Nitto ATP Finals round-robin preview and prediction: Anderson vs. Nishikori

Kevin Anderson and Kei Nishikori will be squaring off for the ninth time in their careers at the ATP level and for the fourth time this season when they continue their rivalry during round-robin competition at the Nitto ATP Finals on Tuesday afternoon.

Nishikori leads the head-to-head series 5-3 following a recent 6-4, 6-4 victory at the Paris Masters. Anderson, however, had won their two previous 2018 encounters; 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(4) on the indoor hard courts of New York in February and 6-3, 7-6(3) in last month’s Vienna final.

These London festivities could not have gotten off to a better start for Nishikori, who upset Roger Federer 7-6(4), 6-3 on Sunday night. To say that result was a surprise would be an understatement; the Japanese world No. 9 had just lost to Federer in Shanghai and Paris and he had been a modest 4-7 lifetime at this tournament, whereas Federer was 11-0 in his last 11 round-robin matches.

Nishikori’s own form, however, was encouraging in advance of his arrival at the O2 Arena. The 28-year-old is 15-5 this fall, a hot streak that was set up by a quarterfinal performance at Wimbledon and a U.S. Open semifinal run.

Anderson’s 2018 campaign has been stellar from stat to finish–the best of his career, in fact. The 32-year-old, who is up to No. 6 in the world, advanced to his second Grand Slam final at Wimbledon before succumbing to Novak Djokovic. Anderson made his year-end championship debut on Sunday, when he got the best of Dominic Thiem 6-3, 7-6(10).
“It feels pretty good,” the 6’8” South African said when asked about the conditions inside the O2 Arena. “Obviously it’s indoor tennis, so it’s going to be on the quicker side. The court’s playing great. It feels maybe a little bit slower than Paris, but all in all I feel pretty well-adjusted to conditions now. It’s definitely taking the serve nicely. It’s still bounces up, so that’s always a good sign for me.”

Despite Nishikori’s more noteworthy result, it was actually Anderson who played much better tennis on Sunday. Nishikori finished with six winners and 22 errors while serving at 53 percent; Anderson was plus-seven in the winners-to-errors department, fired 13 aces, and won 91 percent of his first-serve points.

The No. 4 seed is better-suited to hit through this court with his power game and his serve in the crucial moments will likely be the x-factor.

Pick: Anderson in 3

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