Sixth seed Zhizhen Zhang opens his Almaty Open campaign against qualifier Aslan Karatsev in a hard court tournament in Kazakhstan.
Zhang, currently ranked 46th, reached a career-high ranking of 31st in July. He reached the final of a hard court tournament in Hangzhou recently but lost to Marin Cilic in a tight match, with both sets decided by tie-breaks. However, his form has declined slightly since then, suffering losses to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Zizou Bergs in Beijing and Shanghai, respectively. He is 42nd in the ATP Live Race and has a 1-2 record against Karatsev in their previous encounters. Zhang’s lone victory came in 2022 on a hard court, but he lost twice to Karatsev last year on both clay and hard courts.
Aslan Karatsev, ranked 139th, had to qualify to enter the main draw. He won both qualifying matches in straight sets, a much-needed boost after losing four of his last six matches. The 31-year-old has struggled in the ATP Tour this year, winning only two matches, with just one victory coming on hard courts.
Given Zhang’s higher ranking, recent final appearance, and prior experience against Karatsev, we predict Zhang will win this match and advance to the second round, where he could face either Mikhail Kukushkin or Alexander Shevchenko.