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Bolelli/Vavassori lead Beijing field; Shelton, Draper in doubles action in Tokyo
Top seeds Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori will hope to boost their Nitto ATP Finals hopes this week at the China Open, where they will face Chinese wild cards Wang Aoran and Zhou Yi in the first round following Tuesday’s draw.
The Italians, currently fourth in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, have won two tour-level titles in 2024. They are in the same half of the draw as fourth seeds Neal Skupski and Michael Venus, who are competing for the first time since their quarter-final run at the US Open. The British-New Zealand team start against Italian singles stars Flavio Cobolli and Lorenzo Musetti.
In the bottom half of the draw, Wimbledon champions Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten face Spaniards Roberto Carballes Baena and Pablo Carreno Busta in their opening match. Ivan Dodig lifted the trophy at the ATP 500 hard-court event last year with Austin Krajicek. This year, the Croatian is teaming with Rohan Bopanna and the second seeds face Francisco Cerundolo and Nicolas Jarry in the first round.
Krajicek joins forces with Rajeev Ram, with the pair facing Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic in a blockbuster first-round clash. Former No. 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings Stan Wawrinka teams with China’s Buyunchaokete. They play Alexander Bublik and Pedro Martinez in the first round.
[ATP APP]Lammons/Withrow lead Tokyo field
Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow will look to bounce back at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships after a disappointing opening-round exit in Hangzhou. The top-seeded Americans reached the semi-finals in Tokyo last year and begin against home favourites Kei Nishikori and Rei Sakamoto.
Top 20 singles star Ben Shelton teams with Jordan Thompson, with the American-Australian pair meeting Japanese wild cards Yoshihito Nishioka and Kaito Uesugi. US Open semi-finalist Jack Draper plays with Tomas Machac. The British-Czech duo faces Alexander Erler and Matwe Middelkoop in the first round.
Fresh off their title run in Chengdu, third seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul are in the same half as Lammons and Withrow and could play Draper and Machac in the second round if they beat Belgians Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen in their opener.
Rinky Hijikata, who won the title with Max Purcell at the ATP 500 last year, joins forces with Alexei Popyrin. The Australians take on second seeds Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski in the first round.
#NextGenATP American Alex Michelsen will take to court with Chilean Alejandro Tabilo against Luciano Darderi and Tomas Martin Etcheverry. The winner of that match will play either Nys and Zielinski or Hijikata and Popyrin.
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