AFTER a long 2020, the 2021 ATP Tour is underway, with the main draw matches to take place today in Antalya, Turkey and Delray Beach, United States. Both hard court events are ATP 250 ones to give players a taste of the action before heading Down Under for an extended period in Australia where multiple tournaments take place in Melbourne.

Looking at Antalya, Matteo Berrettini is the top seed, with the Italian headlining the event there prior to the ATP Cup in February. His compatriot Fabio Fognini is also there, as are the other key Italian players, Salvatore Caruso, Stefano Travaglia and Andrea Arnaboldi. While Jannik Sinner is the key exclusion from the group, it is fair to say there is an Italian presence in Turkey.

David Goffin is seeded second at the event and has drawn a rough quarter of the draw, facing Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert up first in 2021. A potential quarter final matchup with Miomir Kecmanovic is a danger game, though the rising Serbian has his own issues to deal with, taking on Travaglia in Round 1, before a second round encounter with either Finn Emil Ruusuvuori or Czech Jiri Vesely.

In the sam half of the draw is Australian Alex de Minaur who faces Tunisian Malek Jaziri in the first round. The 249th ranked Jaziri may well be the toughest challenge for the talented all-courter, with an easy quarter of the draw, including a couple of Turkish wildcards in Marsel Ilhan and Altug Celikbilek in there. Nikoloz Basilashvili is destined for a final eight meeting with de Minaur, the only other danger man in that section.

Fognini is third seed at the event, and could face fifth seed German, Jan-Lennard Struff in the quarter finals. The Italian takes on a qualifier first up, but will play the winner of Jeremy Chardy and Radu Albot which is an entertaining matchup in itself. In the same half, Laslo Djere looks set to face Berrettini in the second round, while eighth seed Alexander Bublik taking on Caruso, and then the winner locking horns with likely Egor Gerasimov makes it an entertaining section.

There is a lot on the line at Antalya because a fair few of the top players have had inconsistencies in the back half of the year, and de Minaur may well be the favourite heading into the event, though you can never discount the likes of Fognini and Berrettini, though Goffin has the talent to take it out as well.

Heading to Delray Beach, the 250 event is a 28-player draw, with Chilean Cristian Garin, American John Isner, Frenchman Adrian Mannarino and Pole Hubert Hurkacz the four seeds to automatically gain entry into the Round of 16. With a host of United States representatives, the home nation will be confident it can yield a winner at the event.

In bottom quarter, the eight players involved are three Americans, two Brazilians and two South Koreans along with second seed Isner’s bye. The only two Brazilians in the draw – Thomaz Bellucci and Thiago Monteiro – will go head-to-head, whilst fifth seed Tommy Paul will likely face Soonwoo Kwon in the second round for the likely crack at Isner in the quarter finals.

Eighth seed Frances Tiafoe has a relatively easy run to the quarter finals, taking on a qualifier in the first round, then either another qualifier or Bjorn Fratangelo in the second round. Mannarino or Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie awaits in the final eight, which the young American will be keen to win to likely face either Paul or Isner in the semis.

The top-end quality of the draw slims out given Tiafoe and Pablo Andujar (seventh) are seeds, with Andujar taking on Croatian veteran Ivo Karlovic in the opening round. While Karlovic is well past his prime, his power serving is hard to stop on hard courts, with the winner having a good run to the last eight. Hurkacz is in the quarter, with either Slovakian Andrej Martin, or Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan awaiting in the second round.

Garin is the top seed and while hard courts are not his go as such, he should get through to the quarter finals without a worry. There he will more than likely face an American with sixth seed Sam Querrey and Mackenzie McDonald doing battle in Round 1, while wildcard Ryan Harrison takes on the sole Italian in the draw, Gianluca Mager.

The fact the event is on hard court and not clay means Garin is more of an underdog than a favourite. Hurkacz is a really good should if the polite Pole can play at his best, with a relatively soft draw all the way to the final given Garin is no certainty on the surface. The bottom half is more competitive, and you would expect Mannarino to be too consistent for a fair few, but on the surface, Isner would be the favourite, though Paul is quickly catching up, and the penny may drop for Tiafoe in 2021.

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