Alexander Shevchenko vs Mikhail Kukushkin Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Almaty Open

Prediction published on 14/10/2024, 08:13  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 14/10/2024 at 08:34 in Tennis Predictions

Qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin takes on unseeded Alexander Shevchenko in round one of the Almaty Open. For the winner, there's a second round match against either sixth seed Zhizhen Zhang or qualifier Aslan Karatsev. Read our match prediction below.

Alexander Shevchenko is ranked 61st in the latest list. He's from Kazakhstan which is the country in which this hard court tournament is being played. He was as high as 45th in the rankings in February of this year.

The 23-year-old (24 next month) will be looking to build on his run to the last 32 of the Shanghai Masters. He had to win two matches to get to that stage and beat the world 31 Francisco Cerundolo.

He'll be out for revenge in this match as he lost to Kukushkin in the Hangzhou tournament held in mid-September. Kukushkin went on to lose in the quarter-final of that tournament. Earlier in September Kukushkin reached the last four of a Challenger Tour event.

He's also from Kazakhstan and is the world number 111 and had to qualify to get into this main draw.  He won both of his qualifiers in straight sets for the loss of only 11 games. The 36-year-old failed to qualify for the main draw of the Shanghai Masters after retiring injured against Li Tu. 

We tip Shevchenko to win this match.