Mertens vs Zhao Hanyang Prediction 24 July 2026

Ben Mertens’ recent form has been fairly steady: five wins and five losses in his last ten matches hardly point to either dominance or a prolonged slump. Still, his stats remain impressive, over that span, he’s racked up 23 breaks of 50 or more, including seven centuries, with a high break of 140. At the same time, his opponents have consistently put up a fight, recording 27 breaks of 50+ and eight centuries against him. This suggests that Mertens’ matches are played at a high tempo, often turning into open, attacking battles. In his most recent outing, the Belgian cruised to a commanding 5-1 victory over Matthew Stevens, a sign that he’s regaining his old intensity after a brief dip in results.

Zhao Hanyang heads into the match on the back of a less convincing run of form, three wins and six defeats in his last ten outings highlight his struggles to pick up results, even against opponents of similar caliber. Nevertheless, Zhao’s main strength lies in his ability to produce in individual frames: he has posted a high break of 115 and compiled twelve half-century breaks along with a single century in recent matches. More often than not, Zhao finds himself chasing the scoreline and only switches to an aggressive approach when there are no other options, a style that makes it difficult for him to maintain consistency in the latter stages of matches. In his most recent appearance, Zhao suffered a 3-5 defeat to Ashley Hugill, once again exposing his issues with closing out matches-despite a solid start, he let his advantage slip away down the stretch.