Kei Nishikori is unaccustomed to facing seeded opponents in the first rounds of tournaments, but that will be the case when he runs into Tomas Berdych on Monday in Monte-Carlo. Denis Shapovalov and Stefanos Tsitsipas are also in action.
Kei Nishikori vs. (12) Tomas Berdych
Berdych and Nishikori will be squaring off for the sixth time in their careers when they collide in round one of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Monday. Nishikori is leading the head-to-head series 4-1, but Berdych won their only previous clay-court encounter 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 at this same Monte-Carlo tournament in 2012. The two veterans have not faced each other since 2015, when Nishikori prevailed 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 during round-robin competition at the World Tour Finals.
Relative inactivity on Nishikori’s part is a big reason for a lack of meetings between these two competitors. Most recently sidelined by a wrist injury, the 28-year-old from Japan has won only four ATP-level matches this season and registers at 39th in the rankings. Healthy but apparently past his prime at 32 years old, Berdych is toiling away at No. 18 in the world and he is coming off consecutive third-round exits in Indian Wells and Miami. The Czech, however, at least managed to make a quarterfinal run at the Australian Open. Based on current form, Berdych–who also has an easier time hitting through a slow clay court–should have the edge on Monday.
Pick: Berdych in 2
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Denis Shapovalov vs. (Q) Stefanos Tsitsipas
Shapovalov and Tsitsipas will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the second time in 2018. They previously met in round one of the Australian Open, where Shapovalov coasted 6-1, 6-3, 7-6(5). A rematch between these two up-and-coming stars should be more competitive, because Tsitsipas has since reached the Dubai quarterfinals and the Indian Wells third round (lost to Dominic Thiem in three sets). Five of the 19-year-old Greek’s nine career ATP-level match wins have already come this season.
One year younger but far more experienced than his opponent on this stage, Shapovalov owns 25 career victories on the main tour–including 11 in 2018. The 45th-ranked Canadian, a semifinalist at the 2017 Rogers Cup and a fourth-round performer at the U.S. Open, recently advanced to the last 16 in Miami. Tsitsipas will be aided by the fact that he already has two matches under his belt in Monte-Carlo (beat Florent Diep and Mirza Basic in qualifying), but Shapovalov is at a different level right now and clay should not be a bad surface for his game.
Pick: Shapovalov in 3
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