First-round action concludes on Tuesday at the Paris Masters, where Denis Shapovalov is kicking off his campaign against France’s own Gilles Simon. Meanwhile, an all-American affair features Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe.
Gilles Simon vs. Denis Shapovalov
Shapovalov and Simon will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they clash in round one of the BNP Paribas Masters on Tuesday. Not counting the Davis Cup, this is the final tournament of the season for Simon and the penultimate one for Shapovalov–who is headed for a third appearance at the NextGen ATP Finals. The 20-year-old Canadian is fourth in the race to Milan as he wraps up a solid but unspectacular 2019 campaign. Things have improved with new coach Mikhail Youzhny in his corner, as Shapovalov’s recent results include semifinal showings in Winston-Salem and Chengdu plus his first career ATP title in Stockholm.
Simon is no longer in the prime of his career, but he is still going somewhat strong at 34 years old with a ranking of No. 53 in the world and a winning record for the season (27-26). The Frenchman has advanced at least one round in five of his last six tournaments, although he has won multiple matches in just one of those six. Simon’s strategy of defense and consistency still works to an extent, but he is getting overpowered more often now and that is likely what will happen against Shapovalov.
Pick: Shapovalov in 2
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Frances Tiafoe vs. Taylor Fritz
Fritz and Tiafoe will be facing each other for the third time in their careers and for the first time in more than three years. The head-to-head series is tied up 1-1 after they split a pair of 2016 encounters; Tiafoe prevailed 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 at the Indian Wells Masters before Fritz cruised 6-1, 6-4 a few months laster in Winston-Salem.
It is Fritz who has a slight edge in current form right now, ranked 33rd and in prime contention for 2020 Australian Open seeding. He has reached two ATP finals dating back to late July and advanced one round at the recent Shanghai Masters (beat Fernando Verdasco, lost to Karen Khachanov). Tiafoe is a modest 21-24 for a season in which he started on fire but has since cooled off, and he may be more focused on the NextGen ATP Finals than he is on Paris.
Pick: Fritz in 3
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who ya got?
I was at that IW match between Fritz & Tiafoe in ’16, and it was a great contest….but Fritz playing better right now…in 2.