Fernando Verdasco and Mikhail Kukushkin will face off in the 2nd round of the Nottingham Challenger for the 1st time in their career. They are scheduled to play on Thursday at 1:30 pm on COURT 1. In the following paragraphs, you can find the head to head analysis and prediction.
Prediction, odds and live streaming
The pick for Tennis Tonic is Mikhail Kukushkin who should win in 3 sets.
As per the initial odds, Mikhail Kukushkin is the pick to win this match.
Mikhail Kukushkin -> 1.9
Fernando Verdasco -> 1.9
Click here to see the updated quotes and live streaming (only selected countries - USA excluded).
To be able to watch live streaming bet365, a funded account is required or you need to have placed a bet in the last 24 hours. 18+ BeGambleAware.
Here where top tennis events are broadcasted or streamed online (ATP, WTA).
At the challenger level, there will be free live streaming on Challenger TV.
Prediction and head to head Fernando Verdasco vs. Mikhail Kukushkin
There is no head to head record between Fernando Verdasco and Mikhail Kukushkin since this will be the first time that they will square off in the main tour.
Fernando Verdasco
| Year | Total | Hard | Clay | I.hard | Grass | Carpet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 6-16 | 3-6 | 1-8 | 2-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| 2022 | 34-32 | 17-12 | 12-13 | 2-3 | 3-4 | 0-0 |
| 2021 | 10-20 | 7-6 | 3-7 | 0-6 | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| 2020 | 6-8 | 4-2 | 0-3 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2019 | 26-27 | 6-8 | 8-9 | 7-6 | 5-4 | 0-0 |
Ranked no. 118, Fernando reached the 2nd round after defeating Alastair Gray 7-63 7-66.
In the 1st round, Fernando had a good straight sets win against Gray (7-63 7-66). During the match, Verdasco scored 92 points vs Gray’s 88. Fernando was exceptionally aggressive to blast 37 winners.
Talking about the service games, Verdasco wasn’t able to score even 1 ace for the entire match and he was extremely consistent in conceding no double faults. Overall, Fernando Verdasco was very efficient on serve to win 73% (37/51) of his 1st serve and 54% (22/41) on the second serve. However, this didn’t prevent his to concede the serve twice. Verdasco broke Gray twice after converting 29% of his break points (2/7).
Verdasco has a positive record in the last 10 years having won 52% of his matches (234-218). 1-0 on grass in 2022. Regarding his performance on the same surface of this event, Verdasco has an aggregate 22-22 record in the last years on grass.
The Spaniard’s best result of the year was getting to the final in the Monterrey Challenger.
Verdasco has an aggregate 22-15 win-loss record in 2022, 1-0 on grass (See FULL STATS).
Previously in the Nottingham Challenger
Mikhail Kukushkin
| Year | Total | Hard | Clay | I.hard | Grass | Carpet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 10-11 | 8-8 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2024 | 52-32 | 24-10 | 10-9 | 12-9 | 6-4 | 0-0 |
| 2023 | 23-24 | 17-11 | 3-5 | 3-8 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2022 | 36-28 | 18-11 | 0-2 | 13-11 | 5-4 | 0-0 |
| 2021 | 12-24 | 8-9 | 0-6 | 2-6 | 2-3 | 0-0 |
Ranked no. 166, Kukushkin got to the 2nd round after beating Marius Copil 6-4 6-4.
In the 1st round, The Kazakhstani had a good straight sets win against Copil (6-4 6-4). During the match Kukushkin scored 67 points vs Copil’s 55. The Kazakhstani was very aggressive to blast 34 winners.
Talking about serving, Kukushkin blasted 2 aces and he was extremely consistent in conceding no double faults for the entire match. Mikhail Kukushkin was extremely effective on serve to win 71% (34/48) of his 1st serve and 77% (10/13) on the second serve. This was the main reason for not conceding a single break during the match. Kukushkin broke Copil twice after converting 33% of his break points (2/6).
Kukushkin has a composed 18-13 win-loss record in 2022, 1-1 on grass (See FULL STATS).
H2H Performance in the tournament
Matches, sets, games and points
| Points | Verdasco | Kukushkin |
|---|---|---|
| Match played | 1 | 1 |
| Tot Set | 2 | 2 |
| Tot Games | 26 | 20 |
| Pts | 92-88 | 67-55 |
| Total Points | 180 | 122 |
| Winners | 37 | 34 |
| %Winners | 40% | 51% |
Both Verdasco and Kukushkin played 1 match. Both players have not conceded a single set in this event so far. Talking about their workload, Verdasco and Kukushkin have played the same amount of sets 2. However, Verdasco played 6 games more than Kukushkin. Verdasco scored 37 winners (40% of the total points). On the other side, Kukushkin blasted 34 winners (51%).
