Toronto QF previews and predictions: Wawrinka vs. Anderson, Nishikori vs. Dimitrov

What was once a budding rivalry of sorts will finally be getting renewed when Stan Wawrinka goes up against Kevin Anderson in the Toronto quarterfinals on Friday. Kei Nishikori and Grigor Dimitrov are also bidding for a place in the last four.

Kevin Anderson vs. (2) Stan Wawrinka

Wawrinka and Anderson will be squaring off for the ninth time in their careers when they battle for a semifinal spot at the Rogers Cup on Friday. The head-to-head series is all tied up at four wins apiece, with Wawrinka leading 4-2 on outdoor hard courts. They have not faced each other since the 2015 U.S. Open, where Wawrinka dominated a quarterfinal encounter 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 two days after Anderson had stunned Andy Murray in a fourth-round thriller.

Part of the reason for their relative drought in head-to-head showdowns is that injuries have been a major problem for Anderson this season. The 6’8” South African is just 8-11, in part because he has missed time due to shoulder and ankle issues. But he is currently in the midst of his best week in 2016, with victories in Toronto over Viktor Troicki, Dominic Thiem (via first-set retirement), and Bernard Tomic. Wawrinka had previously been 0-7 lifetime against top 30 opponents at this event before he took care of Jack Sock 7-6(3), 6-2 on Thursday. That was preceded by a 7-6(3), 7-6(8) defeat of Mikhail Youzhny during second-round action. Anderson has not run into anyone ranked as high as Wawrinka since his loss to the world No. 5 last summer in New York, so this is likely where the underdogs’s productive week comes to an end.

Pick: Wawrinka in 2

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Grigor Dimitrov vs. (3) Kei Nishikori

Not unlike in Anderson’s case,  a trip to the quarterfinals–and beyond?–of a Masters 1000 tournament is just what Dimitrov needed. Prior to his arrival in Toronto, the 40th-ranked Bulgarian lost opening matches seven times in the span of eight events. So far this week, however, the 25-year-old has picked up the pace to defeat Yuichi Sugita, Denis Shapovalov, and a red-hot Ivo Karlovic.

Up next for Dimitrov is a third career meeting with Nishikori, who leads the head-to-head series 2-0. The current world No. 6 prevailed 6-3, 6-4 at the 2013 Shanghai Masters and 7-6(1), 7-5 two years ago on the hard courts of Miami. Nishikori could also use some confidence-boosting success in Toronto because he retired from a Wimbledon fourth-round match against Marin Cilic due to a rib injury. So far he has taken out Americans Dennis Novikov and Rajeev Ram in straight sets without even being pushed to a tiebreaker. This one should not be quite as routine, but more of the same is likely continue at the expense of an opponent who must do more than beat Sugita, Shapovalov, and Karlovic in order to prove he is really on the right track.

Pick: Nishikori in 2

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