Shanghai Masters: Disastrous day for Australia as four bow out
Australia had a tough outing at the Shanghai Masters on Thursday, with all four male players in action losing on day four of the tournament in China.
Christopher O’Connell, Li Tu, James Duckworth and Rinky Hijikata all bowed out, leaving just three Aussie men in the Shanghai draw after round one.
Hijikata was seeking to beat Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic and book an all-Australian second round against No.20 seed Alexei Popyrin.
However, the 23-year-old came up well short, falling 6-2, 6-2 in an hour and 20 minutes.
While O’Connell also fell in straight sets, he was much more competitive against former No.6 Matteo Berrettini, going down 7-6 (9), 7-6 (6).
He won just three points less than Berrettini across the match and came within inches of claiming the first set when he led 5-1 in the tiebreak, even holding set points at 6-5 and 8-7.
Both Duckworth and Tu’s efforts were forgettable.
Duckworth went down 6-4, 6-2 against Belgian veteran David Goffin, while Tu could not overcome a slow start against America’s Marcos Giron, losing 6-1, 7-6 (4).
Only Aleksandar Vukic tasted success for Australia in the first round of the Shanghai Masters, with the world No.91 coming through qualifying and defeating France’s Corentin Moutet 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 earlier in the week.
Australia’s best hopes, however, are Jordan Thompson and Popyrin, who are both seeded and received byes into the second round.
Thompson will play Tallon Griekspoor on Saturday for a spot in the third round, and PlayUp has the Aussie pegged as a $1.72 favourite to advance.
Tennis betting sites also have Popyrin well ahead in his first match, where he takes on Kecmanovic as a $1.53 chance.
Should Popyrin win his next three matches in China, the 25-year-old will be a good chance of facing Novak Djokovic for the fourth time this year.
Djokovic sits third in the Shanghai Masters outright betting at $4.75, but Popyrin will fancy his chances after beating him at the US Open recently.