The ATP continues its expansion with a new tournament in Turkey. The inaugural TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open draw came out, and the field is led by world number two, Roger Federer, as the top seed. The tournament is going to be on clay and can seat 7500, a pretty significant amount for an ATP 250 event. Today, we are going to breakdown the draw for this event looking at the favorites, dark horses, and where there could be potential upsets in this tournament.

Favorite: Roger Federer: Was there ever any doubt that this man would not be the favorite? It’s his second clay tournament of the swing, first being Monte Carlo, but there aren’t many other big names in this tournament that should give him a scare. Just like every tournament, the clay from Monte Carlo and Istanbul is going to be a bit different meaning Federer is going to need time to adjust, especially since he has a bye in the first round. In his loss to Gael Monfils at Monte Carlo, his timing looked to be off, especially on his favorite forehand side. If he is going to win this tournament, he needs to be dictating play with his forehand forcing his opponents out wide then finishing them off at the net.  

Dark Horse: Diego Schwartzman: One of the smallest men or even the smallest man in the top 100 could make some noise in Turkey. With this tournament being on clay, it should bode well for him giving him more time to set up for shots. He may be 3-9 on the year, but clay is the surface that will best the Argentine. One of his three wins this season have come on clay, and he is coming from Monte Carlo where he won two matches to qualify for the tournament showing he is comfortable on the clay. Should he get to the quarterfinals, a possible showdown with fellow South American Santiago Giraldo could await, and Schwartzman is definitely capable of beating him. A strong showing here will give Schwartzmann the confidence heading into May.

Early Exit: Mikhail Youzhny: The fiery Russian has had a poor season so far currently at 4-8. His first round opponent, Thomaz Bellucci, has fared not much better at 5-10. The reason we chose Youzhny to get knocked out in the first round is because Bellucci plays his best tennis on the clay courts while Youzhny plays his best on the hard courts. If Youzhny gets in a hole early, his temper could get the best of him, and we could see him out of the tournament in the blink of an eye.