Preview: Murray Eyeing More Positive Momentum In Shanghai; View Schedule
Former World No. 1 Andy Murray will look to add another positive week to his already impressive comeback at the Rolex Shanghai Masters this week.
Murray, who underwent a second hip surgery on 28 January, won back-to-back matches for the first time in more than 12 months last week at the China Open in Beijing. The Scot lost to the eventual champion, Dominic Thiem, for the second tournament in a row (Alex de Minaur, Zhuhai).
But Murray left the ATP 500 event with more positive momentum to take with him to the season's penultimate ATP Masters 1000 event in China, which Murray has won three times: 2016, 2011 and 2010.
“I think this was maybe the best in terms of how I played since I came back. It was great for me. I played three matches in four days, which is quite a lot. Actually I felt better than I expected today,” Murray said after falling to Thiem on Friday.
“It was just another step for me. I wasn't expecting to go from here to my highest level or winning tournaments straightaway. Everything has kind of been a pretty gradual progress for me. This week was another step, I think, in the right direction.”
The 32-year-old wild card will face Argentine qualifier Juan Ignacio Londero, No. 59 in the ATP Rankings, for the first time on Monday. Londero won his maiden ATP Tour title in February at the clay-court Cordoba Open in Argentina, but the 26-year-old is 3-4 on hard court this season.
Nitto ATP Finals hopefuls Gael Monfils and Fabio Fognini will try to pad their ATP Race To London tallies. Monfils, 12th in the Race with 2,125 points, meets Italy's Lorenzo Sonego, and Fognini, 13th in the Race and only 70 points behind Monfils, will play American Sam Querrey, who made the Beijing quarter-finals last week (l. to Zverev).
Both Monfils and Fognini are chasing 2018 Nitto ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev, who holds the eighth and final qualification spot with 2,255 points, 130 points ahead of Monfils and 200 ahead of Fognini. The top eight in the Race will compete at the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held 10-17 November at The O2 in London.
Former Next Gen ATP Finals qualifiers Frances Tiafoe of the U.S. and Denis Shapovalov of Canada will renew their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry to kick off play on Centre Court. Shapovalov leads their series 2-1, which includes his three-set win in the Miami Open presented by Itau quarter-finals in March.
Both remain in contention for to qualify for the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 5-9 November in Milan. Shapovalov is in fourth place in the ATP Race To Milan, with 1,210 points, and Tiafoe is right behind him in fifth place, with 960 points.
#NextGenATP Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic is in seventh place in the Race To Milan (883 points) and will meet Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin in round one. In other action, 14th seed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina will face Canadian qualifier Vasek Pospisil, and top doubles seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah open against Austrians Oliver Marach/Jurgen Melzer.
SCHEDULE – MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019
CENTRE COURT 1 start 12:30 pm
Frances Tiafoe (USA) vs Denis Shapovalov (CAN)
[10] Fabio Fognini (ITA) vs Sam Querrey (USA)
Not Before 6:30 pm
[WC] Andy Murray (GBR) vs [Q] Juan Ignacio Londero (ARG)
[WC] Ze Zhang (CHN) vs [Q] Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)
SHOW COURT 3 start 12:30 pm
Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) vs Marin Cilic (CRO)
[Q] Vasek Pospisil (CAN) vs [14] Diego Schwartzman (ARG)
[9] Gael Monfils (FRA) vs Lorenzo Sonego (ITA)
Not Before 5:30 pm
Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) vs Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB)