Barcelona SF previews and predictions: Nadal vs. Kohlschreiber, Nishikori vs. Paire

Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori have won 10 of the last 11 Barcelona titles and they are one round away from a potential showdown in the 2016 final. They first have to get past Philipp Kohlschreiber and Benoit Paire, respectively, on Saturday.

(1) Rafael Nadal vs. (10) Philipp Kohlschreiber

Nadal is coming off a ninth title in Monte-Carlo and he is now two wins away from accomplishing the same feat at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. On the heels of a disappointing 2015 campaign, the fifth-ranked Spaniard also started slow this year and his American hard-court swing ended with a retirement in the Miami second round. But Nadal is heating up during his favorite and most important part of the season and he is all the way up to No. 2 in the race to London. So far in Barcelona, the top seed has taken out Marcel Granollers, Albert Montanes, and Fabio Fognini all in straight sets.

Up next for Nadal on Saturday is a 13th career contest against Kohlschreiber, who is a futile 1-11 in the head-to-head series. Kohlschreiber’s lone victory came on the grass courts of Halle in 2012, when a fatigued Nadal had just lifted the French Open trophy for a seventh time. On clay, the 27th-ranked German is is 0-3 against Nadal at the ATP level and 0-6 in total sets. Kohlschreiber is a stellar 15-7 for his 2016 campaign following victories this week over Pablo Carreno Busta, Feliciano Lopez, and Andrey Kuznetsov. The 10th should be especially confident after cruising past Kuznetsov 6-3, 6-1 on Friday, but there is no reason to think he can turned the tide against Nadal on this surface or at this particular event. Kohlschreiber is an extremely consistent performer and rock-solid all-court player, but he does not have the huge firepower with which to seriously trouble Nadal.

Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 8 games or fewer

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(6) Benoit Paire vs. (2) Kei Nishikori

Nishikori and Paire will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers and for the third time since last summer when they meet again on Saturday. The head-to-head series is all tied up at two wins apiece after Paire pulled off a pair of upsets in 2015. During first-round action at the U.S. Open, the Frenchman saved two match points before overcoming Nishikori 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4. Paire also prevailed 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the Tokyo semifinals. Nishikori’s victories have come in straight sets on the indoor hard courts of Paris in 2012 and in four sets at the 2013 French Open.

They are now set for a second consecutive showdown in a 500-point semifinal. Paire’s presence in the last four is not entirely expected even though he is the No. 6 seed, because the 26-year-old had lost five of six matches prior to last week and he blew a set and 3-0 lead against Andy Murray in the Monte-Carlo third round. He has bounced back in Barcelona with defeats of Teymuraz Gabashvili, Pablo Cuevas, and Malek Jaziri. Nishikori is the two-time defending champion of this event and he is back in the semis thanks to straight-set wins at the expense of Thiemo De Bakker, Jeremy Chardy, and Alexandr Dolgopolov. Once again in awesome form at a tournament he clearly loves, the world No. 6 should be able to avenge his recent losses to Paire without too much trouble.

Pick: Nishikori in 2

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