Fellow Frenchmen Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga could have tough third-round matches on their hands at the Shanghai Masters on Thursday. Monfils is going up against David Goffin, while Tsonga is facing Alexander Zverev.
(6) Gael Monfils vs. (11) David Goffin
Following a brief post-Wimbledon slump, Goffin appears to have returned to his winning ways that were on display this spring as heads into third-round action at the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Thursday. Back-to-back Masters 1000 semifinals in Indian Wells and Miami put Goffin in World Tour Finals contention and he is still alive–although certainly not yet in qualifying position–after finishing runner-up last week in Tokyo. The 12th-ranked Belgian has maintained his fine form in Shanghai with victories over Juan Martin Del Potro and Benoit Paire.
Up next for Goffin on Thursday is another Frenchman in Monfils, who won their only previous ATP-level encounter 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-4 earlier this season on the hard courts of Toronto. They also faced each other at a clay-court Challenger event three years ago in Bordeaux, where Monfils got the job done 5-7, 6-1, 7-5. The world No. 8 is an awesome 44-13 for his 2016 campaign and looking good to qualify for the year-end championship at sixth in the race to London. Monfils opened on Tuesday with a 7-6(4), 6-3 defeat of Kevin Anderson. Goffin has played a ton of matches the past few days spanning Tokyo and Shanghai, so he may not have enough in the tank to keep up with a confident and focused Monfils.
Pick: Monfils in 2
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(9) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Alexander Zverev
Tsonga and Zverev will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers on Thursday. Although reaching the third round is nothing out of the ordinary for Tsonga, this should already be considered a relatively productive week for him. After all, the 13th-ranked Frenchman retired from a U.S. Open quarterfinal match against Novak Djokovic because of a knee injury and had not played since. But he is back in action in Shanghai and looked healthy during straight-set wins over Florian Mayer and Janko Tipsarevic.
Zverev, on the other hand, has been an active participant during the fall swing. The 19-year-old German beat Stan Wawrinka to capture the St. Petersburg title (the first of his career) before advancing to the Beijing quarterfinals. Zverev has continued his winning ways in Shanghai with defeats of John Isner (6-4, 6-2) and Marin Cilic (3-6, 6-3, 6-2). He is 42-22 for the season and up to No. 24 in the world, in addition to registering at 19th in the race to London. The jury is still out on Tsonga’s current form, so this is a huge opportunity for Zverev to carry his hot streak into a Masters 1000 quarterfinal.
Pick: Zverev in 2
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WWW?
Tsonga in three.
Tsonga – Zverev – I think it will be 3 set match with slight advantage for Tsonga
Big Jo in 3, this match might be a tad to far for Zverev, even though he is on a hot streak, think Jo coming back and having started off rather well will be more fresh
Gael in 3 over Goffin, just love how focused he is these days, should be a great match to watch though
Good pick.
So Murray and Raonic two of the few favourites who did win their matches relatively easily.
Zverve playing great right now…should beat JWT in straight, and I like Monfils in 3.
La monf and Zverev in three
But for the ankle injury reckon Zev Minor would have got the better of Tsonga. Must have been emotional moment for Papa Zev to have both sons playing at the same time but nice to see him stay supporting his younger son especially after the accident.
Lol naturally Zverev loses once I pick him. Who would’ve thought the older Zverev would go farther in Shanghai. Also great win for sock saving match points to beat Raonic.
CongraTs Tso Me!