Mattia Bellucci vs Alexander Zverev Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Shanghai Masters

Prediction published on 03/10/2024, 15:09  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 03/10/2024 at 15:28 in ATP Shanghai Masters Predictions

Alexander Zverev is the second seed in the Shanghai Masters. He received a first round bye and now takes on qualifier Mattia Bellucci in the last 64 of this hard court Masters tournament. Read our match prediction below.

Zverev is down to third in the latest rankings having been overtaken by Carlos Alcaraz. He's also in that position in the ATP Live Race and has already secured his place in the end-of-season Tour FInals.

The German has reached at least the quarter-final in each of his last five singles tournaments. His most recent hard court event saw him lose in the US Open quarter-finals to Taylor Fritz. He's won one ATP Tour tournament this year but that was on clay in Rome.

Zverev made it to the final of this Masters event five years ago. The winner of this match will face either 26th seed Jordan Thompson or unseeded Tallon Griekspoor in round three.

Mattia Bellucci was 101st in the latest ranking list. That was a career high for the Italian but he's down to 104th in the live list. That's because he's about to drop the points earned when reaching a Challenger Tour final last October.

Bellucci had to win two qualifying matches to make it into the main draw. He managed to win both of those in straight sets but played a tie-break in both of them. Round one saw him face lucky loser Billy Harris and he again won in straight sets.

He has shown some good form in recent months with a quarter-final in Atlanta and reaching a hard court Challenger Tour final. This is far tougher though and we go for Alexander Zverev to win in straight sets.