Rafael Nadal will try to keep his hot streak going when he faces Jared Donaldson during second-round action on Wednesday in Shanghai. Speaking of hot streaks, David Goffin had captured titles in back-to-back weeks as he prepares to go up against Gilles Simon.
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Jared Donaldson
The U.S. Open through November is sometimes Nadal’s worst stretch of the year. Not so much this time around. Nadal is in the midst of a 12-match winning streak with titles at the U.S. Open and China Open. En route to the Beijing winner’s trophy, the top-seeded Spaniard saved two match points against Lucas Pouille right off the bat before making easier work of Karen Khachanov, John Isner, Grigor Dimitrov, and Nick Kyrgios.
Up first for Nadal at the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Wednesday is Donaldson, whom he has never faced. The 20-year-old American has played the best tennis of his life from start to finish in 2017, with 22 of his 33 career ATP-level match victories coming this season. Donaldson’s Asian swing consists of a quarterfinal performance in Chengdu (lost to eventual champion Denis Istomin in a third-set tiebreaker), a three-set loss to Tomas Berdych in Beijing, and a 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Pablo Cuevas on Monday in Shanghai. This should be competitive with Nadal likely fatigued to an extent, but it takes something super special to beat the world No. 1 these days.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 8-10 games
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(8) David Goffin vs. Gilles Simon
Goffin has won nine consecutive matches and two straight titles heading into Shanghai. The 10th-ranked Belgian is 12-1 overall since the U.S. Open and his only loss during this incredible stretch was a 9-7 in a third-set tiebreaker decision (versus Benoit Paire in Metz). Although the competition was not overly impressive in either Shenzhen or Tokyo, Goffin also scored a huge Davis Cup victory over Nick Kyrgios to help the Belgians reach the final against France.
Simon, who is unlikely to make France’s Davis Cup final roster, will be Goffin’s Wednesday opponent. The head-to-head series stands at 1-1, with Simon prevailing 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-2 on the grass courts of Queen’s Club in 2015 before Goffin got the job done 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 last year in Miami. At 32 years old, Simon is just 15-22 this season and has plunged to 47th in the world. He benefited from a favorable first-round draw this week and took care of Chinese wild card Yibing Wu 6-3, 6-4 on Monday. This, however, is likely a nightmare matchup for the veteran at this point in time. Goffin is a younger, faster, and more offensive version of Simon. Fatigue may be a factor, but Goffin cannot afford to slow down–not at a Masters 100 tournament, at least–with World Tour Finals qualification very much in play.
Pick: Goffin in 2
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