ATP Tour - Fantasy Tennis: You the Manislas

Eurosport - Sat, 05 Jul 19:01:00 2008

Stanislas "The Manislas" Wawrinka looks like a solid pick to joining Roger Federer as only the second Swiss to capture the Gstaad Open and he headlines our Fantasy Tennis selections for the week.

TENNIS 2008 Wawrinka French Open - 0

Each week on "In or Out" we will offer tips on players who could be worth picking with your two weekly transfers, hopefully giving you an edge over your rivals. This week is the Allianz Suisse Open in Gstaad.

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Group A

In: An American

No Group A players are competing in this week's claycourt tournament in Switzerland, and hence the shrewd thing to do would be to save your transfers for another group. But, if you absolutely must make a change with an eye towards the future, we remind you that Andy Roddick and James Blake will be seeing a lot of action and a lot of support when the North American summer starts in Indianapolis in two weeks time.

Out: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal

The two Wimbledon stars will be taking a well-earned rest until the Toronto Masters in two weeks time, so they can hit the bench for a bit. Again, this is going to be your least urgent transfer and only should be made if you're absolutely content with the rest of your team.

Group B

In: Paul-Henri Mathieu

Despite his uninspiring record on clay this year and the fact that he didn't beat a single top-50 player on his way to the 2007 title, we're going with the defending champion Paul-Henri Mathieu in this group. The Frenchman did well to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros before falling to Novak Djokovic, but nobody of the Serbian's quality is in the Gstaad draw.

Out: Ivo Karlovic

After his typical first-round Wimbledon flame-out foiled our Wimbledon fantasy picks, the six-foot-ten inch Metal Head (see our 60 seconds piece by clicking on the link below the photo) has earned a place on our blacklist. Karlovic is also much better on grass than he is on clay, except when he's playing at Wimbledon.

Group C

In: Stanislas "The Manislas" Wawrinka

The Swiss number two has had a break-out year, surging into the world's top ten due to brilliant claycourt performances at Barcelona and the Rome Masters where he reached the semi-finals and final respectively. There's little reason to think that he won't join his illustrious compatriot Roger Federer by becoming the second Swiss to win this title. Igor Andreev is another good option here.

Out: Nicolas Kiefer

Despite some very good recent performances in Halle and Hamburg (semis and quarters on grass and clay), the Kiefer has done very little outside of his home nation this year. Though Germans also like to perform in Switzerland (see Euro 2008), Kiefer is not a safe bet in this draw.

Group D

In: Marin Cilic

Our favourite Croatian teenager and yours, Cilic again proved great value at Wimbledon when he reached the last 16 and he could do better in Gstaad. After compatriot Mario Ancic, he is the most popular player in this group and rightfully so (Cilic is also the top-ranked Group D player in our fantasy game).

Out: Florent Serra

The Frenchman will win matches if he's drawn against players outside the top-80 and lose them when he faces somebody with a higher ranking.

Jeremy Stahl / Eurosport

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