Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev will break a tie in their head-to-head series when they battle for a semifinal spot at the Shanghai Masters on Friday. Dominic Thiem is also in action against Nitto ATP Finals hopeful Matteo Berrettini.
(5) Alexander Zverev vs. (2) Roger Federer
Federer and Zverev will be facing each other for the seventh time in their careers when they clash in the quarterfinals of the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Friday. They have alternated wins throughout their six previous meetings, the last two of which have come at the Nitto ATP Finals. Federer prevailed 7-6(6), 5-7, 6-1 during round-robin action in 2017 before Zverev scored a 7-5, 7-6(5) semifinal upset en route to his 2018 title. They have split two previous Masters 1000 showdowns; Federer won 6-3, 7-5 at the 2016 Rome event while Zverev triumphed 6-3, 6-4 in the 2017 Montreal final.
Although Zverev has underwhelmed in 2019 relative to what he accomplished last year, he is making a late push to be able to defend his London title. The sixth-ranked German reached the Beijing semifinals last week and so far in Shanghai he has beaten Jeremy Chardy and Andrey Rublev in straight sets. Federer opened with a 6-2, 7-6(5) defeat of Albert Ramos-Vinolas before saving five set points in the first set against David Goffin en route to a 7-6(7), 6-4 victory. The third-ranked Swiss is 23-5 lifetime at this tournament, which is only a decent record by his standards. This may be a good opportunity for Zverev, who has never shied away from being confident against Federer.
Pick: Zverev in 3
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(11) Matteo Berrettini vs. (4) Dominic Thiem
Thiem clinched a return trip to the O2 Arena with last week’s title in Beijing and Berrettini is looking to join him there in the form of a debut year-end championship appearance. The 13th-ranked Italian began his surge on clay (title in Budapest, runner-up in Munich), continued it on grass, and then made a run to the U.S. Open semifinals after missing much of the hard-court swing with an ankle injury. Berrettini is through to the Shanghai quarters thanks to victories over Jan-Lennard Struff, Christian Garin, and fellow London hopeful Roberto Bautista Agut.
Thiem’s hard-court summer summer was derailed by a virus, but nonetheless he has also managed to impress on the Asian swing. The fifth-ranked Austrian triumphed in Beijing and has gotten right back in gear to beat Pablo Carreno Busta and Nikoloz Basilashvili this week. However, he struggled physically at the end of his 6-3, 6-4 result against Basilashvili on Thursday night. Given that Thiem could either fatigued from a long two weeks and/or less than 100 percent, Berrettini should be able to take advantage of these fast hard-court conditions.
Pick: Berrettini in 3
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The sportmanship awardee in waiting for 2019 is losing his sh%t. arguing with the ump over a point penalty
Well done Ricky for picking Sasha in three sets!