Scouting Report: Medvedev in Metz, Evans & Brooksby Lead San Diego Field, Federer’s Farewell At Laver Cup

Three events will make for a busy week on the ATP Tour, with ATP 250s in Metz and San Diego on the schedule in addition to the weekend’s Laver Cup, the final event of Roger Federer’s legendary career.

Debutant Daniil Medvedev leads the field at the Moselle Open in Metz, while Daniel Evans and Jenson Brooksby are the top seeds at the San Diego Open. The Laver Cup, which will be held from Friday to Sunday, will feature each of the Big Four — Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray — for the first time.  

ATPTour.com looks ahead at five things to watch from each event.

View Draws: Metz | San Diego

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN METZ
1) Medvedev’s Debut: Medvedev will make his debut in ‘The Green City’ as he bids for his second ATP Tour title of 2022 (Los Cabos). The 26-year-old will be eager for a bounce-back week after his fourth-round US Open exit ultimately cost him his No. 1 Pepperstone ATP Ranking. He enters the Metz hard courts as the World No. 4 for his first competitive action since competing in New York.

2) Returning Champ Hurkacz: World No. 10 Hubert Hurkacz did not drop a set on his way to the 2021 Metz title, including wins against Andy Murray in the quarter-finals and Pablo Carreno Busta in the final. That trophy was his third of 2021. Already a title-winner in Halle this season, Hurkacz — who also won the Metz doubles crown last year with Jan Zielinski — will hope to secure his second multiple-trophy campaign in France. After reaching the Montreal final, he went 1-2 at Cincinnati and the US Open.

3) Home Hopes: Eighth seed Adrian Mannarino leads seven Frenchman in the main draw, not including potential qualifiers. Also among the local favourites in action are Ugo Humbert, Gilles Simon, Arthur Rinderknech and Richard Gasquet. Nine of the past 12 Metz champion were French, including five straight French champions from 2009-13.

4) Musetti, Rune, Thiem Add Intrigue: #NextGenATP stars Lorenzo Musetti and Holger Rune are seeded third and fourth, separated by just one place in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings at World No. 30 and 31, respectively. They also occupy third and fourth place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race to Milan. Musetti is making his Metz debut, while Rune returns after reaching the quarter-finals as a qualifier one year ago. Wild card Dominic Thiem is set for his second Metz appearance after a run to the 2016 final (l. to Lucas Pouille).

5) Puetz/Venus Lead Doubles Draw: Tim Puetz and Michael Venus are the top seeds in the doubles competition, with Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara seeded second. Third seeds Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin are one of four all-French duos in the draw.

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FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN SAN DIEGO
1) Evans Returns As Top Seed: Great Britain’s Daniel Evans fell to countryman Cameron Norrie in the San Diego second round last year, but the World No. 25 is the lone representative from the United Kingdom in this year’s singles draw.

2) Americans Dot The Draw: Jenson Brooksby, Marcos Giron, Brandon Nakashima and J.J. Wolf are all seeded in San Diego, with six other Americans also in the draw, not including potential qualifiers. Brandon Holt received a wild card after his stunning progress through qualifying and into the second round on his US Open debut.

3) Spain’s Martinez Seeded Fourth: Pedro Martinez leads a host of Spanish and South American players in the field, including sixth seed Alejandro Tabilo of Chile and Colombia’s Daniel Elahi Galan. Galan will look to continue his strong form after reaching the third round of the US Open as a qualifier, stunning Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round along the way.

4) All-Aussie Openers: Two all-Australian matchups are set for the opening round. Seventh seed James Duckworth will meet Alexei Popyrin, while Jason Kubler takes on Christopher O’Connell.

5) Lammons/Withrow Seeded Second In Doubles Draw: The pairing of Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow are one of four all-American teams in the San Diego doubles draw. One of those teams — Evan King and Denis Kudla — will face top seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Andres Molteni in the opening round.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH AT LAVER CUP
1) Federer’s Farwell: Federer announced on Thursday that this Laver Cup would be the last competitive event of his tennis career. It is a fitting finale, as the Swiss is set to team with many of his storied rivals for Team Europe, including Nadal, Djokovic and Murray. 

2) Top 10 Talent: In addition to having home-court advantage at London’s O2 Arena, Team Europe boasts four Top 10 players: US Open finalist and World No. 2 Casper Ruud, No. 3 Nadal, No. 6 Tsitsipas and No. 7 Djokovic.

3) Team Europe Puts Perfection On The Line: In addition to the pageantry surrounding Federer’s farwell, Team Europe will also be focussed on extending its perfect record in the competition. They have not lost the Laver Cup since its inception in 2017, winning the title on all four previous occasions.

4) Americans Lead Team World: In addition to World No. 12 Taylor Fritz, the highest-ranked player on captain John McEnroe’s team, Americans Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock will also play important roles for Team World. The roster also includes Felix Auger-Aliassime, Diego Schwartzman and Alex de Minaur.

5) Unique Format: The Laver Cup will be played over three days, from 23-25 September, across five sessions. Each match win is worth one point on Friday, two points on Saturday and three points on a high-stakes Sunday. The first team to reach 13 points (put of a possible 24) wins the Laver Cup.