The quarter-final line-up will be confirmed in Shanghai at the close of Wednesday’s play and the majority of the leading lights are still going strong with Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud the only two of the top 10 seeds to have fallen by the wayside. Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic are all in action at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena and will be expected to ease into the final eight, although things may be tougher for fifth seed Daniil Medvedev against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
There is also the small matter of a WTA 1000 event taking place in Wuhan, where headline acts Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula will be bidding to reach round three.
Tennis Betting Tips, Wednesday
Holger Rune to beat Taylor Fritz
After an injury-interrupted campaign, there is a strong sense that Holger Rune is starting to put his best foot forward and the dynamic Dane can reach the quarter-finals in Shanghai at Taylor Fritz’s expense.
World number seven Fritz is the higher-ranked player but 21-year-old Rune is open to considerably more progress and his recent performances have hinted that he is starting to approach peak form.
Rune, who is already a three-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist, made the last four in Tokyo before heading to Shanghai and wins over Matteo Berrettini and Jiri Lehecka in the Chinese city suggest he is ready to build on that.
Fritz, on the other hand, has lost three of his last five matches and when these two met on his own patch at Indian Wells in March, Rune came from a set down to prevail.
Tomas Machac to beat Tommy Paul
These two players met in Tokyo at the end of September, with Tomas Machac springing a minor surprise in a three-set victory, but the improving Czech performer may be able to frank that form in Shanghai.
Machac has come on leaps and bounds this season and his only two defeats in his last 10 completed matches have come against Jack Draper in the last 16 of the US Open and in a clash with Ugo Humbert in the semi-final in Tokyo.
Paul, in contrast, is displaying real signs of vulnerability at present and he has required a deciding set in his opening two matches in Shanghai against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Alejandro Tabilo, who is most renowned for his exploits on clay.
Ekaterina Alexandrova to beat Anna Kalinskaya
Ekaterina Alexandrova has won all five previous meetings with Russian counterpart Anna Kalinskaya and she can maintain that dominance in their second-round encounter in Wuhan.
Alexandrova showed plenty of grit and determination in her three-set victory over Sofia Kenin in round one and she is taken to build on that against Kalinskaya, who has claimed only one set across their four previous hard-court meetings.
Kalinskaya is the world number 13 but that lofty ranking has been inflated by last season’s run to the Dubai Tennis Championships final.
Tennis Betting Tips from Betfred Insights.
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