The 2016 Ricoh Open is one of the tournaments (there’s another one in Stuttgart, Germany) which begins the short grass-court season before Wimbledon in late June. This tournament used to be played the week before Wimbledon, but when the tennis calendar created a three-week gap between the French Open and Wimbledon (which used to be a two-week gap), the tournament in s-Hertogenbosch (or Den Bosch) moved up a few weeks. It should attract a better field of players as a result. We’re in Wimbledon prep season here, so you’ll want to keep a close eye as to who is in form and who is struggling. Anyone who shows poorly here is a player that is likely to be very vulnerable to an upset early at the third grand slam of the season.
The competition in the 28-player main draw begins on Monday, June 6.
Event Details
Event: Ricoh Open
Category: ATP 250 Series
Date: June 6 – 12, 2016
Location: Autotron Park – Rosmalen, The Netherlands
The 2016 Ricoh Open, is a 566,525 Euro event. This event’s prize money is a little higher than the amount for the final 250-point events which preceded the French Open. The reason for that is probably tied to the fact that this event is an early lead-in to the grass season and Wimbledon. This is not the week before a Grand Slam event. It’s three weeks before it. Players – top players – are much more easily able to enter it, so there’s more of a financial commitment on the front end.
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 – Nicolas Mahut def. David Goffin – 7-6, 6-1
2014 – Roberto Bautista Agut def. Benjamin Becker – 2-6, 7-6, 6-4
2013 – Nicolas Mahut def. Stanislas Wawrinka – 6-3, 6-4
2012 – David Ferrer def. Philipp Petzschner – 6-3, 6-4
2011 – Dmitry Tursunov def. Ivan Dodig – 6-3, 6-2
Player Info:
The top seed is Richard Gasquet, who just lost in the French Open quarterfinals to Andy Murray. He would have liked to have advanced farther at Roland Garros, but in terms of being able to prepare for this tournament next week, that loss in the quarterfinals will give him sufficient rest and the ability to make the transition from clay to grass. He is still a strong player on grass and should be in the running of this tournament in the later stages.
The second seed is David Goffin, who lost in the second week of the French Open to Dominic Thiem. Goffin is a young player who has had plenty of highlights this season but he hasn’t been able to secure any titles. He actually hasn’t won a singles title since 2014. Even so, Goffin, a 25-year-old Belgian, has now climbed as high as No. 13 in the rankings.
The third seed is Bernard Tomic, whose best Grand Slam results have come at Wimbledon and who therefore is a more dangerous player on grass. His style of play translates better to lawns than to other surfaces. When you’re evaluating the odds for this tournament, you might want to give Tomic a look ahead of Goffin and Gasquet even though the latter two are ranked higher than him.
The fourth seed and the owner of the final first-round bye is Ivo Karlovic, who reached the third round of the French Open before losing to Andy Murray. Karlovic’s huge serve is hard to deal with on grass.
The fifth seed is Steve Johnson. Sam Querrey is sixth. Andreas Seppi is seventh, and Alexander Zverev is eighth.
Autotron Park
The facility used to be a park for non-tennis attractions on a larger scale. It hosts this tournament, which has been played since 1990 as one of the more notable Wimbledon lead-ins. It is located next to a convention center and other gathering places in Rosmalen, The Netherlands. Rosmalen is a town in the province of North Brabant, which is in the southern part of Holland.
The convention center actually used to be a car museum as well as an attraction park, but that has long been changed now. The park itself can be found about seven kilometers from ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
