ATP Tour

Scouting Report: Auger-Aliassime, Shelton headline Hamburg, Fritz returns in Geneva

The clay-court swing on the ATP Tour continues this week with events at the Bitpanda Hamburg Open and at the Gonet Geneva Open.

Top 10 stars Felix Auger-Aliassime and Ben Shelton lead the field at the ATP 500 event in Hamburg, while Taylor Fritz returns to Tour at the ATP 250 tournament in Geneva. ATPTour.com looks at five things to watch at each event, which both run from 17-23 May.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN HAMBURG
1) Auger-Aliassime top seed: The Canadian leads the field in Hamburg and will hope to go further than his semi-final showing at the event last season. The 25-year-old suffered an opening-round exit to Mariano Navone in Rome and will look to bounce back in Germany, where he opens against Vit Kopriva.

2) Shelton chasing more clay success, De Minaur seeking return to form: Shelton lifted his second clay-court trophy in April in Munich and will try to add to that success in Hamburg. The 23-year-old American has not won a match since his triumph in Munich, losing opening matches in Madrid and Rome.

Alex de Minaur has suffered three straight defeats but will hope to find the winning formula again in Hamburg, where he makes his debut. The 27-year-old won a title earlier this season on hard courts in Rotterdam. The Australian plays Francisco Cerundolo in his first match.

3) Defending champion Cobolli: Flavio Cobolli soared to the title in Hamburg 12 months ago, defeating Andrey Rublev in the final. The Italian is 9-4 on clay this year, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, having reached the quarter-finals in Madrid and the title match in Munich.

4) #NextGenATP stars Engel and Dedura receive wild cards: The 18-year-olds Justin Engel and Diego Dedura have both received wild cards for their home tournament. Engel defeated Jan-Lennard Struff at the event last year. Dedura has tasted victory at tour-level in Germany in the past, earning a win in Munich in 2025. Engel plays Ugo Humbert in round one and Dedura takes on Frances Tiafoe

5) Mensik makse debut: Jakub Mensik will make his debut in Hamburg. The Czech, who reached the fourth round in Madrid, could play Cobolli in the second round if he beats Struff in his opener. 

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN GENEVA
1) Fritz returns: Fritz will compete for the first time since Miami in March when he takes to court in Geneva. The American is making his fourth consecutive appearance at the event, having advanced to the semi-finals in 2023.

2) Tsitsipas & Wawrinka receive wild cards: Stefanos Tsitsipas and Stan Wawrinka have both received a wild card. Tsitsipas, a five-time titlist on clay, is making his Geneva debut, while home favourite Wawrinka will be competing at the event for the final time. The 41-year-old Swiss star triumphed at the ATP 250 in 2016 and 2017.

3) Can Tien build on Rome? Learner Tien enjoyed his best result of the clay-court swing last week in Rome, where he reached the fourth round. The current Next Gen ATP Finals champion is the fourth seed in Geneva.

4) Bublik, Norrie & Ruud seeded threats: Second seed Alexander Bublik and third seed Cameron Norrie will seek a return to their best level in Switzerland. Bublik has lost four of his past five matches but did reach the quarter-finals in Monte-Carlo. Norrie, a quarter-finalist last month in Barcelona, enjoyed a semi-final showing in Geneva last year. Casper Ruud is a three-time Geneva champion and is into the final in Rome.

5) Krajieck/Mektic top seeds: Austin Krajicek and Nikola Mektic lead the field as the top seeds. Tsitsipas plays with his brother Petros Tsitsipas and singles stars Fritz and Tien team.

Editor's Note: This story was updated to reflect Joao Fonseca's withdrawal from Hamburg.