None of the top four seeds remain in Shenzhen, where a pair of left-handers–Fernando Verdasco and Yoshihito Nishioka–will battle for a final spot on Saturday. Alex de Minaur and Pierre-Hugues Herbert are also on the schedule.
(5) Fernando Verdasco vs. (Q) Yoshihito Nishioka
Verdasco and Nishioka will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the second time this season when they meet again in the Shenzhen Open semifinals on Saturday. They previously faced each other at the French Open and it did not disappoint, with Verdasco surviving a first-round thriller 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-5. The Spaniard may no longer be in peak form at 34 years old, but he still registers at a respectable 28th in the world and is in line for 2019 Australian Open seeding now that Grand Slams are sticking with 32 seeds. Verdasco has improved to 27-23 this season with Shenzhen victories over Jason Jung, Taro Daniel, and Andy Murray, surrendering just one set to Daniel.
Nishioka’s comeback from an ACL tear sustained last March in Miami has been slow-going, but he is finally starting to gain some momentum. His 2018 campaign includes a Challenger title in Gimcheon and he is now in the midst of his most successful ATP-level tournament since Indian Wells last March (fourth-round performance as a qualifier). The world No. 171 from Japan qualified for the Shenzhen main draw and has since ousted Denis Kudla, Denis Shapovalov, and Cameron Norrie. Aside from Shapovalov, whom he beat 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-5, Nishioka has mostly been crushing opponents this week and a big opportunity for more success awaits him on Saturday.
Pick: Nishioka in 3
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(7) Alex de Minaur vs. Pierre-Hugues Herbert
De Minaur and Herbert will also be squaring off for the second time in their careers and for the second time this season. They recently collided during second-round action at Wimbledon, where de Minaur got the job done 6-2, 6-7(8), 7-5, 6-3. The 19-year-old Australian prevailed on a grass-court surface that should favor Herbert, and now he gets to play this one on his hard-court stomping grounds. De Minaur’s hard-court results in 2018 include runner-up finishes in Sydney and Washington, D.C., a third-round showing at the U.S. Open, and now a semifinal berth in Shenzhen following defeats of Yuichi Sugita, Mackenzie McDonald, and Damir Dzumhur.
Herbert punched his ticket to the last four by beating Dusan Lajovic, second-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Albert Ramos-Vinolas, dropping just one set to Ramos-Vinolas along the way. The 27-year-old Frenchman has earned 22 of his 52 career main-tour match wins this season and he will reach a career-high ranking of at least No. 59 in the world next week. But on this surface and also based on de Minaur’s phenomenal current form, Herbert will likely have his hands full in the semis.
Pick: De Minaur in 2
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