Tennis best bets for ATP Shanghai and WTA Beijing – Friday, October 6
There isn’t much time left in the 2023 tennis season, but the Asian swing brings us some really big tournaments. This week, the men are in action for a 1000-level event, which is the biggest a tournament can be outside of the four Grand Slams. Meanwhile, the women are playing in a 500-level tournament, so I’ll also be keeping tabs on that. That said, I wanted to put together some best bets for both ATP Shanghai and WTA Beijing. Keep reading for my three plays for Friday, October 6 (with some starting on Thursday, October 5 in the United States).
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Brandon Nakashima vs. Holger Rune
This is less of a bet on Nakashima and more of a play against Rune. The Danish phenom has just been atrocious lately, as he has lost eight of his last nine matches. In that time, Rune has also lost to players like Leandro Riedl, Richard Gasquet, Marcos Giron, Roberto Carballes Baena and Thiago Monteiro. He is just really lacking in both form and confidence, and his team has even said that his back is hurting because of his service motion. With that in mind, I’d like almost any decent underdog against him right now. But I especially think Nakashima will present some problems for him, as he’s a good server and a powerful baseliner. Nakashima’s one big flaw is his returning, but Rune will likely gift him some break opportunities. That said, I’m taking Nakashima on the game spread, but I think he can win this outright.
Bet: Nakashima +2.5 Games (-130)
Marton Fucsovics vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime
This is another play that is more of a complete fade on a player. Auger-Aliassime has just been terrible since the start of the 2023 season, and he’s also 2-6 in his last eight matches. And one of those wins was in a glorified exhibition against Gael Monfils at the Laver Cup. The Canadian just hasn’t been able to string together good performances, and he hasn’t shown many signs of life lately. Meanwhile, Fucsovics isn’t the most reliable player in the world, but he’s a great athlete with a lot of power all over the court. As long as he is serving well in this match, he should have his chances. I’d be absolutely shocked if he doesn’t win at least a set here. That would put us in good position with the 2.5 games. But this is another one in which I think the ‘dog is live.
Bet: Fucsovics +2.5 Games (-125)
Zhizhen Zhang vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry
I had Zhang in his opening-round win over Gasquet and I loved the way he looked in that one. It was an absolutely dominant 6-1, 6-2 win for Zhang, who has now won each of his last six matches and eight of his last nine. He’s a confident player at the moment and he also happens to be playing at home in this event. That should give him a little extra adrenaline here, but I’m not even sure he’ll need it. Zhang is every bit as good as Etcheverry, if not better. He’s a very talented player and I think we’ll see that here. And the serve could be a big difference. I think Zhang will hold a lot easier than Etcheverry, who isn’t much of a hard-court player.
Bet: Zhang ML (-145)
2023 Overall Record: 286-261 (+46.66 units)
