Toronto doubles partners Novak Djokovic and Kevin Anderson will square off in singles for the first time since the Wimbledon final when they meet again in Shanghai on Friday. Alexander Zverev and Kyle Edmund are also in quarterfinal action.
(7) Kevin Anderson vs. (2) Novak Djokovic
Djokovic and Anderson will be facing each other for the eighth time in their careers and for the second time this season when they battle for a spot in the Shanghai Masters semifinals on Friday afternoon. With a 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(3) triumph in the Wimbledon title match, Djokovic improved to 6-1 overall in the head-to-head series and 6-0 in their last six meetings. Anderson’s lone victory over the Serb came back in 2008, when he scored a 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-4 upset in Miami.
It has only been full steam ahead for Djokovic since he departed the All-England Club, with a 25-1 record in his last 26 matches that includes another Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open. Bidding for a fourth Shanghai winners’ trophy, the world No. 3 has advanced this week with straight-set defeats of Jeremy Chardy and Marco Cecchinato. Anderson booked his place in the last eight by beating Mikhail Kukushkin and Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets. The seventh seed is an awesome 40-15 for the year and looks poised to make his debut appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals. Although Anderson is playing well and Shanghai conditions suit his game, Djokovic’s return has almost always been good enough to thwart the 6’8” South African’s power game.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
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Ever wondered what it’s like in a players locker room?@KAndersonATP gave us a guided tour of his following his win today…đź‘€ pic.twitter.com/8bZUos5DaZ
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 11, 2018
(11) Kyle Edmund vs. (4) Alexander Zverev
Zverev has never even reached the semifinals of a major, but it is fair to say that he is an absolute force at the Masters 1000 level. The 21-year-old German has already captured three of these titles (including Madrid this spring) and he has been dominant through two rounds in Shanghai, easing past red-hot opponents Nikoloz Basilashvili and Alex de Minaur. Zverev is sporting an outstanding 48-15 record for his 2018 campaign and will mathematically clinch an inevitable London berth if he wins on Friday.
Standing in his way is Edmund, who trails the head-to-head series 3-0. They have squared off once in 2016, 2017, and 2018, with Zverev getting a retirement in Nice, prevailing 6-3, 7-6(3) in Beijing, and most recently surviving 7-5, 7-6(11) on the red clay of Rome. Edmund has cooled off a bit throughout the second half of this year, but he is looking good again with Shanghai victories over Filip Krajinovic, Andreas Seppi, and Nicolas Jarry. Although the 14th-ranked Brit has not yet dropped a set, the competition level ratchets up dramatically in the form of Zverev.
Pick: Zverev in 2
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who ya got?
Djoker and AZ in 2.
Thanks for the link to Kando’s Shanghai locker room tour. Looks nice.
Djoker in two and Zverev in three
Anderson really wasted a good chance of winning the first set. Why he kept hitting CC to Djoko and then shanked his FH to lose the BP adv? Why not just move the legs more and then hit a FHDTL instead to catch Djoko by surprise?
These players really don’t have the tennis acumen or the movements to handle the big four, allowing them to escape time and again!
Seriously, both Fed and Djoko aren’t playing all that well but manage to win time and again, these other players are just not clutch enough to push for the wins when they’re so close to doing so.
It’s really about the big four and Stan and perhaps a Delpo who’s playing well and physically fit, who can counter one another. The others it seems have no chance where it matters, just an odd win here and there.
Except Andy’s gone missing and Stan isn’t really back yet so it’s about the Big Three plus Delpo…and what else is new? The more things change the more they stay the same.
Roger looked good vs Nishi but I still think Djokovic will take him down, assuming of course that both make it to the finals. Prefer if he doesn’t but if wishes were horses….
Great champions are that because they win when playing not that well, but if Nadal was playing, I suspect you’d not be criticising his opponents ability to take advantage .
Its the Weak Era argument, again, while Nadal isn’t at his best.
Fed has to raise his aggression and precision to beat Djoko; Djoko is just getting every ball back. Fed has to move inside the court very often to take time away from Djoko, and he has to serve very well.
Fed has a much better serve than Anderson and on this quick court, it’s harder to return Fed’s tricky serve. Fed has very good court craft, imo he and Rafa have the best court craft among the players, better than Djoko’s; they just know when to use what shot and when to come in or stay back.
Djoko has a kinder draw here in R1 and R2, and Anderson is so slow compared to Kei. Anderson’s failure was he choosing to stay back and rallied with Djoko; he couldn’t move forward often to cut short the rallies. Kei has better skills, better speed and movement around the court and could take the ball early, certainly a tougher opponent than Anderson. Fed has done well to beat Kei in straight sets when Kei is not playing poorly.
Semifinals will be very interesting. Old vs new gen.