Queen's, Halle, Berlin & Nottingham Tennis Preview: Alcaraz, Sinner, Sabalenka, and Gauff in action
Grass Season Heats Up as Big Names Take the Stage
This week, the biggest names in tennis are set to battle it out across a slate of high-stakes grass-court tournaments.
How to watch tennis live streams in 2025? Click here for more.
Looking for a regular dose of tennis trivia & quizzes? Here’s more!
With stars like Alcaraz, Sinner, Sabalenka, and Gauff in action, it promises to be an exhilarating week featuring two ATP 500 events in Queen’s and Halle, a WTA 500 in Berlin, and a WTA 250 in Nottingham.
Focus on Alcaraz at Queen’s
After Tatjana Maria became the surprise winner at the 2025 WTA Queen’s, are we going to see a surprise winner in the men’s event as well?
Or will the top two seeds go all the way to the finals? And who are the top two? 2023 champion Carlos Alcaraz is the top seed, while home favorite Jack Draper is the second seed.
Last year, Draper took out Alcaraz in the round of 16 but couldn’t progress beyond the last-eight stage.
This year, the two are expected to meet in the final, and we don’t see either being knocked out before that stage—even though there are a few tough competitors in the draw, particularly in Draper’s half.
For Alcaraz, the road to the final begins with a first-round meeting with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
He could face Jordan Thompson in the second round and Ben Shelton in a potential quarterfinal.
Although Shelton was a semifinalist in Stuttgart last week, the sixth-seeded American will find it tough to get past the French Open champion. Alcaraz’s potential semifinal opponent is fourth seed Holger Rune, who was a semifinalist here two years ago.
Although he was knocked out in the first round last year, the Dane is bringing good form into this year’s tournament and is expected to reach the semifinals.
In the bottom half, Draper will begin against Jenson Brooksby, with a possible second round against Alexei Popyrin and a potential quarterfinal against seventh seed Frances Tiafoe.
Draper could face third seed Taylor Fritz in the semifinals, and that will be a tricky one for the Briton as Fritz is coming off a successful campaign in Stuttgart, where he knocked out Alexander Zverev in the final.
Draper has a 3–2 head-to-head edge over Fritz and has won the most recent of their two meetings—one of them at Indian Wells this year. He will also have the home crowd behind him, so we are slightly favoring him if this matchup materializes.
Fritz will also face a tough test in the quarters, as he could be up against either fifth seed Alex de Minaur or surprise ‘s-Hertogenbosch champion Gabriel Diallo.
ATP Queen's Predictions
Quarterfinals
Alcaraz v Shelton
Rune v Mensik
De Minaur v Fritz
Draper v Tiafoe
Semifinals
Alcaraz v Rune
Draper v Fritz
Tennis Quiz Question of the Day (answer at the end!):
Since Serena Williams won her seventh singles title at Wimbledon in 2016, seven different players grabbed the title over the next seven editions. Which of these players was not a part of these seven winners?
Barbora Krejcikova
Ash Barty
Garbine Muguruza
Petra Kvitova
(Get more such tennis quiz questions here!)
Sinner Looks to Defend Title at Halle
While Carlos Alcaraz headlines the tournament at Queen’s, world No. 1 Jannik Sinner is the top seed in Halle, where he will be looking to defend his title.
The Italian would still be hurting from that painful French Open final defeat to Alcaraz, but he will be hoping to put it behind him as he begins his grass campaign with eyes set on Wimbledon.
Sinner, who beat Hubert Hurkacz in the final last year, is likely to meet the Pole in a potential quarterfinal. We are backing the unseeded Hurkacz to beat seventh seed Tomas Machac in the first round—if he has recovered from the injury that forced him to withdraw from ‘s-Hertogenbosch before the start of the second round.
Sinner, meanwhile, begins his campaign against Yanick Hanfmann, before a potential second-round meeting with Alexander Bublik.
Hurkacz is a possible quarterfinal opponent, while fourth seed Andrey Rublev is seeded to meet Sinner in the semifinals.
But given Rublev’s up-and-down form this year, we could see someone like Stuttgart semifinalist Felix Auger-Aliassime or ‘s-Hertogenbosch finalist Zizou Bergs making the final four.
Also in the mix is eighth seed Karen Khachanov, who tends to find the going tough on grass.
So, it’s a tricky section of the draw, with everyone having a good chance of progressing—but our bet is on either Rublev or Auger-Aliassime to make the semis for a likely meeting with Sinner.
In the bottom half, Stuttgart finalist and second seed Alexander Zverev is expected to reach a second final in a row. Although Zverev is not known for his game on grass, he got into a good rhythm in Stuttgart until he fell to Fritz in the final.
In Halle, the German will begin his campaign against Marcos Giron. Jan-Lennard Struff is a potential second-round opponent, while sixth seed Ugo Humbert is likely to meet him in the quarterfinals.
