Tennis 10sBalls Shares Ricky’s Picks For The Shanghai Rolex Masters • Roger Federer Plays Schwartzman, Rafa Nadal Plays Jared Donaldson

By Ricky Dimon

The second-round schedule at the Shanghai Rolex Masters continues on Wednesday, when Americans John Isner, Sam Querrey, Jared Donaldson, Ryan Harrison, and Frances Tiafoe are all in action. Querrey and Tiafoe will be going head-to-head against each other, while Harrison has a tough one on his hands against Grigor Dimitrov. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are also kicking off their title bids.

Ricky breaks down Wednesday’s second-round matchups and makes his predictions.

Ryan Harrison vs. (6) Grigor Dimitrov: Harrison managed to pull off a big upset of Kevin Anderson last week in Tokyo, but for the most part he struggles against top-flight competition (see: a 6-2, 6-0 loss to Marin Cilic one round later). Dimitrov in 2.

Aljaz Bedene vs. (3) Alexander Zverev: Zverev has already captured two Masters 1000 titles this season. He may be in line for a third, but even if he isn’t Bedene won’t be the on to stop him. Zverev in 2.

(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Jared Donaldson: Donaldson has been in outstanding form in 2017. Unfortunately for him, Nadal has been much better–and much better than everyone other than Roger Federer. The world No. 1 mayslow down at some point this week, but not right away. Nadal in 2.

Diego Schwartzman vs. (2) Roger Federer: The above Nadal-Donaldson analysis applies almost exactly to Federer vs. Schwartzman. The Argentine has been stellar of late…just not stellar enough. Federer in 3.

(10) Sam Querrey vs. (Q) Frances Tiafoe. Bold prediction: the American with the huge forehand will win. Querrey in 2.

(8) David Goffin vs. Gilles Simon: There may not be a worse matchup in tennis for Simon at the moment. Goffin is a younger and better ball-striking version of the Frenchman. The Belgian has won nine straight matches and this will be No. 10. Goffin in 2.

(Q) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. (12) John Isner: Isner made routine 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(6) work of Dusan Lajovic on Tuesday. Yes, that is basically routine for Isner. Tsitsipas, meanwhile, had zero ATP-level wins in his career before beating Karen Khachanov. Isner in 2.

(5) Dominic Thiem vs. Viktor Troicki: Thiem vs. Denis Shapovalov would have been more interesting. This one could be somewhat interesting, though, because Thiem is once again struggling off clay. Thiem in 3.

(Q) Alexandr Dolgopolov vs. Feliciano Lopez: This is one of those matches that you just know is going to end in a retirement. But if not, a slight edge goes to an in-form Dolgopolov. Dolgopolov in 3.

(WC) Di Wu vs. Steve Johnson: Speaking of retirements, Dolgopolov got one from Jack Sock on Tuesday and Johnson got a bizarre one from Nick Kyrgios. The good luck continues for Johnson, because this is simply an awesome draw in the second round of a Masters 1000 tournament. Johnson in 2.

(11) Kevin Anderson vs. Jan-Lennard Struff: Struff is a version of Anderson with a much worse ranking, no Grand Slam runner-up finishes, and no marriages to Kelsey Anderson. Anderson in 2.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.