Many might think that Wimbledon 2017 concluded the grass court season, however, there is a small event to be played on the surface in eastern America this week. ATP Newport is a 250-level tournament that's played on grass and it is a part of a three-tournament week on the ATP Tour. The other events that will be running are ATP Umag and ATP Bastad, two clay-court events that are also at the 250-level. While the biggest names in tennis won't be in action in any of the draws, the events do still have some star power.
John Isner is in Newport
The top seed in the Newport draw is American player John Isner and he is a title threat in the small tournament.
Ivo Karlovic is opposed to Isner in the draw, the Croat seeded No. 2 and posing a threat for the title as well. The event certainly isn't deep in threats, but Adrian Mannarino is in the field, the French player having just made the fourth round at the All England Club. If he continues to play sharp then he may certainly buzz around the late rounds of the tournament and look for the title.
Goffin back from injury
In Umag, David Goffin will make his return to tennis after a short hiatus at the worst time of year. Goffin suffered an injury in the third round of the French Open, one that took him out of that draw and prevented him from contesting Wimbledon. He'll try and rescue his season starting in Umag where is the top seed and a Wild Card.
Opposing Goffin on the bottom half of the draw is Gael Monfils. This is a draw that is fairly deep with Fabio Fognini, Jiri Vesely, Gilles Simon, and Benoit Paire all in the tournament.
In Bastad, a tournament in Sweden, Pablo Carreno Busta is the top player in the draw. Two tough clay courters oppose him on the bottom half of the field, namely Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Pablo Cuevas.
Tommy Haas, who is nearing retirement, is the most proven player on the field while both David Ferrer and Fernando Verdasco add some star power to the tournament.
Tournaments conclude on Sunday
Newport, Umag, and Bastad will all be played out over the next several days. The tournament finals are all scheduled for Sunday, July 23rd.
Although the tournaments lack huge stars, the finals promise to produce competitive match-ups that can have an effect on the peripheral rankings on tour. Due to the fact that the events will not be played on the hard-court surface, they aren't really considered to be a part of the US Open build up. Small hard-court events will start in late July with the next Grand Slam scheduled to start in late August.
