Nishikori, Kei

Subterms

    Latest story

    100 Shares99 Views

    How to Watch the U.S. Open on Saturday

    by

    Novak Djokovic and Ashleigh Barty feature at Arthur Ashe Stadium as the third round of singles play concludes.How to watch: From 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time on ESPN2; and streaming on the ESPN app. In Canada on TSN from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; and streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN app.Matches to keep an eye on.Because of the number of matches cycling through courts, the times for individual matchups are estimates and may fluctuate based on when earlier play is completed. All times are Eastern Standard.ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM | 2 p.m.Novak Djokovic vs. Kei NishikoriNovak Djokovic, on a quest for a career-defining Grand Slam, has not been kept out of the second week of a Grand Slam event since the 2017 Australian Open. The task of breaking that streak falls to Kei Nishikori, a finalist at the 2014 U.S. Open. Nishikori struggled with a wrist injury in 2017 and has more recently faced issues with his right shoulder. Although his game can now be inconsistent at times, Nishikori could push Djokovic to exert himself more seriously, or at the least provide some very entertaining tennis.Louis Armstrong STADIUM | 1 p.m.Belinda Bencic vs. Jessica PegulaBelinda Bencic, the 11th seed, won gold at the Tokyo Olympics in August, and has kept her foot on the pedal since. Bencic has lost only 16 games on her way to the third round, overwhelming her opponents with steady counterpunching on defense and acute shot making on offense.Jessica Pegula, the 23rd seed, has been similarly dominant in her past two matches. Following her run to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in February, she will be looking to match her career result and push herself into the top 20. As these two hardcourt heavyweights meet, it’s hard to say which will persevere.Louis Armstrong STADIUM | 3 p.m.Gael Monfils vs. Jannik SinnerGael Monfils, the 17th seed, struggled at the beginning of 2021, losing in the first round at the Australian Open, but has found his form since then. Monfils recently recorded his 500th ATP Tour win, joining an exclusive club that only contains 10 other active members.On the other side of the net, the relative newcomer Jannik Sinner has only won 60 professional matches. However, Sinner has already made himself a mainstay near the top of the tour, reaching the finals at the Miami Open to break into the top 20.ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM | 7 p.m.Ashleigh Barty vs. Shelby RogersAshleigh Barty, the first seed, has followed an unusual pattern through the first two rounds of play. She has won the first set in both of her matches at ‘6-1’, while needing to win seven games to then finish off the second set and secure victory. Shelby Rogers, ranked No. 43, will need to start brightly in order to push back on the momentum that Barty has begun to build.Sleeper match of the day.ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM | 6 a.m.Emma Raducanu vs. Sara Sorribes TormoEmma Raducanu was ranked No. 338 before this year’s Championships at Wimbledon. After receiving a wild-card into the main draw, the 18 year-old won three matches without dropping a set, catapulting herself up the rankings. Although her hard court preparation this summer was only at challenger level events, she played through the qualifying rounds and her first two matches at the U.S. Open without dropping a set once more, and will look to reach the second week of play on her first attempt at Flushing Meadows.Sara Sorribes Tormo upset the 22nd seed, Karolina Muchova, in the first round and then skated past Hsieh Su-wei in the second. Her powerful baseline shots are moderated by her clay-court upbringing, making it difficult for opponents to set themselves against a barrage of consistent, deep balls. More

