Mercedes Cup 2013: Schedule, Live Stream, TV Info and Predictions

As the old saying goes, there's no rest for the weary. 

Fresh off the 2013 Wimbledon tournament, a handful of the ATP World Tour's top stars will transition from the grass of the All England Club to the clay of Tennis Club Weissenhof in Germany for the 2013 Mercedes Cup. 

Janko Tipsarevic is the tournament's reigning champion, but he will not return to Stuttgart this year to defend his crown. However, two past champions (Jeremy Chardy and Albert Montanes) will be in attendance with an eye toward prize money and a second Mercedes Benz. 

Tommy Haas was bested by Novak Djokovic in the fourth round at Wimbledon this year, but the 35-year-old German star is the highest-rated ATP World Tour player in the field and will be the top overall seed. 

With a chance to put Wimbledon demons behind them and build some momentum for the U.S. Open in late August, there will be no shortage of players vying to get back on the horse in the form of a ATP Tour 250 win. 

Let's take a look at a complete Mercedes Cup preview below.

For more information on the 2013 Mercedes Cup, visit MercedesCup.de. 

Tournament Info

What: 2013 Mercedes Cup 

When: July 8 — July 14, 2013

Where: Stuttgart, Germany

Watch: Sport1 (Germany)

Live Stream: ATPWorldTour.TennisTV.com

Schedule/Draw: Click Here (via ATPWorldTour.com)

Category: ATP World Tour 250

Prize Money: € 410,200

Via ATPTour.com.  

Tournament Preview/Predictions

A list of 32 qualifiers (via ATPWorldTour.com) was whittled down to four as Wimbledon was ending over the weekend, and we found out on Monday that Daniel Munoz-de la Nava, Andreas Beck, Alexander Ward and Nils Langer would be the final four men who feed into the 32-man draw for the men's singles crown. 

In addition to Haas, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Chardy and Benoit Paire are the top four seeds in the draw; all four will have a first-round bye. 

Fabio Fognini, Florian Mayer, Lukas Rosol and Martin Klizan round out the highest eight seeds. 

Haas is making his first trip to Stuttgart in 11 years. His best finish came in 1999, when he made it to the finals but was bested in five sets by Magnus Norman. 

Chardy won the event in 2009 and will look to find magic again in his latest trip to Stuttgart. He made it to the quarterfinals at the 2013 Australian Open and was bested by Djokovic in the third round at Wimbledon, but he does have the experience of winning this tournament. He and partner Lukasz Kubot also won the doubles crown in 2012. 

As mentioned above, a Spaniard has tackled these clay courts in five of the last eight years. 

Spain's best chance on paper to make it six in the last nine would be Marcel Granollers. He and fellow countryman Pablo Andujar are both in the top fourth of the bracket, though, and will likely have to beat Haas to make the feat a reality. 

Moving down the draw, the section with Chardy and Klizan as the anchors of the bracket appears to be one of great interest. If either of the past champions want to put a second Mercedes Cup trophy on their mantle, they'll likely have to face each other—both Chardy and Montanes have been placed in this section. 

Other players to watch in the bottom half of the draw include Gael Monfils, who was the runner-up to Montanes in 2010, and Victor Hanescu, who lost to Chardy in the 2009 final. 

Kohlschreiber, the No. 2 seed, will be the lowest listed player on the bracket and will also have two qualifiers in a section that includes Monfils, Mayer and Robin Kern. 

Haas will obviously be the tournament favorite, but there's a reason why several of the tournament's past champions and second-place finishers are returning to add to their legacy in Stuttgart. 

Early on, the top-four seed with the best chance to reach the finals would appear to be Kohlschreiber. Although he exited in the first round at Wimbledon, he'll have local support and did take Djokovic to four sets at the French Open earlier this year. 

A sleeper to watch would certainly be Montanes. 

Not in the top eight because of his ATP World Tour ranking (No. 50), he draws the short end of the stick in a section that includes Klizan and Chardy. If he can find a way to beat the No. 8 seed (Klizan), a matchup with Chardy could await in the quarterfinals. 

Another sleeper of sorts is Andujar. He's been to at least the semifinals in Stuttgart the past two years, but he too has a tough draw and has been ousted in the first round of the last three tournaments he's appeared in. A spark in the form of the clay in Germany might be just what he needs. 

As it stands, look for Haas to assert himself early and never look back. He's playing strong tennis right now—his last three losses came to players named Djokovic and Roger Federer.

After Wimbledon, he's now the No. 11 player on the ATP World Tour. Playing in the friendly confines of his homeland certainly is an edge—just ask Andy Murray.

The field is wide open without the majority of tennis' top stars, but Haas has a great chance to win his first-ever Mercedes Cup at the ripe age of 35 this year. 

Follow B/R's Ethan Grant (@DowntownEG) on Twitter.