Paris Masters 2018 Quarterfinal: Roger Federer vs Kei Nishikori, Preview and Prediction
In his pursuit of Title No. 100, Roger Federer could not have asked for a better start to his Paris Masters 2018 campaign. He had skipped the tournament in the previous two years, and this time too he was unsure until the very last moment whether to skip it for a third straight time.
A major reason for Federer’s hesitation in playing at Paris was that it was sandwiched between his home tournament, the ATP 500 Swiss Indoors at Basel and the ATP World Tour Finals which closely follows the Paris Masters.
After a gruelling title run at Basel, resting his 37-year-old body must have been high on his priority list. But despite playing Paris Masters this time round, he has been lucky to get enough rest. He has reached the quarter-final stage by playing just one match!
After a bye in the first round, he was expected to face a tough challenge from Milos Raonic in the Round of 32, after the Canadian won an epic three-set encounter against Jo-Wilfred Tsonga. But Milos withdrew from that match with injury, giving enough rest to Roger before the latter could play his first match after his Swiss Indoors victory.
In his only match so far in Paris, against the mercurial Fabio Fognini, Federer played well enough to ensure a straight-set victory, something of a rarity for him in recent times. However, his performance was far from impressive. His serving was especially below par. He managed a lowly 54% of first serve, and was even broken once.
The good thing going for the Swiss maestro is that despite not being at his best, he pulled off a straight-set victory, thus saving himself from possible fatigue before the quarter final. His quarter-final opponent, the Japanese Kei Nishikori, though, is showing signs of his old agile self in recent months, after a shaky return to tennis earlier this year from injury.
He has looked quite good at the Paris Masters so far. He has won both his matches in the tournament in straight sets and has not been broken even once. After a solid win over Adrian Mannarino, Kei avenged his recent Vienna Open final loss to Kevin Anderson in the Round of 16.
He seems to be very close to his absolute best. But to go one step closer to end his prolonged title drought, he will have to get it past Roger Federer. He has won two out of the eight matches that he has played against Roger. But his last win came way back in 2014 at Miami and since then he has lost to Federer five consecutive times.
Right now though, Kei seems to be on a good run of form. He has always had one of the best return games in men’s tennis. But he is serving well in Paris too. And he seems to be fully fit. A well-rested Federer may seem like the favourite on paper, but don’t be surprised if Nishikori secures his first win against the maestro in almost five years.
Prediction: Kei Nishikori to win in 3 sets