ATP Beijing / Tokyo: 2nd Round (Thur)

ATP Beijing Feature Previews

Rafael Nadal v Karen KhachanovAs expected Nadal was slow out of the blocks against Pouille and had to dig deep to get home in three very tight sets. He is in for a very different style of match against Khachanov as the Russian play a super aggressive brand of tennis. He will try to keep the points as short as possible and look to end them with his big serve and clean winners off the forehand wing. It will be his undoing as Nadal will frustrate him by making him hit ball after ball. Hitting through Nadal is no easy feat and Khachanov does not have the consistency required to do so. He made just 50% of first serve in his opening match and that will not cut it against Rafa!
Best Bet: Nadal -5.5 ($2.05)

Fabio Fognini v Alexander ZverevFognini has got things together over the last few weeks and put the disappointment of an opening loss at the US Open behind him with a run to the final in St Petersbug last week. He accounted for Haase in his opening match here but The Wolf says he will be no match for Zverev. The young German has had more than enough time to recover from a busy schedule leading into the last major of the season and Wolfy is expecting him to really turn it on this week. He accounted for Fognini in straight sets on clay earlier this year and on a more favourable surface he should be just as dominant.
Best Bet: Sets Zverev 2-0 ($1.91)