Recent ATP title winners Yoshihito Nishioka and Gilles Simon will begin their Tokyo campaigns on Wednesday. An intriguing first-rounder pits Nishioka against Nick Kyrgios, while Simon is facing Alex de Minaur.
Nick Kyrgios vs. (WC) Yoshihito Nishioka
Nishioka is coming off the biggest and best week of his career as he heads into the Japan Open. The 23-year-old from Japan captured his first career ATP title in Shenzhen, where he had to qualify just to get into the main draw before reeling off victories over Denis Kudla, Denis Shapovalov, Cameron Norrie, Fernando Verdasco, and Pierre-Hugues Herbert. That propelled Nishioka–who is coming back from a 2017 ACL tear–from 171st to 95th in the rankings.
Kyrgios and Nishioka will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers and for the second time at the ATP level when they collide on Wednesday afternoon. Both of their previous encounters have gone the way of Kyrgios, who prevailed 6-3, 6-2 at the 2014 Savannah Challenger and 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the 2016 Atlanta semifinals. The 27th-ranked Australian is once again enduring an injury-plagued season, but he has advanced two rounds in each of his last two tournaments. Kyrgios should be able to capitalize on an opponent who played seven matches in Shenzhen, including a trio of three-setters.
Pick: Kyrgios in 2
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Gilles Simon vs. Alex de Minaur
Like Nishioka, Simon is coming off a title-winning run. Before skipping the first week of this Asian swing, the 33-year-old triumphed in Metz for the 14th ATP winner’s trophy of his career and second of the season. Simon had previously not won a title since 2015 and this marks the first time he has earned multiple titles in the same year since 2011. The Frenchman is back up to No. 29 in the world thanks to a solid 28-18 record for his 2018 campaign and he is in position to be seeded for the 2019 Australian Open.
Up first for Simon on Wednesday in Tokyo is a showdown against de Minaur, whom the veteran has never faced. At No. 38 in the world, the 19-year-old Aussie is also in the mix for 2019 Australian Open seeding and can accomplish it with a strong result or two in Tokyo, Shanghai, or Paris. De Minaur’s breakthrough season includes 21 of his 23 lifetime tour-level match victories, highlighted by runner-up performances in Sydney and Washington, D.C. and a semifinal showing last week in Shenzhen. This should be a decent matchup for de Minaur, who will play much closer to the baseline than his opponent and will likely be able to keep Simon off balance.
Pick: De Minaur in 3
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who ya got?
I’ll probably be in the minority, but I’ve gone for Simon over de Minaur.
Cilic cost me a lot of money that freaking bum.
that was a massive choke
Simon collapses in the 3rd set. So your prediction Ricky was correct, de Minaur in 3.
I should probably just look for another sport lol.