ASB Classic 2020: Denis Shapovalov vs Vasek Pospisil, match preview and prediction

Two generations of Canadian tennis are set to collide in proxy when former world no. 25 Vasek Pospisil takes on Next Gen star Denis Shapovalov in the second round of the 2020 ASB Classic in Auckland.

The 29-year-old Pospisil is a former Grand Slam semifinalist, but a few injury issues have sidelined him in the past couple of years. His ranking has dropped to 153 and he is still on the road to recovery.

The Vernon native will, however, take heart from a few big wins in the latter half of 2019. He got the better of the likes of Karen Khachanov and Diego Schwartzman on the hard courts, which suit his game really well.

Denis Shapovalov is coming off of a successful campaign at the ATP Cup.

Much like his opponent of the day, Pospisil possesses a strong serve and good groundstrokes. He might not be as equipped with trick shots as Shapovalov, but his time on the doubles court has given Pospisil a lot of exposure at the net.

He will have to be sharp in all those departments if he wants to put up any sort of fight Shapovalov on Wednesday.

The younger Canadian has already found his stride in the new season with some big wins at the 2020 ATP Cup and will only be growing in confidence heading into the Australian Open warm-up tour.

Pospisil will take heart from his performances in the latter half of 2019.

The only advantage, it seems at this point, with Pospisil is that he has had time to play himself into a few matches and get used to the conditions in Auckland, having played in the qualifiers.

And yet, he will need a lot more than that to go his way if he wants to get a win in tomorrow's big match, but he is well within reach here.

Prediction: Pospisil to win in three sets.