31-year-olds Kei Nishikori and Aljaz Bedene will go toe to toe in the third round of the 2021 ATP Dubai on Wednesday, March 17. The match is yet to be scheduled. Get the live streaming options of this Kei Nishikori v Aljaz Bedene match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Kei Nishikori v Aljaz Bedene Head to Head
There have been no previous matches played between Nishikori and Bedene before this one.
Also Read:
Nishikori Gathering Steam
It hasn’t been the best of times for Nishikori since his fitness troubles in 2019 which were followed by the pandemic lockdown and then a bout of Covid-19 itself for the Japanese player. All of that, however, seems to be behind him now as Nishikori is showing some signs of that long-lost sparkle which had taken him to the final of Grand Slam tennis.
Sure, Nishikori had lost both his ATP Cup matches and then crashed out in the first round of the Australian Open as well, but some of the results that have gone his way haven’t been a case of beating low-ranked players to make it deeper into tournaments.
Take the example of the Rotterdam Open where Nishikori was around 2/1 odds in both his first round matches – one against Felix Auger-Aliassime and the second against Alex de Minaur – and won both of them. And even the quarterfinal he lost to Borna Coric went to two tie-breakers before he finally lost steam.
In this tournament in Dubai, Nishikori has already taken down two guns. In the first round he overcame heavy-serving Reilly Opelka in three sets before defeating David Goffin in straight sets to reach this third round stage.
Can he now take advantage of an open draw till at least the semifinal stage?
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Bedene Eases Past Two Qualifiers
Speaking of easy draws, Bedene would have licked his lips if someone told him his first two opponents in a tournament as big as this would be Yuki Bhambri who was playing his first tournament in a couple of years and Lorenzo Giustino, a player whose career-best rank was 127th in the world.
And due credit to Bedene to take full advantage of that by overturning a set deficit against Bhambri to win his opener and then broke Giustino thrice in his second round opener to come through.
Bedene’s performance was good enough to not allow his opponent even a single break-point, but he was also aided by Giustino’s eight double-faults on his way to that victory.
His next opponent will suddenly pose a jump in quality and the big question is how would Bedene respond to pressure situations, something he hasn’t really found himself in since the second set of his opener.
Nishikori v Bedene Prediction and Tip
Nishikori is an obvious favourite and we are backing him at 4/9 to win this one and make it to the quarterfinals. We reckon he could also win in straight sets if you are looking for something riskier.
Tip: Nishikori to win: 4/9 (bet365)
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The 2021 ATP Dubai Open will be played from March 14-21. You can watch & bet on these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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