Chengdu and Hangzhou were profitable events for our tennis man Andy Schooler last season. This time around, he’s got two 80/1 shots among his picks…
Tennis betting tips: ATP Tour
1pt e.w. Cameron Norrie in the Chengdu Open at 11/1 (BetVictor)
0.5pt e.w. Terence Atmane in the Chengdu Open at 80/1 (Betfred)
0.5pt e.w. Coleman Wong in the Chengdu Open at 80/1 (Betfred)
1pt e.w. Adrian Mannarino in the Lynk & Co Hangzhou Open at 28/1 (BetVictor)
1pt e.w. Learner Tien in the Lynk & Co Hangzhou Open at 20/1 (General)
Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook
Chengdu OpenChengdu, China (outdoor hard)
The Asian hardcourt swing gets under way in China on Wednesday.
This opening week is one this column made a tasty profit from last season, landing the winner at this event in Chengdu in the shape of Juncheng Shang.
Sadly, for the home hope, this season has been severely disrupted by injury and he arrives here having played very little tennis in 2025.
Shang has lost his last five matches with three of those being mid-match injury withdrawals. That explains his 40/1 quote and it’s hard to see him getting involved at the business end this time around.
However, there are other big prices that make appeal in what should be pretty slick conditions.
This has been among the fastest events on the ATP Tour since its introduction in 2016, although it’s worth noting that this year organisers have switched to a Laykold surface (from DecoTurf).
It is, however, Laykold’s medium-fast court in use, while the 500m of altitude mean the balls will certain fly through the air pretty quickly. That said, rain is forecast for much of the week, while temperatures are predicted to be around the 25C mark – down on last year.
The top seed is Lorenzo Musetti, who was runner-up 12 months ago and a semi-finalist in 2023, so he clearly enjoys the conditions here.
He also found form at the US Open, making the last eight, although he was rather fortunate with his draw, it has to be said.
I’m certainly not convinced enough by the Italian to back him at 9/4 and in fact a potential opener against TERENCE ATMANE looks a banana skin.
Atmane was superb when last seen in quick conditions. That was in Cincinnati where he stunned Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune en route to the semi-finals where it took Jannik Sinner to stop him.
A foot issue then ruled him out of the US Open and probably explains why you can get 80/1 about the Frenchman here. However, it’s a price which looks worth taking a punt on.
Yes, we’re gambling on his fitness somewhat but it was interesting to note Atmane’s comments made regarding his US Open withdrawal.
“I do feel sad about it,” he said, “because with the last result (Cincinnati) I want to push for more but trying to be smart and get myself ready for Asia was the best decision for my team and I.”
It sounds like this part of the season is important to Atmane and I doubt you can say the same about everyone in this field – we’re now almost nine months into the campaign and there will be some weary bodies on court over the next few weeks.
Atmane’s serve did plenty of damage in Cincy and these conditions look ripe for something similar.
Were he to upset Musetti, those odds would tumble and there’s not a great deal to fear in the rest of the top half.
Tallon Griekspoor, the third seed, went 0-4 across the North American hardcourt swing, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (6) spent last week on clay and didn’t even play in the Davis Cup, while it’s surely too slick here for seventh seed Sebastian Baez.
The other man I like in this section at a big price is the in-form COLEMAN WONG.
He made the third round of the US Open as a qualifier and then pushed Andrey Rublev to a fifth set.
And he’s already bedded in on Asian soil having won rubbers for Hong Kong in the Davis Cup last weekend against Uzbekistan.
Yes, the quality rises here, but a record of 11-3 in recent weeks at all levels warrants plenty of respect and I’m not sure he’s getting it with Betfred’s quote of 80/1 (and 66/1 elsewhere).
Wong is a player who should certainly be motivated at this time of the season and we saw last year with Shang how that can take a player a long way.
Moving down to the bottom half, I did consider Zizou Bergs at 33s after he helped Belgium beat Australia in Sydney at the weekend. That could be the sort of confidence boost he needs following a rough run of results which probably hasn’t reflected his standard of play.
