I give the Seeded player enough of an edge to want to back him to win and cover the number. There is every chance this is going to be a good looking match with both players having their chances, but I think Nishikori's superior return game will prove to be a difference maker at key moments of this match and I do think he is the better grass court player.Īt the moment he may be a little underrated on the surface and I will back Nishikori to win and cover the number in a victory. I think that is the case too, but Nishikori's combined hold/break percentage on the grass courts have been very impressive over the years. His win over Mischa Zverev in the First Round has to be given a lot of respect and Khachanov will believe he has the shot making and power to give Nishikori plenty to worry about in this match. There isn't a lot of data on Khachanov on the grass courts having only really begun to play on the surface in 2017, but unlike idol Marat Safin it looks like a surface on which the young Russian will be very comfortable. In 2017 Nishikori was forced to pull out of a match against Karen Khachanov and it is the same opponent standing in his way twelve months later. The numbers have remained very good from Nishikori and he was a solid winner in the First Round here which will have given him a chance to get used to the grass underneath the feet. Nishikori is perhaps an underrated grass court player simply because he has not racked up the kind of wins he could have done without injury coming in to prevent him doing so. Last year's injury came in Halle and it was soon afterwards that Nishikori was out for the rest of the year to recover and there have been signs he is getting back to his best. Kei Nishikori of Japan returns the ball to Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in. The last couple of years have seen Kei Nishikori's grass court season end with an injury problem both times, but he may be coming into the 2018 campaign as healthy as he has been.
Tennis - Kei Nishikori vs Karen Khachanov A Sports Betting Preview by FirstDown Kei Nishikori v Karen Khachanov