The Asian Swing starts on Wednesday in Hangzhou, where China’s own Yibing Wu is confronted with a tough opening match against Adrian Mannarino. Student Tien and Mariano Navone are also action in the first round.
(6) Adrian Mannarino vs. (WC) Yibing Wu
Mannarino and Wu go against each other for the second time in their career when they collide in one of the Hangzhou on Wednesday. Their only earlier meeting came two years ago on the inner hard courts of Dallas, where Wu 6-3, 6-4 drove on the way to his first and only ATP title.
The 25-year-old from China has not been able to build on at that momentum and to fulfill his potential due to constant injury problems. He is number 196 in the world as a result of inactivity and clearly needed a wildcard to get to this tournament. Mannarino, on the other hand, is still strong at the age of 37. The 53rd ranked Frenchman has won 19 games that date from the start of Wimbledon (qualifying and a challenger included). With Mannarino on a role and a question mark every time he takes the court, the experienced Lefty is currently much more reliable.
Pick: Mannarino in 2
Mariano Navone vs. (7) Student ten
Tien and Navone will also drop off for the second time on Wednesday. Earlier this spring they faced each other in Indian Wells, where Navone 7-5, 6-4 won. Normally this matchup would all come to the surface, with Navone holding an edge on clay and expected ten to prevail on a different surface. However, Indian Putten can be the exception to that rule, because – as Daniil Medvedev would tell you – it probably plays to a greater extent as clay than any other hard court.
The story should be much different in Hangzhou, where the conditions will favor ten. Although the 19-year-old American has cooled a bit since a hot start of the season, he andrey Rublev in Washington, DC and then went on to the fourth Toronto round. Navone is in decent enough form, but the 82nd arranged Argentinian is an anemic lifespan of 11-20 on hard lanes in the open air. Count on ten that provide business.
Pick: Ten in 2
#Hangzhou #Tennis #Picks #Mannarino #ten #Navone