ATP Tour - Fantasy: In or Out

Eurosport - Mon, 28 Jan 08:05:00 2008

TENNIS 2008 Australian Open Tsonga - 0

GROUP A

IN

With two transfers per week, and Roger Federer (now Novak Djokovic?) normally at the top of everyone's list, we're cautious in advising you to make a change at the top spot.

If you do feel obliged to switch things up, then your only option this week is the slightly risky home favourite Fernando Gonzalez at the Movistar Open.

Despite the 2007 Melbourne runner-up's disappointing 2008 Australian Open campaign (Gonzo was bumped off by Marin Cilic in round three), the Chilean remains a solid bet to at least repeat his quarter-finals performance from last year and possibly improve on it in Vina del Mar.

If you already have them, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal , who both play in Rotterdam in three weeks time, are definitely worth keeping around.

OUT

Remember, you get more points for wins from the lower categorised players, so making a move for Gonzo will be extremely limiting in both the long and short term.

It's probably best to keep your current Class A man around and use your transfers on one of the other slots.

That being said, Roger Federer is not due to play in one of our Fantasy tournaments until the Dubai Championships a full five tournaments from now, making the greatest player on the planet earth expendable.

GROUP B

IN

With Vina del Mar's claycourts hosting this week's tournament and Brazil's Costa do Sauipe also being played on the slow stuff in two weeks time, it's a good idea to pick up some dirt-ballers.

Your best bet is Argentine Juan Monaco, who has had a fine start to the new year reaching the semi-finals in Auckland before making it to the third round in Melbourne.

Making him a multi-week keeper, Monaco has had an excellent record at the Brazil Open having reached the semi-finals and quarter-finals each of the past two years.

As disappointing as Andy Murray's performance in Melbourne was, British fans can keep the top-ranked Scot around and expect that he will recover at Rotterdam.

OUT

Juan Ignacio Chela, Guillermo Canas and Fenando Verdasco were all top second tier players on the early entry list for Vina Del Mar.

Verdasco had a late resurgence at the end of last season reaching the St Petersburg final but has had a similarly poor start to this season as he did in 2007, crashing out to Janko Tipsarevic in the second round in Melbourne.

Also, in his only appearance at the Movistar Open the Spaniard fell to local star Nicolas Massu in his first match. Don't pick Verdasco.

The Argentines both had very solid seasons last year and would normally feel very much at home in the southern hemisphere.

Though Canas and Chela have the higher rankings and performed better in 2007 than Monaco, with Canas stunning world number one Roger Federer twice, stay away from both.

Canas is a doubt for the tournament after declaring himself out of the Australian Open with a wrist injury, and Chela had a horrible time in Melbourne falling in the first round to unheralded Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Also, the world number 20 Chela has never won a match in three appearances at Vina del Mar.

If you need a roster slot, drop the likes of James Blake ( despite his awesome Oz Open), Marcos Baghdatis (despite his high hopes in 2008), Nicolas Almagro, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Radek Stepanek and Tommy Haas as none of those players are on the list to compete in the Rotterdam International in three weeks time.

GROUP C

IN

Your options this week are Jose Acasuso, Oscar Hernandez, and Olivier Patience.

None of them are particularly worth a transfer based on results with only Hernandez going as far as the second round in Melbourne.

But all three are scheduled to play in both this week's Vina del Mar and next week's Brazil Open, making the right one good value.

Acasuso's South American passport alone makes him the obvious pick ahead of his European rivals.

Factor in the Argentine's title at the Chilean event in 2006 and his semi-final appearance at the Costa do Sauipe event in 2004 and the man becomes the Group C lock.

If you were one of those rare owners infinitely wise enough to predict Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's fantastically-brilliant run through the Australian Open draw do not, we repeat, do not drop him at any cost.

The flashy Frenchman plays at Rotterdam and is well worth holding onto until then, or even picking up before then.

OUT

Everyone in this group aside from Janko Tipsarevic, Igor Andreev, Filippo Volandri, and Philipp Kohlschreiber, is expendable.

GROUP D

IN

After reaching the last round at Vina del Mar for two consecutive years Nicolas Massu is as close as it comes to a sure-thing in Group D.

His classification in the lowest group makes victories by the Chilean worth the most points and makes a transfer incredible value.

Making Massu a two-week keeper, the Chilean is planning to return to the Costa Do Sauipe tournament, which he won in 2006, after skipping the event last year.

The other solid option expected to play in Chile and Brazil is 2006 Movistar champion Jose Acasuso.

After a decent-to-good Oz Open runs Texas-sized American Sam Querrey (big-Sam's from California which is also pretty big but less catchy) is worth keeping around along with Croatian teen Marin Cilic.

OUT

Carlos Berleocq, Peter Luczqk, Boris Bashanski, Sergio Roitman, Martin Vassallo Arguello, Santiago Ventura, and Mariano Zabaleta are all playing in both tournaments, but none are worth a transfer.

As for expendable players, you can lose pretty much everyone in this group who we haven't already classified as being 'in'.

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Jeremy Stahl / Eurosport

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