Tennis best bets for ATP Shanghai and WTA Beijing – Sunday, October 8
There isn’t much time left in the 2023 tennis season, but the Asian swing brings us some really big tournaments. This week, the men are in action for a 1000-level event, which is the biggest a tournament can be outside of the four Grand Slams. Meanwhile, the women’s 500-level tournament in Beijing features a final between Iga Swiatek and Liudmila Samsonova. That said, I wanted to put together some best bets for both ATP Shanghai and WTA Beijing. Keep reading for my three plays for Sunday, October 8 (with some starting on Saturday, October 7 in the United States).
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Diego Schwartzman vs. Jiri Lehecka
I’m laying a little juice on Schwartzman to win a set off Lehecka here. I had Schwartzman in his win over Luca van Assche last round and I think the Argentinean is really starting to find his form. His rally tolerance isn’t all the way back to where it was when he was the eighth-ranked player in the world, but it’s closer to there than where it was when he simply couldn’t win matches. Now, I like Schwartzman’s ability to play a lot of shots against Lehecka, who hasn’t been playing good tennis recently. I think Schwartzman will really grind him down from the baseline, and I also think the Argentinean will get into his service games rather often. So, I’m playing this set spread. But I wouldn’t be too shocked if he won outright.
Bet: Schwartzman +1.5 Sets (-158)
Roman Safiullin vs. Ben Shelton
Shelton won over a lot of fans with his play at both the Australian Open and US Open, but the reality is that the American has really only played well in Grand Slams this year. Of course, it’s very impressive that the lefty can rise to the occasion in big events. But it might prove that he’s a guy that feeds off momentum and adrenaline a little too much. He hasn’t exactly shown that he can bring the right energy when crowds aren’t insane. With that in mind, I think he is in trouble against Safiullin here. These are two players that can really hit the cover off the ball, but there’s a little more purpose to Safiullin’s game. Shelton is more of a spray-and-pray baseliner right now. Eventually he’ll get a bit better in the point construction department and that is when he’ll make a massive leap as a player. But until then, these matches are trouble for him. Safiullin can match his power and is a little sturdier all around.
Bet: Safiullin ML (-125)
Iga Swiatek vs. Liudmila Samsonova
This is undoubtedly a match that Swiatek should win. She’s a big favorite and has looked flawless throughout this tournament. And she is even coming off a win over Coco Gauff, who was on a 16-match winning streak and had beaten her in Cincinnati a few months earlier. However, the fact that she got revenge on Gauff leads me to believe that this could be something of a letdown spot, even if it is a final. I just think Swiatek badly wanted to beat Gauff and show the world that she is still the best player on the planet. Now she has to try and get up for a match against Samsonova, who presents some other problems for her. Samsonova has a ton of power from all over the court, so she can rush Swiatek and make her uncomfortable if she is hitting her spots. That is exactly the type of player that has gotten to Swiatek in the past, so I’m taking a small chance on the Russian to win a set here.
Bet: Samsonova +1.5 Sets (+125 – 0.5 units)
2023 Overall Record: 290-261 (+50.66 units)
