The three-day first-round schedule at the Shanghai Rolex Masters will wrap up on Tuesday. Nick Kyrgios and Adrian Mannarino are making quick turnarounds following respective runner-up performances this past week in Beijing and Tokyo. Fellow Americans John Isner and Jack Sock, meanwhile, have respective showdowns on their hands against Dusan Lajovic and Alexandr Dolgopolov.
Picks
(10) Sam Querrey vs. Yuichi Sugita: This is a classic contrast of styles, with Querrey’s power game put to the test by Sugita’s counter-punching. And it should be especially fun, too, with both men playing stellar tennis these days. Querrey in 3.
(WC) Ze Zhang vs. Ryan Harrison: Draws don’t get much better than this. Harrison, who upset Kevin Anderson in Tokyo, gets to face an unheraded Chinese wild card. Harrison in 2.
Steve Johnson vs. (13) Nick Kyrgios. What do Kyrgios and Johnson have in common? They’ve both been on Deadspin. Kyrgios, of course, has been featured on that site many times for various scenes of bizarre behavior. Johnson made it this past week for his combination of outfit and mustache that made him look like Luigi. As for actual analysis of this matchup, there should be no comparison right now. Kyrgios in 2.
(11) Kevin Anderson vs. Adrian Mannarino: This will likely be a great one. Anderson is a bit overrated at the moment because he advanced to the U.S. Open final thanks in part to a wildly favorable draw. Mannarino is always one of the most underrated players in tennis. A slight edge goes to the South African because Mannarino had a longer week in Tokyo (runner-up). Anderson in 3.
Mischa Zverev vs. Jan-Lennard Struff. The German will win. Zverev in 3.
Viktor Troicki vs. (WC) Denis Shapovalov. Shapovalov has been so good of late that he is now getting wild cards into tournaments far away from home (even though the U.S.Open declined). Troicki, on the other hand, has been far from good. Shapovalov in 2.
(Q) Dusan Lajovic vs. (12) John Isner: Isner performed well in Beijing before running into Rafael Nadal. The 6’10” American has a much better draw in Shanghai, and he won’t let it go to waste in the opening round. Isner in 2.
Aljaz Bedene vs. Poalo Lorenzi: Who cares? The winner will get blasted by Alexander Zverev in round two. Lorenzi in 2.
(14) Jack Sock vs. (Q) Alexandr Dolgopolov: Judging from his recent results, Sock may want to stick to doubles the rest of the year. It won’t help that Dolgopolov is suddenly playing impressive tennis. Dolgopolov in 2.
Diego Schwartzman vs. (Q) Jordan Thompson: Thompson basically hasn’t been able to beat anyone other than Sock throughout the second half of 2017. Basically nobody has been able to beat Schwartzman during the same stretch–at least not in the early rounds of any events. Schwartzman in 2.
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my comment didn’t go through. Entertaining predictions, I enjoyed them, but I was wondering where Sock and Dogopolov were.