Marin Cilic will try to make a late push for World Tour Finals qualification when he begins his Asian swing on Monday in Tokyo. Cilic is going up against Benoit Paire, while Kei Nishikori kicks off his bid to regain the title by facing Nicolas Almagro.
(4) Marin Cilic vs. Benoit Paire
Cilic and Paire will be squaring off for the third time in their careers when they clash in round one of the Rakuten Japan Open on Monday afternoon. The head-to-head series is tied 1-1; Paire prevailed 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 three years ago in Chennai before Cilic got the job done 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-3 earlier this season on the indoor hard courts of Marseille. The fourth-seeded Croat’s 2016 campaign has been solid but unspectacular, and it includes a title at the Cincinnati Masters in addition to a run by Croatia to the Davis Cup final (Cilic and company will host Argentina).
Paire appeared to be focused and motivated during the second half of 2015, but this year has been a borderline disaster for the Frenchman. His ranking of No. 38 in the world (as of Sunday) has him unseeded in Tokyo and at the moment would leave him on the outside looking in for a seed at the 2017 Australian Open. Paire is a mere 22-27 for the season after falling to Janko Tipsarevic in last week’s Shenzhen second round. There is no reason to think the underdog will suddenly turn things around at the expense of a relatively in-form Cilic.
Pick: Cilic in 2
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(1) Kei Nishikori vs. Nicolas Almagro
Nishikori actually lost to Paire in the semifinals of this event last year, but the crowd favorite is still 17-6 lifetime in Tokyo with titles in 2012 and 2014. He beat Milos Raonic in the final two seasons ago and picked up victories over Borna Coric, Sam Querrey, and Cilic last fall before succumbing to Paire 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. Nishikori is the obvious title favorite this time around as the No. 1 seed and owner of an awesome 51-15 record for the 2016 campaign. The fifth-ranked player in the world is coming off a semifinal performance at the U.S. Open, where he upset Andy Murray in five sets before succumbing to eventual champion Stan Wawrinka.
Nishikori is 8-1 in his last nine matches at this tournament since losing to none other than Almagro in the 2014 quarterfinals. The 48th-ranked Spaniard briefly evened the head-to-head series at one win apiece, but Nishikori is back out in front 2-1 thanks to a 6-4, 7-6(1), 6-2 victory in round one of this year’s Australian Open. Almagro has stayed injury free in 2016 and heads into Tokyo with a decent 20-18 record. But this is not the Almagro that was on display in 2014 and Nishikori should have no trouble treating the fans to a routine win.
Pick: Nishikori in 2
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Cilic and nishikori in two. Paire set to drop from his current position of around 36 to outside top 60. Lol
Same as Benny. lol if Paire (out of nowhere) defends his points here!
I no longer like this blogs predictions because all the predictions are bookie favorites all the time and when a upset happens, which is often, no one has a explanation for that. Of course if you just put all the favorites on daily picks your going to hit like 75% of the games always.