Stan Wawrinka vs Kei Nishikori
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Third seed Stan Wawrinka has not had much form lately, but has played well to get to the semi-finals of the US Open this year. Perhaps the highlight of his campaign thus far at flushing meadows was that four setter in the quarter-finals against Argentine wildcard Juan Martin del Potro, who of late has been enjoying somewhat of a mammoth comeback.
After winning silver at the Olympic games with wins over Novak Djokovic in Round 1 and Rafael Nadal at the semi-finals, the Gentle Giant, who has struggled with wrist injuries and recuperating from surgeries, engaged the Swiss, who has two Grand Slam titles to his credit, to a long-drawn out four setter that went on until well past midnight.
Today Wawrinka is up against Japanese 6th seed Kei Nishikori, who has also been in good form this year. The 26-year-old, who finished runner-up at the US Open in 2014 to Marin Cilic, has been playing excellent tennis this season, and almost ousted Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Rome Masters ahead of Djokovic’s French Open win.
Based on seeding, many would give this one to Wawrinka, but based on form and recent performances, we think Nishikori is in this with a strong winning opportunity.
26-year-old Nishikori, who is Japan’s only top-10 tennis player in history, also recently won bronze at the Olympic Games in Rio 2016 after a strong battle against Rafael Nadal.
The pair’s rivalry is fairly even; although Wawrinka leads it 3-2, the pair are dead even in their head-to-head record on hard courts. They have in fact met at the US Open before – in 2014, with Nishikori eventually progressing to the finals.
The Japanese had taken that win in 5 very closely-contested sets.
The most recent outing between the pair, however, was decidedly one-sided. At the Montreal Masters this year, both Nishikori and Wawrinka made the semi-finals. (Inicidentally, the US Open semi-final draw is identical to that at the Rogers Cup.)
At that tournament, it was Nishikori who thoroughly outplayed Wawrinka as the match progressed. After taking the Japanese to tiebreak in set 1, Wawrinka lost his rhythm entirely, tumbling 1-6 in the first set as Nishikori progressed to the finals, where he eventually lost the title to Novak Djokovic.
Given Nishikori’s recent form, he could well be expected to take this one over Wawrinka, but one would be hard-pressed to call it an ‘upset’.
Prediction: Nishikori in four sets
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