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…👀 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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