The first two finals of the Asian swing will be contested on Sunday. Fabio Fognini and Bernard Tomic will collide in what could be a wild one in Chengdu, while Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Yoshihito and Pierre-Hugues Herbert are squaring off in Shenzhen.
Chengdu Open: (1) Fabio Fognini vs. (Q) Bernard Tomic
Two of the tour’s most combustible characters will be facing each other for the fourth time in their careers when Fognini and Tomic battle for the Chengdu title on Sunday. Fognini is leading the head-to-head series, with a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory on the grass courts of Eastbourne in 2012 and a 6-2, 6-4 beatdown on the red clay of Madrid two years ago. Tomic’s lone win came via a 6-3, 6-2 rout at the Paris Indoors in 2014.
Fognini’s run in Chengdu continues his best and most consistent season on tour, which has him at No. 11 in the race to London. The 13th-ranked Italian has already captured three titles and he is sporting a 40-18 record following wins this week over Ruben Bemelmans, Matthew Ebden, and Taylor Fritz. Tomic’s appearance in the final, on the other hand, has come completely out of nowhere. The 25-year-old Australian registers at 123rd in the world and had been just 4-7 at the ATP level in 2018 prior to arriving in Chengdu. After qualifying for the main draw, Tomic punched his ticket to the title match with defeats of Bradley Klahn 6-7(6), 7-6(3), 6-2, Lloyd Harris 7-6(5), 2-6, 7-6(6), Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Joao Sousa. A considerable edge in current form goes to Fognini, who is 3-0 in finals this year and can even his career finals record at 9-9.
Pick: Fognini in 3
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Shenzhen Open: (Q) Yoshihito Nishioka vs. Pierre-Hugues Herbert
An even more surprising final in Shenzhen pits Herbert against Nishioka for the second time in their careers. Their only previous encounter came at the 2013 Yokohama Challenger, where Herbert prevailed 6-3, 6-2. Nishioka was just 18 years old at the time, so he is obviously a much different player now. The world No. 171 from Japan peaked as high as 58th last spring before suffering a torn ACL in Miami. This is the most successful tournament of his comeback, as Nishioka qualified for the main draw and has since taken out Denis Kudla, Denis Shapovalov, Cameron Norrie, and Fernando Verdasco–the latter in a third-set tiebreaker.
While Nishioka is contesting his first ATP final, Herbert is through to his second career championship match (previously lost at the 2015 Winston-Salem event as a qualifier). The 27-year-old Frenchman may be even better at doubles, but he boasts a 23-17 singles record in 2018 that will have hip up to a best-ever ranking of at least No. 53 on Monday. So far in Chengdu he has beaten Dusan Lajovic, second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, and Alex de Minaur. Nishioka has been the undisputed best player in Shenzhen this week and Herbert is coming off two extremely tough three-setters against Ramos-Vinolas and de Minaur.
Pick: Nishioka in 2
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who ya got?
Foggy and Nishioka, both in 3.
Tomic does appear to have been actually working at his tennis again this year. He’s played a lot of qualies and challengers with mixed success (won in Manacor a couple weeks ago, but failed to qualify for the USO), but he’s nowhere near his best level.
Fog and Herbert in three