    More stories

    • 163 Shares189 Views

      in Tennis

      Taking Aim at Novak Djokovic, Kei Nishikori Wants a Streak of His Own

      by

      The world’s No. 1 has beaten his third-round opponent in 16 straight matches. The unseeded Japanese player is optimistic. But he’s not delusional.It was one of the most famous retorts in tennis history, a perfectly executed overhead slam of a quote from the self-deprecating prince of the tour, Vitas Gerulaitis. Going into his match against Jimmy Connors at the 1979 Masters, Gerulaitis had lost 16 straight matches to the lefty, but pulled off the upset at Madison Square Garden.“Let that be a lesson to you all,” he told reporters afterward. “Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row!”Forty-two years later, Kei Nishikori finds himself in a similar spot, hoping that he could mimic that quintessential sports one-liner. Just like Gerulaitis with Connors, Nishikori has lost his last 16 matches to Novak Djokovic, Nishikori’s upcoming opponent in the third round of the U.S. Open on Saturday.Oh, Nishikori, who is from Japan, says he embraces the challenge, all right. But he doesn’t take us for fools, either. No one wants to face the best player on the planet — perhaps the best player of all time, who is only five matches from becoming the first man to win a Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969 — in the third round.“I’d rather have someone ranked lower,” Nishikori said.Bless his honesty.Over all, Djokovic is 17-2 against Nishikori, with the most recent win a straight-sets victory at the Olympics in Tokyo last month. But there is something about that 16-0 marker that seems to elicit punch lines from players. When asked Thursday night if he has Nishikori’s number, Djokovic paid homage to Gerulaitis’s comedic genius when he nodded and agreed.“I actually do,” Djokovic said.What’s this? A blatant burst of bravado bordering on disrespect toward an opponent? It would be unsportsmanlike, and out of Djokovic’s playbook to claim he has another player’s number. But before anyone could put Djokovic’s brash proclamation on Twitter, he reached back as if to grab something and added, “in my phone.”Get it? He’s got Nishikori’s phone number, just in case he wanted to text his upcoming opponent something along the lines of, “Sweet 16,” or “See you on court for No. 17!”Instead, Djokovic flashed his humble side. Rather than providing bulletin board fodder, he lavished Nishikori with praise.“I don’t have anyone’s number on the court until I win,” Djokovic said and added, “He’s one of the quickest and most-talented players that I’ve seen in my lifetime, in my career.”Despite the one-way flow of traffic in this pairing, there is one aspect to the streak that bears noting. It started after Nishikori beat Djokovic in their most marquee encounter, the semifinals of the U.S. Open in 2014. Nishikori dispatched Djokovic, who was ranked No. 1 then, by 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3, before he went on to lose to Marin Cilic in Nishikori’s only major final.Nishikori celebrates his upset win over Novak Djokovic in a U.S. Open semifinal in 2014.Chang W. Lee/The New York Times“I think it was one of my best matches,” Nishikori said of the win over Djokovic. “Because of that, I think it’s a little better feeling that I have, playing here. I mean, even though he’s the best player, I have good memory here playing the U.S. Open and beating him before here.”The only other time Nishikori beat Djokovic was in 2011, at Basel in Switzerland, in their second meeting. No other player has dominated Nishikori the way Djokovic has.But believe it or not, Djokovic’s streak against Nishikori is not his best. He holds a 17-0 advantage against Gael Monfils over all (apparently, someone does beat Monfils 17 times in a row). Djokovic also holds 14-match winning streaks against Cilic and Stan Wawrinka, according to the ATP.Against Rafael Nadal, his longest winning streak is seven matches, which he has done twice, and he is 30-28 over all against the Spaniard. Djokovic’s longest winning streak against Roger Federer is five straight, from 2015 to 2019 and he holds a 27-23 advantage over Federer.But Djokovic, while terrific, is not perfect. Nishikori said the key to beating him is achieving the right balance of patience and aggression. He recalled that when he won in 2014 he was very aggressive.“I have to stay patient,” he said. “I still have to play great tennis to beat him. Same time, I have to be aggressive. He’s not going to give me any free points, so I have to earn the points. Being aggressive is the key.”If he sounds a little bit muddled on the subject, he can be forgiven. It’s a daunting task. Nishikori is not only trying to beat the No. 1 player, who has defeated him 16 consecutive times. He is also trying to stop Djokovic from attaining immortality.If Djokovic wins the U.S. Open, he will not only become the first player, man or woman, to win a Grand Slam since Steffi Graf in 1988, he will also break the three-way tie among him, Federer and Nadal, with a record 20 career major titles.Perhaps the pressure will work on Nishikori’s favor. Perhaps he will become the Roberta Vinci of the 2021 U.S. Open. Vinci got in the way of Serena Williams’ quest for a Grand Slam, beating her in a semifinal at the 2015 U.S. Open. Williams had won all four of their singles matches heading into that day, and she and her sister, Venus, had beaten Vinci in a doubles match, too.But the Italian player turned upstart and spoiled the party. Nishikori was asked if the pressure that is mounting on Djokovic could help him to play spoiler, too.“Yes,” he said while leaning back with a sly smile.It was not exactly a line worthy of Gerulaitis’s hall-of-fame retort. But for the understated Nishikori, there was definitely humor in it. The real question may be: Can anyone beat Kei Nishikori 17 times in a row? More

