Andy Murray vs Kei Nishikori
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World No. 1 Andy Murray has not really been in the form that secured him the top rank last year, but he has appeared to be limping back to shape. Murray has suffered a number of ailments in the past few months – shingles, the flu, an ankle injury and more while trying to defend a significant number of points.
That has likely taken as much of a toll mentally on the Scot as it has physically, and unlike the other top players, Murray has not taken a hiatus or break of any sort from the sport.
Although he has had very early exits at a number of tournaments this year – among them his Australian Open exit, the World No. 1 has appeared to be regaining a lot of his mental fortitude. His game is still not back to its 100% – as evinced by a couple of his performances already, but he is mentally tuned into the Slam and fighting opponents with his signature resilience, a mark of his game over the years.
Murray’s feistiness could overcome the physical shortcomings in his current game here.
Nishikori has defeated Murray in only two of the pair’s 10 matches so far, but outlasted the Scot in a mammoth five setter at the US Open last year – one of Nishikori’s career-best performances. They have only played each other once on clay, with Murray taking a simple straight sets win at the time.
The Japanese World No. 9 has looked a bit tired and absent from his matches, and yesterday even got bageled in set 1 by his rival, Fernando Verdasco, but mounted an unexpected – and quite brilliant – comeback to take that match in four sets – proving he still has the firepower, both mentally and physically, to return to in-form players.
That said, Nishikori has struggled with injuries all his career – something that has continued this year; he is no slouch on clay, winning the Barcelona Open twice in the past – but this year was forced to withdraw with an injured wrist.
With Murray still not at his top level and Nishikori left with some fuel in the tank, we don’t think this will necessary be an edge-of-the-seat match, but it will definitely be well-fought.
Prediction: Andy Murray to win in four sets
