The 2018 Mercedes Cup is the ATP Tour stop in Stuttgart. Whereas the WTA visits Stuttgart in April on indoor clay, this is an outdoor grass tournament, a relatively new part of the ATP Tour rotation under a new calendar created by the addition of a third week between the French Open and Wimbledon in 2015. Odds are courtesy of BetDSI Sportsbook.
The competition in the 28-player main draw begins on Monday, June 11.
Event Details
Event: Mercedes Cup
Category: ATP 250 Series
Date: June 11-17, 2018
Location: Tennis Club Weissenhof – Stuttgart, Germany
This tournament was first held in Stuttgart in 1916 and was played on clay until 2014. Also, with the move to grass courts, the event is now staged in the week after the conclusion of the French Open. The 2015 and 2016 champions, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem, won’t be around this year, but the star power of Roger Federer is enough to attract large crowds.
With a prize money allotment of just over 656,000 Euros, this is a tournament which has one of the bigger purses for an ATP 250 event. This year’s purse is roughly 50,000 Euros larger than last year’s. The young nature of the event, combined with big-name stars, gets more attendance and more revenue, justifying the larger purse.
Points
Champion – 250
Runner-up – 150
Semifinal – 90
Quarterfinal – 45
Former Champions and Results
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2017: Lucas Pouille def. Feliciano Lopez – 6-4, 6-7, 6-4
2016: Dominic Thiem def. Philip Kohlschreiber 6-7, 6-4, 6-4
2015: Rafael Nadal def. Viktor Troicki 7-6(3), 6-3
Player Info:
It’s only been two and a half months, but it already seems like an eternity since Roger Federer played an ATP event. Federer skipped the entire clay-court swing in order to rest his older body and prepare for a big battle at Wimbledon. Before he heads to SW19 to attempt to build on his record haul of eight Wimbledon titles, he’ll be playing two warm-up events in Stuttgart and Halle. Last year, Federer’s Stuttgart tournament was snuffed out early by Tommy Haas, who beat Federer in his first match in the round of 16.
Earlier this year in January, Federer repeated as Australian Open champion in Melbourne. The attempt to defend his Wimbledon title will soon began, with the Stuttgart tournament representing the first stage of his preparations. Will he be sharper this time around, compared to 2017 against Haas?
Nick Kyrgios is seeded fourth, which means he will get a first-round bye along with Federer. All eyes are on Kyrgios in terms of monitoring his health, which is and has been a constant problem for the young Australian.
Denis Shapovalov and Milos Raonic are a couple of Canadians with big games who could become dangerous on grass. Shapovalov hits big from the ground, while Raonic has the huge eraser-like serve which can do damage at Wimbledon. Raonic needs to pick up matches and stay healthy. Shapovalov will be a huge story at Wimbledon and will want to begin to develop steadiness on grass this coming week.
Tennis Club Weissenhof
The modest facility owns a center stadium court with a capacity of 6,500. The quality of the grass surface seems robust – it doesn’t get chewed up as much as the surface in Halle, the ATP event which occurs a week later in Germany.
