Third round action at the 2019 Shanghai Masters will see Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer take to court on Thursday, October 10. Get the Novak Djokovic v John Isner and Roger Federer v David Goffin tips, previews and predictions below along with that for a couple of other matches below.
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Novak Djokovic v John Isner Predictions & Preview
Novak Djokovic shouldn’t have too many problems getting the better of the world number John Isner when they meet in their third round match at the Shanghai Masters. After all, when one looks at their head to head, it’s 9-2 in favour of Djokovic but more vitally, Isner hasn’t defeated the world number since 2013. Their last meeting came at the ATP Finals last year and Djokovic was a 6-4, 6-3 winner – a telling result against a player who usually pushes most of his sets into tie-breakers.
A lot was being made out of Djokovic’s shoulder injury but there has been nothing to suggest since that fourth round withdrawal at Flushing Meadows that the Serb was injured so badly. He has won six matches on the bounce, lost not a single set and is coming off a 6-3, 6-3 demolition of Denis Shapovalov.
Isner, 22-13 on hard courts this season, fell in the first round at Chengdu and was taken out in the quarter-final at the China Open as well. He hasn’t dropped a single set so far in this tournament, beating Alex de Minaur and Lucas Pouille in straight sets but Djokovic would be a bridge too far.
Tip: Djokovic to win in straight sets: 8/11 with Unibet
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Roger Federer v David Goffin Predictions & Preview
If one thought that Djokovic’s record against Isner was something to behold, then one must look at the Roger Federer v David Goffin head to head. They have featured in 10 matches and Goffin’s only win against Federer came in the 2017 ATP Finals. Over the remaining nine matches, Federer has dropped just two sets to Goffin.
And Federer’s razor-sharp form could continue to be too much to handle for Goffin despite the early form shown in this tournament. He was a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Richard Gasquet in the first round and then defeated Mikhail Kukushkin 6-2, 6-0 to make it to the third. There was a semi-final at the Japan Open last week and a fourth round at the US Open too but Goffin has found it difficult to overcome very high-ranked opponents.
Federer has already beaten Goffin twice this year – at Halle and US Open – and we reckon he would be gunning for a third victory now.
Tip: Federer to win in straight sets: 8/11 with Unibet
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Roberto Bautista-Agut v Matteo Berrettini Predictions & Preview
Since last year, these two players have played each other thrice and Matteo Berrettini leads the head to head against Roberto Bautista-Agut 2-1. There’s a catch though. Both of Berrettini’s wins came on clay while Bautista-Agut won at the Doha Open earlier this year on hard courts.
The close nature of head to head aside, Bautista-Agut and Berrettini are also closely coupled on the ATP rankings chart, with just two players between them.
Bautista-Agut was a quarterfinalist at Montreal and Cincinnati but couldn’t quite get that form going at the US Open, losing to Mikhail Kukushkin in the first round there. He made the semifinals at Zhuhai and after a first round bye here, beat Reilly Opelka in straight sets – results that should fill him up with confidence.
Berrettini hasn’t had a great season on hard court surfaces, winning 13 and losing nine matches. At Shanghai though, he has begun well with breezy, straight-set wins over Jan-Lennard Struff and Christian Garin. Think this could go to three sets with RBA winning.
Tip: Bautista-Agut to win in three sets: 7/2 with Unibet
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Dominic Thiem v Nikoloz Basilashvili Predictions & Preview
In a surprise head to head, Nikoloz Basilashvili has actually beaten Dominic Thiem in their only previous match which came at the indoor court of Sofia in 2017. Now Thiem might have grown as a player since then but the world number five hasn’t had the best of times on hard courts…
…till recently that is. This is when he went on to beat Andy Murray, Karen Khachanov and Stefanos Tsitsipas to clinch the China Open last week. And now with a straight-set win over Pablo Carreno-Busta, Thiem at least looks good to make the quarter-final. Question is if Basilashvili can lift his own game and push him into a third set.
That’s because Basilashvili was himself sent to three sets in both the matches he has played so far this tournament, beating Radu Albot and Benoit Paire. He could do that to Thiem too but in the end, the Austrian starts odds on favourite to win it.
Tip: Thiem to win in three sets: 3/1 with Unibet
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