New and improved, the Memphis Open returns to the Racquet Club of Memphis February 7th through the 15th. Now strictly an ATP-250 event, the tournament’s legacy of showcasing the biggest names in the game endures. Past champions include everyone from Connors, McEnroe, Sampras and Agassi to Seles, Davenport, Williams and Sharapova.
This year, US Open Finalist and defending champion Kei Nishikori returns to try and make it three consecutive titles – an accomplishment never seen in the 39-year history of the tournament, men or women, singles or doubles.
2015 Memphis Open Radio:
No. 5 Kei Nishikori (JPN)
A finalist at the US Open in September, Kei finished 2014 inside the top-5 for the first time in his career. This January, he reached the Brisbane semifinals, where he lost an epic battle with Milos Raonic 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 6-7(4). Stan Wawrinka ended his run at the Australian Open in the Quarterfinals 3-6, 4-6, 6-7(8).
No. 21 John Isner (USA)
The top-ranked American started his season in Melbourne, where he reached the 3rd round of the Australian Open, falling to Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller 4-7(4), 6-7(6), 4-6.
No. 23 Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR)
Dolgopolov always seems to thrive this time of year. Last year he reached the final of the Rio Open in Brazil, then went on to take-out Rafael Nadal in the third round of Indian Wells. So far, he’s struggled in 2015, losing in Brisbane’s second-round to Martin Klizan, then falling in straight-sets to Paolo Lorenzi in the first round of the Australian Open.
No. 27 Ivo Karlovic (CRO)
Soon to be 36-years-old, the hard-serving Ivo Karlovic has been playing some of the most consistent tennis of his career over the past year. 2014 saw him reach four Finals, including the Memphis Open versus Nishikori. Just a few weeks back, Ivo defeated Novak Djokovic to reach the semifinals of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, then disappointingly fell in the second round of the Australian Open to Nick Kyrgios 6-7(4), 4-6, 7-5, 4-6.
No. 35 Sam Querrey (USA)
Sam’s struggles continue, though things were looking up at the end of 2014. After a 3rd round loss at the US Open to Novak Djokovic, Sam went on to win both of his Davis Cup matches in Chicago, then won three consecutive tournaments in California on the ATP Challenger Tour. He finished the season with a second round loss to Feliciano Lopez at the Paris Indoors. Simply put 2015 has sucked. Sam has played three events and has yet to win a match. He lost in the first round of Brisbane to Bernard Tomic 5-7, 6-7(5), then in Sydney to Jeremy Chardy 4-6, 4-6. At the Australian Open, Canada’s Vasek Pospisil took him out in five-sets: 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2, 4-6, 4-6.
The rest of the projected field
[raw]
[column size=”1/2″]
No. 36 Adrian Mannarino (FRA)
No. 38 Steve Johnson (USA)
No. 41 Benjamin Becker (GER)
No. 45 Jack Sock (USA)
No. 47 Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)
No. 51 Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ)
No. 56 Donald Young (USA)
No. 66 Bernard Tomic (AUS)
[/column]
[column size=”1/2″ last]
No. 67 Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS)
No. 75 Malek Jaziri (TUN)
No. 81 Marinko Matosevic (AUS)
No. 82 Sam Groth (AUS)
No. 84 Igor Sijsling (NED)
No. 251 Jared Donaldson – wild card
No. 455 Stefan Kozlov (USA) – wild card
[/column]
[/raw]
Doubles field:
2015 Australian Open Semifinalists: Ivan Dodig (CRO) – Max Mirnyi (BLR)
Jack Sock (USA) – Donald Young (USA)
Sam Groth (AUS) – Chris Guccione (AUS)
Eric Butorac (USA) – Rajeev Ram (USA)
Steve Johnson (USA) – Sam Querrey (USA)
Treat Huey (PHI) – Scott Lipsky (USA)
Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL) – S. Gonzalez (MEX)
Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) – Yen-Hsun lu (TPE)
Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) – Bernard Tomic (AUS)
John-Patrick Smith (AUS) – Michael Venus (NZL)
