Nadal had a lot of troubles in the match against Alexander Zverev where he could have lost in the third set. It’s sad, but Nadal’s game now is poor, and he wins only with the help of his strong character.
Nishikori had a tough game against John Izner. The American got the first set, but then Kei braced himself and won two tie-breaks in a row. This is a great achievement and not many have such a record. Nishikori has.
I first thought Nadal would be considered as a favourive, but the bookies prop up Nishikori. Kei defeated Nadal just once – in their last game in Canada – but with the lopsided score. Nadal was in poor shape as he is now. He makes a lot of mistakes, but can offer battle to any opponent. The same I can say about Nishikori.
I think that we can expect a long-timed match. Nishikori will be under pressure, because their face to face score in 1:7 for Nadal. But there will be a tough fight like in Nishikori-Kukushkin game. The Japanese can win, but not in two sets. I expect at least 23 games here.