If Zverev passes the Humbert test, he could be up against third seed Daniil Medvedev. We think Zverev could be beaten by Humbert, who could then go on to make the final.
Halle Open Predictions
Quarterfinals
Sinner v Hurkacz
Rublev v Auger-Aliassime
Medvedev v Michelsen
Zverev v Humbert
Semifinals
Sinner v Auger-Alassime
Medvedev v Humbert / Zverev
How to watch all the tennis live streams in 2025? Click here for more information.
Sabalenka-Gauff Ready for Another Showdown?
A galaxy of WTA stars has descended on Berlin for this year’s German Open.
The draw includes the top seven players in women’s tennis and eight of the top 10, making for an exciting tournament.
Top seed Aryna Sabalenka and second seed Coco Gauff are both aiming to face each other in a third final in quick succession. They met in Madrid, where Sabalenka came out on top, but Gauff got her revenge at Roland Garros, fighting back from a set down to clinch the title.
Neither has won a title on grass—Gauff hasn’t even reached a grass court final—but given their current form, we believe they could meet in the Berlin final, with one of them winning her maiden grass-court title.
Looking to spoil their party will be defending champion and third seed Jessica Pegula, who beat Gauff in the semifinals last year. This year, the two are projected to meet at the same stage, and we believe Gauff could get her revenge this time.
Gauff could meet Daria Kasatkina in her opener in the second round, with a potential quarterfinal against eighth seed Paula Badosa.
Pegula, meanwhile, is expected to open against former champion Liudmila Samsonova (whom we’re backing over Naomi Osaka in the first round). Sixth seed Mirra Andreeva is seeded to be Pegula’s potential quarterfinal opponent.
In the top half, Sabalenka is likely to meet Sofia Kenin in the second round, with a potential quarterfinal against either Qinwen Zheng or Elena Rybakina.
While Zheng is the fifth seed and has been in slightly better form—particularly after her run to the semifinals in Queen’s—we’re still backing Rybakina in the first-round contest between the two, as the Kazakh is a former Wimbledon champion and has been far superior on grass than Zheng.
Sabalenka’s projected semifinal opponent is last year’s Wimbledon finalist Jasmine Paolini.
The Italian doesn’t have an easy path, with Ons Jabeur or Caroline Dolehide and Madison Keys as potential second-round and quarterfinal opponents, respectively, but Paolini will be eager to find rhythm ahead of Wimbledon.
One dark horse to watch is Amanda Anisimova.
She is having a strong year, and the unseeded American could well reach the semifinals—possibly ahead of Andreeva and Pegula. Anisimova, who won the Doha title earlier this year, also reached the final in Queen’s last week.
German Open Predictions
Quarterfinals
Sabalenka v Zheng / Rybakina
Paolini v Keys
Pegula v Andreeva / Anisimova
Gauff v Badosa
Semifinals
Sabalenka v Paolini
Gauff v Pegula / Anisimova
Tennis Quiz Answer: Petra Kvitova, who had won it in 2011 and 2014. (Get more such tennis quiz questions here)
Can Boulter Complete a Hat-trick in Nottingham?
Two-time defending champion Katie Boulter will be looking to complete a Nottingham hat-trick this year.
The eighth-seeded Briton, who had a quiet start to the season, will be buoyed by last month’s win at the WTA 125 in Paris.
Plus, home conditions and her experience in Nottingham may give her the confidence to go all the way to the title.
She is on a collision course to meet top seed and 2022 champion Beatriz Haddad Maia in the quarterfinals.
While world No. 21 Haddad Maia is ranked 18 places higher than Boulter, the Brazilian has struggled in 2025—making Boulter’s chances of reaching the semis brighter.
Boulter’s potential semifinal opponent would be fourth seed Yulia Putintseva, while the unseeded Tatjana Maria—after her stunning run from qualifiers to the title at Queen’s—could be back in her second straight final, trying to stop Boulter from completing the hat-trick.
Maria’s win at Queen’s was no fluke, as she knocked out the likes of Leylah Fernandez, Karolina Muchova, Elena Rybakina, Madison Keys, and Amanda Anisimova to claim the title.
Maria will begin her campaign against Petra Kvitova. She could meet Fernandez in the second round, Olga Danilovic in the quarterfinals, and either Magda Linette or Anna Blinkova in a potential semifinal. Clara Tauson is the second seed, but she has never won a main draw match on grass—and that doesn’t stand her in good stead.
WTA Nottingham Predictions
Quarterfinals
Haddad Maia v Boulter
Putintseva v Noskova
Maria v Danilovic
Linette v Blinkova
Semifinals
Boulter v Putintseva
Maria v Blinkova
Final
Boulter v Maria
We hope to bring you these weekly newsletters throughout the 2025 tennis season. You can help us in doing so in one of the following ways!
Book an advert that will be featured on TennisWorldLive.substack.com by emailing me at tennisworldlive.com@gmail.com
Do consider buying me a coffee here!
Forward this to a tennis fan & invite them to subscribe by clicking on the button below.