Day 1 of the inaugural ATP Zhuhai Open promises to be good, with two hometown favorites in action. Find out who we think will advance to the second round in Zhuhai.
ATP Zhuhai Open Day 1 Predictions
Peter Gojowczyk vs Cameron Norrie
H2H- Norrie leads 1-0
This match is a great opportunity for each of these players to pick up a much-needed win. Gojowczyk hasn’t won a match since reaching the semifinals at the Citi Open in Washington as a lucky loser, and Norrie hasn’t picked up a win since Montreal. This one should be pretty even, but I think Norrie wins a close one.
Prediction: Norrie in 3
Yoshihito Nishioka vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas
H2H- First Meeting
At this time last year, Yoshihito Nishioka broke through and won the first title of his career in Shenzhen. Now the tournament moves to Zhuhai and Nishioka is looking for a similar result. Albert Ramos-Vinolas decided to go back to clay after the US Open reaching the semifinals in both Geneva and Szczecin. Even though Ramos isn’t short on match play, I don’t think this one will be close.
Prediction: Nishioka in 2
Tatsuma Ito vs Di Wu
H2H- First Meeting
Even though the two haven’t “officially” played each other according to the H2H, they’ve met five times on the Challenger Tour,with Ito leading the H2H 4-1. They both spend a lot of time throughout the year playing challengers held in Asia. Di Wu is coming in playing well with a finals appearance last week at the Shanghai Challenger. Ito is also playing well after winning back to back matches over Thomas Fabbiano and Jiri Vesely to qualify. I think the familiarity of the matchup will make Wu less nervous in a big match for him. I think Di Wu picks up the fourth ATP main draw win of his career.
Prediction: Wu in 3
Adrian Mannarino vs Ze Zhang
H2H- First Meeting
Ze Zhang has the game to beat a lot of these Top 100 players, but he just hasn’t been able to put it all together. Zhang hasn’t been able to take advantage of the wild cards on the Asian Swing in the past, and I don’t think this week will be any different. Mannarino is a tricky player to face, especially when you haven’t played him before yet either. I can’t see Mannarino having any issues here.
Prediction: Mannarino in 2
