ABN AMRO 2021: Kei Nishikori vs Felix Auger Aliassime Preview, Head-to-head, and Prediction
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Kei Nishikori, currently ranked no.43, will be clashing against Felix Auger Aliassime, currently ranked no.19, in the first round of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament 2021 as part of the ATP Rotterdam Tour 2021.
Match Details
- Tournament: ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament 2021
- Match: Kei Nishikori vs Felix Auger Aliassime
- Date- 1st March 2021
- Venue: Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Surface: Indoor Hard Court
- Prize Money: €11,500
- ATP Points : 0
Kei Nishikori vs Felix Auger Aliassime Preview
Auger-Aliassime had a decent start to the 2021 season in Melbourne, with a couple of good runs alternating with a couple of demoralizing defeats. The Canadian reached the summit clash in the Melbourne tune-up event, where he lost to Dan Evans – his seventh consecutive reverse in a tournament final.
Auger-Aliassime then went on to beat Denis Shapovalov at the Australian Open, before bowing out to qualifier Aslan Karatsev in the fourth round. The 20-year-old will be looking to mount a title challenge in Rotterdam this year, but standing in his way is a talented veteran in the very first round.
Kei Nishikori has been plagued by injury for the year 2020. Nishikori comes into Rotterdam ranked 41st in the world, having lost all three of his matches in 2021 so far.
Prior to this tournament, Nishikori dropped out of the ATP Cup with Japan after successive defeats against Daniil Medvedev and Diego Schwartzman. He then lost in the first round of the Australian Open, to Pablo Carreno Busta.
Kei Nishikori vs Felix Auger Aliassime Head-to-head
This is the second meeting on tour between the two players. Kei Nishikori currently leads the head-to-head 1-0 over Felix Auger-Aliassime, having defeated the Canadian at Barcelona in 2019.
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Kei Nishikori Match Prediction
Kei Nishikori’s legendary foot speed and counterpunching skills have rightly earned him the title of Asia’s greatest male singles player ever. And despite the recent injuries, the 31-year-old showed glimpses of his old self during his five-set win over Dan Evans at Roland Garros 2020.
Felix Auger-Aliassime possesses a well-rounded baseline game and an attacking style of play that is well-suited to quick hardcourts such as the one in Rotterdam. His return of serve is good enough to punish any serving slip-ups by his opponent.
But given that Nishikori has got more time to recover since the Australian Open 2021, I would stack my chips on Nishikori. However, the candaian has a higher ranking and form as of this match up.
Match prediction: Felix Auger-Aliassime to win in three straight sets.
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