World number 69 Jordan Thompson faces the returning Japanese player and former world number four Kei Nishikori in the first round of the 2023 Croatia Open Umag on Monday, July 24. Get the predictions and odds of this Jordan Thompson v Kei Nishikori match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Jordan Thompson v Kei Nishikori Head to Head
There have been two previous meetings between these two players and both have won one apiece. Nishikori had triumphed on the hardcourts of Brisbane.
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Thompson Made Newport Quarterfinal
It’s probably a bitter-sweet feeling for Thompson at the moment. On the one hand he would be basking in the glory of having finished the grass season on a high having won 12 of the 18 matches he played in the grass tournaments which includes a semifinal appearance at the Surbiton Challenger as well.
On the other hand, the grass swing is finished. No more grass court competitions left to be played in this season.
Which means Thompson will need to re-focus his attention towards hardcourt surfaces but the good news is that he has done well there too.
Most of his hardcourt successes have been on the lower circuit with a Challenger title win at Gwangju and another similar one in Rome. He is facing an opponent who hasn’t played top-level tennis in nearly two years and that would be to his advantage.
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Nishikori Returns to Top Level Tennis
Having last played competitive tennis in 2021, Nishikori’s comeback to the top-level sport was delayed by a spate of injuries but he finally managed to take to court at the Palmas del Mar Challenger tournament in June.
In doing so, Nishikori became the first ever player to win a Challenger title despite being unranked going into that tournament.
He has followed that up with successive appearances at the Bloomfield Hills Challenger and the Chicago Challenger and showed he can still compete. At the first, he made the second round before entering the quarterfinals of the event in Chicago.
Nishikori will now face an opponent who is ranked 69th in the world and that’s not something to scoff at especially given his absence from the sport. But Nishikori is a former US Open finalist and knows his way around a hardcourt surface.
Thompson v Nishikori Prediction and Tip
This could get rather close with Thompson’s exposure at the highest level this season being the differentiating factor. Backing the Aussie to edge the experienced Nishikori.
Tips:
- Moderate Risk Tip: Thompson to win: 10/11
The 2023 ATP Umag will be played from July 24 to 30. You can get all the tennis betting news with our tennis betting blog here. Also get rest of the tennis match previews here.
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