RICKY’S TUESDAY MATCH PICKS, FEDERER AND NADAL WAIT UNTIL WEDNESDAY

Written by: Staff on 6th October 2014

RICKY'S TUESDAY MATCH PICKS, FEDERER AND NADAL WAIT UNTIL WEDNESDAY

epa04424641 Spain's Rafael Nadal in action against France's Richard Gasquet during their first round match at the Tennis China Open in Beijing, China, 30 September 2014. EPA/DIEGO AZUBEL |

By Ricky Dimon

Plenty of intrigue will accompany Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to the Shanghai Rolex Masters. Federer was one of the few top players who skipped last week’s proceedings in Beijing and Tokyo, while Nadal lost to Martin Klizan in the Beijing second round. So both legends are looking to pick up some momentum this week in Shanghai as they ultimately look toward next month’s World tour Finals in London.

Federer and Nadal will kick off their weeks on Wednesday, as will two-time defending champion and Beijing winner Novak Djokovic. Still, Tuesday’s action is packed with both first and second-round matches.

Roger Federer of Switzerland returns to Fabio Fognini of Italy during the third single match of the Davis Cup World Group semi final between Switzerland and Italy at Palexpo in Geneva, Switzerland, 14 September 2014. EPA/SALVATORE DI NOLFI

Let’s take a look at the schedule.

Mikhail Youzhny vs. (12) Ernests Gulbis: If Youzhny wins, we get to see his military salute and probably a broken racket or two by Gulbis. If Gulbis wins…well…Gulbis probably won’t win since he retired from a recent China Open match with a shoulder injury. Youzhny in 3.

Vasek Pospisil vs. Santiago Giraldo: Pospisil’s doubles partner, Jack Sock, is already through to the second round. Pospisil will likely join the American there, because Giraldo’s record is 3-8 since the Washington D.C. third round (and it all started with a loss to none other than Pospisil in the quarters). Pospisil in 2.

(11) Andy Murray vs. (Q) Teymuraz Gabashvili: Murray won seven games against Djokovic in the Beijing semifinals. Seven games! Tomas Berdych thinks that is really impressive. For that matter, Gabashvili probably does too. Murray in 2.

Leonardo Mayer vs. (WC) Di Wu: Everyone wants to draw a Chinese wild card in the Shanghai first round. “Woo hoo” was most certainly Mayer’s reaction when he saw he drew Wu. Mayer in 2.

Gilles Simon vs. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez: Simon puts the “L” in GGL whenever he goes up against the Spaniard. The Frenchman leads the head-to-head series 4-0, and he should lead it 5-0 after Tuesday. Simon in 3.

(15) Fabio Fognini vs. (WC) Chuhan Wang: On one hand, Fognini will 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. But this is Chuhan Wang, not Jimmy Wang; so Fognini won’t struggle. Fognini in 2.

Edouard Roger-Vasselin vs. Jerzy Janowicz: “How many times!?!?!” That’s probably what ERV is asking on the subject of having to face Janowicz. They have already played each other twice this season and Janowicz is 2-0. Janowicz in 3.

Mikhail Kukushkin vs. (16) Kevin Anderson: Kukushkin beat Tommy Robredo in a third-set tiebreaker on Sunday, but inflicting devastating losses on Robredo of late is about as easy as adding 2+2. A match with Anderson will not be easy. 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 easily. Benneteau in 2.

Yen-Hsun Lu vs. Ivo Karlovic: Last month, the ATP reportedly threatened to ban Lu for three years if he played the Asian Games and skipped the China Open. On Monday, Tennis Channel’s scores indicated that Lu lost to Marcel Granollers. There seems to be a conspiracy against Lu right now, but so far none of it has worked. 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) and it might happen again since he is in a section with a reportedly virus-stricken Nadal. Lopez in 3.

Pablo Cuevas vs. Ivan Dodig: “Not one, not two, not three, not four….” That may have been what LeBron James once said, but it is also what Dodig must have been thinking last month in Kuala Lumpur. The Croat squandered eight match points in a loss to Cuevas, and now he has to face the Uruguayan again. Cuevas in 3.

Steve Johnson vs. (Q) Andrey Golubev: Sock took down Golubev in Tokyo. Now it’s Johnson who will take him down in Shanghai. #Merica. Johnson in 2.

(Q) Sam Groth vs. (SE) Martin Klizan: Klizan and Nadal are only a combined nine wins away from a rematch in the Shanghai final. It will be only eight wins away after this one. Klizan in 3.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Federer, nadal, Ricky Dimon, Shanghai Rolex Masters, Tennis, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

October 6, 2014 at 1:54 pm

@RD_Tennistalk ‘S TUESDAY MATCH PICKS, @rogerfederer AND @RafaelNadal WAIT UNTIL WEDNESDAY- http://t.co/vAcDeeDDSX #tennis #ShanghaiMasters
RD_Tennistalk says:

October 6, 2014 at 3:36 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: @RD_Tennistalk ‘S TUESDAY MATCH PICKS, @rogerfederer AND @RafaelNadal WAIT UNTIL WEDNESDAY- http://t.co/vAcDeeDDSX #tenni…