Quarterfinal spots in Winston-Salem will be handed out on Wednesday, when Lorenzo Sonego and Jerry Shang take the court. Meanwhile, Pablo Carreno Busta will continue his comeback against Aleksandar Vukic.
(10) Lorenzo Sonego vs. Jerry Shang
Sonego and Shang will be squaring off for the first time in their careers when they meet in round three of the Winston-Salem Open on Wednesday. Shang is on a very nice run over the past two months, with a quarterfinal showing in Eastbourne, a second-round appearance at Wimbledon (lost to Grigor Dimitrov in five sets), a semifinal run in Atlanta as a qualifier, one win in Washington, D.C., and now straight-set victories this week over Francisco Comesana and Mariano Navone.
It has been a tougher summer–and really an entire year–for Sonego, who has not yet reached a semifinal in 2024. The 58th-ranked Italian’s season record stands at 15-21 even after beating Dominic Stricker 6-4, 6-1 on Tuesday. It’s also worth noting that Sonego is a horrendous 33-46 on hard courts dating back to the start of 2020. Shang should won this one–and he might do it with ease.
Pick: Shang in 2
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(WC) Pablo Carreno Busta vs. Aleksandar Vukic
Following an impressive 2022 campaign that featured a Masters 1000 title in Montreal, Carreno Busta missed basically all of 2023 because of an elbow injury. The 33-year-old Spaniard predictably struggled in the early stages of his comeback this spring, but recent returns have been encouraging. Carreno Busta advanced one round in Montreal, won two matches in Cincinnati before falling to Alexander Zverev 7-5, 7-6(6), and so far in Winston-Salem has disposed of Omni Kumar and Alexander Shevchenko while dropping a grand total of six games.
Up next for the former world No. 10 is a first-ever meeting with Vukic. The Australian is just 17-20 this season and needed three sets to get past both Dan Evans and Adrian Mannarino earlier this week. Those are not particularly encouraging results given how bad Evans and Mannarino have been of late. Vukic has won three matches at an ATP tournament only once this entire year; Carreno Busta is playing well enough to prevent the world No. 94 from doing it twice.
Pick: Carreno Busta in 3
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