Shanghai Masters 2023: Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Rinky Hijikata preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (4) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs (Q) Rinky Hijikata
Date: October 7, 2023
Tournament: Shanghai Masters 2023
Round: Second Round (Round of 64)
Venue: Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena in Shanghai, China
Category: ATP 1000
Surface: Hard (Indoor)
Prize money: $8,800,000
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - TSN | UK - Amazon Prime Video
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Rinky Hijikata preview
After a first-round bye, World No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas will take on qualifier Rinky Hijikata in the second round of the 2023 Shanghai Masters on Saturday.
Tsitsipas started the season really strong as he carried his team to the semifinals of the United Cup, while remaining undefeated in the tournament as well. His unbeaten run came to an end in the final of the Australian Open at the hands of Novak Djokovic.
A runner-up finish in Barcelona and a quarterfinal exit from the French Open were among Tsitsipas' highlights during the clay swing. He made it to the fourth round of Wimbledon for the first time, but lost to Christopher Eubanks.
Tsitsipas then claimed his first title of the season at the Los Cabos Open. However, his results since then have been underwhelming. He crashed out of the US Open in the second round and was knocked out in the first round of last week's China Open too.
Hijikata, meanwhile, defeated Marek Gengel and Benjamin Lock to qualify for the main draw in Shanghai. He faced World No. 36 Laslo Djere in the opening round. The Australian faced multiple break points in the first set, but saved them all. He eventually came out on top in the tie-break to take the set.
Hijikata snagged an early break in the second set to take the lead. He served for the contest at 5-4 and even held three match points, but got broken. He broke back immediately in the following game to go 6-5 up and closed out the match on his second try to win 7-6 (4), 7-5.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Rinky Hijikata head-to-head
Tsitsipas leads Hijikata 1-0 in the head-to-head. He won their previous encounter at the 2023 Australian Open in straight sets.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Rinky Hijikata odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Rinky Hijikata prediction
The last few weeks have been quite tough for Tsitsipas with frequent early exits. He hasn't won back-to-back matches since lifting the trophy in Las Cabos. His serve is all over the place at times and his backhand's a bit of a liabitlity too.
Tsitsipas also doesn't do well enough during return games and thus is under even more pressure on his own serve. Hijikata played pretty well to defeat a tricky opponent like Djere. He saved seven of the eight break points that he faced and struck 17 winners in contrast to 14 unforced errors.
Tsitsipas made light work of Hijikata when they faced off earlier this season in Melbourne. The former lost just five games across three sets back then, but he was also high on confidence. The Greek's form is quite shaky right now, but he still should be able to make it through this round at the very least.
Pick: Stefanos Tsitsipas to win in straight sets.