There will be an age difference of 19 years between players on the Thursday scheme in Chengdu, where Dino Prizmic and Gael Monfils take the court. Prizmic faces Terence Atmane; Monfils starts his week against Alexander Shevchenko.
Terence Atmane vs. (Ng) Dino Prizmic
On Thursday on the Chengdu Open, Atmane will appear his first since his breakout run at the Cincinnati Masters this summer. After previously won five ATP level competitions in his entire career, the 23-year-old Frenchman doubled that number by going to the semi-final before he fell to Jannik Sinner. The scalp of Atmane included Flavio Cobolli, Joao Fonseca, Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune.
First for the world No. 70 on Thursday is Prizmic, with which he has never had to deal with. The 20-year-old Croat was given a place in the main table with the next exit, because otherwise he would be forced to play in qualifying at 121st in the ranking. Prizmic showed signs of promise by taking a set -off Novak Djokovic on the Australian Open 2024, but he has not done much at ATP level since that performance. If Atmane can shake the rust after an absence of a month, he should be able to fight in round two.
Pick: Atmane in 3
Alexander Shevchenko vs. Gael Monfils
Monfils and Shevchenko will be in their career for the second time on Thursday for the second time. Their only earlier meeting came to the Phoenix Challenger two years ago (also at an open-air court), where Shevchenko had the upper hand 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-3.
Neither of the players is currently inspiring some confidence. Monfils is 1-7 in his last eight games that goes back to the French Open, with nothing more than a victory over wrestling co-Frenchman Ugo Humbert in Wimbledon. Fortunately for the 39-year-old Shevchenko has been a disaster lately. Since October 2024, the 96th ranked Kazakh has not won a Main-Draw match at a hard court at a hard court at ATP level since October 2024. This is an excellent opportunity for Monfils to get back on the right track.
Pick: Monfils in 2
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