2022. The 24-year-old is seeking his second trophy this season after winning the biggest trophy of his career on hard courts in Acapulco in March. De Minaur also advanced to the final at The Queen’s Club last month.
3) Glowing Eubanks: Home favorite Christopher Eubanks, who grew up in Atlanta, stepped into the spotlight at Wimbledon where he upset Top 15 stars Cameron Norrie and Stefanos Tsitsipas to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final. The 27-year-old American, who also won his first tour-level title in Mallorca earlier this month, will be hoping to continue his red-hot form when he makes his third appearance in Atlanta.
4) Shelton returns: The 20-year-old Shelton was ranked outside the Top 300 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings when he competed in Atlanta last year. The American returns this year at No.39 after enjoying a breakthrough to the quarter-finals at the Australian Open.
5) Mahut/Roger-Vasselin in Double Action: Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut/Edouard Roger-Vasselin lead the doubles field in Atlanta, where they will face competition from Jamie Murray/Michael Venus and Marcelo Melo/John Peers. Thanasi Kokkinakis, who won the doubles title with Nick Kyrgios last year, stays with Lloyd Harris.
FIVE THINGS TO SEE IN UMAG
1) Former Champion Wawrinka: Swiss star Wawrinka lifted his first tour-level trophy in Umag in 2006 and is back in competition for the first time since 2007. The 38-year-old’s best result on clay this season was a second-round appearance at Roland Garros.
2) Thiem Chasing Form: After a disappointing second-round defeat to Hamad Medjedovic in Gstaad last week, Thiem enters Umag aiming to turn a corner. The Austrian, currently 8-16 on the season, has previously enjoyed success at the clay-court event, winning the trophy in his only previous appearance in 2015.
3) Lehecka makes his debut: The 21-year-old is standing in Umag for the first time. The Czech star, who was runner-up at the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals, advanced to the third round on clay at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Monte-Carlo earlier this year. He arrives in Umag after a fourth round appearance at Wimbledon.
4) Cilic returns: Former world No. 3 Marin Cilic is competing for the first time since Pune in January. The Croatian, who has been out since the start of the year following knee surgery, will make his seventh appearance in Umag and the first since 2014, when he reached the semi-finals. The 34-year-old lifted the trophy at ATP 250 in 2012.
5) Defending double title list Bolelli returns: Simone Bolelli returns to Umag as defending champion. The Italian teamed up with Fabio Fognini last year but teams up with Andrea Vavassori this week. Czech Lehecka is teaming up with compatriot Roman Jebavy.