(6) Gael Monfils vs. (4) Kei NishikoriÂ
Nishikori and Monfils will be going head-to-head for only the third time in their careers when they collide in the quarterfinals of the Rio Olympics on Friday. Both of their previous meetings have gone Nishikori’s way; 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 on the grass courts of Halle in 2014 and 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) earlier this season in Miami. Japan’s top player ended up finishing runner-up to Novak Djokovic in Miami, just one of many highlights for Nishikori in 2016. Although he has endured some additional injury issues, Nishikori is 43-10 and coming off another runner-up showing at the Rogers Cup (also to Djokovic). So far in Rio de Janeiro he has defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas, John Millman, and Andrej Martin.
The story is a similar one for the oft-injured Monfils, who has managed to stay somewhat healthy this year. Perhaps even more importantly, the 11th-ranked Frenchman has been focused and motivated week in and week out. He is eighth in the race to London, with a 33-10 record that includes the biggest title of his career in Washington, D.C. Monfils booked his spot in these quarterfinals by cruising past Vasek Pospisil and Rogerio Dutra Silva before outlasting Marin Cilic 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-4. This is a favorable surface for the No. 6 seed, who can defend all day long on a slow court while also having the power to hit through it with his serve and when he unloads on his forehand.
Pick: Monfils in 3
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(12) Steve Johnson vs. (2) Andy Murray
Murray’s quest to back up his 2012 Olympic gold medal with another one, which would be a first in tennis, is still going strong as action heads into the quarterfinals on Friday. The second-ranked Scot almost saw his bid go up in smoke in the third round, but he recovered from a 3-0 deficit against Fabio Fognini in the final set to prevail 6-1, 6-2, 6-3. Having also taken care of Viktor Troicki and Juan Monaco, Murray is now halfway home to gold on the heels of his triumph in London four years ago.
Standing in the No. 2 seed’s way of the medal rounds is Johnson, who lost their only previous encounter 6-2, 6-4 last fall in Shanghai. This season, however, the American is playing by far the best tennis of his life. Johnson is up to 22nd in the rankings thanks to a recent hot streak that is highlighted by his first career ATP title in Nottingham, a fourth-round performance at Wimbledon, and a semifinal run in Washington, D.C. Now he is 6-1 in Rio–3-0 in singles and 3-1 in doubles (playing for the bronze medal with Jack Sock). Johnson advanced to the singles quarters by beating Darian King, Gastao Elias, and Evgeny Donskoy. Needless to say, the competition level increases exponentially in the form of Murray, whose return of serve and ability to exploit the Johnson backhand will likely be too much for the underdog to handle.
Pick:Â Murray in 2
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Murray and Nishikori
I am going with Monfils in 3 sets.
Murray in 2 sets.
When you look at the original predictions on this site, every one of them were wrong.
As expected it was an incredible match. Sad to see Gael lose the lead in the breaker though. Kei played two great points down 3-6 but the double fault by monfils at 6-5 was pretty unfortunate. Would’ve loved to see him in the semis.