Novak Djokovic will play against Nick Kyrgios. The encounter will start on December 21 at 17:00 UK time.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #1 – Handicap Djokovic (-2.5) – 1.832.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #1 – 1st Set Games Over 9.5 – 1.72.
Djokovic failed his opening match at the exhibition tournament in Dubai, losing in two sets to Zverev, so we expect to see a more concentrated Serb in the upcoming encounter. We believe it will be Novak who will win the match. Especially as Kyrgios is playing another exhibition tournament without much motivation.
In 3 of Kyrgios’ last 5 matches, more than 9.5 games have been played in the first set.
Contrary to expectations, Djokovic had an unsuccessful first match after a short holiday. On Tuesday, Novak lost to Alexander Zverev (3-6, 4-6).
Most surprisingly, Nole lost to Alexander in two sets.
Djokovic was unaccustomedly weak on his first serve and second, allowing his opponent to convert four break points.
All in all, Novak has warmed up nicely, but it will probably be a couple of weeks before he is at his best.
Novak’s win over Casper Ruud in the ATP Finals (7-5, 6-3) ended his season. The Serbian representative has been without a match practice for a month. Djokovic must have used some of that time to rest and spend time with his family. After that, the Serb was in pre-season training. It’s interesting to see what kind of game form Nole is in now.
Kyrgios has not yet won after the break either. Unlike Djokovic, who ended his season at the end of November, Nick went on holiday back in early October.
On Monday, Kyrgios lost to Felix Auger Aliassime (5-7, 3-6). The Australian is usually great at holding serve, but in this case, there was none of that.
Felix took four games on the receiving end. As a rule, Kyrgios very rarely gives his opponents so many gifts.
Last week, Kyrgios lost in Riyadh to Cameron Norrie in a match that was in under a ten-point form.
In the match against Novak, unfortunately, he has even less chance. The Serb is stronger in all aspects of the game and Novak’s current form is excellent. There is no point in comparing Nick’s season, even though it was good, with Novak’s. This is nothing compared to what Novak has shown this year. Maybe we should think about some kind of fight at the expense of the serve, but in the match with Felix, Nick allowed himself to give up his serve 4 times.
Falcons: Novak Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov, Aryna Sabalenka, Paula Badosa.
Eagles: Nick Kyrgios, Rohan Bopanna, Andreas Seppi, Bianca Andreescu, Caroline Garcia.
Type of Court – Indoor Hard
Speed of Court – 8/10
Novak Djokovic’s Rating – 5
Novak Djokovic Wins/Losses in 2022 – 42/7
Nick Kyrgios’s Rating – 22
Nick Kyrgios Wins/Losses in 2022 – 37/10
Kyrgios leads with a score of 2-1 in the head-to-head encounters. The last time they met was at Wimbledon in July. In that match, Djokovic defeated Kyrgios (4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6) in four sets.
The match will be played in Center Court, Coca-Cola Arena, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
We recommend checking out the odds for the World Tennis League 2022: Novak Djokovic vs Nick Kyrgios at 1xBet.