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British number one Jack Draper makes his return from injury and he faces Kei Nishikori in the first round of the Erste Bank Open on Tuesday
RANKING POINTS: ATP 500
START DATE/TIME: Tuesday 22nd October, 2024, UK – not before 6:20pm / US ET – not before 1:20pm / US PT – not before 10:20am
VENUE: Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria
SURFACE: Indoor hard
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Sky Sports Tennis / US – Tennis Channel
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Sky Go / US – Tennis Channel
TICKETS: Visit this link for the latest Kei Nishikori vs Jack Draper ticket information
KEI NISHIKORI VS JACK DRAPER PREDICTION
Kei Nishikori continues his return to fitness and his body looks like it is holding up pretty well as he aims to stay active and build up his ranking points once again.
His form has been a little hit and miss but the fact he is not being seeded in events is seeing him receive difficult draws just like this one.
He opted out of the tournaments that took place last week so he has had a short rest since Shanghai and he will come into this event desperate to get some wins under his belt.
He meets Britain’s Jack Draper who is returning to action after a month out with an abdominal problem. He was forced to withdraw from his match with Ugo Humbert in the Japan Open and has been recovering ever since.
That in turn was his first event since the run to the semi-finals in US Open and he had a spell out to recover form illness and fatigue. The Brit has not played much tennis over the last couple of months so there is a chance he is a little rusty coming into Vienna.
He did hit the ground running in Japan beating Mattia Bellucci and then Hubert Hurkacz so he will fancy his chances of starting well here. He can also take comfort in that fact that he beat Nishikori in the Paris Olympics in what is their only previous meeting.
We would not be surprised if this one was not quite so straight forward however given his absence. Nishikori is playing some solid tennis and we foresee this one going deep in a couple of sets at least so consider over 21.5 games.
KEI NISHIKORI VS JACK DRAPER TIP: OVER 21.5 GAMES