Nishikori - Monteiro. Prediction for the Australian Open match
Nishikori and Monteiro will meet in the first round of the Australian Open on January 12. After a successful start to the season and reaching the final at the tournament in Hong Kong, Nishikori looks very confident. Monteiro, despite his experience, is unlikely to be able to resist the Japanese on his favorite surface. How will the upcoming match go? - bets on this match are in our betting tip

Command Analysis

Kei Nishikori

Current form
Nishikori started the new season quite well. The famous Japanese player managed to reach the final of the tournament in Hong Kong right away. In the decisive match of that competition, Kei lost to Alexander Muller. Let us recall that on open hard last season Nishikori won six victories and lost five.
Professional qualities
Nishikori is a versatile tennis player who can confidently perform on any surface. His broad technical arsenal and rich experience allow him to maintain a high level of play even with age. Like many Asian players, Kei is disciplined, calm and diligent. Thanks to his precise serve and minimal number of errors, he is especially successful on hard courts. However, the Japanese player key weakness is his endurance, which noticeably decreases with age.
Current indicators in the tour
Nishikori is ranked 74th in the world, although he was once ranked fourth in the world. Last season, Kei managed to win the tournament in Helsinki, where he beat Luke Nardi in the final. For the Japanese, this was the 22nd title in his career, including 12 ATP titles.
Interesting facts for betting
Nishikori has reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open four times.

Thiago Monteiro

Current form
Monteiro made it to the Australian Open main draw through qualifying. The Brazilian played flawlessly in the qualifying round, beating Jason Kubler, Valentin Royer and Kimmer Coppejans in straight sets. This season, Thiago has three wins and two losses.
Professional qualities
Monteiro is a typical representative of the Latin American school of tennis, who prefers clay courts. His game stands out for two key aspects. The first is a powerful serve that works effectively on both the first and second ball. It is based more on power than on accuracy. The second aspect is a weak backhand, which is why the Brazilian often compensates for this deficiency by moving around the court and shifting to hit his forehand.
Current indicators in the tour
Monteiro is ranked 106th in the world. The Brazilian tennis player was once in the top 100 and was ranked 61st. During his career, Thiago has won 14 titles. He won his last one in 2023 at a clay tournament held in Campinas. In the final of that competition, he beat Hugo Carabelli.
Interesting facts for betting
All five of Monteiro matches this season have ended in straight sets.
Trends
Rate Set Result: 2>1
In 3 of Nishikori last 5 matches, events on the court have unfolded according to this scenario
2.22Bet Tie-break in the match - yes
This bet has played in 3 of Monteiro 5 previous matches
1.61Tip and bets
Nishikori has had a good start to the season, reaching the final in Hong Kong straight away. Kei is in excellent shape and on his specialty hard courts, we think he will have no problem beating clay court specialist Monteiro.
Our prediction is Nishikori victory with a handicap of (-5) games at odds of 1.84
Bet on total
Nishikori confidently dealt with Monteiro at Wimbledon in 2019 - he beat him in three sets. Most likely, the upcoming match will end with the Japanese winning in three sets.
The second betting tip is total under 38 games with odds of 1.91
Bet on the first set
Three of Monteiro last five matches have seen more than 9.5 games played in the first set. We expect the upcoming encounter against Nishikori to also start with a high first set.
Betting Tip - total over 9.5 games in the first set for odds of 1.94