Shintaro Imai and Aleksandre Bakshi will clash against each other in the quarter of the Astana Challenger for the 1^st time in their career. They are scheduled to compete on Friday at 1:30 pm on COURT 4. In this post, we analyze their head to head performance and prediction.

Prediction, odds and live streaming

The pick for Tennis Tonic is Shintaro Imai who should win in 3 sets.

As per the initial odds, Shintaro Imai is the pick to win this match.
Shintaro Imai -> 1.86
Aleksandre Bakshi -> 1.86

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Prediction and head to head Shintaro Imai vs. Aleksandre Bakshi

There is no head to head record between Shintaro Imai and Aleksandre Bakshi since this will be the first time that they will play each other in the main tour.

Shintaro Imai

Ranked no. 577, Shintaro got to the quarter after defeating Amir Omarkhanov 6-2 7-6(4) and Edward Winter 7-6(4) 6-3.

In the 2^nd round, The Japanese had a good straight sets win against Winter (7-6⁴ 6-3). During the match, Imai scored 80 points vs Winter’s 68. Shintaro was very aggressive to blast 33 winners.

Talking about the service games, Imai managed to score 10 aces and he committed only 1 double fault. Overall, Shintaro Imai was exceptionally effective on serve to win 72% (33/46) of his 1st serve and 61% (20/33) on the second serve. However, this didn’t prevent his to concede the serve once. Imai was clinical in his return game without wasting any break point and break Winter twice.

Overall Performance in this tournament

The Japanese hasn’t conceded yet a set in this tournament to conquer 55% of the points he played.

Imai has a solid match record in the last 10 years having won 63% of his matches (289-167). 22-11 on hard in 2025. In connection with his performance on the same surface of this competition, Imai has an aggregate 256-147 record in the last years on hard.

The Japanese’s best result of the current year was reaching the final in M15 Osaka and M15 Tokyo.

The Japanese has a composed 23-13 win-loss record in 2025, 22-11 on hard (See FULL STATS).

Previously in the Astana Challenger

The Japanese has never competed in this tournament before.

Aleksandre Bakshi

Ranked no. 620, Aleksandre got to the quarter after beating Kokoro Isomura 6-1 6-7(2) 6-3 and Mukund Sasikumar 7-6(4) 3-6 6-4.

In the 2^nd round, Bakshi defeated Kumar Mukund (7-6⁴ 3-6 6-4). During the match Bakshi and Kumar Mukund scored the same amount of points (108). However, the world no. 577 was stronger during the important points and that was the most significant difference in the match. Aleksandre was very aggressive to blast 49 winners.

Talking about serving, Bakshi struck 12 aces and he was not very consistent on his 2nd serve to score 12 double faults. Aleksandre Bakshi lost the serve 4 times and he saved 11 break points. Furthermore, Bakshi put 56% of his first serves in, winning 80% (49/61) of the points behind his 1st serve and 38% (18/47) on the 2nd serve. The Georgean broke Kumar Mukund 3 times after converting 21% of his break points (3/14).

Overall Performance in this tournament

The Georgean has conceded 2 set in the tournament to win 52% of the points he played.

The Georgean’s best result of the year was reaching the semifinal in M15 Sharm ElSheikh.

The Georgean has an aggregate 18-16 win-loss record in 2025, 17-13 on hard (See FULL STATS).

Previously in the Astana Challenger

Previously, his best result was reaching the semifinal in 2024. See his history.

H2H Performance in the tournament (main draw)

Matches, sets, games and points

Points	Imai	Bakshi
Match played	2	2
Tot Set	4	6
Tot Games	43	61
Pts	165-134	215-197
Total Points	299	412
Winners	64	101
%Winners	39%	47%

Both Imai and Bakshi played 2 matches. At the moment, Aleksandre Bakshi lost 2 sets while Shintaro Imai hasn’t surrendered a set so far. Imai has played 2 set(s) less than Bakshi (4 vs 6). Therefore, Imai played 18 games less than Bakshi. Shintaro scored 64 winners (39% of the total points). On the other side, Aleksandre scored 101 winners (47%).

Serve Performance

Serve	Imai	Bakshi
Aces	15	33
Avg per match	7.5	16.5
1st in	88/148	118/202
%1st in	59%	58%
1st pts	64/88	101/118
%1st pts	73%	86%
2nd pts	37/60	33/84
%2nd pts	62%	39%

Imai made 15 aces (7.5 per match). Bakshi scored 33 aces (16.5 per match). Imai won 73% points behind his first serve. He had a solid display on his second serve to win 62% of the points. On the other side, Bakshi won 86% of the points on his first serve. He had a solid display on his second serve to win 39% of the points.

How they played the important points

Breaks	Imai	Bakshi
Won	5	6
Converted	5/9	6/25
% Converted	56%	24%
Conceded	6	18
Saved	4	14
% Saved	67%	78%
Times Broken	2	4

Imai broke his opponents 5 times with a 56% conversion rate. Shintaro conceded his serve twice and he saved 67% of the break points that he conceded. Bakshi broke his opponents 6 times with a 24% conversion rate. Aleksandre conceded his serve 4 times and he saved 78% of the break points that he conceded.

Imai
	R1 Omarkhanov	R2 Winter	Total
Score	6-2 7-64	7-64 6-3
Tot Set	2	2	4
Tot Games	21	22	43
pts	85-66	80-68	165-134
Total points	151	148	299
Winners	31	33	64
%Winners	36%	41%	39%
SERVE
Aces	5	10	15
Double Faults	2	1	3
1st in	42/69	46/79	88/148
% 1st in	61%	58%	59%
1st pts	31/42	33/46	64/88
% 1st pts	74%	72%	73%
2nd pts	17/27	20/33	37/60
% 2nd pts	63%	61%	62%
Breaks
Won	3	2	5
Converted	3/7	2/2	5/9
Converted %	43%	100%	56%
Conceded	3	3	6
Saved	2/3	2/3	4
Saved %	67%	67%	67%
Times Broken	1	1	2

Bakshi
	R1 Isomura	R2 Kumar Mukund	Total
Score	6-1 6-72 6-3	7-64 3-6 6-4
Tot Set	3	3	6
Tot Games	29	32	61
pts	107-89	108-108	215-197
Total points	196	216	412
Winners	52	49	101
%Winners	49%	45%	47%
SERVE
Aces	21	12	33
Double Faults	6	12	18
1st in	57/94	61/108	118/202
% 1st in	61%	56%	58%
1st pts	52/57	49/61	101/118
% 1st pts	91%	80%	86%
2nd pts	15/37	18/47	33/84
% 2nd pts	41%	38%	39%
Breaks
Won	3	3	6
Converted	3/11	3/14	6/25
Converted %	27%	21%	24%
Conceded	3	15	18
Saved	3/3	11/15	14
Saved %	100%	73%	87%
Times Broken	0	4	4

Upcoming matches in the draw

• Richard BerankisBerankis – (0-0) – H2H and prediction
• Shintaro ImaiImai – Aleksandre BakshiBakshi (0-0) – H2H and prediction
• Clement ChidekhChidekh – (0-0) – H2H and prediction