The 2016 Grand Prix Hassan II tournament will be held in Marrakech for the first time, after many years in which the Moroccan tournament – the one tour stop on the African continent – was held in nearby Casablanca. Marrakech had formerly hosted an ITF Challenger event, but now it’s moving up in the tennis world to an ATP 250 Series tournament.
The competition in the 28-player main draw began on Monday, April 4.
Event Details
Event: Grand Prix Hassan II
Category: ATP 250 Series
Date: April 4 – 10, 2016
Location: Royal Tennis Club – Marrakech, Morocco
The 2016 Grand Prix Hassan tournament will have a new feel about it in Marrakech. With a prize money allotment of 463,000 Euros, the purse is very much in line with other 250 tournaments on the ATP. However, it’s not a very big prize when you compare it to some of the other major tournaments. That means we’re not going to see all of the stars. Players might welcome a fresh venue and a new place to see on the ATP Tour – not too distant from Casablanca, but nevertheless something new.
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 (5 Years)
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2015 – Martin Klizan def. Daniel Gimeno-Traver – 6-2, 6-2
2014 – Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Marcel Granollers – 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
2013 – Tommy Robredo def. Kevin Anderson – 7-6, 4-6, 6-3
2012 – Pablo Andujar def. Albert Ramos – 6-1, 7-6
2011 – Pablo Andujar def. Potito Starace — 6-1, 6-2
Player Info:
The bigger clay events are later in April, starting with the Monte Carlo Masters. Therefore, you won’t see huge names in this tournament. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez is the top seed, which tells you all that you need to know. There’s no Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka or anybody else in the Top 25. Some of the other top names you’ll see includes Joao Sousa, Borna Coric, and Federico Delbonis, who all got byes as the remainder of the top four seeds.
Teymuraz Gabashvili, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Pablo Carreno-Busta, and Jiri Vesely round out the top eight seeds of the tournament, which tells you that this is not a particularly deep field. Players who are clay specialists or don’t get many chances to win matches at the Masters 1000 or Grand Slam levels are the kinds of players who need these tournaments for every possible reason – first, to win matches; second, to win money; third, to play their way into form so that they can get into a future Masters 1000 field and safely be in a Grand Slam field.
Pullouts from this tournament include Pablo Andujar, Aljaz Bedene, defending champion Martin Klizan, and Tommy Robredo. Those four players will be replaced by Albert Montanes, Lucas Pouille, Facundo Bagnis, and Daniel Gimeno-Traver.
In looking at the field, this is a real chance for Borna Coric, the third seed, to make a statement as a young player and power through the less distinguished veterans which surround him in Marrakech. Remember that there is going to be a lot of clay-court specialists in this field. Those are players who rely on speed and defense to get the job done opposed to power. When these players perform on clay, the surface slows the ball down, which neutralizes the big power hitters. That means anyone who solely relies on big serves and huge ground strokes is not going to do well. Keep that in mind as you’re betting the individual matchups at this event.
Royal Tennis Club of Marrakech
The Royal Tennis Club of Marrakech gets its big moment in the sun with the privilege of hosting this tournament. The venue is located near the El Harti gardens in a relatively fashionable part of town. We’ll see what the crowd response is for this tournament as it takes the baton from Casablanca and tries to retain the brand identity of Moroccan-hosted tennis. There has been some tension in that part of the country recently, so we’ll see if that affects the tennis matchups this coming week.
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