Aussie Christopher O’Connell has performed well in Asia before and has potential at 80s but his latest good run in China – at last week’s Guangzhou Challenger – was ended by injury at the semi-final stage so there’s again that fitness unknown and having already backed Atmane, who is under a similar cloud, O’Connell is best left for now.
It probably makes sense for a shorter-priced pick in this section and I narrowed the choice down to Jordan Thompson or CAMERON NORRIE.
Thompson thrives in quick conditions but arrives here off the back of a loss to Bergs in Australia’s Davis Cup tie which will have hit him hard. He also appears to have a tougher draw than Norrie with second seed Luciano Darderi in this path.
Norrie has looked good in recent months and he’s definitely picked up after a tough time with injury and loss of form.
After leading Great Britain past Poland in the Davis Cup at the weekend, he’s now won 10 of his last 15 matches with two of the defeats coming at the hands of Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. He took a set off the latter.
Norrie opens against wild card Yi Zhou, who was in Ireland at the weekend playing Davis Cup, and then would come either Quentin Halys – on an eight-match losing streak – or O’Connell.
Norrie could meet Thompson in the last eight but leads their head-to-head 4-2, including the only meeting since 2020.
It is maybe a bit faster than ideal for the left-hander here but I’ve seen enough good signs of late to back him at 11/1.
Lynk & Co Hangzhou OpenHangzhou, China (outdoor hard)
We also had the runner-up in Hangzhou last year – home star Zhizhen Zhang making the final.
However, like Shang in Chengdu, he returns 12 months on in much worse shape and he’s out at 175/1 for a repeat.
The reason is Zhang hasn’t played since Indian Wells in March. He may have performed well here in the past – also winning the 2023 Asian Games gold medal – but expecting five wins on the bounce after six months out surely isn’t realistic.
Zhang actually faces compatriot Yunchaokete Bu in the first round and it is he who would appear to carry China’s best hopes of another finalist.
Bu made the semis last year and recently reached the quarter-finals in Winston-Salem where he toppled top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
With the seeds in his quarter being Alexander Bublik (last seen withdrawing injured in Davis Cup at the weekend) and Matteo Berrettini (not played since Wimbledon), I wouldn’t put anyone off backing Bu at 30/1 but my preference is for a player I’ve mentioned quite often over the summer months and that’s ADRIAN MANNARINO.
After a 2024 season which looked like he was heading for retirement, the Frenchman is enjoying a renaissance at the age of 37.
He’s always loved the faster courts and that was shown in Cincinnati and at the US Open recently – he made the last 16 at both events. It won’t be as fast as Chengdu here but the GreenSet courts are still of above average pace.
Ben Shelton, Tommy Paul and Tomas Machac were among his victims on the North American hardcourts and it would be no surprise to see Daniil Medvedev added to that list here, should they meet in the last eight.
Medvedev went 3-4 in North America and was last seen having a meltdown at the US Open. He looks mentally shot right now and hasn’t won a title since May 2023. Why anyone would want to back him at 4/1 this week is beyond me.
It’s hard to be confident about Bublik at 5/1 given his injury, while Berrettini is also at a stingy, single-figure price despite his lack of tennis.
Of those towards the top of the market, favourite Andrey Rublev is arguably the best bet, although he’s never been a player I’ve been too enthused about at a short price – and he’s no bigger than 100/30 here.
For me, looking for value has to be the play in Hangzhou and Mannarino, who has now won 19 of his last 25 matches at all levels, fits the bill.
In the top half, LEARNER TIEN looks to have potential at 20/1.
He’s already beaten Rublev this season and the pair could meet again in the quarter-finals this week.
The young American has also defeated Medvedev, Shelton and Alex Zverev in 2025 and it’s surely only a matter of time before he reaches his maiden ATP final.
Going back to motivation levels, which I do feel are important at this time of year, I’d expect this to mean something to Tien.
He’s of Vietnamese heritage and we’ve seen through the years, going back to the days of Michael Chang, what being an Asian-American on the tour means.
The top section looks much weaker than the bottom half so if Rublev can be seen off, the seventh seed, who possesses a strong return game, looks well placed to take advantage.
Posted at 1300 BST on 16/10/25
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