Shanghai R1 previews and picks: Tsonga vs. Robredo, Karlovic vs. Chardy

Frenchmen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Jeremy Chardy will contest their Shanghai openers on Monday. They are set for tough matchups against Tommy Robredo and Ivo Karlovic, respectively.

(16) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Tommy Robredo

Almost inexplicably, Tsonga and Robredo will be going head-to-head for just the second time in their careers–despite having a combined 30 years of ATP Tour experience between them–when they meet in round one of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Monday. Their only previous encounter came at the 2008 U.S. Open, where Robredo prevailed 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-3. Fast forward seven seasons and the Spaniard is still going strong at 33 years old. Ranked 29th in the world as of Sunday, Robredo has a quarterfinal in St. Petersburg and a semifinal in Shenzhen to his credit this fall. But he is coming off a surprising first-round Beijing exit at the hands of John Millman this past week.

Tsonga also underwhelmed in Beijing, where he struggled physically in a 7-6(4), 6-2 opening-round loss to Andreas Haider-Maurer. That result came just about out of nowhere, as the 16th-seeded Frenchman had previously reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open and captured a title in Metz. Tsonga’s two most recent trips to Shanghai (2012 and 2013) resulted in quarterfinal and semifinal performances. On this surface, he should ultimately be able to hit Robredo off the court. Robredo’s recent spurts of hopelessness are also a concern; in his last five losses, the scorelines of his dropped sets are 6-0, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4, 6-1, and 6-0.

Pick: Tsonga in 3

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Ivo Karlovic vs. Jeremy Chardy

Chardy is wrapping up his 2015 campaign in fine form and hopes to extend his streak of winning at least one match at a tournament to six when he takes the court on Monday. The Frenchman reached the Montreal semifinals and the U.S. Open quarters to turn around what had been a relatively disappointing season. He is, however, coming off successive mediocre performances in Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo (second round of both; lost to Gilles Muller in two tiebreakers last week).

Up first for Chardy in Shanghai is Karlovic, who trails the head-to-head series 2-0. Chardy got the job done 6-4, 6-4 last summer on the grass courts of Eastbourne before scoring a 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-4 victory earlier this year in Montreal. Karlovic has cooled off just a bit since an awesome first half of 2015. The 36-year-old Croat fell to Jiri Vesely in the U.S. Open second round, to Nick Kyrgios in the Kuala Lumpur quarterfinals, and to Pablo Cuevas in the Beijing second round. Based on current form and his past history against the big guy, Chardy should be in for a productive day at the office.

Pick: Chardy in 3

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