THE first major ATP Tour event of the season post the Australian Open is the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament which sees no less than 17 top 30 players, and six in the top 12. Gael Monfils returns after his title win here 12 months ago, but 2019 runner-up, Stan Wawrinka was a late withdrawal from the Rotterdam event.

FAVOURITE:

Daniil Medvedev (Russia)

After making a semi-final here last year and going down to eventual winner Monfils in three sets, Medvedev heads into the World Tennis Tournament as deserving favourite. He is the number one seed and showed throughout the Australian Open why he could make the jump into the top three this year. Without any of the top three in the tournament, the world number five has as best chance as ever to snare his eighth ATP Tour title – the same number Monfils reached by winning this title in 2019. The withdrawal of his Melbourne Park conqueror in Wawrinka will help his chances, while he already picked up a good win over world number 12, Fabio Fognini and world number 14, Diego Schwartzman at the ATP Cup prior to the Aus Open. The time seems right for him to salute, though it is a stacked field and will not be easy. Due to making a semi-final here 12 months ago, he does have some points to defend, but cannot drop out of fifth in the rankings.

CONTENDERS:

Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece)

Similar to Medvedev, the time seems right for the Greek to make his move into the top few names on the ATP Tour after he was thrust into the spotlight following last year’s Australian Open run. Still only 21-years-old with four titles to his name, the Athens-born star has not had as much preparation as the other big names in this tournament. He has played six matches, winning three of them, with a straight sets win over an out-of-sorts Alexander Zverev the main one. He went down to Denis Shapovalov – who plays here – Nick Kyrgios and Milos Raonic in the first month of the year, and needs to get back to his best to take down some of the contenders running around on the Rotterdam courts. He was in unbelievable form 12 months ago though, and lost in the first round to Damir Dzumhur.

David Goffin (Belgium)

The youngest of the ‘Old Firm’ in the top 12, the 29-year-old Belgian has enjoyed a resurgence in form of late. A win in Rotterdam could see him boost his ranking from tenth up to eighth if he can pull of a win. Even without it, Goffin should overtake Monfils if he can reach a quarter final and the Frenchman does not defend his title. In fact it was Monfils who bundled out Goffin 12 months ago in the Round of 32, and now the Frenchman will be seeded, they will avoid each other until at least the quarters. His form his season has been strong, with wins most notably against Rafael Nadal and Grigor Dimitrov in the ATP Cup, with the latter also playing here in Rotterdam, He went down to an in-form Andrey Rublev at Melbourne Park, and still has inconsistencies in his game, but at his best he can beat anyone.

Gael Monfils (France)

Enters his title defence as the number three seed, having taken out the ATP500 title 12 months ago coming from being unseeded. He beat Goffin, Andreas Seppi, Dzumhur and Medvedev along the way before downing Wawrinka 6-3 1-6 6-2 in the final. With no Wawrinka in the 2019 event, the Frenchman knows he is capable of going all the way. His ranking inside the top 10 will likely depend on his result here, because he needs to win in order to avoid dropping as low as 16th on the ATP Rankings. With many of his competitors also waiting to jump inside the top 10, he will have to take his game to another level at the 2020 event with plenty of them in form too. He has only played the six matches this year too, with losses to top five players – and Australian Open finalists – Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem. His form is a bit hard to read, winning other matches he should, with a straight sets triumph over Chile’s Cristian Garin his best win in 2020 so far.

ROUGHIES:

Roberto Bautisa Agut (Spain)

The in-form Spaniard will be the sixth seed heading into the event, having an 8-1 record in 2020 so far. Would have been bitterly disappointed his Australian Open run ended at the hands of Marin Cilic, but so far this year has had straight sets wins over the troublesome Feliciano Lopez, and the dangerous Kyrgios and Dusan Lajovic – all in straight sets. He did not play here last year like many of his contemporaries, so he has nothing to lose from a points perspective. The Russian duo of Rublev and Karen Khachanov are sniffing around for his 12th ranking and more, while a win at Rotterdam would catapult him back inside the top 10.

Karen Khachanov (Russia)

Played out a thrilling five-setter with Kyrgios at Melbourne Park a couple of weeks ago and comes into Rotterdam with some form to suggest he is ready to take the next step in his ATP Tour career. Ranked 17th in the world at still only 23-years-old, Khachanov has the shot making and serving to trouble anyone on his day, and it is full match consistency that he needs to build. He lost to Lajovic in the semi-finals at the ATP Cup, and also lost to John Millman in Auckland before his defeat at the hands of Kyrgios. Had a couple of good wins over top 35 players, Taylor Fritz and Guido Pella at the ATP Cup, but has not beaten a top 20 player since Fognini at Bejing in October last year.

Andrey Rublev (Russia)

His running streak in 2020 came to an end at the hands of Zverev in the Round of 16 at Melbourne Park following 11 straight wins and two titles. Taking out the two more prestigious title events in both Doha and Adelaide were important for confidence, but in that time he beat just one top 30 player – Felix Auger-Aliassime – with the big seeds crumbling against other opponents. His finals came against opponents ranked 81st and 91st in the world, though you can only play those who are drawn against you. A four sets win over Goffin in Round 3 of the Australian Open will give the Russian plenty of confidence, but this tournament will show exactly where he is at right now. Could not even get through qualifying 12 months ago here, so goes to show how much he has developed since the start of last year.

DARK HORSE:

John Millman (Australia)

Could have picked any number of players, but Millman is your traditional dark horse. He pushed Roger Federer all the way at the Australian Open and arguably deserved to win that fourth round match. Will not have the luxury of being seeded like the others on this list, but that will not faze him one bit. Now ranked 41st in the world, the 30-year-old is eyeing off his career-high of 33 if he can go deep here – an unlikely title win and he is well into the 20s which would be an amazing achievement. Having beaten four top 50 players already this year – including Auger-Aliassime and Khanchanov – Millman will take a no-fear approach into Rotterdam where his final standing may be determined by the draw.