Jack Draper vs Kei Nishikori Prediction & Betting Tips - Olympic Tournament

Prediction published on 26/07/2024, 07:44  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 26/07/2024 at 07:47 in Olympic Tournament Predictions

Great Britain's Jack Draper makes his Olympic Games debut. In his first round match, he takes on Japan's Kei Nishikori. In the last 32, the winner will face either seventh seed Taylor Fritz or unseeded Alexander Bublik. Who'll qualify? Read on for our prediction.

Jack Draper was only 19 when the last Olympics were held in Tokyo. He now makes his debut and was ranked a career-high 26th in the last published list. The British player is 32nd in the ATP Live Race and this is his first tournament since Wimbledon.

He lost in the second round in that Grand Slam but did win the Stuttgart grass court tournament in June. This tournament is being played on clay at Roland Garros. Draper will want to do better than in this year's French Open when losing in the first round to Jesper de Jong.

That was the second time for him at Roland Garros and he's yet to win a match. His best run on clay this year was getting to the last eight in Munich. He'll hope to avoid a third straight Roland Garros defeat on Sunday.

Kei Nishikori has made it into this tournament on a protected ranking. He was down at 435th in the last ranking list but nine years ago was the world number four. The Japanese player is playing in his fifth Olympic Games and won a Bronze Medal in 2016.

Three years ago he lost to Novak Djokovic in the last eight. Injuries have blighted his career and this is only his fourth tournament of the year. He did play at the French Open but retired from his second round match against Ben Shelton. We tip Draper to beat the 34-year-old in straight sets.