Denis Shapovalov vs Kei Nishikori Prediction & Betting Tips - Hong Kong Open

Prediction published on 29/12/2024, 07:19  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 29/12/2024 at 08:19 in Tennis Predictions

Denis Shapovalov bids to continue his rise back up the ATP rankings. The Canadian faces wild card Kei Nishikori in the first round of the outdoor hard court Hong Kong Tennis Open. Here's our match prediction.

Most of this year has seen Shapovalov just outside the world's top 100. The past few months though have seen him rediscover some of the form that made him a top ten player three years ago. He's now up to 56th in the rankings.

The 25-year-old reached the second round of the Shanghai Masters to get back into the top 100. A quarter-final in Basel followed and then in November he won the ATP Tour hard court event in Basel, his first title on the tour since 2019.

Kei Nishikori is also a former top ten ranked player. The Japanese player turned 35 the day before this match so he'd have gone easy on the celebrations. Nishikori is 106th in the latest ranking but was as high as fourth nine years ago.

He won his last tournament but that was a Challenger Tour event held in Helsinki last month. No top 90 players were beaten in that tournament. Two of his last three matches on the ATP Tour have been lost. We tip Shapovalov to win this.