David Goffin will be back in action three days after capturing the Shenzhen title when he takes the court for Tokyo first-round action against Feliciano Lopez on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the second-round schedule includes Kevin Anderson vs. Ryan Harrison.
Feliciano Lopez vs. (4) David Goffin
Goffin lifted the Shenzhen Open trophy last week to put himself in serious World Tour Finals contention as he heads into the Japan Open. The 11th-ranked Belgian, who has recovered from ankle and knee issues sustained at Roland Garros, is 10-2 in his last 12 matches dating back to the U.S. Open. He played his way to the Shenzhen title by beating Evgeny Donskoy, Donald Young, Henri Laaksonen, and Alexandr Dolgopolov.
Up first for Goffin on Wednesday in Tokyo is a second career meeting with Lopez, who lost to this week’s No. 4 seed 7-5, 6-0 last spring on the red clay of Monte-Carlo. The hard courts of the Asian swing should give Lopez a much better chance, as he can play aggressive tennis with his effective lefty serve and shorten the points against the counter-punching Goffin. The 36-year-old Spaniard may not be at his very best at his point, but he still registers at a decent 34th in the rankings and is coming off a respectable third-round performance at Flushing Meadows. With Goffin possibly running on fumes, this is a good opportunity for a well-rested Lopez.
Pick: Dimitrov in 3
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Ryan Harrison vs. (5) Kevin Anderson
Anderson and Harrison will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers on Wednesday. Both of their previous contests have gone the way of Anderson, who got the job done 6-3, 7-6(3) four years ago in Atlanta and 7-6(8), 6-4 last fall on the indoor hard courts of Stockholm. The 6’8” South African is an even bigger favorite over Harrison now, as a recent runner-up finisher at the U.S. Open. That run in New York has Anderson up to 16th in the world and No. 11 in the race to London (No. 9 among players who are not out for the season). He is 16-5 in his last 21 matches dating back to Wimbledon.
Harrison is also in the midst of an impressive 2017 campaign, with 16 ATP-level match victories. The 52nd-ranked American has cooled off just a bit since a hot start that saw him win the first title of his career in Memphis, but in his first appearance since the U.S. Open he managed to scrape past Japanese wild card Yusuke Takahashi 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 on Monday. This one will likely result in something similar to the first two showdowns between these two players, with Harrison being competitive but unable to take a set off an in-form Anderson.
Pick: Anderson in 2
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who ya got?
You should say Lopez in 3 not dimitrov 😁
Anderson in 2 and Goffin in 2