The quarter-finals at the 2019 Chengdu Open will be on Friday, September 27. Get the latest Grigor Dimitrov v Alexander Bublik & Denis Shapovalov v Egor Gerasimov tips and predictions with their previews along with other matches can be found below.
Get the best odds for the ATP Chengdu Open 2019 with 888Sport here.[the_ad_group id=”1639″]
*Geo-restrictions apply & pre-funded account needed
Grigor Dimitrov v Alexander Bublik Preview
This will be the first meeting between the two players. While Dimitrov is looking to revive his season and career, Bublik is looking to launch his further.
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 Bulgarian was tested in his first match by Britain’s Daniel Evans, but came out on top to win in two tight sets.
Young Alexander Bublik has not done enough yet to be talked off in the same breath as the leading members of the ‘Next Gen’ such as Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and others. Yet, he has shown signs of promise with an exciting game and interesting personality.
He was a losing finalist to John Isner at the Newport Hall of Fame ATP 250 and looked good in his first round match against fellow rising star Taylor Fritz. Bublik will look to make a deep run this weekend and move up further in the rankings.
Expect a tight match with some of Bublik’s theatrical tennis skills, but Dimitrov should prevail in three sets.
Tip: Dimitrov to win in three sets: 3/1 with 888Sport
Denis Shapovalov v Egor Gerasimov Preview
20-year old Denis Shapovalov plays Belarusian Egor Gerasimov for the first time, in the quarterfinals of the Chengdu Open.
Shapovalov burst onto the scene in 2017, defeating Rafael Nadal, and Juan Martin del Potro at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, followed by a second week appearance at the US Open. Although he moved up to within the top 20 in the world, and was a semi-finalist, losing to Roger Federer in the Miami Open Masters 1000 earlier this year, he ran into some dismal form this summer.
Ranked number 34 in the world now, he seems to have improved in both form and confidence, with Mikhail Youzhny added to his coaching team. He has looked good this week, both on serve and return, and will hope to make a good run this week.
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, and topped it with a tight win against top seed John Isner in three tiebreaks.
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: Shapovalov to win in three sets: 3/1 with 888Sport
Pablo Carreno Busta v Cristain Garin Preview
This is the second meeting between Pablo Carreno Busta and Cristain Garrin. Their first meeting was on clay in Geneva in 2016, which the Spaniard won comfortably. Garin has evolved significantly as a player since, however.
Spain’s Carreno Busta was ranked in the top ten in 2017. But, the last year and a bit has been one marred by injuries and poor form. He has been on the comeback trail and had some good victories against the likes of John Isner, David Goffin in recent times, and more recently Frenchman Benoit Paire in the previous round here. Where he has lacked is the ability to maintain form and consistency.
Young Chilean, Garin, has had a strong season on clay winning his first two ATP titles, at Houston and Munich. His season outside of clay has not quite been as impressive, but he has looked good this week, defeating Kyle Edmund, and Fernando Verdasco. Garin will be looking to do well for the rest of the season, and not be considered as just a “clay courter”.
A tight match on the cards, but Carreno Busta’s experience should prevail here
Tip: Carreno Busta to win in three sets: 3/1 with 888Sport
Joao Sousa v Lloyd Harris Preview
This will be the first meeting between both players, for a spot in the final four of the Chengdu Open.
Portuguese Joao Sousa has had an up and down year. He did well to make the second week at Wimbledon, but a disappointing US hard court series followed. However, it seems like he has turned his season around with a good performance last week, being a semi-finalist at the St.Petersburg ATP 250. He has also continued his good form this week, defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime, and reaching the quarter-finals thus far.
Lloyd Harris is a lesser known South African, whose recent claim to fame was winning the first set against Roger Federer in the opening round at Wimbledon. He is ranked outside the top 100 in the world but has done well to pull of victories here in his opening matches, against Marton Fucsovics, and Dusan Lajovic.
Despite the good run this week by Harris, Sousa seems to be in good form and confident and except the Portuguese to prevail in straight sets.
Tip: Sousa to win in straight sets: 5/1 with 888Sport