It’s been four years, but we finally have ourselves an ATP Masters 1000 in Shanghai once more. A packed draw, featuring the best of the best promises to deliver a bag full of entertainment and fun and we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the slate, including Aleksandar Vukic vs Roberto Carballes Baena and Alexei Popyrin vs Matteo Arnaldi.
ATP Shanghai Day 2 Predictions
Diego Schwartzman vs Luca van Assche
Head-to-Head: First meeting
Diego Schwartzman hasn’t found a route out of his woes on court so far this season, with two losses so far in this Asian swing to add to what is already an unusually long tally for thel Argentine. He showed promising signs in the first set against Alexander Zverev, winning in a tie break before losing the match in three sets. A match against the relatively inexperienced teenager might just be what he needs to get back to winning ways.
Luca van Assche has the talent to hang with this version of Schwartzman and should fancy his chances here.
Prediction: Van Assche in 2
Rinky Hijikata vs Laslo Djere
Head-to-Head: First meeting
Laslo Djere retired in his first round match in Astana last week after picking up a knock. His fitness level in this first encounter would be the deciding factor as the golf in talent and experience would have given him a wider margin of advantage going into the match.
Hijikata, should he get a whiff of a chance here, would be poised to take it having already come through qualifying. A fully fit Laslo Djere should pose too much of a hurdle for Hijikata but we expect him to nick a set at the very least.
Prediction: Djere in 3
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Botic van de Zandschulp vs Christopher O’Connell
Head-to-Head: 0-1 O’Connell
Christopher O’Connell comes into this match after a string of good results at the Challenger level and a quarterfinals appearance in Chengdu, where he lost to Grigor Dimitrov.
Lack of consistency has been one of van de Zandschulp’s greatest weaknesses and this season has highlighted that even more, seeing fall short in matches where he should be winning easily. A lack of concentration and coherent game plan would be concerning for him here if he is to take his chances against O’Connell. We anticipate the momentum to swing both ways during the match but the steadier of the two should win out.
Prediction: O’Connell in 3
J.J. Wolf vs Pedro Cachin
Head-to-Head: First meeting
Both players will be making their debut in Shanghai this week and aim to do one better over each other. Wolf, for his part, hasn’t got the best record coming into this tournament with four consecutive first round exits in the tournaments he has featured in going back to Toronto. He made it past the qualifying rounds in Beijing last week but was overpowered in the first round by Matteo Arnaldi.
Pedro Cachin has played a great deal of his season so far on clay with only a single win on hard courts to his name in the last ten months. He will make his debut here off the back of two clay court Challenger appearances and would need to quickly transition his game if he is to have a chance here. Wolf has the game better suited to these conditions and should be able to fire himself to a much needed win here.
Prediction: Wolf in 2
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
