BIG WEEK IN BEIJING AND TOKYO FEATURES DJOKOVIC, NADAL, WAWRINKA, AND MANY MORE

Written by: Staff on 4th October 2015

BIG WEEK IN BEIJING AND TOKYO FEATURES DJOKOVIC, NADAL, WAWRINKA, AND MANY MORE

epa04890839 Rafael Nadal of Spain in action against Feliciano Lopez of Spain during their third round match in the Western and Southern Open at the Linder Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, USA, 20 August 2015. EPA/TANNEN MAURY |

In this same spot on last year’s calendar, Rafael Nadal was making his first appearance since Wimbledon. This time around Nadal has not been away from the tour as he heads to the China Open, but his performance in Beijing will draw similar interest as he hopes to end what has been an extremely disappointing season on a relative high note.

Nadal is part of an incredible 500-point field that also features five-time champion Novak Djokovic, Tomas Berdych, and David Ferrer. The No. 3 seed could not have asked for a better draw as he begins fall swing. As the No. 3 seed he was vulnerable to landing in Djokovic’s half of the bracket, but that did not come to fruition. Instead, Nadal finds himself on the bottom side with Berdych, against whom he is 19-4 lifetime.

Berdych may have a tough time just making it to the semis because he will be coming off a long week in Tokyo. Not only is the Czech in the title mach, but it also got postponed from Sunday until Monday because of rain. The beneficiary could be Ivo Karlovic. Amazingly enough, Karlovic opens with Berdych’s final opponent—Guillermo Garcia-Lopez—before possibly facing Berdych himself in round two.

After kicking off his campaign against Chinese wild card Di Wu, Nadal could face Vasek Pospisil in the last 16 and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semis. In addition to Berdych and Karlovic, possible semifinal opponents for the 14-time major champion include David Goffin and Fabio Fognini.

Djokovic should be able to sleepwalk through two matches before some big-hitting trouble looms later in the tournament. The world No. 1 could run into John Isner in the quarterfinals and Milos Raonic in the semis. Isner, though, has a tough opener on his hands with Dominic Thiem. In a relatively weak quarter, Raonic is unlikely to have much difficulty reaching the last eight—at which point he may face Ferrer.

Semifinal picks: Djokovic over Raonic and Goffin over Sock

Final: Djokovic over Goffin

By Beijing standards, the Japan Open draw is a borderline disappointment. By more realistic 500-point standards, it is undeniably intriguing. A remarkably deep field includes 10 of the top 22 players in the world, and that does not even account for Jeremy Chardy, Benoit Paire, Borna Coric, Nick Kyrgios, Fernando Verdasco, Alexander Dolgopolov, and Marcos Baghdatis.

A loaded but also up-for-grabs section of the bracket features first-rounders between Verdasco and Baghdatis, Richard Gasquet and Roberto Bautista Agut, plus Grigor Dimitrov and Paire in addition to Kyrgios. Familiar foes Gasquet and Kyrgios could collide in the last 16.

Whoever reaches the semis is likely to encounter two-time champion Kei Nishikori. The Japanese fan favorite, however, may meet Cilic for a quarterfinal rematch of the 2014 U.S. Open final. The Nishikori-Cilic quarter is also home to Coric, Dolgopolov, Bernard Tomic, Steve Johnson, and Donald Young.

Stan Wawrinka leads the way as the No. 1 seed in a softer half of the draw. Count on the Swiss coasting into the quarterfinals before running into Kuala runner-up Feliciano Lopez. Gilles Simon should enjoy a similarly smooth road to the last eight in advance of a potential date with either Kevin Anderson or Jeremy Chardy. Anderson and Chardy—who are once again playing doubles with each other this week—are in a huge-serving 16th of the bracket in which the winner of Anderson vs. Gilles Muller will battle the winner of Chardy vs. Sam Groth.

Semifinal picks: Simon over Lopez and Nishikori over Gasquet

Final: Nishikori over Simon

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

Topics: Beijing, China Open, Japan Open, Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Ricky Dimon, Stan Wawrinka, Tennis News, Tokyo

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ElenaFoundation says:

October 5, 2015 at 7:01 am

Big Week in #tennis – @RafaelNadal Back on court for the first time since @Wimbledon http://t.co/iYvE3FN4ti (via @10sBalls_com)