Kei Nishikori and Michael Zheng will square off in the final of the Palmas del Mar Challenger for the 1st time in their career. They are scheduled to compete on Sunday at 4:00 pm on STADIUM COURT. 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 Kei Nishikori who should win in 2 sets.
As per the initial odds, Kei Nishikori is the pick to win this match.
Kei Nishikori -> 1.118
Michael Zheng -> 5.8
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Prediction and head to head Kei Nishikori vs. Michael Zheng
There is no head to head record between Kei Nishikori and Michael Zheng since this will be the first time that they will fight against each other in the main tour.
Kei Nishikori
| Year | Total | Hard | Clay | I.hard | Grass | Carpet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 18-11 | 7-5 | 5-3 | 6-2 | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| 2023 | 10-3 | 10-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2022 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2021 | 26-17 | 15-9 | 7-4 | 2-2 | 2-2 | 0-0 |
| 2020 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
Ranked no. 759, Nishikori reached the final after defeating Christian Langmo 6-2 6-4, Mitchell Krueger 4-6 6-3 6-2, Adam Walton 6-4 6-2 and Gustavo Heide 6-4 6-2.
In the semifinal, Nishikori had a good straight sets win against Heide (6-4 6-2). During the match, Nishikori scored 62 points vs Heide’s 52. Kei was quite aggressive to blast 28 winners.
Talking about the service games, Nishikori scored just 1 ace in the course of the match and he committed only 1 double fault. Kei Nishikori was exceptionally efficient on serve to win 78% (28/36) of his 1st serve and 55% (11/20) on the second serve. This was the main reason for not conceding a single break during the match. The Japanese broke Heide 3 times after converting 50% of his break points (3/6).
Overall Performance in this tournament
Kei has surrendered 1 set in this competition to conquer 56% of the points he played.
Nishikori has a tremendous record in the last 10 years having won 72% of his matches (305-121). 4-0 on hard in 2023. Talking about his performance on the same surface of this tournament, Nishikori has an overall 138-56 record in the last years on hard.
Kei’s best result of the current season was getting to the semifinal in the Palmas del Mar Challenger.
Kei has a compiled 4-0 win-loss record in 2023, 4-0 on hard (See FULL STATS).
Previously in the Palmas del Mar Challenger
The Japanese has never competed in this tournament before.
Michael Zheng
| Year | Total | Hard | Clay | I.hard | Grass | Carpet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 9-6 | 9-5 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2023 | 13-11 | 13-10 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2022 | 11-6 | 2-1 | 9-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2021 | 7-5 | 1-1 | 3-2 | 3-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
Ranked no. 893, Zheng got to the final after defeating Nathan Ponwith 6-4 7-66, Daniel Rodrigues 6-3 6-1, Steven Diez 6-3 6-0, Marius Copil 6-1 6-3, Alexis Galarneau 6-3 0-6 6-3 and Beibit Zhukayev 3-6 6-3 7-64.
In the semifinal against Zhukayev, Zheng recovered from a 1-set down deficit before winning (3-6 6-3 7-64). During the match Zheng scored 113 points vs Zhukayev’s 100. Michael was very aggressive to blast 47 winners.
About the serving games, Zheng recorded 9 aces and he committed only 1 double fault for the entire match. Overall, Michael Zheng was extremely efficient on serve to win 77% (47/61) of his 1st serve and 54% (20/37) on the second serve. However, this didn’t prevent his to concede the serve twice. The American broke Zhukayev twice after converting 29% of his break points (2/7).
Overall Performance in this tournament
Michael started his run at this tournament from the qualifications. In the main draw, he has conceded 2 set in the tournament to win 56% of the points he played.
Michael’s best result of the current year was getting to the semifinal in the Palmas del Mar Challenger.
The American has an aggregate 8-3 win-loss record in 2023, 8-2 on hard (See FULL STATS).
H2H Performance in the tournament (main draw)
Matches, sets, games and points
| Points | Nishikori | Zheng |
|---|---|---|
| Match played | 4 | 6 |
| Tot Set | 9 | 14 |
| Tot Games | 81 | 125 |
| Pts | 286-228 | 477-373 |
| Total Points | 514 | 850 |
| Winners | 116 | 178 |
| %Winners | 41% | 37% |
Nishikori played 4 matches while Zheng competed in 6 matches. Zheng started his run from the qualifications while Nishikori had a direct access to the main draw. Both players lost a set in the event. Kei Nishikori conceded 1 set, while Michael Zheng surrendered 2 sets. Nishikori has played 5 set(s) less than Zheng (9 vs 14). Therefore, Nishikori played 44 games less than Zheng. Kei scored 116 winners (41% of the total points). On the other side, Michael scored 178 winners (37%).
