Tennis expert Andy Schooler picks out a couple of first-round bets for the ATP Chengdu Open, with Tuesday Tennis Tips ahead of Wednesday’s start.
Tuesday Tennis Tips: ATP Chengdu Open Best Bets
With the Grand Slam season now over, the ATP Tour is entering something of a strange period. The next few weeks will be spent on hardcourts in Asia before the players move indoors for the finish straight of 2025. For some players, such as the Chengdu top seed Lorenzo Musetti, there is the dangling carrot of a place at the lucrative, season-ending ATP Finals. For others, motivation may be harder to find.
Tuesday Tennis Tips: Zizou Bergs v Juncheng Shang
Shang should certainly be motivated here – he’s the reigning champion and so is defending many points on home soil. The problem is, he’s struggled all year with injury and hasn’t won a match since January. Three of his last five matches have seen him quit. Frankly, I’m surprised the layers have this as a 50-50 affair.
Bergs hasn’t had the best results of late but he’s played better than his win-loss record suggests in the past couple of months. And I feel a crucial victory at the weekend may well have lifted his confidence levels significantly coming in here. Bergs beat Jordan Thompson to help Belgium to a shock Davis Cup win over Australia in Sydney and that may well prove a springboard to further success. He’s certainly got that motivation of an end-of-season target – the Davis Cup Finals – and will want to arrive in Bologna with wins under his belt. That can start here.
Tuesday Tennis Tips: Terence Atmane v Dino Prizmic
Atmane missed the recent US Open due to a foot problem and so we’ve got an injury cloud hanging over this one. However, the Frenchman looks worth taking a chance on given his price of 2.15. I’d have thought he’d be the favourite for this had he not withdrawn from New York. Atmane was excellent in the fast conditions of Cincinnati last month where he made the semis of the Masters 1000 event, beating Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune along the way.
His serve was a key weapon that week and plenty here won’t have seen it yet. In what are usually some of the fastest conditions on the ATP Tour in Chengdu, which sits at 500m above sea level, it could take him a long way again. It was certainly interesting to hear what he said when announcing his withdrawal from the US Open. Atmane said: “”I do feel sad about it because with the last result (Cincinnati) I want to push for more but trying to be smart and get myself ready for Asia was the best decision for my team and I.”
That sounds to me like someone targeting a strong end to the season and grabbing as many raking points as possible in the coming weeks where he’ll also play in the slick conditions of Shanghai. Admittedly, Prizmic has been racking up wins on the Challenger Tour – he’s made five finals this season, winning two of them – but he’s still short on experience at this level where he’s won just six of 17 matches. The Croat also has the issue of moving quickly from clay to hardcourts. He was in action on the red dirt at the weekend, losing to Corentin Moutet as Croatia lost to France. For me, Atmane looks a value shout at odds-against.
Tuesday Tennis Tips: ATP Chengdu 2025
Bergs to beat Shang @ 1.82 with kwiff
Atmane to beat Prizmic @ 2.15 with kwiff
By Andy Schooler
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