Tuesday match picks, including Simon vs. Garcia-Lopez

Shanghai Rolex Masters

Mikhail Youzhny vs. (12) Ernests Gulbis: Youzhny is struggling to win matches. Gulbis is struggling to win matches and he’s dealing with a shoulder issue. Youzhny in 3.

Vasek Pospisil vs. Santiago Giraldo: Since going up against Pospisil in the Washington, D.C. quarterfinals, Giraldo’s record is 3-8. The Colombian might win this on clay, but not on the hard stuff. Pospisil in 2.

(11) Andy Murray vs. (Q) Teymuraz Gabashvili: Murray won seven games against Novak Djokovic in the Beijing semifinals. In retrospect, that was an accomplishment of epic proportions. Murray in 2.

Leonardo Mayer vs. (WC) Di Wu: Everyone wants to draw a Chinese wild card in the Shanghai first round. Few get so lucky, but an in-form Mayer is one of the few. Mayer in 2.

Gilles Simon vs. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez: Interestingly, Simon is dominating the head-to-head series 4-0. This one won’t be as easy as that statistic suggests, but the edge still has to go to the Frenchman. Simon in 3.

(15) Fabio Fognini vs. (WC) Chuhan Wang: On one hand, Fognini would probably lose his mind if he struggles early against a player ranked 553rd in the world who has never been in the main draw of an ATP event. On the other hand, Fognini won’t struggle. Fognini in 2.

Edouard Roger-Vasselin vs. Jerzy Janowicz: Janowicz is 2-0 lifetime in the head-to-head series, with both wins coming this year. The Pole is by no means on fire these days, but he is at least winning some matches. Janowicz in 3.

Mikhail Kukushkin vs. (16) Kevin Anderson: Anderson lost a set to James Ward; Kukushkin upset Tommy Robredo in a third-set tiebreaker. Those results favor Kukushkin, but the Kazakh rarely puts together back-to-back stellar performances. Anderson in 3.

Julien Benneteau vs. (WC) Ze Zhang: If this was a final, Benneteau would probably find a way to lose it. But it isn’t, so he will win it easily. Benneteau in 2.

Yen-Hsun Lu vs. Ivo Karlovic: Karlovic stunned U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic on Monday. Coming back 24 hours later in an attempt to deliver a repeat performance will be tough. In their most recent meeting, Lu took down the big man in two tiebreakers in Halle. Lu in 3.

(Q) Thanasi Kokkinakis vs. Feliciano Lopez: Lopez is not playing particularly well right now, but he always seems to have a great result out of nowhere that keeps him in the top 30. It’s happened in Shanghai twice (semifinals in 2009 and 2011). Lopez in 3.

Pablo Cuevas vs. Ivan Dodig: This is not a bad draw for Dodig, but it still might be his worst nightmare. Remember Kuala Lumpur two weeks ago? Dodig squandered eight match points and Cuevas eventually won 3-6, 7-5, 7-5. Cuevas in 3.

Steve Johnson vs. (Q) Andrey Golubev: Golubev is 3-11 in his last 14 ATP-level main-draw matches. The most recent loss came to Jack Sock in Tokyo. Now he has to face another fast-rising, big-hitting American. Johnson in 2.

(Q) Sam Groth vs. (SE) Martin Klizan: Huge servers had a good Monday, with John Isner beating Pablo Andujar and Karlovic upsetting Cilic. Unfortunately for Groth, Klizan may be too confident after stunning Rafael Nadal in Beijing. Klizan in 3.

[polldaddy poll=8354976]