John Isner hopes to continue his Miami run during Thursday’s quarterfinals but it gets even tougher against a red-hot Kei Nishikori. Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer are also in action.
(4) Kei Nishikori vs. (22) John Isner
Isner’s 2015 campaign got off to a disastrous start, but as usual he has heated up in the friendly confines of the United States as he heads into the Miami Open quarterfinals on Thursday. The 6’10” American’s 3-5 record through eight matches included a Davis Cup loss to Great Britain’s James Ward. Fast forward a few weeks, though, and Isner has a fourth-round performance in Indian Wells to his credit plus wins in Miami over Andrey Rublev, Grigor Dimitrov, and Milos Raonic–the latter in a third-set tiebreaker.
Nishikori has had no such competitive matches, and that is putting it mildly. In fact, the world No. 5 has not even surrendered more than two games in a single set while destroying Mikhail Youzhny (6-2, 6-1), Viktor Troicki (6-2, 6-2), and David Goffin (6-1, 6-2). Strong play in Miami is nothing out of the ordinary for Nishikori, who reached the semifinals last year before being forced to withdraw. The fourth seed is obviously not going to beat Isner by the convincing scorelines of the previous rounds, but his form does mean that the underdog must serve unbelievably well in order to have a chance. In neutral rallies from the baseline, of course, this is going to be one-way traffic.
Pick: Nishikori in 3
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(1) Novak Djokoic vs. (6) David Ferrer
Whereas Isner and Nishikori are squaring off for the first time ever, Djokovic and Ferrer will be facing each other for the 19th time in their careers on Thursday. The top-ranked Serb leads the head-to-head series 13-5, including 11-2 on hard courts and seven in a row overall. Their last meeting also came in the quarterfinals of a hard-court Masters 1000, with Djokovic dominating 6-4, 6-2 last fall in Shanghai.
Djokovic, who is attempting to accomplish the Indian Wells-Miami double, has struggled at times while trying to bounce back from a productive but long fortnight in the desert. He has dropped sets to both Martin Klizan and Alexandr Dolgopolov, even trailing the Ukrainian by a set and 3-0. Djokovic’s other win came over Steve Darcis, who served for the second set of their third-round clash. Ferrer, meanwhile, has made mincemeat out of Federico Delbonis, Lukas Rosol, and Gilles Simon. The seventh-ranked Spaniard is 22-2 on the season. Current form suggests Ferrer can make this competitive, but at some point Djokovic is going to answer one of his wake-up calls and it would not be surprising if it comes against an opponent whom he has owned of late.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
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