The 2017 edition of the Stockholm Open is one of multiple ATP tournaments going on next week. Moscow is one, the event in Antwerp, Belgium (replacing the one in Valencia, Spain), another. Which indoor venue and which field appealed the most to second-level ATP players trying to score some rankings points and some money before the final Masters event in Paris-Bercy? Let’s see which players are able to take advantage of a small field and perhaps fatigue from other opponents late in the tennis season. We’re not expecting to see any stars in this field as most of the big names are taking it easy to end the year. That means we’re look at guys like Grigor Dimitrov and Kevin Anderson as the favorites to win this event. The competition in the 28-player main draw begins on Monday, October 16.
Event Details
Event: Stockholm Open
Category: ATP World Tour – 250 Series
Date: October 16-22, 2017
Location: Kungliga Tennishallen – Stockholm, Sweden
With a prize money allotment of just over 589,000 Euros, the Stockholm Open has – like the companion ATP 250 event in Antwerp, Belgium, this week – grown in prize money by 23,000 Euros. It’s a competitive prize handout for an event whose central stadium court is relatively small. Obviously, the prize is to attract some of the bigger names but it hasn’t exactly worked.
Points
Champion – 250
Runner-up – 150
Semifinal – 90
Quarterfinal – 45
Former Champions and Results (5 Years)
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2016: Juan Martin del Potro def. Jack Sock – 7-5, 6-1
2015: Tomas Berdych def. Jack Sock – 7-6(1), 6-2
2014: Tomas Berdych def. Grigor Dimitrov – 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
2013: Grigor Dimitrov def. David Ferrer – 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
2012: Tomas Berdych def. Jo-Wilfred Tsonga – 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
Player Info:
Grigor Dimitrov defeated Juan Martin del Potro in Beijing as the lead-in to the Shanghai Masters. He is trying to rebound from a miserable U.S. Open, and so far, he is doing just that. Dimitrov won his first Masters 1000 title this year in Cincinnati. It is important for him to back up that result with good tennis in the final weeks of the 2017 season. He’s been fairly reliable on the hard courts this season, posting a record of 24-8. He’s just 4-5 on clay, though, and 6-3 on grass. Clearly, the hard courts are his favorite surface.
Kevin Anderson bombed out early in Tokyo, losing in his second match of the tournament. Anderson is in the hunt for a spot in the ATP World Tour Finals, hovering near the eighth and final spot. Shanghai is a very important October tournament, but Stockholm represents a chance to get more points. A semifinal or final could mean the difference between qualifying for London and falling just short.
Jack Sock dragged himself through a summer in which he had very little good tennis in him. He seemed exhausted in Cincinnati and did not fare any better at the U.S. Open. Sock nearly defeated Rafael Nadal in singles at the new Laver Cup event and won doubles matches against elite players. He is capable of playing really well, but doesn’t always show how good he can be.
Juan Martin del Potro lost to Dimitrov in Cincinnati and more recently in Beijing. If he meets Dimitrov again in Sweden, he hopes to be ready. Del Potro made the U.S. Open semifinals but has not been able to do anything similar in the early stages of the autumn hardcourt season. A good result here would provide an emotional boost heading into Bercy, which will be his final event of 2017. Del Potro has had a strong campaign so far, going 28-14 overall. That includes a 20-10 record on the hard courts while going just 7-3 on clay and 1-1 on grass. The hard courts are where he really shines due to his big servers and groundstrokes. He could make a run this week.
Kungliga Tennishallen
The Stockholm Open was founded in 1969, and this facility, with a 5,000-seat stadium court, was built in 1945 and has been a mainstay of indoor tennis in autumn on the ATP World Tour. This venue is famous for having hosted a fight with former world heavyweight champion Ingemar Johansson. It also hosted the 1975 Davis Cup Final between Sweden and what was then called Czechoslovakia.
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