SHANGHAI MASTERS PREVIEW

October 6, 2019 0 0

ATP SHANGHAI MASTERS 1000

Top seeds:

N. Djokovic
R. Federer
D. Medvedev
D. Thiem

The draw hasn’t been kind to either of the top two seeds, and bookies favourites Novak Djokovic (10/11) and Roger Federer (1/1).

Djokovic is coming off a tournament win in Tokyo where he was not challenged at any stage. He won the tournament without dropping a set, and cruised to the title beating Millman 6-2 6-3 in the final. However, he will find it much tougher in Shanghai.

Djokovic is the defending champion and will get a first round bye (as will all the top seeds) but will immediately be faced with upcoming stars Denis Shapovalov or Frances Tiafoe. Third round opponents could be big serving John Isner or recent Zhuhai champion Alex de Minaur. Stefanos Tsitsipas shares this quarter with Djokovic. If both players come through their opening rounds, a great quarter final looms. Tsitsipas will play Thiem later today in the China Open final, and should be confident of another good showing in Shanghai.

Roger Federer, twice the champion here in Shanghai, will likely face Marin Cilic in the second round. Federer has only ever lost once to Cilic, back in 2014, but he’s still a dangerous opponent. If Federer get to the quarters, he will likely face Alexander Zverev who is coming off a semi final loss to Tsitsipas in the China Open. Zverev will need to overcome potential opponents Millman, Coric and Rublev.

Daniil Medvedev, the hottest player on tour right now, will likely begin in the second round against Giles Simon. Having won 24 of his last 27 matches, he will be determined and confident he can continue his form and continue his march up the world rankings. A potential quarter final against Karen Khachanov awaits. Khachanov must get through a quarter that also includes an improving Andy Murray (3 times winner here) and number 10 seed Fabio Fognini.

Thiem has not qualified for the Tour Finals and will hope to wrap that up this week. He shares his quarter with Roberto Bautista Agut, the runner up to Andy Murray in 2016.

And just in case you’re wondering why I haven’t mentioned him, Nadal has pulled out due to injury.

Enjoy, and please feel free to leave a comment below.

Patrick.