Kevin Anderson vs. Kei Nishikori 4/28/21 - ATP Estoril, Portugal Men Singles Picks & Predictions
Last Updated: 04/27/2021 at 9:00 AM ET
In the round of 16 at the 2021 Estoril Open, Kei Nishikori is set to play against Kevin Anderson from South Africa.
Kevin Anderson enters this match having defeated Frances Tiafoe in 3 sets in the previous round of the tournament. It was an extremely close match with 2 sets being decided by tiebreakers. Anderson lost the opening set but showed his class by fighting back strongly and winning the final 2 sets and the match. The receiving was solid from Anderson as he won 40% of his receiving points which allowed him to break his opponent’s serve on 4 occasions. This is expected to be a much tougher match for Kevin Anderson as he is playing the number 4 seed in Kei Nishikori.
Looking at Kei Nishikori, the Japanese superstar received a bye in the opening round due to his high seeding. Nishikori last played at the Barcelona Open where he made the third round before being defeated by Rafael Nadal. It has been a modest few months for Nishikori but he showed some solid form in Barcelona and will be hoping to bring that into this tournament. There is a lot of tennis in the near future for Nishikori and he will be hoping to build some momentum leading into big tournaments like the French Open.
Kei Nishikori and Kevin Anderson have played each other 10 times in the past. Nishikori has won on 6 occasions while Anderson has won 4 times. The most recent match between these two players was 2018 where Anderson won in straight sets. Nishikori also defeated Anderson in 2018 at the Paris Masters.
Taking everything into consideration, I am going to pick Kei Nishikori to win this match. Both Anderson and Nishikori seem past their peak but the Japanese superstar seems to have more left in the tank. I see Kei Nishikori winning this match in 3 sets.
