THREE ATP Tour 250 events take place this week, with the biggest talking point being the return of Roger Federer for the first time in more than 12 months. The Fed Express will play at Doha in a strong top-end field, whilst tournaments at Marseille and Santiago also take place this weekend.

DOHA:

Federer’s return to the ATP Tour will be the story of this tournament, regardless of how he goes. The now world number five will be seeded second at this event behind Austrian Dominic Thiem, who has become a Grand Slam winner since the Swiss maestro last played. The top five talents are joined by another Top 10 player in Andrey Rublev who hopes to build on his strong early season form, as an additional four Top 15 players are entered making it a really impressive elite group.

The injury-stricken Gael Monfils returns alongside recent Open Sud de France finalists in David Goffin and Roberto Bautista Agut, and young gun Canadian Denis Shapovalov. The latter is in the form of his life ranked 11th overall, with Goffin is seventh seed but still 14th in the world. Stan Wawrinka rounds out the eight seeds coming in at world number 20, while all the automatic entries are inside the Top 50.

Among those entries are Dusan Lajovic – fresh off an upset win over Daniil Medvedev at Rotterdam – as well as Lorenzo Sonego – who defeated Novak Djokovic late last year – and Alexander Bublik – who claimed an upset win over Alexander Zverev last week – who will be threats to the Top 20 players. Croatian Borna Coric and Brit Daniel Evans are other Top 30 players in the draw, while Australian John Millman will be searching for that all-important first win in an individual event for 2021.

No one is expecting Federer to storm to a title straight off the bat as much as that would be a fairytale, however he would be the sentimental favourite. Much more likely is a Thiem-Rublev final which would be entertaining, with Shapovalov and Goffin the others in-form.

MARSEILLE:

The two players considered the next Grand Slam winners will face-off in Marseille, with world number three Daniil Medvedev and world number six Stefanos Tsitsipas entered as the top two seeds. The Russian top seed will be wanting to improve on his shock first round loss to Lajovic last start, and will be fresh here, while Tsitsipas will be looking to continue his Rotterdam form if he does indeed play. Third seed Karen Khachanov is the other Top 30 player, with the draw thinning out after the top six.

Young guns Ugo Humbert and Jannik Sinner continue to follow each other around the world at the same tournaments and remain danger men to any player above them, whilst Kei Nishikori‘s recent form – which included wins over Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alex de Minaur at Rotterdam – has the sixth seed in the mix as well. Compatriot Yoshihito Nishioka and Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina round out the eight seeds at the event, with France unsurprisingly well represented in Marseille.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will be back again to try and grab a win in his second 2021 start, joined by the likes of Lucas Pouille and Pierre-Hugues Herbert as automatic entries. Brit Cameron Norrie and Belarusian Egor Gerasimov have shown potential at different points this year, while young Finn Emil Ruusuvuori is another one to watch out for.

Tsitsipas will arguably start favourite, with a final against Medvedev the dream for onlookers, but you can never discount Humbert or Sinner with their potential.

SANTIAGO:

By far the weakest draw mainly due to the clay surface, the 250 event in Santiago will draw some of the lower ranked clay court specialists to try and grab a win. Cristian Garin will be the strong favourite for the event, seeded first as 22nd in the world, while 29th ranked Frenchman Benoit Paire is the other Top 50 player. After that it drops off with third seed Pablo Andujar (57th) and fourth seed Laslo Djere (60th) also entering.

Recent maiden title winner Juan Manuel Cerundolo, as well as Chilean Nicolas Jarry have earned wildcards at the event, with Jarry the other home nation hero after Garin in the main draw. The lowest automatic entry outside of wildcards is 128th ranked Slovakian Jozef Kovalik who reached a quarter final at Cordoba, while the likes of Marco Cecchinato, Salvatore Caruso and Jaume Munar are others to watch.

This is Garin’s tournament to win. His favourite surface, a weakened draw, it is hard not to see him lifting the cup, with perhaps the red-hot Cerundolo his biggest challenger, alongside the unpredictable but talented clay courter in Cecchinato.

Picture credit: Julian Finney