Seventh seed Jaime Faria drew arguably the worst possible first-round opponent in Hangzhou. Terence Atmane is the kind of player nobody wants in an opening round, seeded or not.
Faria has earned his position. The Portuguese has climbed steadily through the season on the back of consistent baseline play and a willingness to compete in long matches. He does not have an outsized weapon, but he holds serve reliably and rarely loses to players ranked well below him.
Atmane is the problem. The Frenchman is a genuine shot-maker with a left-handed serve and enough raw power to take a set off almost anyone on a quick hard court. His ceiling is far above his ranking. His floor is also well below it, which is why he keeps landing in draws as an unseeded threat rather than a seed himself.
This match turns on Atmane's first-serve percentage. If it sits above 60 percent, Faria will struggle to find rhythm on return and the match becomes a series of short, decisive points that favour the bigger hitter. Below that, Faria's consistency grinds him down.
The winner moves into Andrey Rublev's quarter, where Rinky Hijikata also lurks.
Atmane in three, on shot-making.