In a depleted Shanghai draw, Alex de Minaur is among the title favorites heading into fourth-round action on Wednesday. De Minaur goes up against Nuno Borges, while Jiri Lehecka faces Arthur Rinderknech.
Nuno Borges vs. (7) Alex de Minaur
De Minaur appears to be heading straight to Turin for the Nitto ATP Finals. A couple of other contenders could have something to say about that at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, but De Minaur controls his own destiny–and he is controlling it well. Currently seventh in the 2025 race, the 26-year-old Aussie has improved to 49-18 for the season with Shanghai victories over Camilo Ugo Carabelli and Kamil Majchrzak.
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Up next for De Minaur on Wednesday is a first-ever meeting with Borges, who booked his spot in the last 16 by beating Botic van de Zandschulp, Aleksandar Vukic, and Jerry Shang. All three of those matches were competitive, including a three-setter against Shang on Monday. Moreover, this is a terrible matchup for the world No. 51 from Portugal. De Minaur can counter-punch just as well and is superior both offensively and defensively.
Pick: De Minaur in 2
Arthur Rinderknech vs. (15) Jiri Lehecka
Lehecka and Rinderknech will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers on Wednesday. They split their two previous meetings; Lehecka prevailed 7-6(4), 7-5 at the 2023 Indian Wells Masters before Rinderknech won 7-5, 7-6(5) last season on the indoor hard courts of Marseille.
This should be a good one, because both guys are in outstanding form. Lehecka advanced to the fourth round in both Toronto and Cincinnati, made a quarterfinal run at the U.S. Open, defeated Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe in Davis Cup qualifying to lead Czechia past the United States, and so far in Shanghai has knocked off Quentin Halys and Denis Shapovalov in straight sets. Rinderknech is coming off an upset of Alexander Zverev, whom he also ousted at Wimbledon this summer. The 54th-ranked Frenchman is 9-3 in his last 12 matches dating back to the U.S. Open. A slight edge goes to Lehecka, who has played four routine sets this fortnight while his opponent just endured a tough three-setter.
Pick: Lehecka in 3
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