ATP 250 Hangzhou 1/16-Finals
Darderi – Kukushkin: Time TBA
H2H: first meeting
Luciano Darderi has lost four of his last five matches. The last match he played was at the US Open, where he lost against Baez in the opening round of the tournament. Darderi had his biggest results on the clay courts this season, which brought him into the top 50 in the rankings. So far this season, Darderi has played only seven matches on the hard courts, and has a losing 1-6 record. His only win was in Cincinnati, where he won against Tabilo in straight sets.
Mikhail Kukushkin has won three of his last five matches. Last week in Guangzhou, Mikhail reached the semifinals, where he lost against O’Connell in straight sets. This was a solid preparation tournament for Mikhail, to get ready for the upcoming Asian swing. So far this season, Kukushkin has not have many remarkable results. His biggest results were at the challenger tour level. With such performances, Mikhail dropped out of the top 100 in the rankings.
Best Bet to Make
According to the bookies, Darderi is the favorite in this matchup. Even though Darderi did not have any success on the hard courts this season, we still believe that he will be able to dominate against the Kazakh veteran.
That being said, Darderi winning in straight sets is a value bet.
Value bet/ the best odds: Luciano Darderi winning 2-0 @2.30 @bet365
Hijikata – Dzumhur: Time TBA
H2H: 0-1
Rinky Hijikata has won three of his last five matches. The last match he played was at the US Open, where he reached the second round of the tournament, when he failed against Dimitrov in straight sets. Hijikata did not win anything this season. His biggest result was reaching the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 in London. Rinky is on the verge of dropping out of the top 100 in the rankings. He needs some solid results if he wants to stay in the top 100, and keep playing at the highest level.
Damir Dzumhur has won four of his last five matches. Damir is back in the top 100 in the rankings. His last match was in the Davis Cup, where he defeated Tseng in three tight sets. Before that, Damir won the challenger title in Istanbul, winning against Medjedovic in the final. So far this season, Dzumhur has spent most of his time playing at the challenger tour level, where he has lifted five titles already. Four of them came off the clay courts. His most recent one was in Istanbul on the hard courts. Damir is a proven player who still has a couple of years left. He needs to start winning at the highest level, so he can keep playing ATP main-draw tournaments.
Best Bet to Make
According to the bookies, Hijikata is the slight favorite in this matchup. Damir is in great form, so we believe that he will keep playing in that fashion. On the other hand, Hijikata has not shown much this season. We believe that Damir will be a better player on the court, and get his first ATP main-draw win of the season.
That being said, Dzumhur winning is a value bet.
Value bet/ the best odds: Damir Dzumhur winning @2.25 @bet365
