The first and second round matches at the 2019 Zhuhai Open will continue on Wednesday, September 25th, 2019 as the top men’s players in the world take to court. Get the latest Nick Kyrgios v Andreas Seppi and Gael Monfils v Cameron Norrie tips and predictions with their previews along with other matches can be found below.
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Nick Kyrgios v Andreas Seppi Preview
This will be the fifth meeting between Nick Kyrgios and Andreas Seppi. Kyrgios leads the head-to-head 3-1, most recently a straight forward win at the ATP 500 in Acapulco for Kyrgios, who went on to win the title.
They will be remembered for two gripping Australian Open matches, with Kyrgios winning 8-6 in the fifth in 2015, and Seppi winning 10-8 in the fifth in 2017.
At age 35, Seppi is in the twilight of his career, that has seen him ranked as high as number 18 in the world, in 2013. He is a grand slam quarter-finalist, and a winner of three ATP titles. 2019 has not been much of a season for him, with him being a losing finalist to Alex de Minaur at the start of the season, but never maintained any momentum since.
It has been a typical Nick Kyrgios year with wins against top ten, two ATP 500 tournaments won, on court brilliance, on court issues, off court comments and everyone talking about how brilliant he could be if more disciplined. As always, it depends on the ‘Kyrgios’ that shows up on the given day. He looked sharp in his close loss to Roger Federer at the Laver Cup last weekend, but did pull out the next day with shoulder soreness and so it remains to be seen how he is doing with his fitness.
When Nick Kyrgios is on court, we can always expect excitement, and we hope to here as well. If the Kyrgios shoulder is fine, he should win this match in straight sets.
Tip: Kyrgios to win in straight sets: 1/1 with 888Sport
Gael Monfils v Cameron Norrie Preview
This will be the second meeting between the two players, with Monfils having won in 2017, on the Eastbourne grass.
Monfils has had a good season, winning the ATP 500 at Rotterdam, faring consistently well at ATP tournaments and a quarter-finalist at the US Open. He is currently ranked number 12 in the world, with an outside chance at qualifying for the year end ATP Tour Finals in London.
Young British player Cameron Norrie has been on the circuit for a couple years and at age 23, hoping to get better settled as a regular on the ATP circuit. He was ranked as high as just outside the 40s earlier this summer, but has fallen to just within the top 70 since. While he has shown promise and the ability to dominate opponents like his first round here against Peter Gojowczyk, he is yet to maintain consistency and momentum.
Monfils starts as a strong favorite here and with an eye on the year end finals, he has a lot to play for. Expect the Frenchman to win in straight sets.
Tip: Monfils to win in straight sets: 1/1 with 888Sport
Lucas Pouille v Soonwoo Kwon Preview
This is the first meeting between the players, where Pouille starts as a strong favorite over his lesser known Korean opponent.
Pouille was ranked within the top 10 in early 2018, before poor form and niggles saw him drop in the rankings. After an Australian Open semi-final appearance this year, he has shown promise but unable to get back to the form that saw him move up the rankings the way it did. The Frenchman was a semi-finalist last week at the ATP 250 in Metz and despite looking in good form, was unable to capitalize and lost in the semi-finals to countryman and eventual winner Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Korean Soonwon Kwon at age 21, is a little known name on the ATP tour. He has been around on the Challenger and Futures tours for a brief while and also a member of the Davis Cup team recently, but still getting acclimatized to the ATP main draws.
Expect a comfortable win for Pouille.
Tip: Pouille to win in straight sets: 11/10 with 888Sport
Albert Ramos-Vinalos v Miomir Kecmanovic Preview
This is the first meeting between Spanish veteran Albert Ramos-Vinalos and young rookie Miomir Kecmanovic.
Ramos-Vinalos has been on the circuit for a while, being a clay court specialist with his best results on the slower surfaces. He was ranked within the top 20 a couple of seasons ago, and the 2018-2019 seasons have not been quite so promising. The Spaniard had an impressive first round win against Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka.
Young Miomir Kecmanovic is knocking on the top 50 of the rankings at age 20, and has shown himself to be most comfortable on the hard courts, where he defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alexander Zverev at the ATP Masters 1000 in Cincinnati. He looked in good form in the first round against rising star Casper Ruud, before the Norwegian retired at the start of the second set.
Despite the Spaniard being more experienced, the surface suites the young Serbian better and expect him to win this match in two tight sets.
Tip: Kecmanovic to win in straight sets 9/5 with 888Sport