Cincinnati R2 previews and predictions: Nishikori vs. Wawrinka, Djokovic vs. Mannarino

Oft-injured stars Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka will be back on the court in Cincinnati for second-round action on Wednesday. Making a 2018 comeback of his own, Novak Djokovic is going up against Adrian Mannarino.

Kei Nishikori vs. (WC) Stan Wawrinka

It won’t be your typical all-unseeded affair when Nishikori and Wawrinka face each other in round two of the Western & Southern Open on Wednesday. The former top-four players in the world are both ranked lower than usual due to various injury issues, but their respective comebacks have been encouraging at times. Wawrinka’s has featured more bumps along the way, but he ousted Grigor Dimitrov at Wimbledon, played eventual champion Rafael Nadal in a tight two-setter at last week’s Toronto Masters, and he is coming off a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Diego Schwartzman on Monday in Cincinnati.

Nishikori is back up to 23rd in the rankings and will obviously be seeded for the upcoming U.S. Open. The 28-year-old advanced to the quarterfinals at the All-England Club and he improved to a decent 23-12 for the season by taking care of Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-3 in his Cincinnati opener. This will be a tough test for Wawrinka, who remains inconsistent in his return to tennis and may struggle with his timing against an opponent who is an expert at taking time away by playing aggressive tennis right on top of the baseline. Moreover, Nishikori is 3-1 in the last four head-to-head meetings, with all three of his victories during this stretch coming in straight sets.

Pick: Nishikori in 2

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(10) Novak Djokovic vs. Adrian Mannarino

Djokovic and Mannarino will be squaring off for the fourth time in their careers and for the first time away from grass. All three of their previous encounters have gone the Serb’s way; 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(5) at Wimbledon in 2016, 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-4 at the same slam last summer, and 7-5, 6-1 in the recent Queen’s Club quarterfinals. Nothing suggests the tide will turn on hard courts, as grass is Mannarino’s favorite surface. The 28th-ranked Frenchman produced another strong performance in SW19 (lost to Roger Federer in the fourth round) but was 2-4 in his last six matches heading into Cincinnati. He picked up a much-needed win by beating Marco Cecchinato 6-7(7), 6-2, 7-6(7) on Sunday while saving one match point.

Match points were the story in Djokovic’s opener on Monday night, when he needed nine of them before holding off Steve Johnson 6-4, 7-6(4). The reigning Wimbledon champion is now 14-2 in his last 16 matches, with his only real blemish during this hot streak coming in the form of a 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3 Toronto loss to eventual runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas. Djokovic has never had any trouble with Mannarino and there is no reason to think anything will change on Wednesday.

Pick: Djokovic in 2 losing 5-7 games

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