It promises to be an entertaining first day at the ATP Shanghai Masters with a number of intriguing matches on the schedule in China, including Gael Monfils vs Damir Dzumhur, Denis Shapovalov vs Lorenzo Sonego, and Kei Nishikori vs Mariano Navone. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the slate, but who will book their spot in the second round?
ATP Shanghai Day 1 Predictions
Luca Nardi vs Alexandre Muller
Head-to-head: Nardi 2-1 Muller
They’ve already played twice this year with Luca Nardi claiming a tight battle in Monte Carlo, but Alexandre Muller got his revenge with a breezy win at Roland Garros. Neither has been doing particularly well of late and it’s tough to guess who will get an important win here. Nardi has probably been more disappointing, failing to make the leap that his win over Novak Djokovic and the Naples title were suggesting he’s ready for. Muller is just a bit more gritty and solid.
Prediction: Muller in 3
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Fabio Fognini vs Luciano Darderi
Head-to-head: Darderi 1-0 Fognini
Luciano Darderi has played some solid tennis away of his favorite surface this year, but it hasn’t translated into wins (1-8 record on hard courts) and he’s now on a pretty poor losing run. While he demolished Fabio Fognini on the way to the Perugia title in June, it feels like reaching that sort of level right now would be much tougher. It’s his experienced opponent who knows how to handle conditions in Shanghai better, so it’s just a question of being able to show it at 37 years of age.
Prediction: Fognini in 3
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs Gabriel Diallo
Head-to-head: first meeting
Gabriel Diallo is getting closer to main tour quality and while qualifying by itself won’t get him into the Top 100 yet (he’s dropping 125 points for winning Bratislava last year), a win or two in the main draw could be huge. He’s got a chance here with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s mediocre season hardly getting better at the moment. The Spaniard has only made three quarterfinals all year and is far out of the Top 50 now. Diallo could potentially smell blood here and might pull this off.
Prediction: Diallo in 3
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Marin Cilic vs Arthur Cazaux
Head-to-head: first meeting
One of the big stories of the upcoming weeks will be whether Marin Cilic’s Hangzhou title was a one-time thing or not. It seems like the Croat’s game is very much intact if he remains healthy, he’s hardly lost anything of his past ball-striking quality. Arthur Cazaux on the other hand, hasn’t been firing pretty much since his breakthrough run at the Australian Open. The Frenchman looked a bit lost even at his favorite Challenger in Nonthaburi last week, which suggests that Cilic should power through here.
Prediction: Cilic in 2
Main photo credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
