ATP Tournament in Atlanta, Quarterfinals, Friday, 28.07.2023
Now he also reports back at one of the bigger tournaments. After a two-year break, tennis icon Kei Nishikori is serving again and at the ATP Atlanta he is attacking a 250 for the first time.
He survived the first two rounds without losing a set, but had to play out three tiebreaks in four rounds. Will it also be nerve-wracking against the favourite Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals? I’ll go into that in my Fritz Nishikori tip.
In the spring, Fritz still achieved his best career ranking of all time. He also showed a strong side at the first clay court tournaments in Monaco and Munich, reaching the semi-finals in each case.
After that, the US-American stumbled a bit, especially on grass, not much went right for the strong-serving Fritz.
In 2022, he still won eight of his eleven matches, this year he even has a negative record with three wins from seven matches.
Therefore, Fritz had to take a three-week break after Wimbledon, as he will play his 18th tournament of the year in Atlanta. As the top seed, he was allowed to skip the first round.
In the second round he had to face Yibing Wu (6-4, 7-6). His first match on hard court was a complete success over two sets. He surrendered only one service game, served ten aces and produced no double faults.
He is the favourite against Nishikori (3.20 odds). At 1.36 odds, however, Bet365 is taking a cautious approach.
After all, Nishikori was able to convince after his two-year absence. In his first Challenger tournament in Puerto Rico, he started directly with a tournament victory, losing only one set against Mitchell Krueger.
However, the level of competition was limited, none of his opponents are in the top 250 in the world. His first defeat came against Denis Kudla in Bloomfield Hills.
Alex Michelsen then stopped him in the quarter-finals in Chicago. In Atlanta, however, Nishikori was able to take the next step.
With his success against Jordan Thompson, he was able to defeat a top 100 player for the first time again. He also had no major problems against Juncheng Shang.
After less than a month of playing, he is already in a quarter-final against a top 10 player. With ten wins from twelve matches, a more than successful comeback.
But whether the former world number four can stand up to Fritz at this stage? Like the betting companies, I dare to doubt it.
If you want slightly higher odds on Fritz winning, you could bet on “Fritz wins the first set and the match”. Bet365 offers 1.57 for this combination. For the riskier 2:0, the bet would already be doubled.
Fritz does not have good memories of the first duels. In 2019, he suffered two two-set defeats within a month at the hands of Nishikori on clay.
Shortly before Fritz reached the top 100 for the first time, he was allowed to play Nishikori for the first time as an 18-year-old. But he also failed to win a set in the premiere duel.
My Fritz Nishikori Tip
After four years, Fritz has the chance to get revenge on Nishikori for three straight 2-0 defeats. By now, he is a more mature tennis player with much more qualities on court.
Nishikori is still on his long road to top form after the long break and should have a hard time against a top-10 player. Even though the win against Thompson was already a pointer.
I expect the world number nine to get through his service games much more easily and take a few off the Japanese and win the match.
My Fritz Nishikori tip: Fritz wins 2:0
