Miomir Kecmanovic vs Albert Ramos ATP Zhuhai Picks 9/25/2019

Miomir Kecmanovic vs Albert Ramos

4 am EST, 25th September 2019

Zhuhai, China

Hard courts

This is Kecmanovic's first real season on the main tour and he is already having a lot of success. He is holding a winning record (20-15) at the moment and has reached his first ATP finals a couple of months ago in Antalya. He is proving week after week that he is one of the most talented players right now and is one to look out for in the future. The way draw was opening up for him at the US Open, he must have been disappointed about that loss against Paolo Lorenzi in the second round when he was a massive favorite. But, he bounced back nicely. He played Casper Ruud in the first round here and easily won the first set, giving away only 2 games to his opponent. After that, the Norwegian player retired because of an illness. He wasn't feeling great that morning but gave it a shot anyway. But the illness, combined with a long trip from Europe was just too much to deal with. Same week last year, Kecmanovic didn't play in Zhuhai. He entered Chengdu qualifiers, where he lost in the second round to Lloyd Harris. The decision to make a change and try his luck at this tournament instead could have something to do with the playing conditions. These suit his game much better in my opinion.

Related: Get Expert ATP Picks for today's matches

Seeing Albert Ramos on the other side might be a surprise for some. It was expected that Yoshito Nishioka will make his way into the second round from that matchup, but he was stopped by the experienced Spaniard in the previous match. Even more surprising was how convincing the win was. It was a beatdown from the very beginning. Ramos needed only 76 minutes to take the win, dominating in pretty much every statistical category and allowed only 3 games total to his opponent. He served really well and did not offer a break opportunity to the Japanese while converting 5 out of 8 of his own.

Matchup

Hard courts are not really his thing. He played only 11 matches on hard courts this year, losing 7 of them. Looking at his career record, he is only a 37% winner on this surface. But there was something that he liked about these playing conditions in Zhuhai on Monday. It was slow enough for him to get the full swing on the ball and really find the corners and depth. That is crucial for his game to work because it allows him to dictate from the middle and doesn't need to scramble around and hit on the run, which is not his forte.

For Kecmanovic it will be crucial to inject more pace into the points, which was something Nishioka was unable to do. Young Serbian did add some power to his game this year. He is a better server and can hit a bigger forehand. Those are some of the elements that helped him make a breakthrough this year.

Related: Get ATP Picks & Predictions for today's matches

Betting odds & prediction

Kecmanovic opened -150 and got bet down to -130. Some might have been surprised by the move, considering that the public loves the Serbian player in this spot. But the money came in on the other side, which did surprise me a little bit, but I can understand it. Ramos looked really comfortable in his previous match and it remains to be seen if Kecmanovic can do something to get him out of his comfort zone.

I am looking at the total here instead. 22 is too low for such an evenly matched bout. Both are playing well at the moment and I don't think anyone is running away early with this one.

Pick: over 22 games -119

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