Beijing R1 previews and picks: Goffin vs. Seppi, Fognini vs. Klizan

David Goffin and Fabio Fognini will contest their Beijing openers on Monday. Goffin is going up against Andreas Seppi, while Fognini is facing Martin Klizan.

(7) David Goffin vs. Andreas Seppi

The Grand Slam season may be over, but Goffin still has plenty to play for as he prepares to begin his fall swing at the China Open. Beijing’s No. 7 seed has a good chance to finish 2015 with a better ranking than his current career-high of 14th in the world, even though he still has points to defend from last year’s runner-up showing in Basel. Goffin also still has Davis Cup duty on his plate, as Belgium is set to host an improbable final against Great Britain later this month. The world No. 15 is 32-20 for the season and he has not lost to anyone outside the top six (not counting one retirement) since a setback against Dominic Thiem in the Gstaad final on Aug. 2.

Up first for Goffin this week is Seppi, whom he has never faced. The 31-year-old Italian is a decent 25-20 for his 2015 campaign but a mere 3-5 since reaching the Hamburg semifinals in early August.  Seppi has not yet played this fall, whereas Goffin at least got two indoor matches (both straight-set wins) under his belt during the Davis Cup semis against Argentina. This is not a good matchup for Seppi, whose style is similar to that of his opponent and Goffin is executing that style better than the world No. 25 in just about every way right now.

Pick: Goffin in 2

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Fabio Fognini vs. Martin Klizan

Fognini and Klizan will be squaring off for the sixth time in their careers and for the first time this season when they clash on Monday. The head-to-head series stands at 3-2 in favor of Fognini, but they have split their two previous hard-court meetings (both indoors). Klizan cruised 6-2, 6-3 in the 2012 St. Petersburg final, while Fognini prevailed 7-5, 3-6, 6-0 two years ago in Valencia. The two combustible characters most recently faced each other last spring in the Munich final, with Klizan triumphing 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Playing in his first tournament since the U.S. Open, at which he stunned Rafael Nadal en route to the fourth round, Fognini is coming off Davis Cup playoff action late last month. He won a pair of a straight-set singles rubbers over Russia to lead Italy to the 2016 World Group. It was good preparation, too, because the tie was held on an indoor hard court. Klizan recently advanced to the semifinals in Metz before succumbing to Gilles Simon. The 34th-ranked Slovak is a solid 29-23 on the year and should have Australian Open seeding on his mind. This could obviously go either way with two mercurial players involved, but Fognini–from totally out of nowhere–is finally playing with some confidence on the hard stuff.

Pick: Fognini in 3

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