Japan Open 2022: Nick Kyrgios vs Tseng Chun-hsin preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (5) Nick Kyrgios vs Tseng Chun-hsin.
Tournament: Japan Open 2022.
Round: First round (Round of 32).
Venue: Tokyo, Japan.
Category: ATP 500.
Surface: Hard.
Prize money: $1,953,285.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - TSN | Australia - beIN Sports.
Nick Kyrgios vs Tseng Chun-hsin preview
2022 Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios will take on Tseng Chun-hsin in the first round of the 2022 Japan Open.
This has been the best season of Kyrgios' career so far. While he lost in the second round of singles at the Australian Open, he claimed the doubles title alongside good friend Thanasi Kokkinakis. A quarterfinal showing at Indian Wells was followed by a fourth-round appearance in Miami.
Kyrgios only competed in one clay tournament, the ATP 250 in Houston. He lost to Reilly Openka in the semifinals. The 27-year-old returned during the grass swing and made consecutive semifinals in Stuttgart and Halle. He withdrew from the Mallorca Championships in the second round due to injury.
Kyrgios reached his maiden Grand Slam final in singles at Wimbledon, but lost to Novak Djokovic in four sets. He then won his first title of the year at the Citi Open and followed it up with a quarterfinal run at the Canadian Open. He lost to Taylor Fritz in the second round of the Western & Southern Open.
Kyrgios defeated defending champion Daniil Medvedev in the fourth round of the US Open to make the quarterfinals there for the first time. He lost to Karen Khachanov in five sets. He has now arrived in Tokyo eyeing a second title at the Japan Open, following his triumph here in 2016.
Tseng Chun-hsin's debut at the Majors this year didn't go too well as he failed to get past the first hurdle at all four Slams. A couple of second-round appearances in Los Cabos and Seoul are his best results on the ATP tour.
The 21-year-old, however, has been killing it on the Challenger circuit. He has won two titles and has reached another final as well. His success at this level has helped him crack the top 100 of the ATP rankings, where he has peaked at No. 83.
Nick Kyrgios vs Tseng Chun-hsin head-to-head
This will be the first meeting between the two, so the head-to-head stands at 0-0 for now.
Nick Kyrgios vs Tseng Chun-hsin odds
(All odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Nick Kyrgios vs Tseng Chun-hsin prediction
Kyrgios' serve has been a huge asset this season. He has won a massive 92.81% of his service games so far, leading the ATP tour in this aspect. He's also ranked second when it comes to the number of aces served, trailing only John Isner.
Tseng's serve is nowhere close to being as good as Kyrgios', at least not yet. The Taiwanese youngster will need to be at his very best to make any sort of impact during return games. During his second-round match at the Korea Open last week, he coughed up 13 doubles faults, while going 2/10 on break points. These stats were largely responsible for his loss.
Tseng will be hoping to put up an improved performance compared to last week, or else it'll lead to another swift exit for him. However, Kyrgios has been extremely consistent for a while now and it's hard to see him dropping the ball on this.
Pick: Nick Kyrgios to win in straight sets.