Roger Federer has been handed a stiff Shanghai Masters 2019 draw while Novak Djokovic is in line to begin his campaign against Denis Shapovalov in his second round.
The top eight seeds including Djokovic and Federer have a first round bye while the remaining eight seeded players will feature in the opening round. The Shanghai Masters qualifiers begin on Saturday.
Federer could face familiar foe Marin Cilic in his second round match but the out-of-form Croat will have to overcome Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas. The duo has played 10 times with Cilic beating Federer just once and that victory came five years ago in US Open.
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The Swiss world number three, seeded second in the absence of Rafael Nadal, will have David Goffin as his potential third round opponent while he might have to overcome fifth seeded Alexander Zverev in the quarter-final. Zverev has Borna Coric as a possible third round opponent.
If John Isner can get past his first two rounds, he could be awarded with a possible match-up against Djokovic in the third round. Djokovic, much like Federer, has a stiff competition for a place in the semi-final with another next-gen star in the form of Stefanos Tsitsipas awaiting him in the last-eight.
Tsitsipas might have to overcome Felix Auger-Aliassime in round two and Gael Monfils in the third round to get to Djkovic.
Russians Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov have been placed in the same quarter and might face off in their last-eight encounter. However, to get to that, Medvedev will need to overcome potential opponents in Gilles Simon and Diego Schwartzman before reaching the quarter-finals.
Fourth seeded Dominic Thiem shouldn’t have too many problems in the second round with either wild-card Ze Zhang or a qualifier facing him there but that will be followed by the 15th seeded Nikoloz Basilashvili in the third round. And that could be followed by eighth seeded Roberto Bautista-Agut or Matteo Berrettini in the third.
Djokovic and Medvedev are in the same top half of the draw and could meet in the semi-final while Federer’s potential semi-final opponent is Thiem if all goes to plan.
What is Djokovic’s Projected Path to the Shanghai Masters Final?
1st Round: Bye
2nd Round: Denis Shapovalov
3rd Round: John Isner
Quarter-Final: Stefanos Tsitsipas
Semi-Final: Daniil Medvedev
Final: Roger Federer
What is Federer’s Projected Path to the Shanghai Masters Final?
1st Round: Bye
2nd Round: Marin Cilic
3rd Round: David Goffin
Quarter-Final: Alexander Zverev
Semi-Final: Dominic Thiem
Final: Novak Djokovic
Potential Shanghai Masters Quarter-Final Line-up
Djokovic v Tsitsipas
Medvedev v Khachanov
Thiem v Bautista-Agut
Federer v Zverev
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