Tokyo R2 previews and predictions: Wawrinka vs. Shapovalov, Nishikori vs. Paire

Stan Wawrinka will take on Denis Shapovalov for the first time in the Tokyo second round on Wednesday, while tournament favorite Kei Nishikori is going up against Benoit Paire. Nishikori lost to Paire at this event in 2015.

Stan Wawrinka vs. Denis Shapovalov

Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka spent the better part of the year struggling to gain traction after a long injury layoff. By June of this year, Wawrinka’s ranking bottomed out at No. 263 in the world. A decent summer hard-court swing and a semifinal showing in St. Petersburg two weeks ago sees the Swiss back inside the top 100 at No. 74.

Canada’s Denis Shapovalov is ranked 31st in the world, due in large part to his performance in the first half of the 2018 season. He has mostly managed to win a couple matches at a time before bowing out of the last few tournaments, including a disappointing second-round loss in Shenzhen last week to Yoshihito Nishioka.

There is some inconsistency on both sides of the net. Shapovalov–at age 19–has younger, undoubtedly fresher legs, while Wawrinka is an experienced champion with incentive of a reinstated 32-seed draw at the Australian Open for which to aim.

Cheryl pick: Wawrinka in 3

Ricky pick: Shapovalov in 3

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(3) Kei Nishikori vs. Benoit Paire

Kei Nishikori has the benefit of playing on home turf when he is in Tokyo. Japan’s top player is a wildly popular athlete in his home country and will have the vocal support of the crowd behind him in his bid against Benoit Paire.

Nishikori made an impressive run to the semifinals of the U.S. Open, where he ran into eventual champion Novak Djokovic, following a quarterfinal showing at Wimbledon. His strong performances at the majors boosted his ranking to just outside the top 10 at world No. 12.

Paire sits at No. 63, but he does have the distinction of having beaten Nishikori in the Tokyo semis back in 2015. He hasn’t been in the best form recently, however. The Frenchman has failed to string two wins in a row together since he made the third round in Wimbledon. Decided edge to Nishikori to move on.

Cheryl pick: Nishikori in 3

Ricky pick: Nishikori in 2

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