Top seed Alexander Zverev will begin his Beijing title bid on Thursday against familiar foe Cameron Norrie. Andrey Rublev, the recent Hangzhou runner-up, tries to maintain his fine form at the expense of Tallon Griekspoor.
(1) Alexander Zverev vs. Cameron Norrie
Zverev and Norrie will be facing each other for the 11th time in their careers when they collide in round one of the China Open on Thursday. The head-to-head series stands at 8-2 in favor of Zverev, who has won all eight of their main-tour encounters. Norrie’s victories came back in 2013 and 2014 at the lower levels of tennis before Zverev assumed complete control of this matchup. The 29-year-old German has earned two of his victories this season — in four sets at the Australian Open and in three sets at the Cincinnati Masters.
There is no reason to think that the tide will turn on Thursday. Zverev just captured his second Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open, won a pair of Davis Cup rubbers for Germany, and helped Team Europe lift the Laver Cup. The world No. 2 is 10-1 in his last 11 matches, with only a three-set Laver Cup loss to Alex de Minaur during this stretch. Norrie, on the other hand, is a disappointing 1-3 in his last three matches and has not played since bowing out to Luca Van Assche right away at Flushing Meadows. All signs point to this being one-way traffic for the No. 1 seed.
Pick: Zverev in 2
Tallon Griekspoor vs. Andrey Rublev
Rublev’s Asian swing is off to a strong start, as he finished runner-up to fellow Russian Daniil Medvedev in Hangzhou on Tuesday. It was a much-needed result for Rublev, who has tumbled to 24th in the rankings and had not won multiple matches at any event since capturing the Bastad title in July.
Up first for Rublev in Beijing is a fifth showdown against Griekspoor, who trails the head-to-head series 3-1. They have split their two previous hard-court contests, with Rublev prevailing in a third-set tiebreaker at the 2023 Doha event before Griekspoor most recently got the job done 7-5, 7-6(6) early this season in Dubai. Can the Dutchman make it two straight in this matchup? Probably not. He has struggled with physical problems this season, and his 13-19 record at the ATP level includes a 4-9 mark in his last 13 tournament matches (excluding Davis Cup).
Pick: Rublev in 2
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Rublev literally won by a cat’s whisker just then! Davis Cup might have been a good preparation for the Dutchies.