Serve Performance
| Serve | Verdasco | Kukushkin |
|---|---|---|
| Aces | 0 | 2 |
| Avg per match | 0 | 2 |
| 1st in | 51/92 | 48/61 |
| %1st in | 55% | 79% |
| 1st pts | 37/51 | 34/48 |
| %1st pts | 73% | 71% |
| 2nd pts | 22/41 | 10/13 |
| %2nd pts | 54% | 77% |
Verdasco didn’t manage to fire a single ace to far. Kukushkin managed to score 2 aces . Verdasco won 73% points behind his first serve. He was rock solid on his second serve to win 54% of the points. On the other side, Kukushkin won 71% of the points behind his first serve. He had a solid display on his second serve to win 77% of the points.
How they played the important points
| Breaks | Verdasco | Kukushkin |
|---|---|---|
| Won | 2 | 2 |
| Converted | 2/7 | 2/6 |
| % Converted | 29% | 33% |
| Conceded | 7 | 3 |
| Saved | 5 | 3 |
| % Saved | 71% | 100% |
| Times Broken | 2 | 0 |
Fernando broke his opponent twice with a 29% conversion rate. Verdasco conceded his serve twice and he saved 71% of the break points that he conceded. The Kazakhstani broke his opponent twice with a 33% conversion rate. Kukushkin was rock solid on his serve as he has never conceded a single service game after saving 3 break points.
| Verdasco | |||
| R1 Gray |
Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Score | 7-63 7-66 | ||
| Tot Set | 2 | 2 | |
| Tot Games | 26 | 26 | |
| pts | 92-88 | 92-88 | |
| Total points | 180 | 180 | |
| Winners | 37 | 37 | |
| %Winners | 40% | 40% | |
| SERVE | |||
| Aces | 0 | 0 | |
| Double Faults | 0 | 0 | |
| 1st in | 51/92 | 51/92 | |
| % 1st in | 55% | 55% | |
| 1st pts | 37/51 | 37/51 | |
| % 1st pts | 73% | 73% | |
| 2nd pts | 22/41 | 22/41 | |
| % 2nd pts | 54% | 54% | |
| Breaks | |||
| Won | 2 | 2 | |
| Converted | 2/7 | 2/7 | |
| Converted % | 29% | 29% | |
| Conceded | 7 | 7 | |
| Saved | 5/7 | 5 | |
| Saved % | 71% | 71% | |
| Times Broken | 2 | 2 | |
| Kukushkin | |||
| R1 Copil |
Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Score | 6-4 6-4 | ||
| Tot Set | 2 | 2 | |
| Tot Games | 20 | 20 | |
| pts | 67-55 | 67-55 | |
| Total points | 122 | 122 | |
| Winners | 34 | 34 | |
| %Winners | 51% | 51% | |
| SERVE | |||
| Aces | 2 | 2 | |
| Double Faults | 0 | 0 | |
| 1st in | 48/61 | 48/61 | |
| % 1st in | 79% | 79% | |
| 1st pts | 34/48 | 34/48 | |
| % 1st pts | 71% | 71% | |
| 2nd pts | 10/13 | 10/13 | |
| % 2nd pts | 77% | 77% | |
| Breaks | |||
| Won | 2 | 2 | |
| Converted | 2/6 | 2/6 | |
| Converted % | 33% | 33% | |
| Conceded | 3 | 3 | |
| Saved | 3/3 | 3 | |
| Saved % | 100% | 100% | |
| Times Broken | 0 | 0 | |
Head 2 Head
LLWWWLWLLW Tennis Scores in Nottingham Challenger
- Alexei PopyrinPopyrin – Antoine EscoffierEscoffier (6-3 7-5) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Ryan PenistonPeniston – Borna GojoGojo (6-4 7-64) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Marc-Andrea HueslerHuesler – Daniel CoxCox (6-2 4-6 6-2) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Daniel EvansEvans – Thomas FabbianoFabbiano (7-5 6-0) – Stats, scores, rankings
Upcoming matches in the draw
- Fernando VerdascoVerdasco – Mikhail KukushkinKukushkin (0-0) – H2H and prediction
- Daniel EvansEvans – Marc-Andrea HueslerHuesler (0-0) – H2H and prediction
- Jay ClarkeClarke – Jordan ThompsonThompson (2-1) – H2H and prediction
- Alexei PopyrinPopyrin – Ryan PenistonPeniston (0-0) – H2H and prediction
- Geoffrey BlancaneauxBlancaneaux – Jack SockSock (0-0) – H2H and prediction
- Otto VirtanenVirtanen – Liam BroadyBroady (0-0) – H2H and prediction
