The famous and popular ATP Shanghai Masters Tennis action is back with us this week on the ATP World Tour. We are edging ever closer to the ATP Finals and so far only Nadal and Federer have qualified for it. They are the two headlining acts for the ATP Shanghai Masters this week and surprisingly there isn’t too much winning history between them at this event. Nadal has never won it but he is the 5/2 favouirte at Unibet, while Federer has claimed it once, back in 2014. They are the top two seeds for the tournament for the first time. They are on opposite sides of the draw, therefore.
Top Seeds:
1 Rafael Nadal, 2 Roger Federer, 3 Alexander Zverev, 4 Marin Cilic, 5 Dominic Thiem, 6 Grigor Dimitrov, 7 Pablo Carreno Busta, 8 David Goffin
ATP Shanghai Masters Tennis Odds
Rafael Nadal 5/2, Roger Federer 5/2, Alexander Zverev 10/1, Nick Kyrgios 14/1, Marin Cilic 16/1, Juan Martin del Potro 16/1, Grigor Dimitrov 20/1, Dominic Thiem 22/1, David Goffin 25/1, Kevin Anderson 33/1, bar 50/1
Rafael Nadal
Despite being an ever present at the tournament apart from 2012, the Spaniard doesn’t have a great record there. He is 12-7 at the event and his best ever finish was second place in 2009. However, he is bang in form at the moment having claimed the Beijing title on the weekend against Nick Kyrgios. Nadal is 56-9 for the season and 22-5 in the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events. He has six titles to his name this season having claimed the Madrid and Monte Carlo Masters 1000 titles. He is the man to beat at the moment without question.
Roger Federer
The Swiss master is back in action for the first time since the US Open where he got to the quarter finals. His lone title win at the Shanghai Masters came in 2014 and he holds an overall 13-4 career record at the event. He was last here two years ago when he crashed out in his first match. He has collected five titles this year with a 39-4 season record. He should be pretty fresh of course after his extended break. He is actually the only former champion in the field this year.
Alexander Zverev
The world number four needs some points to get himself closer to the ATP Finals. Since his victory at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, he hasn’t been in great form. He lost in his opening match in Cincinnati, then only won just the one game each at the US Open and at the Shenzhen Open. He is third seen and therefore goes in Federer’s half of the draw and he also has Dominic Thiem in his quarter and could meet Juan Martin Del Potro in the round of sixteen. Tough draw.
David Goffin
Goffin will be carrying some form into this one as the Belgian swept his way to the Shenzhen Open title on the weekend, beating Alexandr Dolgopolov in the final. He is in Federer’s quarter of the draw though so the odds would be stacked against him getting all the way in this one.
Dominic Thiem hasn’t really looked like getting close to a title since the middle of the season and is in the stacked bottom half of the draw. Juan Martin del Potro should be a strong contender in that bottom half of the draw as he is fresh having not played since the US Open, just like Federer. He has to be a decent outside shot though with some good appeal for each way at 16/1 with Unibet. Up in the top half, it is difficult because Nadal is just on fire this season and looks unstoppable. It’s a big risk finding someone to oppose him at the moment. Grigor Dimitrov is charged with taking him on in his quarter, while Marin Cilic will be the popular option to go through and meet him in the semi’s. Nick Kyrgios showed some good form to get to the final of Beijing on the weekend, but he blew up again, his temperament over a line call letting him down in the match.
