Alexander Bublik vs Kei Nishikori: Keep betting on the Japanese

In the last 32 of the tennis tournament in Washington, world No. 39, Alexander Bublik will meet world No. 67, Kei Nishikori. The pair have never crossed paths, and we think the Japanese are the odds-on favourite.

Alexander Bublik, as the ninth seed at the Washington tournament, missed the first round, so it’s hard to say for sure about his current form. Before Washington, Bublik played in the Olympics and dropped out in the first round to Daniil Medvedev. Before Tokyo, he played in Newport, and before that, he reached the third round of Wimbledon. Overall, in the grass-court part of the season, Bublik showed a good performance. The Kazakh player is now in the top 40 of the ATP.

But Nishikori also performed better than Bublik at the Olympics, and in Washington, he managed to play one match. At the Olympics, the Japanese made it to the quarterfinals, was one step away from a medal, but ran into Djokovic, who ended up flying without even a bronze medal. In the first round of Washington, the Japanese defeated Sam Querrey, the world No. 68, easily enough, in just an hour and 26 minutes. Nishikori served twice and made two double faults. His first-serve percentage was 73%, winning percentage of points on first serve 76%.

Nishikori has gained good form. The Japanese is stable and allows few faults, such as opponents the emotional and slump-prone Bublik does not like very much. The Kazakh has a power and age advantage. However, experience and tone are on the Japanese side. Here are the odds for the game: Handicap 2 (-2.5) for 1.91, 0-2 for 2.31.