WHILST the world’s top ATP Tour players are battling it out in Austria, a number of mid-tier talents will hope to win the penultimate ATP 250 event in Kazakhstan starting today. The 28-player hard court event is another new event on the calendar, taking place in Nur-Sultan and named the Astana Open. The top ranked player is Frenchman Benoit Paire at 27th in the world, with Miomir Kecmanovic (39th), another Frenchman in Adrian Mannarino (41st) and Australian John Millman (44th) all receiving a bye as the top four seeds in the event.

Of that quartet Kecmanovic is the best chance to lift the trophy with the second seed at a career-high 39th in the world following his triumph in Kitzbuhel back in September. The only issue is that since run to his maiden title – that realistically only featured one top 60 player in the long-term injured returnee in Kei Nishikori – he has had one win in four matches. He was blown out of the water in Paris against Diego Schwartzman, winning just four games in three sets, whilst also suffered losses to Yoshihito Nishioka (Rome Masters) and Cameron Norrie (St Petersburg), both of whom he should realistically beat.

The sole win – over 88th ranked Mikhail Kukushkin – in Russia should give him some confidence, but he needs to find the form that saw him upset Alex de Minaur on hard court back in February. For all the talent the 21-year-old has, he was 1-3 in Grand Slams this year, despite a healthy 15-9 record in 2020. In this field he should be a real chance with either Frances Tiafoe or Corentin Moutet in the second round, then potentially Australian Open quarter finalist Tennys Sandgren or the in-form Lloyd Harris in the quarter finals.

Millman is another good chance if he can perform to his potential on hard court. He is not one that will regularly beat the top players, but everyone at this tournament is beatable for the consistent performer, and his draw is very soft running into the semis. He might have landed in the same half as Kecmanovic, but compatriot James Duckworth, and rising American Tommy Paul loom as his biggest challenges towards the final four. His form has been poor though, losing to his doubles partner in Jordan Thompson in three sets back in Kitzbuhel, as well as a five-set loss to Tiafoe at New York after a stunning upset over Georgian seed Nikoloz Basilashvili.

Since almost triumphing over Roger Federer at Melbourne Park, Millman has won just five games in 13 matches and was blown out of the water by the lowly Mischa Zverev (268th) at Cologne a couple of weeks back, 6-1 6-4. Luckily for him, Paire’s form has been even worse. A win over Korean Soonwoo Kwon in Paris interrupted a string of five losses since returning to the ATP Tour, but even so, he was 6-1 before losing in Auckland to Ugo Humbert and has gone 4-11 since then in a disastrous result for the top 30 player.

His compatriot in Mannarino has not faired any better. A third round at New York looked promising, but has lost first round at his five other events. This included defeats to Millman, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Milos Raonic, Dusan Lajovic and most recently in St Petersburg, the 141st ranked Ilya Ivashka. Since his loss to Alexander Zverev in the US Open, Mannarino has failed to win a set, which does not inspire confidence to do well here. With a bye first up and then a qualifier set for the second round, he could not have a smoother run into the final eight. There looms a likely danger man in home nation talent Alexander Bublik.

The 23-year-old is on the move, and while his 14-14 record this year is far from outstanding, the big server has notched up some big wins. After four consecutive first round losses since the COVID-19 return, Bublik reached the quarter finals of Hamburg with wins over Paul, Ramos-Vinolas and Felix Auger-Aliassime before a massive upset at Roland Garros over Gael Monfils. He also reached the second round at St Petersburg defeating Mackenzie McDonald, which will give him confidence seeing as McDonald is his first round opponent in Nur-Saltan.

Aside from Bulik who always remains a threat, you can never discount compatriot Kukushkin, who like Millman, is just a consistent threat regardless of level. He takes on Federico Delbonis in the first round, and then Paire in the second round. A first round encounter between Thompson and the in-form Norrie should be good, as should Harris up against Egor Gerasimov. Whilst many expect Paul to win given it is on hard court, his opponent Stefano Travaglia has been going alright of late and could be poised for an upset.

It might not be the strongest field, but someone outside the top 30 will claim an ATP Tour 250 title and give themselves some confidence heading into 2021 as this will be the final tournament for a number of players who do not play in the Paris Masters.

Picture: ATP World Tour