DALLAS
Surface: Indoor Hard

http://www.challengerofdallas.com/

Ryan Sweeting is the top seed here and he's won this tournament twice [2009/2010]. This draw is littered with good "tweener" talent, guys who swing between the Challenger level and the main draws at the ATP level. Steve Darcis, Sam Querrey, Tobias Kamke, Wayne Odesnik, Izak Van Der Merwe, Rajeev Ram and Ricardas Berankis line out the seeds here.

 In the opening quarter, Sweeting will need to get past Ginepri in the 2nd round potentially and Challenger vets, Jesse Levine and Odesnik loom in the quarters. Also, don't look past Bryan Baker who entered here as a wildcard. He made the final on a similar surface in Knoxville late in 2011. Sweeting is the most talented player in this quarter. He had David Ferrer on the ropes in Melbourne and generally, has played well this year. If he can get past Ginepri who is hot after wining the Honolulu Challenger, Sweeting should make the semis.

In the other quarter, Kamke and Ram are the seeds. Youngster Denis Kudla is here also, but seems ill-equipped to make a run this early in his career on this surface. Kamke has the easier road. Ram has to beat Zverev in his opener and it looks like one of those two would be Kamke's likely opponent. Even though Kamke did not play well in Montpellier last week, he's got the talent and game on this surface. He went 16-7 on indoor hard courts in 2011. Expect Kamke to roll into the semis.

The bottom half of the draw has some great talent and there should be some good power matches here. In the first quarter, Van Der Merwe and Querrey are the seeds. There is also an intriguing 1st rounder with teen Jack Sock against Challenger vet Robert Kendrick. Kendrick looked rusty in Honolulu, while Sock got a couple of confidence building wins. This is a good step up for Sock. He has a potentially big serve, but consistency is another thing. I won't be surprised if he wins, but Kendrick can batter him if his serve is working. Querrey may not be all the way back from last year's injury woes, but he's got to be able to take this quarter if he wants to get back into the mix of "top Americans.'

The other quarter features Berankis and Darcis as the seeds, Challenger regular Tim Smyczek is in the mix here as well. Berankis has the best talent maybe of any player in this tournament, but his year has not started well. He lost to Hernych in qualis in Brisbane and then lost in the 2nd round of qualis in Melbourne. Still, his record on indoor hard courts is impressive at 41-17 with an 18-8 mark last season. He made three Challenger semifinals on this surface and a final in 2011. If he can find his game early and get rolling, he looks primed for a deep run. Darcis has had injury concerns already, so he may not even be in the mix. Smyczek could sneak into the battle to get out of this quarter, but I think Berankis gets it together.

Semifinalists: Sweeting, Kamke, Querrey, Berankis
Final: Querrey over Sweeting

Player to Watch: Ricardas Berankis

Upset Watch: Baker over Odesnik in Round 1