The Asian hard court swing culminates with the eighth Masters 1000 tournament of the year in Shanghai, China. The ATP 1000 series is always exciting and the fast courts of Shanghai never serve a dull match. As ever, we preview and predict the matches for you, including Arthur Rinderknech’s first round tilt.
ATP Shanghai Day 2 Predictions
Nuno Borges vs Botic van de Zandschulp
Head-to-head – First Meeting
Nuno Borges enters the tournament on the back of a decent year but deep runs at tournaments have eluded him. The Portuguese plays his best on slower courts and the surface at Shanghai may not be his best chance to have a good result. He faces Botic van de Zandschulp who tapered off since his final appearance at Winston-Salem but the Dutchman should enjoy the conditions here and progress ahead.
Prediction: van de Zandschulp in 2
Hamad Medjedovic vs Arthur Rinderknech
Head-to-head – Medjedovic 1-0 Rinderknech
This should be a tight battle. Hamad Medjedovic had a solid tournament at Winston-Salem last month but hasn’t won a match since. He faces Arthur Rinderknech who had a great US Open and backed that up with a Round of 16 appearance in Beijing last week. That being said, Medjedovic it seems has more variety from the baseline and if he’s able to counter the Frenchman’s deadly serve, the Serb may just edge this one.
Prediction: Medjedovic in 3
Damir Dzumhur vs Christopher O’Connell
Head-to-head – First Meeting
Damir Dzumhur has struggled in recent times last winning a match at Cincinnati. The Bosnian will soon need to find his game because he takes on Christopher O’Connell who has played well at Chengdu and the challenger event in Huangpu. The Australian is a decent server and will look to that shot being the decisive factor against Dzumhur who generally struggles to hold serve.
Prediction: O’Connell in 3
Matteo Arnaldi vs Rei Sakamoto
Head-to-head – First Meeting
It will be interesting to see how Matteo Arnaldi fares this tournament. The young Italian has shown sparks of brilliance especially from the baseline but hasn’t quite had the breakthrough tournament yet. His first round assignment is against qualifier Rei Sakamoto who impressed in the qualifying rounds but the 19 year old Japanese is relatively inexperienced on the main tour and Arnaldi should be able to dominate this match.
Prediction: Arnaldi in 2
Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
