Top seed Carlos Alcaraz will take the court at the Shanghai Masters against France’s Gregoire Barrere on Saturday. American J.J. Wolf will also be in second-round action against British left-hander Cameron Norrie.
(1) Carlos Alcaraz vs. Gregoire Barrere
Carlos Alcaraz will take the court for the first time since losing in the semifinals in Beijing to eventual champion Jannik Sinner. Although he is nearly always in the business end of each tournament he enters, the world No. 2 has not won a tournament since his victory on the grass courts of Wimbledon. He will be looking to close out the season on a high note in the Asian swing.
Alcaraz’s Rolex Shanghai Masters second-round opponent is world No. 73 Gregoire Barrere. The Frenchman splits his time between the Challenger circuit and the main tour. His last event was the 250 tournament in Astana, where he lost in the first round. Barrere is an anemic 18-21 on season, but he had a solid semifinal showing in Eastbourne earlier this summer.
This should be routine for the Spaniard. While Alcaraz has had a long season and fatigue may be a factor, it’s hard to imagine a player of Alcaraz’s caliber falling to the likes of Barrere.
Cheryl pick: Alcaraz in 2
Ricky pick: Alcaraz in 2
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(15) Cameron Norrie vs. J.J. Wolf
Britain’s Cameron Norrie has had a rough second half of the ATP season. The No. 15 seed won no matches during the lead-up to the U.S. Open. He did manage to win a pair of matches in New York, but he has only managed a single match win in the tournaments since; he earned his spot in the second round this week thanks to his No. 15 seeding and the resulting opening-round bye.
American J.J. Wolf has had a similarly rough time of it during the second half of the tennis season. The world No. 51 was even forced to qualify in Beijing. He managed to get to the main draw, but he crashed out in a lopsided loss to up-and-coming Italian Matteo Arnaldi.
This will be the first-ever match between Wolf and Norrie. While neither player is enjoying particularly good form at the moment, at least Wolf has a match in Shanghai this week (he defeated Pedro Cachin in three sets). Ranking suggests that Norrie has the edge, but this is pretty close to a toss-up.
Cheryl pick: Norrie in 3
Ricky pick: Wolf in 3
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