Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori will be facing each other for the 10th time in their careers and one of the two will take complete control of Group A at the World Tour Finals when they clash inside the O2 Arena on Wednesday afternoon.
Murray leads the head-to-head series 7-2, but Nishikori won their most recent showdown 1-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 in a U.S. Open quarterfinal stunner. This marks their second career meeting at the year-end championship in London, where Nishikori won the opening match of the 2014 tournament via a 6-4, 6-4 decision.
The good news for Murray, however, is that he has never been hotter heading into the World Tour Finals. He reached the No. 1 ranking for the first time in his career last week thanks mostly to winning an incredible seven of his last nine tournaments. The Scot is an amazing 74-9 for the season following a 6-3, 6-2 beatdown of Marin Cilic on Monday night.
Nishikori’s struggles since upsetting Murray at the U.S. Open include a loss to Cilic in the Basel title match. He also pulled out of his second match in Tokyo with an injury and blew two match points in the Paris third round against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Some rest, however, was just what the doctor ordered for the world No. 5 and he disposed of Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3 at the O2 on Monday afternoon.
“I didn’t see the match, but he obviously must have played very well,” Murray said of Nishikori’s victory over Wawrinka. “To win against a player like Stan with that scoreline–I don’t think Stan had really any chances on Kei’s serve, either…. I would say this is probably his best year that he’s had on the tour. He’s one of the best players in the world. He’s been playing very well the last few months, especially.”
Nobody, though, has come close to Murray’s level the last few months. And while the year-end world No. 1 ranking could all come down to a final between Murray and Djokovic on Sunday, there is a chance that each round-robin match will be critical in determining that race. The crowd favorite looked focused and motivated in his opener on Monday, and that should continue in this one.
Pick: Murray in 2
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