Marin Cilic v Kei Nishikori Preview – September 5th, 2018
Both players had fairly comfortable matches in the fourth round of action at the US Open. Of the two though Cilic had the tougher battle as he had to come through against 10th seed David Goffin while Nishikori was up against the unseeded Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Both won their respective matches in three sets and now sets up the quarter final duel. With Roger Federer having suffered a shock exit in the fourth round it means that the winner of this tie will move through to the semi-finals to meet either Novak Djokovic or Federer’s conqueror John Millman.
Marin Cilic v Kei Nishikori odds*
Marin Cilic 4/7
Kei Nishikori 11/8
* (betting odds taken on September 4th, 2018 at 9:41 pm)
Cilic, who was the 2014 US Open Champion came through his first two matches at Flushing Meadows this year without dropping a set. But he had an epic battle against the unseeded Alex de Minaur in the third round, netting five sets having fallen behind 2-0 in the match. That showed tremendous resolve but there were concerned about how much that long match would have taken out of him.
He shut the door in the face of any doubts by powering past David Goffin in straight sets to set up this quarter-final duel with Nishikori. The head to head is tight between these two with Nishikori 8-6 ahead of his opponent. It was the Japan star who won the most recent meeting back at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo. That was on clay.
It was Nishikori who Cilic beat in the Final of the 2014 US Open to get his first career slam on the board. That was third meeting at Flushing Meadows with Cilic 2-1 up in those Slam matches. But going back to current form, it is Nishikori who has won the last two outdoor hard-court meetings between the two players. Nishikori had to miss the US Open last year because of injury but has a W18 L3 record in his last twenty-one matches at the competition.
He is playing well and likes Flushing Meadows where he had a semi final finish as well in 2016. Nishikori had an easy time of things against Philipp Kohlschreiber in the fourth round, winning in straight sets. He has dropped just the one set at Flushing Meadows this season and is clearly enjoying himself out there. It would be a surprise if this one finished in a straight sets win for either. So Exactly 4 Sets is a decent 6/4 odds option* (betting odds taken on September 4th, 2018 at 9:41 pm).
Predictions
We can’t ignore the value on Nishikori at 11/8* (betting odds taken on September 4th, 2018 at 9:41 pm) to win this match outright. He has looked strong and fit and is closing in on a return to the top fifteen in the world. He was a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon recently so is clearly back on top of his game after his long-term injury. Cilic did not serve well at all against Goffin so we can see a window of opportunity here for Nishikori.
