Plenty of intriguing first-round showdowns are on the schedule in Shanghai, where Borna Coric and Stan Wawrinka will kick off their campaigns on Monday. Stefanos Tsitsipas and Gael Monfils are also in action.
(WC) Stan Wawrinka vs. (13) Borna Coric
Coric and Wawrinka will be going head-to-head for the fourth time in their careers when they clash in round one of the Shanghai Masters on Monday afternoon. Wawrinka has won all three of their previous encounters and is 6-1 in total sets against Coric. However, they have not faced each other since 2016–when the veteran Swiss triumphed 6-3, 7-5 in the Chennai title match. They gave been going in mostly different directions since then, with Coric on the rise and Wawrinka making a comeback from injury. The 33-year-old is a modest 17-16 this season, but he has advanced at least one round in five consecutive tournaments.
As he rounds the home stretch with a stellar 31-17 record in 2018, Coric may be wearing down just a bit. Since outlasting Frances Tiafoe in five sets to win a decisive Davis Cup semifinal rubber between Croatia and the United States, Coric has suffered immediate losses to Cameron Norrie (Shenzhen) and Feliciano Lopez (Beijing). The latter setback is an especially bad one, and it does not bode well for the 13th seed’s chances against an opponent who has owned him in the past.
Pick: Wawrinka in 3
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Gael Monfils vs. (10) Stefanos Tsitsipas
Tsitsipas is going to end this season where Coric wrapped up the last one–at the NextGen ATP Finals in Milan (although the 20-year-old Greek is still in distant Nitto ATP Finals contention). He is sporting a 33-24 record that includes a runner-up showing in Toronto and a quarterfinal performance at this past week’s Japan Open (beat Alex de Minaur in round two before falling to eventual runner-up Kei Nishikori).
Up first for Tsitsipas on Monday is Monfils, whom the world No. 15 has never faced. Monfils is concluding another injury-plagued year that has him down at 39th in the rankings. The Frenchman is 0-2 since capturing a Challenger title in Kaohsiung, with a loss to Lloyd Harris in Chengdu and a more respectable 2-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(5) setback against Fernando Verdasco in Beijing. Tsitsipas seems to have gotten back on track following a brief slump and he will likely be too good for Monfils in the veteran’s current state.
Pick: Tsitsipas in 2
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WWW?
Wawa and Tsitsi in 3.
Stan and not the Frenchman in three.