Jannik Sinner is back after a second effort in New York and will start his Beijing campaign against Marin Cilic on Thursday. The winner will be confronted in the second round with Terence Atmane or Zhizhen Zhang.
(1) Jannik Sinner vs. Marin Cilic
Sinner and Cilic will go for the second time in their career for the second time when they are in one of the van de de van de China open On Thursday. Their only earlier meeting came to the Davis Cup Finals four years ago, where Sinner had the upper hand 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Fast forward to 2025 and there is no reason to think that Cilic will be competitive in the same way. The 36th ranked Croat can still be dangerous on fast surfaces (he reached the Wimbledon-four-four round this summer), but for the most part his career seems to be settled. Sinner, on the other hand, is 37-5 this season-plus. He is 9-1 always in Beijing with one title and one second show. The second ranked Italian should roll his opening match of the week.
Choose: Sinner in 2
(Q) Terence Atmane vs. (WC) Zhizhen Zhang
Atmane hopes to set up a second round against Sinner, which would be a rematch of the semi -final of Cincinnati. Cincy was the scene of Atmane’s breakthrough performance on tour, because the 23-year-old Frenchman came out of nowhere to win five Main-Draw competitions-including Holger Rune and Taylor Fritz. Atmane is now in the main draw in Beijing thanks to qualifying victories over Fajing Sun and Botic van de Zandschulp.
The next one for the world no. 68 on Thursday is a very first meeting with Zhang. Plagued by injuries, the world no. 370 from China is only 5-10 at the ATP level this season. Zhang returned from an absence of sixth months last week in Hangzhou, where he scraped into a third set of Tiebreeker past Bu Yunchaokete before he fell to Dalibor SVRCina 6-4, 6-3. Although neither of them is particularly consistent, Atmane now has more momentum behind him and should be able to take advantage of a rusty opponent.
Pick: Atmane in 3
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