Nicolai Budkov Kjaer and Takuya Kumasaka will square off in the 1^st round of the Astana Challenger for the 1^st time in their career. They are scheduled to compete on Wednesday at 10:00 am on CENTER COURT. In this post, we analyze their head to head performance and prediction.

Prediction, odds and live streaming

The pick for Tennis Tonic is Nicolai Budkov Kjaer who should win in 3 sets.

As per the initial odds, Nicolai Budkov Kjaer is the pick to win this match.
Nicolai Budkov Kjaer -> 1.444
Takuya Kumasaka -> 2.61

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Prediction and head to head Nicolai Budkov Kjaer vs. Takuya Kumasaka

There is no head to head record between Nicolai Budkov Kjaer and Takuya Kumasaka since this will be the first time that they will square off in the main tour.

Nicolai Budkov Kjaer

Ranked no. 187 (career-high), the Norwegian will start his run in the Astana Challenger after he won the title in the Tampere Challenger after beating 7-6(5) 6-7(2) 6-2 Gueymard Wayenburg in the final.

Nicolai has an overall 28-18 win-loss record in 2025, 1-1 on hard (See FULL STATS).

His best result of the year was winning the title the Glasgow Challenger where he defeated Viktor Durasovic in the final 6-4 6-3 and the Tampere Challenger where he beat Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg in the final 7-6(5) 6-7(2) 6-2.

Nicolai won his last 5 matches.

Talking about his overall career, Budkov Kjaer has an overall 54-31 record. He has a flat 6-6 record on hard.

Previously in the Astana Challenger

The Norwegian has never competed in this tournament before.

Takuya Kumasaka

Ranked no. 492, Takuya will start his run in the Astana Challenger after he played his last match in M15 Nakhon Pathom where he lost 6-2 6-2 to Delaney in the final on the 27^th of July.

The Japanese has a compiled 29-11 win-loss record in 2025, 29-11 on hard (See FULL STATS).

The Japanese’s best result of the current season was reaching the final in Tokyo,M15 Tsukuba and M15 Nakhon Pathom.

In terms of his career, Kumasaka has an overall 139-95 record. He has a positive 117-73 record on hard.

Tennis Scores in Astana Challenger

• Woobin ShinShin – Arda AzkaraAzkara (6-3 7-5) – Stats, scores, rankings
• Abedallah ShelbayhShelbayh – Maxim ZhukovZhukov (6-3 6-4) – Stats, scores, rankings
• Mitsuki Wei Kang LeongWei Kang Leong – Maksim ShinShin (7-5 6-2) – Stats, scores, rankings
• Shintaro ImaiImai – Amir OmarkhanovOmarkhanov (6-2 7-6⁴) – Stats, scores, rankings
• Clement ChidekhChidekh – Sanhui ShinShin (6-3 6-4) – Stats, scores, rankings
• Edward WinterWinter – Moerani BouzigeBouzige (6-1 6-3) – Stats, scores, rankings
• Karan SinghSingh – Egor GerasimovGerasimov (7-5 6-1) – Stats, scores, rankings
• Luca CastelnuovoCastelnuovo – Uisung ParkPark (7-6³ 6-3) – Stats, scores, rankings
• Mukund SasikumarSasikumar – Saba PurtseladzePurtseladze (6-4 6-4) – Stats, scores, rankings
• Ivan GakhovGakhov – Erik ArutiunianArutiunian (6-1 6-7⁴ 7-5) – Stats, scores, rankings
• Maximus JonesJones – Renta TokudaTokuda (6-3 6-3) – Stats, scores, rankings
• Olaf PieczkowskiPieczkowski – Dominik PalanPalan (7-6² 7-5) – Stats, scores, rankings
• Aleksandre BakshiBakshi – Kokoro IsomuraIsomura (6-1 6-7² 6-3) – Stats, scores, rankings
• Alexandr BindaBinda – Petr Bar BiryukovBar Biryukov (6-3 2-1 ret.) – Stats, scores, rankings
• Ricardas BerankisBerankis – Zangar NurlanulyNurlanuly (6-2 6-2) – Stats, scores, rankings

Upcoming matches in the draw

• Richard BerankisBerankis – Luca CastelnuovoCastelnuovo (0-0) – H2H and prediction
• Ivan GakhovGakhov – (0-0) – H2H and prediction
• Aleksandre BakshiBakshi – Sasi Kumar MukundKumar Mukund (0-0) – H2H and prediction
• Clement ChidekhChidekh – (0-0) – H2H and prediction
• Takuya KumasakaKumasaka – (0-0) – H2H and prediction
• Woobin ShinShin – (0-0) – H2H and prediction