Denis Shapovalov and Frances Tiafoe will battle in Shanghai on Monday, with the winner to face top seed and Tokyo champion Novak Djokovic in round two. Andy Murray is also in action to continue his comeback against Juan Ignacio Londero.
Frances Tiafoe vs. Denis Shapovalov
Tiafoe and Shapovalov will be squaring off for the fourth time in their careers when they clash in round one of the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Monday afternoon. Shapovalov leads the head-to-head series 2-1 after winning three-setters at a couple of other hard-courts Masters 1000 tournaments. He prevailed 7-6(6), 3-6, 7-5 last summer in Cincinnati and 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2 this spring in Miami.
Under new coach Mikhail Youzhny, Shapovalov appears to be wrapping up his 2019 campaign in strong fashion. The 32nd-ranked Canadian has not lost a first-round match since Wimbledon, a span of six events. This stretch includes semifinal showings in Winston-Salem and Chengdu prior to last week’s second-round result in Tokyo (beat Miomir Kecmanovic, lost to David Goffin). Tiafoe has to be sick of facing good friends early in tournaments, as he succumbed to Alexander Zverev in round two at Flushing Meadows and again this past week in his Beijing opener. The 46th-ranked American is 0-4 in his last four non-retirement matches, so a considerable edge in current form goes to Shapovalov.
Pick: Shapovalov in 2
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(WC) Andy Murray vs. (Q) Juan Ignacio Londero
Murray’s comeback continues to get better and better, and with the manageable draw that he has in Shanghai a natural progression would arguably be a quarterfinal berth. But the 503rd-ranked Scot will not be taking anything for granted at this point in his career, which will serve him well against Londero on Monday evening. Murray has lost only to eventual champions on this Asian swing, to Alex de Minaur in the Zhuhai second round and to Dominic Thiem in the Beijing quarters after beating Matteo Berrettini and Cameron Norrie.
Londero’s breakout 2019 campaign has him up to 59th in the world, four spots off his career-high ranking. All 22 of his ATP-level match victories have come this season. Although the 26-year-old Argentine is by no means hopeless on hard courts and grass, he is by far at his best on clay and has understandably cooled off since the French Open. Murray, who is 22-3 lifetime in Shanghai with three titles, should have no trouble giving the qualifier a hard-court lesson.
Pick: Murray in 2
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Shapo in three Murray in two