Citi Open 2023: Frances Tiafoe vs Juncheng Shang preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick

Match Details

Fixture: (2) Frances Tiafoe vs (Q) Juncheng Shang

Date: August 3, 2023

Tournament: Citi Open 2023

Round: Third round (Round of 16)

Venue: Washington D.C., United States

Category: ATP 500

Surface: Hard

Prize money: $2,013,940

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video | Canada - TSN

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Frances Tiafoe vs Juncheng Shang preview

Tiafoe at the 2023 Citi Open.

World No. 10 Frances Tiafoe will square off against qualifier Juncheng Shang in the third round of the 2023 Citi Open on Thursday (August 3).

After a first-round bye, Tiafoe faced Aslan Karatsev in the second round. Both players defended their serves quite well as there were no breaks of serve in the entire match. The American gained the upper hand in each tie-break to win the match 7-6(5), 7-6(5).

Shang, meanwhile, defeated Gage Brymer and Thai-Son Kwiatkowski in the qualifiers and then ousted Emilio Gomez in the first round. The teenager took on Ben Shelton in the second round, whom he had defeated at last week's Atlanta Open as well.

Shang dominated the first set and claimed it with ease as Shelton struggled to get going. The Chinese youngster trailed by a break twice in the second set, but managed to get back on serve on each occasion. He was unable to do so for the third time, costing him the set.

The two were evenly matched for most of the third set. Shang eventually managed to snag the decisive break in the eighth game to go 5-3 up. He then served out the match in the following game to wrap up a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win.

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Frances Tiafoe vs Juncheng Shang head-to-head

Tiafoe leads Shang 1-0 in the head-to-head. He won their previous encounter at the 2023 Australian Open in straight sets.

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Frances Tiafoe vs Juncheng Shang odds

Player	Moneyline	Handicap Bets	Total Games
Frances Tiafoe	-350	+1.5 (-1000)	Over 22.5 (-120)
Juncheng Shang	+260	-1.5 (+475)	Under 22.5 (-120)

(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)

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Frances Tiafoe vs Juncheng Shang prediction

Juncheng Shang at the 2023 Citi Open.

Shang overcame a second-set stumble to send Shelton packing for the second week in a row. The teenager hit 18 winners and committed half as many unforced errors. Tiafoe was unable to break down Karatsev's serve, but held his nerve in the tie-breaks to defeat the Russian.

The American struck 28 winners against nine unforced errors. His serving stats were pretty good as well. Tiafoe's serve and powerful groundstrokes are likely to give him a huge advantage over Shang. However, the latter is able to go toe-to-toe with big hitters and given his court coverage, it's tough to wear him down as well.

The two faced off earlier this year, with Tiafoe winning quite easily. Shang is a promising young prospect, but has a long way to go before he's able to get the better of players ranked quite above him. The American should be able to move on to the next round with little trouble.

Pick: Frances Tiafoe to win in straight sets.