Fabio Fognini withstood three championship points and plenty of emotional carnage to capture the biggest title of his career in Hamburg last year. Now, the theatrical Italian aims to become the first man since Roger Federer in 2004-2005 to win successive Hamburg titles.
It won't be easy. No. 15 seed Carlos Berlocq, Fognini's potential round of 16 opponent, went four sets with the Italian in Davis Cup earlier this year, and should be confident after beating David Ferrer in Bastad last week. Former Hamburg champions Tommy Robredo and Gilles Simon, and seventh-seeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber, who has contested seven of his 11 career finals on home soil, are in all in Fognini's half of the draw. Twenty-year-old Austrian Dominic Thiem could be a dangerous floater. Thiem faces No. 8 seed Marcel Granollers, whom he beat in Barcelona earlier this year, for a place in the round of 16.
The top-seeded Ferrer, who has reached at least the quarterfinals in seven of eight clay-court events this year, should have a relatively stress-free route to the elite eight. No. 9 seed Fernando Verdasco, who snapped a four-year title drought winning Houston on red clay in April, could meet Ferrer for the 17th time in an all-Spanish quarterfinal.
Since losing to Rafael Nadal in the Rio de Janeiro final in February, Alexandr Dolgopolov has gone 2-5 on clay. The No. 4 seed will face either Jerzy Janowicz or Albert Ramos-Vinolas in round two, with the winner potentially playing 2013 finalist Federico Delbonis for a quarterfinal spot. Qualifier Delbonis upset Federer last year en route to his first final. No. 5 seed Mikhail Youzhny reached the Hamburg semifinals three years ago. The Russian will face either Robin Haase or 17-year-old German Alexander Zverev, who won a clay-court Challenger in Germany last month, in the second round. Haase snapped a five-match losing streak to Youzhny with a 6-3, 6-3 win en route to the Bucharest semifinals in April.