Japan’s Kei Nishikori will meet China’s Juncheng Shang in the second round of the 2023 Atlanta Open on Thursday, July 27. Get the predictions and odds of this Kei Nishikori v Juncheng Shang match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
Kei Nishikori v Juncheng Shang Head to Head
This will be a first meeting between the two.
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Nishikori Makes a Winning Return
Playing his first ATP Tour match since October 2021, Kei Nishikori made a winning return, defeating Jordan Thompson in two tiebreaks to reach the second round of the Atlanta Open.
Nishikori , who missed out the 2022 season due to a hip surgery, could not return at the start of the 2023 season due to an ankle injury. The world no. 439, however, made an excellent comeback in June by winning the Palmas del Mar challenger. He played two more Challenger tournaments, before registering his first win on the tour in close to two years on Tuesday.
Neither player could break each other in the match, with Nishikori saving 4 of 4 break points and Thompson saving 6 of 6. However. Nishikori edged the tiebreaks in both the sets to beat the world no. 63, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5) in two hours and 25 minutes.
Nishikori will now be aiming to reach a second quarterfinal in Atlanta. He had reached that far in his only previous appearance in the tournament in 2012.
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Shang Knocks Out Shelton
Qualifier Juncheng Shang made a bright start to the tournament as he knocked out sixth seed Ben Shelton in the opening round on Wednesday.
The 18-year-old Chinese, who was the 2021 US Open boy’s runner-up, was not broken in the match. He saved all three of the break points that he faced and converted 2 of 5 to beat the world no. 41.
Shang had qualified for the main draw with a straight set win over Japan’s Yasutaka Uchiyama and a three-set win over France’s Arthur Cazaux in the two qualifying rounds respectively.
The world no. 156, who made it to the second round of the Australian Open this year, improved his season record to 21-14 across levels. He is 11-6 on hard courts this year. It will be interesting to see if he can improve that record further on Thursday.
Nishikori v Shang Prediction and Tip
Nishikori has made a strong comeback, first at the Challenger level and then he carried that form to the tour level. He is also got far more experience than the upcoming star. Therefor he should be able to make the quarterfinals for the first time since the Washington Open in August 2022, where he was a semifinalist.
Tips:
- Low Risk Tip: Nishikori to win: 4/6
- Moderate Risk Tip: Over 21.5 games in the match: 5/6
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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