The second round matches at the 2019 Chengdu Open will be continued on Thursday, September 26. Get the latest Grigor Dimitrov v Daniel Evans & Felix Auger-Aliassime v Joao Sousa tips and predictions with their previews along with other matches can be found below.
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Grigor Dimitrov v Daniel Evans Preview
This will be the third meeting between Grigor Dimitrov and Daniel Evans. While Dimitrov won their first meeting on the Eastbourne grass in 2013, Evans prevailed on the Washington DC hard courts in 2016. Both players are looking to revive their careers at the moment.
After being world number three at the end of 2017, having won the ATP Tour Finals in London, Dimitrov has had a rough last 12 months or so on the tour. His form and fitness have dipped with him running into some difficult draws, and early round losses, with his ranking dropping out of the top 75 in the world. A spirited run at the US Open, where he was a semi-finalist, defeating Roger Federer en route did a world of good to his season, his rankings and his confidence.
Currently ranked number 28th in the world, he will be hoping for a good end to the season setting himself up well, for 2020.
The “Bad Boy of British Tennis’ , Daniel Evans was ranked outside the top 500 at the start of the year. A Delray Beach final appearance and other decent runs during the season, have seen him move up to within the top 50 and similar to Dimitrov, he will like a good end to the season. While he has managed to get starts, he has not been able to win the big matches and make inroads where he should have, his Wimbledon round of 16 being one example.
Expect a tight match with both playing for a lot, but Dimitrov should prevail in three sets.
Tip: Dimitrov to win in three sets: 3/1 with 888Sport
Felix Auger-Aliassime v Joao Sousa Preview
19-year-old Felix Auger- Aliassime plays Portguese veteran Joao Sousa for the first time, in the second round of the Chengdu Open.
Auger-Aliassime has been the young sensation from Canada, on the tour alongside Denis Shapovalov. He has exhibited a lot of promise, in being a finalist at Rio, Lyon and Stuttgart, as well as a semi-finalist at the Miami Open Masters 1000.
He was a semi-finalist at the Queens Club ATP 500 defeating Grigor Dimitrov, Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas en route. He is ranked number 20 in the world and been picked by many as the ‘Star of the Future’.
Sousa has had a start stop season with a round of 16 appearance at Wimbledon, followed by a poor US hard court season, but again came to the spotlight with a good run at St.Petersburg last year. The Portuguese did well to defeat another ‘Next Gen’ Hyeon Chung in the opener here, with Chung on a comeback trail from injury.
A good match to look forward to, that could go either way. It will be down to who plays the big points better, and the young Canadian may just scrape through.
Tip: Auger-Aliassime to win in three sets: 3/1 with 888Sport
John Isner v Egor Gerasimov Preview
Number one American John Isner plays Belarusian Egor Gerasimov in their first ever meeting at the ATP Chengdu Open
After an excellent 2018, where he won his first ever ATP Masters 1000 in Miami, broke into the top 10, was a Wimbledon semi-finalist, and participated in the year end ATP Tour Finals in London, the 2019 season has not been particularly great for Isner.
He had a foot injury in the Miami Open final where he meekly surrendered to Roger Federer in the final, resulting in him missing out on most of the clay season and has looked below par upon his return. He is ranked just within the top 20 now, but is the number one seed here at Chengdu.
Belarusian Egor Gerasimov was a little known name till last week, winning his first Grand Slam match at the US Open this year. However, he had a good run at the St.Petersburg ATP 250 last week, making the semi-finals and defeating some better known players en route. He looked to continue his good run of form in his Chengdu Open first round match as well.
Isner looked in good touch at the Laver Cup last weekend, and will like to carry his form through. Expect Gerasimov to continue his good efforts, but the American should win in three long sets.
Tip: Isner to win in three sets: 3/1 with 888Sport
Pablo Carreno Busta v Benoit Paire Preview
Frenchman Benoit Paire and Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta meet for the 12th time in their careers, at the ATP Chengdu Open.
Paire leads the head-to-head 8-3, having won five in a row, and won all three meetings this year, as recent as at Winston-Salem, right before the US Open.
Both players careers have moved in opposite directions. Paire has had a strong year, moving up the rankings to just outside the top 20 in the world and having pulled together a string of impressive wins this year. Carreno Busta was ranked top 10 in the world in 2017, but has struggled to return to the tour after an injury plagued 2018. He has had some good wins this year upon his return but unable to maintain consistency and momentum and yet to return to the top 50 in the world.
Paire, and on current form, conditions and confidence, should win this in three sets.
Tip: Paire to win in three sets: 5/1 with 888Sport