Day 3 will see some of the big guns in action including them two-time Rolex Shanghai Masters champion Roger Federer, who faces a pesky customer in Albert Ramos Vinolas.
Who will advance to the third round? We also have two more sets of predictions for Shanghai’s Tuesday matches.
ATP Rolex Shanghai Masters Day 3 Predictions
Andrey Rublev vs Borna Coric
Head-to-head: Rublev 2-0 Coric
Andrey Rublev was the first among the Next Gen Russians to make his mark in the mainstream as he was the finalist at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals a couple of years ago. But Rublev’s dramatic rise has since been overshadowed by the likes of Khachanov in 2018 and Daniil Medvedev at present. However, after dealing with injuries towards the tail end of 2018 and falling out of the Top 100 in February this year, Rublev has been charging up the rankings in recent months to gain automatic entry at tour-level main draws. He came to life in Hamburg where he reached the final and proceeded to make a succession of quarterfinal appearances in the build up to the US Open.
He will face last year’s Shanghai finalist Borna Coric in the first round. The talented Croat produced a career-best season in 2018, but things haven’t gone according to plans in 2019, with just a single tour-level final to his name (St. Petersburg). Last week Coric suffered a shocking first round exit to Japan’s Taro Daniel in Tokyo and that is a the sort of defeat that can spur Rublev to inflict more misery over the inconsistent Croat. With his commanding head-to-head record and affinity for fast surfaces, the Russian is a solid pick here.
Prediction: Rublev in 3
Jan-Lennard Struff vs Matteo Berrettini
Head-to-head: Struff 0-1 Berrettini
Jan-Lennard Struff is still trying to reach his first-ever ATP tour final despite playing some of his best tennis this year. His most recent attempt came at the Mercedes Cup and indidentally it was against Matteo Berrettini who knocked him out in straight sets. Will the German avenge that loss given that the Italian is on a lengthy hangover following his historic US Open run? I think so. Both Struff and Berrettini are massive servers so it is safe to expect a tight encounter with breaks at a premium and potentially more than one tiebreak. Expect the German to hold his nerve and edge out the US Open semifinalist.
Prediction: Struff in 3
Guido Pella vs John Millman
Head-to-head: Pella 1-0 Millman
Guido Pella is enjoying a career-best season in 2019. A first career title won in Sao Paolo and a fine clay-court campaign in which he reached three successive quarterfinals between Monte Carlo and the BMW Open in Munich are among the key highlights. He also made the last eight of a Grand Slam for the first time at Wimbledon. However, the Argentinean left-hander’s form has gone off the boil since his run to the semifinals in Los Cabos.
Pella will face in-form Australian John Millman who has started the autumn season in style. After exiting the US Open in the first round and losing a huge chunk of ranking points, the 30-year-old Queensland native won a Challenger title in Kaohsiung in Taiwan and then made the final of an ATP-500 as a qualifier for the first time in Tokyo. Although Millman lost handily to Djokovic in that final, he is still on course to re-enter the World’s Top 50.
The worrying thing for Millman is whether he has the legs to go toe-to-toe with one of the most lethal counterpunchers in Top 30 after such a long week in Japan.
Prediction: Pella in 2
Roger Federer vs Albert Ramos Vinolas
Head-to-head: Federer 1-1 Ramos Vinolas
Roger Federer will return to tour-level tennis for the first time since his surprise five-set defeat to Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals of the US Open. The Swiss World No.3 overcame the niggling injuries he suffered on his neck and back in the aftermath of that defeat and played an instrumental role to inspire a third successive Laver Cup triumph for Team Europe. The 38-year-old will open up his bid for a third title in Shanghai against Albert Ramos Vinolas – the Spaniard who famously defeated him at this event four years ago.
Back then, Federer was also returning to action following a heartbreaking defeat to Novak Djokovic in the US Open final, but a lack of sharpness at crucial moments sent him spinning to defeat. Ramos Vinolas was ranked No.70 at the time and secured his first ever top-10 win of his career.
They haven’t met on tour since then and Federer will be keen to avoid such drama at the same stage. The Spanish left-hander will be brimming with confidence after a routine victory over Marin Cilic on Monday and the wheels seem to have come off now that he has found the antidote to his bad start to the year. However, Federer will be a heavy favorite here and given that he has fully recovered from the aforementioned injuries, he will justify that tag.
Prediction: Federer in 2
Main Photo:
Disagree with our Rolex Shanghai Masters predictions? As always, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.
