A couple of all-unseeded affairs are part of a busy Wednesday of both first second-round competition in Tokyo. Shanghai champion Hubert Hurakcz is facing Zhizhen Zhang, while Ben Shelton is going up against Jordan Thompson.
Zhizhen Zhang vs. Hubert Hurkacz
Hurkacz and Zhang will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers, third time on the Asian swing, and second time in as many weeks when they meet again in round one of the Japan Open on Wednesday. They just faced each other at the Shanghai Masters, where Hurkacz survived a fourth-round thriller 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(4) on his eventual way to the title. The Pole also prevailed at the 2019 Shanghai tournament (7-6(5), 6-4 in the second round).
Although Hurkacz gets two full days off in between events, this is still a quick turnaround for him following one of the biggest wins of his career. And it will likely be another tough one against Zhang, who picked up Shanghai victories over Richard Gasquet, Tomas Martin Etcheverry, and Brandon Nakashima. The world No. 57 also advanced to round three at the U.S. Open, upsetting Casper Ruud in the process. Given Zhang’s form and Hurkacz’s expected physical and mental fatigue, revenge could be in the cards.
Pick: Zhang in 3
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Ben Shelton vs. Jordan Thompson
Shelton is rounding the home stretch of his breakthrough season on tour and he is showing no signs of slowing down. The 21-year-old American is up to No. 19 in the world thanks in part to a quarterfinal performance at the Australian Open and a semifinal run at the U.S. Open. Shelton is coming off a quarterfinal result at the Shanghai Masters (lost to Sebastian Korda in a third-set tiebreaker) and opened in Tokyo win a win over Taro Daniel in a third-set tiebreaker.
It doesn’t get any easier against Thompson, who delivered a 6-3, 6-4 upset of No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev in round one. The 60th-ranked Australian has advanced to quarterfinals in three of his last seven tournaments, including at the start of this Asian swing in Chengdu. Thompson was competitive in the first head-to-head matchup with Shelton, losing 7-6(12), 6-4 in the 2022 Chicago Challenger. Shelton has surged into stardom since then, but he has played a lot of tennis in recent weeks and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him hit the wall in the form of a rack-solid opponent in Thompson.
Pick: Thompson in 3
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