ATP Shanghai Masters tennis: free tips, tournament preview and where to watch

Free tennis tips, best bets and predictions for the ATP Shanghai Masters.

Where to watch

Starts 5am tomorrow; live on Amazon Prime from 5am Monday

Best bet

Roger Federer
1pt 4-1 Coral, Ladbrokes
Back this tip with Coral

Tournament preview

Novak Djokovic holds the Shanghai Masters record with four title triumphs from just eight attempts and his bid to secure a fifth has been made easier by a number of notable withdrawals.

US Open champion Rafael Nadal, Kevin Anderson, Juan Martin del Potro, Nick Kyrgios, Milos Raonic, Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori have all skipped Shanghai and been replaced by lesser opponents, rewarding Djokovic with an easier run to glory.

Any concern surrounding the Serb’s fitness following retirement at the US Open last month has been swatted aside by his impressive return to action in Tokyo.

Djokovic has made the final in the Japanese capital without breaking a sweat, recording straight-set successes over Alexei Popyrin, Go Soeda, Lucas Pouille and David Goffin, and he could be a different proposition with that match practice under his belt.

However, the world number one still has John Millman (7.30am Sunday) to pass in the final before moving onto business in Shanghai and there are still enough obstacles on his side of the draw to avoid the short prices.

Rising star Daniil Medvedev showed plenty of character when taking Nadal to five sets in a thrilling US Open final and he can cause problems for Djokovic in the last four.

Roger Federer, however, will avoid Djokovic and Medvedev until the final and that could be the telling factor.

At elite level, draws can make all the difference. Djokovic reigned supreme at Wimbledon as he was housed on the opposite side to Federer and Nadal, while Nadal capitalised on such luxury at Flushing Meadows.

Age and experience continues to have the measure of the next generation on the biggest stage and Federer, a winner of this event in both 2014 and 2017, is fancied to tee up a title tilt at the expense of Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev.

Federer arrives in Shanghai fresh, a huge plus at this stage of his career, and there should be few areas of concern early on for the Swiss superstar.

Marin Cilic is his likely second-round opponent but the Croat is in terrible nick and was convincingly beaten in the last-16 by Hyeon Chung in Japan this week.

Zverev's exertions in Beijing may leave him vulnerable, while Thiem is not at his most consistent when tackled with a fast surface and has lost both of his hard court meetings with Federer in straight sets.

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