The 112th-ranked Mikhail Kukushkin will be up against the world number 178 Nikoloz Basilashvili in the first round of the 2025 Montpellier Open which will be played on Tuesday, January 28. Get all the Mikhail Kukushkin v Nikoloz Basilashvili predictions, betting tips and odds for this encounter in the section below.
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Mikhail Kukushkin v Nikoloz Basilashvili Head to Head
They first faced off in the Memphis Open in 2017 where Basilashvili had won in straight sets before a Challenger meeting last year went in favour of Kukushkin.
Kukushkin Still Searching for a Main Draw Win in 2025
The last time Mikhail Kukushkin won a main draw match at this level was in September last year when he made the quarterfinal of the Hangzhou Open.
Since then he has featured in four ATP competitions and either gotten knocked out in the qualifiers or lost his first round match.
In the meantime Kukushkin has been a part of the Challenger circuit too, but like was the case in Quimper last week, the Kazakh hasn’t quite been able to do too much.
At Quimper, Kukushkin was sent packing in the second round by Titouan Droguet.
Can he turn things around at a tournament where he has featured twice before this and never made the second round?
Basilashvili Showing Signs of Resurrection
At the end of the 2023 season, Nikoloz Basilashvili’s ranking had plummeted to 596th in the world. He had been the former world number 16 and his career seemed to have taken a nose-dive to some extent.
Since then, Basilashvili has tried to turn things around and won a Challenger tournament in Seoul last year to help him end the season ranked 208th on the ATP charts.
And he has begun this year with signs that he is willing to give that much-needed effort to push his opponents and propel his rankings upwards.
For instance, Basilashvili kick-started his season at the Australian Open where he won three successive matches to make the main draw before pushing Jakub Mensik to four sets in the opener.
He made the quarterfinal at the Oeiras Challenger after that and has now won successive qualifiers to enter the main draw of the Montpellier Open.
All of this has meant Basilashvili starts off here ranked 178th, a jump of 30 spots already since the start of the season. The big question is whether he can continue in the same vein.
Kukushkin v Basilashvili Prediction
Kukushkin might be the higher-ranked player but as far as momentum goes, Basilashvili looks to have some of that and the sheer force of that could help him navigate through this encounter. He starts a favourite too and we will have to back him here.
Kukushkin v Basilashvili Tips
- Basilashvili to win: 2/5
- Over 20.5 games in the match: 1/2
