Tennis at Tokyo Olympics 2020: Karen Khachanov vs Yoshihito Nishioka Preview, Head to Head and Prediction


Tennis at Tokyo Olympics 2020: Karen Khachanov vs Yoshihito Nishioka Preview, Head to Head and Prediction

Karen Khachanov vs Yoshihito Nishioka

In the first round of the Men’s Singles at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, World No. 25 and the 12th seeded Karen Khachanov from Russian Olympic Committee will be up against World No. 55 Yoshihito Nishioka from Japan.

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Karen Khachanov vs Yoshihito Nishioka: Match Details

Tournament2020 Tokyo Olympics
MatchKaren Khachanov vs Yoshihito Nishioka
RoundFirst Round
Date25 July 2021
VenueTokyo, Japan
SurfaceHard Court

Karen Khachanov vs Yoshihito Nishioka: Preview

Karen Khachanov
Karen Khachanov

Karen Khachanov will make his Olympics debut when he takes the court in the first round at the Ariake Tennis Centre. Karen will be representing the Russian Olympic Committee as Russia had been banned with their flag and anthem stripped in the doping tests scandal that came out some time ago.

Karen comes into the tie from a quarter-final run at the 2021 Wimbledon where he was defeated by Canadian youngster Denis Shapovalov in a thrilling 5-setter. Khachanov is one of the leaders of Russian tennis that has seen a great crop of youngsters bring Russia ahead in the sport of tennis.

Local boy Yoshihito Nishioka will also be making his Olympics debut but with the fans not allowed in the stands, it would dampen his spirits as he would have received a great applaud from the fans had they been allowed in the stadium. The 25-year old has already won a Gold medal in the 2014 Asian Games and he will have great support going into the match.

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Nishioka comes back home from 2nd round defeat at the 2021 Newport Open where he last played. He has reached 3 quarter-finals this season and will look to go a step ahead and win the medal for his country.

Karen Khachanov vs Yoshihito Nishioka: Head to Head

Yoshihito Nishioka
Yoshihito Nishioka

This will be the 2nd meeting between the duo who last met in the 2nd round of the 2019 Australian Open where Karen won in straight-sets and leads the head-to-head tie 1-0.

Karen Khachanov vs Yoshihito Nishioka: Prediction

Karen Khachanov
Karen Khachanov

Yoshihito will come into the tie with a career Hardcourt record of 177-100. He is 11-17 for the season and is yet to register his 1st win on Hardcourts this season. Khachanov will take the court with a career Hardcourt record of 105-67 and a season record of 20-15 across all surfaces. He is 7-4 on the Hardcourts this season and looks the favourite to win the tie and progress ahead.

Prediction: Karen Khachanov to win in straight-sets.

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Also Read: Tennis at Tokyo Olympics 2020: Men’s Singles Draw Preview, Analysis and Prediction