Day 3 of the Shenzhen Longhua Open Challenger will feature the remaining second round matches. Denis Istomin takes on Roman Safiullin. The second seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina has withdrawn, and Chun-Hsin Tseng wiill be up against 41-year-old Toshihide Matsui. Who is the favorite to prevail?
Shenzhen Challenger Day 3
Teymuraz Gabashvili vs Christopher Eubanks
Head-to-head: First meeting
At 34 years old, Teymuraz Gabashvili is still finding the motivation to drive around the world, competing on the ATP Challenger Tour. The Russian has had a rough beginning of he season but caught form lately. He had no problem beating Yuanfeng Li in the opening round 6-3 6-2.
Christopher Eubanks is in a different period of his career, trying to breakthrough to the biggest stages. The American played many main tour events this season but with relatively no success. You can expect a nail-biter here, with Eubanks’ superior serve potentially the deciding aspect.
Prediction: Eubanks in 3
Denis Istomin vs Roman Safiullin
Head-to-head: Istomin 1-0
Former world no. 33 Denis Istomin has had a terrible first half of the season and decided to look for points on the Challenger Circuit. Last week, he made the final at Liuzhou Open, going down to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
On the other side of the net will be 22-year-old Roman Safiullin. The Russian was one of the standout players of the ITF World Tennis Tour but has cooled down in the last couple of months. Istomin’s big serve and forehand are still feared on the Challenger Tour and he should be able to cruise here.
Prediction: Istomin in 2
Toshihide Matsui vs Chun-Hsin Tseng
Head-to-head: First meeting
Chun-Hsin Tseng advanced to the second round with a great win over Di Wu. Last year’s Roland Garros and Wimbledon juniors champion is on his way to make it a professional tennis career. The Taiwanese has recently signed Dominik Hrbaty, former world no. 12, as his coach.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina was supposed to be Tseng’s opponent, but the second seed has withdrawn after playing nine matches in the last two weeks. Instead, Tseng will face Toshihide Matsui, a 41-year-old Japanese lucky loser. Matsui rarely plays singles these days but he’s actually managing some Challenger Tour wins lately. However, Tseng played very well to beat Di Wu in the first round and it’s doubtful Matsui will be able to punish his serve as efficiently as Davidovich Fokina could.
Prediction: Tseng in 2
Yuichi Sugita vs Fajing Sun
Head-to-head: First meeting
It might not be as easy as many would expect. Faijing Sun has advanced to the second round with a good win over Matej Sabanov and recently took a set off Marco Cecchinato and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Yuichi Sugita’s breakthrough has been seriously hampered by injuries but the Japanese is slowly regaining his best form. Just two weeks ago, he went out to Denis Shapovalov in the semifinals at Stockholm. Expect the Japanese to keep up the good form.
Prediction: Sugita in 3
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