The 2025 ATP Adelaide International will begin on Monday, January 6 with its first round action and Thanasi Kokkinakis, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Denis Shapovalov will be among those on court. Here’s the preview, predictions and tips for these matches from Adelaide.
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Thanasi Kokkinakis v Yoshihito Nishioka Preview
Head-to-Head: Their only previous meeting came in the qualifiers of the 2014 US Open which Nishioka won in three sets.
A semifinalist here in 2022, Thanasi Kokkinakis will kick-start his new season with a first round match against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka and it needs to be seen if he can shrug off the potential rustiness from here.
Because Nishioka has no such worries having featured in Brisbane International last year where the 69th-ranked player was forced to feature in the qualifiers.
He won both those rounds before overcome Arthur Rinderknech in the first round here. Nishioka put up a solid fight against Jiri Lehecka in the second round before losing in three.
Kokkinakis last featured at the highest level in the US Open 2024 where he made the second round but since then he has been a part of Australia’s Davis Cup side, Laver Cup, the Challenger circuit and even the Ultimate Tennis Showdown.
Can he now kick-start this new season with a showing to remember?
Kokkinakis v Nishioka prediction: Nishioka to win: 4/5
Roberto Bautista Agut v Alejandro Davidovich Fokina Preview
Head-to-Head: There have been three previous matches between these two players and Bautista Agut leads 2-1. His wins came in 2023 Adelaide and 2022 Doha while Fokina had won in Rotterdam in 2021.
Once a top-10 player, Roberto Bautista Agut has not been his most consistent self in recent but you can expect that with age and he is a few months shy of turning 37.
What’s still remarkable to note is he is ranked 51st in the world, 10 ahead of his opponent, Davidovich Fokina. Part of the reason behind Bautista Agut’s resurrection has been his title win at the Antwerp Open last year.
On the other hand, Fokina has never won an ATP title despite having knocked on the doors of the top 20 on the ATP Rankings chart.
He featured in the Hong Kong Open last week and was dumped out in the first round itself. Making matters worse, Davidovich Fokina lost to Jaume Munar, a player known more for his exploits on clay.
Which is why we could just see Bautista Agut edge this contest.
Bautista Agut v Davidovich Fokina prediction: Bautista Agut to win: 4/6
Zhizhen Zhang v Denis Shapovalov Preview
Head-to-Head: There has been one previous meeting between these two players but that came on the clay courts of Madrid in 2023. Zhang had won it in a final set tie-breaker.
The 45th-ranked Zhang featured in the United Cup in his first tournament of the season and while he helped China qualify for the next round, his own record wasn’t the best.
Zhang defeated Thiago Monteiro in his opener which was on expected lines but then fell to Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz in the next two matches. He did manage to scoop a set off Zverev but that’s about the best he could do.
What makes things easier for Zhang here is that he’s not playing a top-10 player. Shapovalov was once ranked 10th in the world but since then his form has tapered off drastically and the currently 56th-ranked player is coming off a first round exit at Hong Kong last week.
Having gone into his opener against Kei Nishikori as a 3/5 favourite, Shapovalov won just five games in the match to bow out. Low on confidence and desperately looking for results to go his way after a 9-10 record on this surface last week, we can expect him to face some more torrid time here.
Zhang v Shapovalov prediction: Zhang to win: 3/5
Arthur Rinderknech v Christopher O’Connell Preview
Head-to-Head: There have been six previous meetings between these two players, spread across the Challenger circuit, qualifiers of competitions and main draws and Rinderknech leads 4-2 on head to head. They last faced off last year in Winston-Salem and Rinderknech had won that second round match in straight sets.
Both these players are coming off an appearance in Brisbane last week where both Rinderknech and O’Connell were defeated in the very first round. And even the bookmakers had backed their opponents in those matches, so there were no surprises.
The difference was in the manner of defeats.
While Rinderknech was routed by Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 6-4 in his opener there, O’Connell put up a showing to remember. His match against Alex Michelsen went to the third set and it took the American to 12-10 in the tie-breaker that followed to overcome O’Connell.
If that’s the kind of fight that the Aussie can put up yet again we could see him squeak through and not surprisingly, he is a bookmaker’s favourite here (4/6 to win this).
Rinderknech v O’Connell prediction: Three sets in the match: 6/5
Other Adelaide International 2025 Predictions of the Day
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