Paris R2 previews and predictions: Nadal vs. Chung, Dimitrov vs. Gasquet

Rafael Nadal and Grigor Dimitrov will be heading to London in two weeks, but they first have business at hand at the Paris Masters. Nadal is kicking off his campaign against Hyeon Chung on Wednesday, while Grigor Dimitrov is facing Richard Gasquet.

(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Hyeon Chung

Nadal is one win away from clinching the year-end No. 1 ranking as he heads into his opening match at the Rolex Paris Masters on Wednesday. With world No. 2 Roger Federer having withdrawn from Paris, Nadal can move more than 1,500 points–the maximum number available at the upcoming World Tour Finals–clear of the Swiss with a victory over Chung. It would be a well-deserved honor for the Spaniard, who has captured a pair of Grand Slam titles to go along with a runner-up performance at the Australian Open and additional winners’ trophies in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, and Beijing.

This is the second career meeting between Nadal and Chung–and also the second of the year. They previously faced each other on the clay courts of Barcelona, where Nadal prevailed 7-6(1), 6-2. Chung has a proverbial postseason tournament of his own on the horizon, as he qualified for the inaugural NextGen ATP Finals in Milan for players 21-and-under. The 55th-ranked Korean has earned more than half of his lifetime ATP-level match victories in 2017 (24 of 46) and he booked his spot in the Paris second round by crushing Mischa Zverev 6-0, 6-2 on Monday. Chung may be in solid form, but he has never beaten anyone ranked better than ninth in the world and Nadal is 16-0 in his last 16 matches against opponents other than Federer.

Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 5-7 games

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Richard Gasquet vs. (6) Grigor Dimitrov

Dimitrov and Gasquet will be squaring off for the eighth time in their careers on Wednesday. Gasquet is leading the head-to-head series 5-2, but Dimitrov’s rise to prominence has coincided with a shift in the balance of power regarding this matchup. Once 0-5 against the Frenchman, Dimitrov got the job done 6-4, 6-4 last fall in Shanghai and 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 at this year’s Australian Open.

The eighth-ranked Bulgarian’s semifinal performance Down Under was part of a blistering 17-1 start of the season, and he never looked back en route to what will soon be his first-ever World Tour Finals appearance. Dimitrov certainly could not keep up his January pace, but he owns a 43-18 overall record with three titles. Gasquet is 29-17 this year following a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over compatriot Benoit Paire on Monday. The world No. 30 is is coming off three straight quarterfinal finishes in Tokyo, Shanghai, and Vienna, but the only higher-ranked player he has defeated during this stretch is Sam Querrey.