A pair of intriguing quarterfinal showdowns will take place on Thursday in Miami. Milos Raonic looks to continue his hot streak at the expense of Nick Kyrgios, while Kei Nishikori faces Gael Monfils.
(12) Milos Raonic vs. (24) Nick Kyrgios
Raonic and Kyrgios will be squaring off for the fourth time in their careers and for the first time on a hard court when they collide in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open on Thursday. The head-to-head series stands at 2-1 in favor of Raonic, who prevailed at two consecutive majors in 2014; 6-3, 7-6(1), 6-3 in the French Open first round and 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(4) in the last 32 at Wimbledon. The two big hitters faced each other again at the All-England Club last summer, when Kyrgios scored a 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(3), 6-3 victory.
Not even an adductor strain has prevented Raonic from being No. 2 in the race to London behind Novak Djokovic this season. When healthy, the 12th-ranked Canadian has been nothing short of awesome. He captured a title in Brisbane, reached the Australian Open semifinals, and finished runner-up to Djokovic in Indian Wells. Raonic is 17-2 for his 2016 campaign following straight-set wins this fortnight over Denis Kudla, Jack Sock, and Damir Dzumhur. Kyrgios has advanced in similarly routine fashion at the expense of Marcos Baghdatis, Tim Smyczek, and Andrey Kuznetsov. Needless to say, both men capitalized on the early exits from their section of the draw by Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka. Kyrgios is 11-2 since the Aussie Open and his only two setbacks during this stretch can be chalked up to physical problems (he retired against Stan Wawrinka in Dubai and was ill in an Indian Wells loss to Albert Ramos-Vinolas). But this will be the 20-year-old’s toughest test by far since his February run to the Marseille title and it is one that may be too tough given Raonic’s current form.
Pick: Raonic in 2
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(6) Kei Nishikori vs. (16) Gael Monfils
Surprisingly, Nishikori and Monfils will be going head-to-head for just the second time in their careers on Thursday despite having been on tour together for 10 years. Their only previous encounter came two years ago on the grass courts of Halle, where Nishikori got the job done 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. The world No. 6 is in fine form this season and has advanced to his second consecutive Masters 1000 quarterfinal thanks to straight-set victories this fortnight over Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Alexandr Dolgopolov, and Roberto Bautista Agut. Nishikori is through to his third straight Miami quarterfinal, including a semifinal run in 2014.
It is no secret that Monfils has been preoccupied with entertainment as opposed to results at various times during his solid but unfulfilling career. This tournament has not not been one of those times. A hungry, no-nonsense Frenchman has been on display in defeats of Tatsuma Ito, Pablo Cuevas, and Grigor Dimitrov. Only Dimitrov managed to snag a set during Monfils’ trek to the last eight, but the world No. 16 bounced back to win 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday. Nishikori, however, absolutely thrives at this event and he looked outstanding in his 6-2, 6-4 fourth-round rout of Bautista Agut. In the end, the sixth seed should be slightly superior in both the mental and physical departments.
Pick: Nishikori in 3
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1st set. Kei has no answer…yet. Might be starting to adjust. He came out nervous serving and Gael got the early break, held, and Gael is being brilliant. 😀
Monfils played great tennis like this beating Federer in Monte Carlo last year. He has the 1st 6-4 and it looked easy for him!
Kei’s 2nd serve – easy pickings. Lots of pressure serving but holds. Better start to the 2nd set.
it’s turning around now
LaMonf – He’s hanging on! just one thin break down.
Kei rushing it – too many blown chances.
Working the crowd, is Gael. He holds! 5-4
Feels like Gael can do it…
le Monf’s 2nd set has always been a liability. It’s what loses him so many matches.
Kei over-hitting kinda like Simon was 3rd set! Break point …saved. deuce. another bp got it!
On serve 4-4.
Kei & Raonic
Kyrgios for the win.
When all seemed lost this match has come alive.
just needs to break now.
Monfils is running on an empty tank but now Nishikori is serving to stay in the match.
This is the best match I have seen so far in Miami this year.
Match points for Gael… 3rd mp…deuce. Gosh Kei saved all of those. AD Nishi. Error Kei. Deuce. Another over-hit fh. mp #4 Gael. deuce. Great game! AD Nishi. Can he make it?…nope. deuce again. Good Volley Kei. AD Nishi. Sheeesh…Kei saved 4 mp. What a fight.
5-5 hard fought.
le Monf held multiple match points but failed to convert. Doubt he can hold on much longer. They’ll need a stretcher to get him off the court.
Monfils is good at playing dead but on this occasion I don’t think he is faking it.
Holysmoke. Nishi serving again to stay in the match.
Easy hold to 6 games for Gael. 6-5
Now Kei will try to get this to a TB. Gael needs to break to win now.
Oh….m…g. Kei saves 5th mp. Deuce. Serve and Volley. AD IN Kei. Passing shot beauty Gael! Deuce. Serve and Volley. AD IN Kei. GAME. Kei. Tie break. WOW.
WWOW! I just got home to see that this match is in a TB! I thought that Monfils would lose when he was down a break earlier in the set when I left.
rc,
Thanks for the play-by-play summary!
Glad you liked it, Nny. This match was so good but Gael ? sad he lost.
And I’m a big Kei fan, you know. Wanted Gael to make this SF as a reward for his great efforts in Miami.
And the next match – I don’t want to annoy the heck out everyone with pro-Nick excitement … There’s only 2 or 3 here that like him!
Nishikori wins.
Too bad that Monfils wasn’t able to get the win. But I am glad that he made a match of it.
The ESPN commies are saying this loss will sting for Monfils.
When you can’t close it out, then it comes back to bite you in the end!
That was a tough match to lose.
Nishikori vs Kyrgios should be a good Semifinal.
Yep!
Nick serving pants. But somehow still up 3-1
3-2 Better serving from Milos. lol at Nick with a SABR attempt.
Yeah, lot of Fed’s influence on Nick as I said…Nick isn’t playing well, not even close to his best…
That’s a tough loss for la monf. Five match points. So sad he lost. He’s been playing so well this year and I feel like he really deserved this match after all the fight he showed from a break down in that final set. I think he needed this win more than Kei. Huge opportunity Monfils he just misses out on. And if Kyrgios wins this we have just barely missed out on an epic Kyrgios/Monfils SF clash. Monfils now at 15-5 on the season. I hope he can put this loss behind him and get back to work and make another good run. Whether he’s playing super business like or not, he’s got way too much talent not to make a big run at one of these upcoming masters 1000s. He made the semis at Monte Carlo last year so hopefully he can have a good clay court season again. ALLEZ LA MONF!! ??????
+1. Benny G. Hope he can get right back to work.
Kyrgios serving for the set. Told the ump “quit looking at me” hahaha never a dull moment.
Ace. 15-15. 2nd serve – un-returnable. 30-15. DF. 30-30. 2nd serve. 30-40. Break chance Milosh. Nick can’t get a 1st serve. But bp saved. deuce. ACE. AD Nick. Gets it.
1st set Kyrgios. erratic serving.
Kyrgios and Raonic is a pretty good match so far. Both guys struggling a bit but Nick has come up with some bigger shots and is serving for it up 5-4 after this changeover. Let’s go Nick!! ??????