Serve Performance
| Serve | Nishikori | Zheng |
|---|---|---|
| Aces | 3 | 33 |
| Avg per match | 0.8 | 5.5 |
| 1st in | 164/236 | 233/409 |
| %1st in | 69% | 57% |
| 1st pts | 116/164 | 178/233 |
| %1st pts | 71% | 76% |
| 2nd pts | 43/72 | 96/176 |
| %2nd pts | 60% | 55% |
Nishikori recorded 3 aces (0.8 per match). Zheng managed to score 33 aces (5.5 per match). Nishikori won 71% points on his first serve. He pretty effective on his second serve to win 60% of the points. On the other side, Zheng won 76% of the points on his first serve. He had a solid display on his second serve to win 55% of the points.
How they played the important points
| Breaks | Nishikori | Zheng |
|---|---|---|
| Won | 16 | 22 |
| Converted | 16/33 | 22/51 |
| % Converted | 48% | 43% |
| Conceded | 9 | 37 |
| Saved | 4 | 28 |
| % Saved | 44% | 76% |
| Times Broken | 5 | 9 |
Nishikori broke his opponents 16 times with a 48% conversion rate. The Japanese surrendered his serve 5 times and he saved 44% of the break points that he conceded. The American broke his opponents 22 times with a 43% conversion rate. The American conceded his serve 9 times and he saved 76% of the break points that he conceded.
| Nishikori | ||||||
| R1 Langmo |
R2 Krueger |
1/4 Walton |
1/2 Heide |
Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | 6-2 6-4 | 4-6 6-3 6-2 | 6-4 6-2 | 6-4 6-2 | ||
| Tot Set | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9 | |
| Tot Games | 18 | 27 | 18 | 18 | 81 | |
| pts | 71-56 | 92-74 | 61-46 | 62-52 | 286-228 | |
| Total points | 127 | 166 | 107 | 114 | 514 | |
| Winners | 24 | 37 | 27 | 28 | 116 | |
| %Winners | 34% | 40% | 44% | 45% | 41% | |
| SERVE | ||||||
| Aces | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| Double Faults | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| 1st in | 33/49 | 55/75 | 40/56 | 36/56 | 164/236 | |
| % 1st in | 67% | 73% | 71% | 64% | 69% | |
| 1st pts | 24/33 | 37/55 | 27/40 | 28/36 | 116/164 | |
| % 1st pts | 73% | 67% | 68% | 78% | 71% | |
| 2nd pts | 10/16 | 13/20 | 9/16 | 11/20 | 43/72 | |
| % 2nd pts | 63% | 65% | 56% | 55% | 60% | |
| Breaks | ||||||
| Won | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 16 | |
| Converted | 4/11 | 5/11 | 4/5 | 3/6 | 16/33 | |
| Converted % | 36% | 45% | 80% | 50% | 48% | |
| Conceded | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | |
| Saved | 2/3 | 0/3 | 1/2 | 1/1 | 4 | |
| Saved % | 67% | 0% | 50% | 100% | 54% | |
| Times Broken | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |
| Zheng | ||||||||
| Q1 Ponwith |
Q3 Rodrigues |
R1 Diez |
R2 Copil |
1/4 Galarneau |
1/2 Zhukayev |
Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | 6-4 7-66 | 6-3 6-1 | 6-3 6-0 | 6-1 6-3 | 6-3 0-6 6-3 | 3-6 6-3 7-64 | ||
| Tot Set | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 14 | |
| Tot Games | 23 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 24 | 31 | 125 | |
| pts | 79-60 | 66-49 | 62-36 | 67-45 | 90-83 | 113-100 | 477-373 | |
| Total points | 139 | 115 | 98 | 112 | 173 | 213 | 850 | |
| Winners | 28 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 28 | 47 | 178 | |
| %Winners | 35% | 35% | 42% | 39% | 31% | 42% | 37% | |
| SERVE | ||||||||
| Aces | 6 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 33 | |
| Double Faults | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | |
| 1st in | 33/57 | 30/64 | 34/51 | 33/58 | 42/81 | 61/98 | 233/409 | |
| % 1st in | 58% | 47% | 67% | 57% | 52% | 62% | 57% | |
| 1st pts | 28/33 | 23/30 | 26/34 | 26/33 | 28/42 | 47/61 | 178/233 | |
| % 1st pts | 85% | 77% | 76% | 79% | 67% | 77% | 76% | |
| 2nd pts | 18/24 | 16/34 | 8/17 | 15/25 | 19/39 | 20/37 | 96/176 | |
| % 2nd pts | 75% | 47% | 47% | 60% | 49% | 54% | 55% | |
| Breaks | ||||||||
| Won | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 22 | |
| Converted | 2/9 | 5/9 | 5/8 | 4/6 | 4/12 | 2/7 | 22/51 | |
| Converted % | 22% | 56% | 63% | 67% | 33% | 29% | 43% | |
| Conceded | 1 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 8 | 37 | |
| Saved | 0/1 | 8/9 | 2/3 | 5/5 | 7/11 | 6/8 | 28 | |
| Saved % | 0% | 89% | 67% | 100% | 64% | 75% | 99% | |
| Times Broken | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 9 | |
Head 2 Head
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