The top four seeds in the top half of the French Open draw have all advanced to quarterfinal Wednesday. Andy Murray is going up against familiar foe Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka is facing Marin Cilic.
(1) Andy Murray vs. (8) Kei Nishikori
Murray and Nishikori will be squaring off for the 11th time in their careers when they clash in the quarterfinals of the French Open on Wednesday. The head-to-head series stands at 8-2 in favor of Murray, but dating back to the start of 2016 the story has been pure competitiveness. Three of their last four encounters have required final sets, including a Davis Cup first-round rubber (taken by Murray at home in Great Britain), at the U.S. Open (won by Nishikori), and at the World Tour Finals (Murray).
Nishikori has already gone the distance once at Roland Garros, needing five sets to subdue up-and-coming Korean Hyeon Chung in the third round. Japan’s top player appeared to be in line for another tough day–or even worse–at the office when he faced Fernando Verdasco in round four, but Nishikori recovered from a disastrous opening set to prevail 0-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-0. The world No. 9 preceded those results by beating Thanasi Kokkinakis in four and Jeremy Chardy in straights. Murray has advanced with victories over Andrey Kuznetsov, Martin Klizan, Juan Martin Del Potro, and Karen Khachanov, dropping sets only to Kuznetsov and Klizan. The No. 1 seed has picked up the pace in his last two outings and it would be typical of Nishikori to follow up an impressive performance with an injury-plague letdown in his next match.
Pick: Murray in 3
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(3) Stan Wawrinka vs. (7) Marin Cilic
Rafael Nadal has surrendered a mere 20 games through four rounds and Cilic is No. 2 in that department this fortnight (26). Although it must be said that the eighth-ranked Croat has benefited from a favorable draw, he has also been extremely impressive. He has not surrendered more than three games in any set while disposing of Ernests Gulbis, Konstantin Kravchuk, Feliciano Lopez, and Kevin Anderson (the latter retired in the second set on Monday). This a much-needed stellar result on the big stage for Cilic, who compiled a combined 5-6 record at slams and Masters 1000s earlier this season but captured a title on the red clay of Istanbul.
Up next for the seventh seed is a 14th career contest against Wawrinka, who is dominating the head-to-head series 11-2. The third-ranked Swiss is 4-0 against Cilic on clay and 1-0 at Roland Garros, having gotten the job done 7-6(3), 7-6(4), 6-1 in 2008. Wawrinka triumphed at this event last spring for his third career Grand Slam title and he is suddenly looking like a contender once again. The 32-year-old slumped earlier in 2017 but lifted the Geneva trophy late last month and is now riding an eight-match winning streak. Especially on this surface, Wawrinka will be able to hit through the court more easily than Cilic–most notably on the backhand side.
Pick: Wawrinka in 4
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3 out of the 4 semi-finalists would have not lost a set if Stan wins in straights :O
Nice one vmk1.
#SomethingsGottaGive
Yes,only Murray did it the hard way.
I’m a bit worried that things have been too easy for Rafa so far. There wasn’t one opponent who was even remotely challenging. Thiem will be the first. It’s great of course at his age that he could save so much energy – very different from the AO. But, as others have also stated, he might be a tad undercooked. On the other hand this is clay and RG. With his great experience and clay expertise Rafa doesn’t need to win challenging matches in order to keep his mojo running. And from now on the true challenge begins for Rafa. If he survives the Thiem hurdle (which is likely but certainly not a given) he will have mastered the second best clay courter of the season, and will then meet a multiple slam winner in the final – most likely a recent former RG champ. That would’ve been impossible until 2015. But yes, the last couple of years has indeed produced two RG champs not named Nadal 😉
Nishikori a break down in the second set.
I think he’s a tremendous value @2.5++ now. Will win in 4 IMO
Can’t wait for the grass season. Fed 95% will win Stuttgart next week based on the weak lineup; he’s never won it before. Halle will be somewhat challenging, lineup is a little steeper. Winning Wimbledon though will be a challenge, he’s certainly the favorite but he’s not an overwhelming one like Rafa was for FO.
Looks like Stan is officially Stanimal now.
Nishi is not done yet. He’s giving Murray a real battle. The tennis channel commies said that Murray was complaining to his box about his legs. When he tried to accelerate his legs just let him down.
Sure enough, Nishi breaks back.
6-6 TB
Nishi has lost it in the TB.
5-0 Murray
Nishi slams his racket after getting blanked in the TB.
Nishi went away in the fourth set. Murray gets through, although he wasn’t that impressive.
What a complete dork.
https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/872504387570089984/kVe8OFmF?format=jpg&name=600×314
#RafaBomaye
Hawks, I know you absolutely despise “CB”, but man oh man do I want a Rafa/Stan final so badly!! What is the one thing that could make this La Decima even sweeter for you, Hawks? If Rafa were to La Decimate Stan to GET La Decima! 🙂
#TheyCallMeBigPun
Actually, I don’t think that was even a pun haha… Play on words, perhaps?
Stan just too much for Cilic, who played well in stretches but couldn’t maintain it. When his serve is working along with his ground strokes like today, I can’t see Murray beating him.
I know everyone here wants Rafa to win, but I think a Stan-Thiem final would be dynamite.