Damien Kayat previews Dan Evans vs Roman Safiullin and Yoshihito Nishioka vs Lloyd Harris in selected matches of the Chengdu Open/ Zhuhai Championships on the 22nd of September 2023.
2023 ATP Tour
ATP Tour 250 Series
Chengdu Open/ Zhuhai Championships
Selected Matches – 22nd September
Chengdu Open- Sichuan International Tennis Centre, Chengdu, China (Outdoor Hardcourt)
Dan Evans 89/100 | Roman Safiullin 88/100
Former ‘bad boy’ of British tennis Dan Evans has enjoyed one of the most schizophrenic seasons you are ever likely to see. On one hand, the defensive baseliner has suffered no fewer than 14 tour-level first-round exits this season! Ouch.
But in amongst that he has picked up two incredible results, reaching the semi-finals in Barcelona before winning the biggest title of his career in Washington. It’s hard to really pinpoint how the combustible Brit is going to play week to week.
But I was very encouraged by his showing at Flushing Meadows. He came back from a set down in the 2nd round against van de Zandschulp before pushing wunderkind Carlos Alcaraz to four sets in the 3rd. His performance against the brilliant Spaniard highlighted all of his pros and deficiencies.
He lacked the raw power to truly hurt the Spaniard consistently. But his puckish determination and defensive mobility allowed him to grind out a set. This will be his first outing since New York.
Next up for Evans is 26-year-old Russian Roman Safiullin. Safiullin dealt with an out of sorts Brandon Nakashima in pretty routine fashion. It was exactly the sort of no-nonsense performance that he needed following his 2nd round US Open capitulation against Tommy Paul.
The Russian bears certain similarities to Evans. He is a workhorse who doesn’t mind getting involved in arduous rallies. But the Russian is probably slightly more proactive and I think he will look to dictate the tempo of this match.
He made history earlier this year, becoming just the 12th man to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals on debut. But he needs to develop a bit more consistency if he wishes to rise further in the ATP rankings.
Verdict: Evans to win in three at 33/10
This will be the first career meeting between these two arch-baseliners. I was going to take a punt on the industrious Russian. But these odds just look too inviting for the 4th seed. I’m hoping that Evans’ US Open form carries over and he can emerge victorious.
Zhuhai Championships- Hengqin International Tennis Centre, Zhuhai, China (Outdoor Hardcourt)
Yoshihito Nishioka 23/20 | Lloyd Harris 66/100
Japanese 8th seed Yoshihito Nishioka’s opening round match against Frenchman Terence Atmane started in really nightmarish fashion. He was bagled in the opening set and all his recent frailties were laid to bare.
But the nuggety baseliner rallied back in fine fashion to beat the recent Challenger Tour winner. This has been an extremely strange year for the Japanese player. He has been generally quite poor in regular tour events (he was 1-5 during the recent North American hardcourt campaign).
But he has shone on the Grand Slam stage this season, reaching his maiden Grand Slam 4th round in Melbourne before matching that run in Paris. It’s hard to really rationalize that disconnect in performance.
Still, he will be pleased with his comeback against Atmane and he will need his wits about him against the big-hitting South African Llyod Harris.
Two-time ATP Tour finalist Llyod Harris has struggled to rediscover his best form this season. Harris rose to prominence in 2021 with maiden ATP 500 final appearance in Dubai.
He also memorably went on to beat Rafael Nadal in the Washington Open. With his big serves and solid groundstrokes, Harris looked a natural successor to Kevin Andrson as South Africa’s premium tennis player. But inconsistency dogged him last year and then he was forced to miss the end of the season following right wrist surgery.
And I don’t think he has really looked himself since that operation. Sure, he upset 17th seed Lorenzo Musetti at the Aussie Open. But he has largely struggled to get anything going this year (outside of a semifinal run at the Mallorca Championships).
But I think he will take some solace form his last two professional matches. He pushed Alcaraz to a tiebreaker in the 3rd set during their 2nd round US Open meeting. And he just blew Jiri Vesely off the court with a dominant serving display.
Verdict: Harris to win in straight-sets at 16/10
Harris leads their head-to-head rivalry 2-0, most recently beating the Japanese in a gruelling three-set match in Miami last year. I really think that Harris’ power-based game- at full tilt- is too much for the Japanese to handle. And there have been signs in his last few performances that the South African is ready to battle back to his best form.
