Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will continue their Acapulco campaigns during quarterfinal action on Thursday. Djokovic has an intriguing contest on his hands against Nick Kyrgios, while Nadal is a heavy favorite over Yoshihito Nishioka.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (6) Nick Kyrgios
Djokovic and Kyrgios will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they battle for a place in the semifinals of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel on Thursday. For a moment it looked like this showdown would pit Kyrgios against Juan Martin Del Potro, but Djokovic recovered from a break down in the third set to outlast the Argentine 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in an entertaining thriller that lasted two hours and 38 minutes on Wednesday night. The second-ranked Serb, who is bouncing back from a second-round Australian Open loss to Denis Istomin, preceded his victory over Del Potro by beating Martin Klizan 6-3, 7-6(4) on Tuesday.
Kyrgios’ trek to the last eight has been mostly straightforward, although he did drop his opening set of the week to Dudi Sela and managed to get into some controversy with Israeli fans. The 17th-ranked Australian ended up cruising past Sela 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 before defeating Donald Young 6-2, 6-4 in round two. Kyrgios will have to serve better than he did against Young (78 percent of first-serve points won, 55 percent of second-serve points one) if he has hopes of upsetting one of the best returners in the game.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
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(Q) Yoshihito Nishioka vs. (2) Rafael Nadal
Nadal is showing no signs of any hangover in the aftermath of a brutal five-set loss to Roger Federer in the Australian Open final, and that is putting it mildly. Not only has the sixth-ranked Spaniard won his first two matches in Acapulco, but he has also done so while dropping a total of nine games in four sets–including a 6-1, 6-1 beatdown of Paolo Lorenzi on Wednesday night. Nadal is now 12-0 lifetime at this tournament, although his first 10 victories (and two titles) came on clay courts.
Up next for the No. 2 seed on Thursday is a first-ever meeting with Nishioka, who has already picked up four victories this week. The world No. 86 from Japan earned a place in the main draw by beating Tobias Kamke and Ryan Harrison before getting the best of Jack Sock and Jordan Thompson. Nishioka has needed three sets in each of his last three wins, which will not help his chances given that he is a counter-puncher who will be scrambling all over the court against an opponent who has been playing encouragingly aggressive tennis in Acapulco.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 5-7 games
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@ nadline 11:20 am,
You are probably right! I expected Rafa to deal with Nishioka in a better manner thus being able to save his knees from additional stress. All I want is Rafa saving himself for bigger events and more dangerous opponents. I am SO worried about him aggravating injury at this point when he is clearly on the upper path with his game and fitness back on the right level.
I am also cautious about assessing Rafa’s game because every time in the past three years I though our Rafa was back he would go and lose when I least expected it…I still mourn over the AO final which Rafa should have won…
I too expected him to win easily but I’m relieved that he righted the ship. I was looking forward to his explanation about the way the match started, almost as if he was nervous to play this guy, for reasons best known to himself. Rafa ought to grow a bit of swagger and believe in himself more. The other top guys believe they can beat anyone but Rafa always shows his opponents too much respect.
I think all his fans are playing the long game, not getting too carried away with every glimmer of light on his form, but I’m more hopeful now because I know his bad form in the last few years is due to injury.
Djoker’s presser lasted 24 seconds
(How did you feel)
“not great”
“He has a big serve, he deserved to win. Congrats.”
“That’s it.”
http://www.abiertomexicanodetenis.com/audios/2017/conferencia_Ndjokovic_Mar_02.m4a
In his on court interview, you can tell Rafa was unsatisfied with his play.
He brought up his opponent playing well and the windy conditions. He said it in such a way that while he thought they were factors that made it worse, it really came down to his level.
“It’s true that I played not that well **like this before** but for me so important to keep winning when I’m not playing my best…”
But more interesting and this is something new when Rafa says about his next opponent…
“Well he is one of the best players of the world without a doubt no? I am excited to play this match tomorrow.”
and significantly…
“I need to play a great level of tennis if I want to have chances and that is what I’m going to try.”
Rafa has always said the same before his match.
exactly!
It. Was. A. Joke.
Hawkeye,
??