ATP Shanghai Tournament, 3rd Round, Sunday, 08.10.2023
Casper Ruud will take on Christopher Eubanks in the third round in Shanghai. The three-time Grand Slam finalist won without much problems against Yoshihito Nishioka in the last round.
He will meet Eubanks for the third time. The US American was able to win one duel in 2018. Can he be a threat to the world number nine again? I analyse that in my Ruud Eubanks tip.
Ruud defeated Nishioka straight up in two sets on Friday. Japan’s number one could only keep up in the first, then conceded a bagel in the second.
The Norwegian clearly dominated the match, working his way to five breaks and conceding only one himself on the only break point he allowed Nishioka.
In total, 64 of the 99 points played went to his account. In Shanghai, he is aiming for a better tournament. Since switching to hard court, the quarter-final in Beijing has been the maximum so far.
In the Chinese metropolis, he lost to Carlos Alcaraz (4-6, 2-6). His second-round exit at the US Open was a big disappointment, after all, he had reached the final of that tournament a year earlier.
In 2023, he has ten wins and ten losses on the fast court, not a good record for a top-10 player. Ruud already stumbled with his hard-court performance in the spring and was eliminated in round two in Melbourne.
The role of favourite against Eubanks is therefore not very big. Bet-at-home has assigned him 1.29, the US American’s odds are 3.50.
He played Eubanks for the first time in 2018, back then at the tender tennis age of 19. At the time, the big-serving Eubanks was outclassed at the Stockton Challenger, prevailing 6-1, 7-6.
The Norwegian was a bigger rival some four years later at the reunion in Indian Wells. In the second round of the Masters, it was again a tiebreak and two sets, this time with the better outcome for Ruud: 7-6, 6-2.
Two rounds are also realistic this time. Bet365 has a 1.57 on offer for this market. For a tiebreak, the betting provider, which streams the matches live, has a 1.83 ready.
In the first set, both players left nothing to chance on serve. Only in the second set did Eubanks stumble more and more on the second service and allowed two breaks. He himself had no chance to take a service game from Ruud in the match.
Neobet offers good odds for over 9.5 games in the first set: 1.56. In four of the last five matches between the two tennis stars, at least ten games were played.
Eubanks had to face Yannick Hanfmann in the last round, but came back impressively after losing a set: 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
My Ruud Eubanks tip
Ruud and Eubanks came through the second round of the Shanghai Masters with aplomb. Between them, they only conceded three breaks.
I expect, especially in the first set, that both players will still get through their service games without any problems and that there will be at least ten games in the first set again – as has often been the case recently.
The tennis world has rarely seen a lightning start from the world number nine lately. Nine of the last ten first sets went over at least ten games.
My Ruud Eubanks tip: Over 9,5 games in the first set
