The 2016 Geneva Open is a re-created event. There once was a Geneva ATP Tour stop through 1980 through 1991, but after 12 years, the event died. No tour-level event was played in the Swiss city from 1992 through 2014. The event returned last year, leading Stan Wawrinka to participate. Wawrinka did not win the event. He lost in the quarterfinals in what seemed like a disappointing moment at the time. However, Wawrinka rebounded to win the French Open and deny Novak Djokovic the Grand Slam in 2015. Will anyone from the Geneva Open play really well in Paris this spring?
The competition in the 28-player main draw begins on Sunday, May 15.
Event Details
Event: Geneva Open
Category: ATP 250 Series
Date: May 15 – 21, 2016
Location: Tennis Club de Geneve – Geneva, Switzerland
The 2016 Geneva Open, as a tournament which is relatively new – in its second edition after being nonexistent for 23 years – commands a little more money than the other ATP 250 event next week in Nice, France. The Nice Open is a 450,000 Euro event. This event’s prize money in Switzerland is just under 500,000 Euros (499,645).
The points structure in a 250-point tournament offers 250 points towards the winner’s ranking. A runner-up finish is worth 150 points. A semifinal result is 90 points, and a quarterfinal appearance offers 45 points.
Former Champions and Results
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2015 – Thomaz Bellucci def. Joao Sousa – 7-6, 6-4
(Event not held from 1992 through 2014)
Player Info:
The top seed is Stan Wawrinka, back again after his disappointing 2015 showing. Remember, though, that Wawrinka’s early loss last year did not hurt his performance in France. In fact, he might be thinking that it’s a good luck charm for him to come back to Switzerland before going to Roland Garros. Wawrinka is also probably entering this event because, with a 28-player field, the top four seeds get byes. Wawrinka might think he won’t have to play more than eight sets in this tournament, which – if he pulls it off – really wouldn’t be that disruptive a lead-in to the French Open.
The second seed is David Ferrer, who lost to Lucas Pouille in the round of 16 in Rome. His year has been a struggle, so he’s trying to get some match play and some momentum before Paris.
The third seed is Marin Cilic, who has been a non-factor on tour this year and is still trying to show that his 2014 U.S. Open title was not a fluke.
The fourth seed and the owner of the final first-round bye is John Isner, whose kick serve on clay can cause problems. He needs that shot to work whenever he plays on clay. Remember that this is a player that relies heavily on power ground strokes and power shots, and that is usually minimized on clay. He can overpower some players on this surface but usually, he’s much more successful on the hard court surface. For example, he’s 10-7 on the tour this year overall in tennis events, he’s 8-4 on the hard court and just 2-3 on clay. That gives you a clear indication that he’s not as strong on this surface and is likely worth avoiding as someone for tennis futures.
The fifth seed is Philipp Kohlschreiber. Federico Delbonis is sixth. Delbonis is one of the players in this group that does thrive on clay. He is 19-10 overall this season but just 7-4 on the hard courts compared to 12-6 on clay.
Steve Johnson is seventh, and Sam Querrey is eighth. Querrey is someone who is similar to Isner in the sense that he does perform better when he’s playing on the hard courts. However, he has improved over the years on clay. He is 4-3 on clay this season and was 6-5 on clay last year. However, he’s 10-5 on the hard courts this year, so you can see that that’s the surface where he’d rather be playing.
Tennis Club de Geneve
The facility wasn’t able to host an ATP Tour-level event for more than two decades, so the return of the Geneva Open in 2015 marked a very special occasion for this tennis complex, once again part of regular life on the ATP Tour.
