Americans in China

Giron took out Quinn earlier, can he continue his progress at the expense of his countrymen...?

Two straight set wins for Giron, and he is yet to be broken here! He did face a Sonego that did not seem at his best physically (he had a MTO in the second set), but I still want to give credit to Marcos... he seems to have really found his groove here. Nakashima had a great performance against Shang (especially serving). We know how good he can be in these conditions, thanks to the quality of his serve and his ability to consistently maintain a high base level.

Giron struggles the most against Nakashima's playstyle - Big Server / Solid Baseliner (Zverev, Hurkacz & Draper are some other examples). That's because they can play like him from the baseline while having more free points off serve, making it quite an uphill battle for him. And for Nakashima, it's not a bad matchup; we know exactly what he dislikes - big hitters that can rush him. They faced off in the 2022 San Diego ATP 250 Outdoor hardcourt final (good conditions for both in the US), and Nakashima won 6-4, 6-4, winning a decent amount more points off both first and second serves. This kind of shows the matchup disadvantage for Giron. However, I do think that playing here in Chengdu, rather than in San Diego, suits him better. We have altitude and faster conditions, his serve becomes a weapon as well, to not leave him as exposed! Yes, I'm aware that Nakashima's serve becomes even better as well, but based on personal opinion, it tends to benefit the lesser server more (like JM Cerundolo in altitude, for example)! I still give the advantage to Nakashima here, but let's have a look at the odds...