At the ATP World Tour 500 tournaments in Beijing and Tokyo, the fields are clearing. Three German Davis Cup players can benefit from this.
The men’s Asian tour is entering its second phase, which usually means that the players have more points at their disposal than in Chengdu or Shenzhen, for example. 500 each will be announced in Tokyo and Beijing on Monday, followed by the penultimate ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai.
Shortly before the start of the events in the two Asian capitals, however, the number of participants is increasing: The cancellation of Rafael Nadal for Beijing has been known for a few days now, in addition to the renunciation of young father John Isner and Pablo Carreno Busta. Two Germans benefit from this: Peter Gojowczyk and Mischa Zverev have slipped into the 32 grid. Gojowczyk meets Kyle Edmund, the older Zverev meets Filip Krajinovic.
Juan Martin del Potro leads the seed list, followed by Alexander Zverev and Grigor Dimitrov. While the latter distinguished themselves in the Laver Cup for Team Europe, the Argentinian cancelled his participation for Chicago at short notice. Zverev begins against the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.
In Tokyo, Kevin Anderson is in first place, followed by Marin Cilic, David Goffin and Diego Schwartzman. Cilic had been at the start of the 2017 Laver Cup, but this time he had not participated due to the Davis Cup semi-final against the USA. Nothing like Anderson, Goffin and Schwartzman, who started with different successes in Chicago.
The cancellation of Lucas Pouille brings something good for a German in Tokyo as well: Jan-Lennard Struff was the first “Alternate” to slip into the 32-grid. The bad news for the Warsteiner: The draw gave him a rendezvous with Marin Cilic in round one.
Here is the single tableau in Beijing
Here is the single tableau in Tokyo