Kei Nishikori will get another shot at Benoit Paire after losing to the Frenchman at the U.S. Open. Semifinal Saturday in Tokyo also pits Stan Wawrinka against Gilles Muller.
Benoit Paire vs. (2) Kei Nishikori
Five weeks after battling through a U.S. Open five-setter, Nishikori and Paire will face each other again during semifinal action at the Rakuten Japan Open on Saturday. In round one of the season’s final Grand Slam, Paire saved two match points in the fourth set before pulling off a 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 upset. The Frenchman trails the overall head-head-series 2-1, as Nishikori prevailed on the indoor hard courts of Paris in 2012 and via a 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-1 scoreline at the 2013 French Open.
Paire’s big win over Nishikori, arguably the best of his career, seems to have turned him into a different player–at least one that is more motivated and definitely stronger in the mental department. The 32nd-ranked Frenchman ended up reaching the fourth round in New York and so far in Tokyo he has won a trio of three-setters over tough opponents Grigor Dimitrov, Marcos Baghdatis, and Nick Kyrgios. Nishikori has also gone the distance twice, beating Borna Coric and Marin Cilic in addition to a straight-set defeat of Sam Querrey. The Japanese star is 15-1 in his last 16 matches in front of this crowd and two wins away from defending his title. There are some minor concerns surrounding his shoulder after he took a medical timeout against Cilic, but Nishikori should avenge his U.S. Open defeat as long as he is 100 percent.
Pick: Nishikori in 2
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(1) Stan Wawrinka vs. Gilles Muller
Wawrinka and Muller will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers and for the third time this season. Both of their previous encounters have gone Wawrinka’s way; 6-2, 7-6(4) to begin the year in Chennai and 7-6(3), 6-3 one month later on the indoor hard courts of Rotterdam, also in a quarterfinal clash. The Swiss is once again a considerable favorite on paper as the No. 4 player in the word and top seed in Tokyo. He punched his ticket to the last four by getting the best of Radek Stepanek, Tatsuma Ito, and Austin Krajicek, dropping one set to Ito in the process.
Muller presents a steep step up in competition from all three of Wawrinka’s previous adversaries based on his current form. Recent results for the 43rd-ranked Luxembourgian include a semifinal showing in Atlanta, a third-round performance in Montreal, a quarterfinal finish earlier this fall in Metz, and now the semis of Beijing. Muller advanced to the last four by defeating Kevin Anderson, Jeremy Chardy, and Gilles Simon all in straight sets. Even though Wawrinka is stringing together some positive results, including a semifinal at the U.S. Open, his form has been mostly below par since winning the French Open. Muller is looking poised to capitalize on a huge opportunity.
Pick: Muller in 3
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I’m taking nishikori in 3 cuz home court advantage and Stan in 3 cuz he will probably be more motivated now that he is this far in the tournament.
Though I’m like 51% sure on wawrinka so like basically that’s really close call for me. It might be partially cuz I am very very slightly rooting for Stan so maybe it’s just me being biased I dunno anyways I can’t wait for that match it should be great.
I think Nishi will get the win against Paire in 2 sets.
As for Stan and Muller, that one is harder to pick. Muller is really in great form right now. Stan’s path to the semis has been an easy one. I think this could go either way. We’ve seen Stan step up when he gets to the latter stages of a tournament. But Muller has to be feeling good about how he’s playing now.
I am going back and forth. I guess that I will go with Stan to pull out the win in 3 sets.
kei gets a free pass on choking…
?
B.Paire defeated K.Nishikori 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Did Nishikori have an injury – other than wouded pride? This would have been a humiliating loss of face in front of his countrymen.