Kei Nishikori vs Matthias Bachinger Tennis Prediction

Kei Nishikori will kickstart his grass season by entering the main draw of ATP Halle for the sixth consecutive season. The Japanese #1 is yet to play a match since losing to Dominic Thiem in the R16 of the French Open three weeks back, including a second set bagel, 2-6 0-6 7-5 4-6.
Only once in his previous five appearances at Halle, Kei Nishikori had returned without securing a win, in 2013, when he lost to Mikhail Youzhny. Since then, he has made the quarterfinal twice (2014 and 2015) and the round of 16 twice (2016 and 2017).
Former world #4 Kei Nishikori would probably be satisfied with the progress he has made since making his comeback from the wrist surgery. He has gone 20/9 so far in 2018, which includes a runner-up finish at Monte Carlo, semifinal at New York and a quarterfinal at Rome.
Matthias Bachinger fought back from a set down against Vasek Pospisil and scored a comfortable straight set win over Denis Istomin to make only his second main draw appearance in a tour-level event this season (excluding grand slams).
The 31-year-old German was granted a wildcard into the main draw of ATP Munich last month where he defeated Mikhail Kukushkin in the first round but lost to Hyeon Chung in the second.
This is already a successful week for Matthias Bachinger considering he failed to get out of the qualifying stages here in his previous four appearances, in 2008, 2009, 2014 and 2015.
These two players met recently in the R16 of Dallas Challenger earlier this season when Kei Nishikori was on the comeback trail but still managed to secure a comeback win (4-6 6-4 6-4). A fully fit Nishikori should be able to win this matchup comfortably.

Tennis Prediction: Kei Nishikori 2-0 SET
Odds: 1.64