Kei Nishikori and Andy Murray will kick off the proceedings in London as Group B round-robin action gets underway on Sunday. This is Nishikori’s first appearance in the year-end championship.
Kei Nishikori and Andy Murray will be going head-to-head for the fourth time in their careers when they contest the first singles match of the 2014 World Tour Finals on Sunday afternoon. Murray has dominated all three of their previous encounters and all three have taken place on hard courts. The Scot prevailed 6-3, 6-0 in the 2011 Shanghai semifinals, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 at the 2012 Australian Open, and via retirement at last year’s Brisbane International while leading 6-4, 2-0.
Murray is no stranger to indoor hard-court success in the fall and his latest surge is the reason why he wrapped up a spot in London for the fifth time (not counting one appearance in Shanghai). The 2014 campaign started slow as a result of recovering from back surgery and the world No. 6 and went without a slam title or even a slam final, but he has been on fire since the U.S. Open. Murray has won 20 of his last 23 matches with titles in Shenzhen, Vienna, and Valencia.
Nishikori all but guaranteed himself a first-ever ticket to the year-end championship by finishing runner-up at Flushing Meadows, although it was not a mathematical certainty until midway through the Paris Masters. Of course, Nishikori’s season has been absolutely outstanding beyond just the bright lights of New York. The Japanese star is 52-12 overall with four titles, including two this fall in Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo.
With both men in fine form, experience could be a significant factor in this one. Whereas Nishikori has never played a match inside the O2 Arena, Murray is 9-7 lifetime at this elite eight-man event with three semifinal berths (one in Shanghai, two in London). Nishikori owns the higher ranking and better seed but will undoubtedly be dealing with more nerves–by his own admission–than his opponent. Past history against each other obviously favors Murray, as well.
Pick: Murray in 3
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Am I spoilt for choice or am I just caught up between a rock and a hard place?
I either watch the WTF on BBC 2 and suffer the Murray love-in from Henman, Barker and Andrew Castle; or watch SKY and get drowned IN hyperbole about how great Fed and Nole are. Right now I have settled for the Murray love-in.
Thanks. I thought only Sky (which I dont get) were covering this or is BBC2 only covering Murray matches? I’m switching over now to escape the Knowall and Koenig combo. Koenig has barely a good word to say for Andy.
Same old same old. Hahahaahhaaa!
When talking about the players before the match, James Goodall said that Nishikori led Nadal by a set and a break in the Madrid Open final. And no word about Nishikori’s victory over Federer at the 2014 (HARD court !) Miami Masters and Djokovic at the 2014 USO (HARD court & GS tourney !)!!!
I’m glad I missed all that trash. Obviously, beating Fed and Nole doesn’t cut any ice.
Great match between Kei and Andy.
so andy loses in straights…he just cannot seem to play at that level..i miss the andy who used to be so damn good on quick surfaces… he has made good progress but not enough..
So andy now MUST beat federer…
Kei takes the ball so early and is so consistent when he is fit.. I think he has a good against anybody
^^Kei has become one of my favorite players. I enjoy watching his style of play and when he’s fit and playing well, as you wrote, he’s competitive against anyone.
Davy 2.0
agree with you both !
Kei really has become davy 2.0… he can take the ball so early not only on his backhand but also on his forehand ! He can generate more power off his shots than davy could and he has a better serve…both are ridiculously quick movers too ! Kei needs to take care of his body though
^^^^^Please enlighten me. I’m being dim tonight. I don’t get the reference Davy 2.0
OK. Got there! I hadn’t read vamosrafa’s comment.
ed251137 ( at 8:06 pm),
Please enlighten me.
Does that mean Kei will never win a slam?
probably, tho not definitely
Ah, I understand that “Davy” is THAT man who gets attention ONLY because of Rafa! Hahahahaa!
A couple of weeks ago, during the match Berdcych vs. Andujar in Valencia. Mr. Koenig praised Davidenko for his victories over RAFA (!) and asked TV viewers to answer the question: who else besides Davidenko has a positive H2H against Rafa. The match in Valencia had NOTHING to do with Rafa!
Hahahahaa!
Thanks Andy. You’ve just blown a big hole in my predictions 🙁
I do think Kei is mentally stronger than Davy was….his biggest challenge right now is to stay healthy and keep evolving his game
I’m afraid, I couldn’t watch the farcical presentation to the smug one so I had tow switch channels.
@Nadline
I stayed tuned in purely to watch Edberg – one of my tennis pin-ups from the past 😉
He’s aging very well (a great deal better than some of his contemporaries!) but so far his modest charm doesn’t seem to be rubbing off on Sir Smugalot.
True. Kei needs a few things to line up in his favour at one or two slams, then he just might win one.
He might not need as much luck on one of those slams as Wawa had last AO. Not only did a few major players get taken out, but the badly timed back problem Rafa got just before the final got underway is something that just never happens at a slam final, a one in hundred or more slams fluke.
chloro,
I agree with your thoughts. I do think that Kei will need some things to fall into place in order to win a slam. What happened with Wawa winning that AO final is something that I still find painful to even think about.
One in a hundred or more is right!