    • 100 Shares119 Views

      in Tennis

      2021 French Open: What to Watch on Wednesday

      by

      Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Serena Williams feature on the first day of second-round matches.How to watch: 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time on Tennis Channel; streaming on Tennis Channel+.Grand Slam tournaments often feature some first round upsets, but this year’s French Open has been particularly eventful in the half of the draw that plays its second-round games on Wednesday.Pablo Andujar, who is 35 years old and has never reached the fourth round of the French Open, is trying to follow up his knockout of fourth-seeded Dominic Thiem in the first round. Naomi Osaka, who was seeded second, withdrew from the tournament after reaching an impasse with organizers about appearing at news conferences.While there are plenty of stars still present in the tournament, the field has certainly widened for new challengers to make deep runs.Here are some matches to keep an eye on.Because of the number of matches cycling through the courts, the times for individual matchups are estimates and will fluctuate based on when earlier play is completed. All times are Eastern.Court Phillipe-Chatrier | 3 p.m.Daniil Medvedev vs. Tommy PaulDaniil Medvedev, the No. 2 seed, secured his first French Open victory on Monday in his fifth appearance at the tournament. Medvedev has reached the final of two hardcourt Grand Slam events, but has struggled on clay. Although he pushed past Alexander Bublik in straight sets, it was not a particularly convincing performance.Tommy Paul, ranked No. 52, won his first-round match in five sets. Paul, a vaunted youth prospect who won the Junior French Open in 2015, has not yet bloomed on the ATP Tour, only making it to the third round of a major event once. Paul’s main weakness is his two-handed backhand, which is incredibly stiff and mechanical compared with his powerful, fluid forehand strokes.Paul will need to remain aggressive and try to unsettle Medvedev throughout their match to push for an upset, while Medvedev will clearly look to aim at Paul’s backhand when he needs to reset points and get himself back into winning positions.Court 13 | 8 a.m.Danielle Collins vs. Anhelina KalininaDanielle Collins, ranked No. 50, underwent surgery for endometriosis in the spring. Although she has not played a competitive match since March, Collins looked at ease in her first-round victory over Xiyu Wang. Although it took her three sets to win, Collins was consistent except on her first serve. With a few days of rest between matches, that will have been the focus of her practice sessions and a key to her advancing farther at Roland Garros.Anhelina Kalinina, a qualifier, upset Angelique Kerber, the No. 26 seed and three time Grand Slam champion, in straight sets on Sunday. This is Kalinina’s third main draw appearance at a major event — her first on clay — and the young Ukrainian seems to be oozing confidence as she tries to reach the third round for the first time.Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece reached the semifinal at the French Open last year.Martin Bureau/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesCourt Suzanne-Lenglen | 10 a.m.Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Pedro MartinezStefanos Tsitsipas, the fifth seed, has had a strong clay court season, winning the Monte Carlo Masters and Lyon Open and reaching the final of the Barcelona Open. Tsitsipas, 22, reached the semifinals of the French Open last year, and looks to be a favorite to reach the final this year, with both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the other half of the draw. Keeping focused and trying to be as efficient as possible will be Tsitsipas’s main goal throughout the early rounds.Pedro Martinez, ranked No. 103, is a clay-court specialist. His first-round upset over Sebastian Korda, an American who had just won the Parma Challenger, was clinical, as Martinez needled away at Korda’s weaknesses and drew out 47 unforced errors. Although Martinez’s task is much harder for the second round, a similar strategy would be appropriate: he should try to unsettle Tsitsipas and coax out mistakes with long, arduous points.Paula Badosa of Spain won the Serbia Open in preparation for Roland Garros. Yoan Valat/EPA, via ShutterstockCourt 6 | 8 a.m.Paula Badosa vs. Danka KovinicIt is quite rare for Grand Slam tournaments to have a player seeded No. 33. But Paula Bodasa received that designation when Alison Riske, the 27th seed, withdrew from the competition after the draw was announced last week. Bodasa filled in her spot in the draw but to avoid confusion about relative rankings, was formalized as the 33rd seed instead of every player being adjusted. Badosa, who won the Serbia Open in preparation for Roland Garros, should feel that a seeding is well deserved, especially after a fourth-round finish at the French Open last year.Danka Kovinic has never been past the second round of a Grand Slam event in 15 previous main draw appearances. Kovinic reached the final of the Charleston Open on green clay after defeating several top players, and will be hopeful that her success earlier this year can help lead to an upset against the in-form Bodasa.Here are a few more matches to keep an eye on.Fabio Fognini vs. Marton Fucsovics; Court 14, 7 a.m.Karen Khachanov vs. Kei Nishikori; Court Phillipe-Chatrier, 8 a.m.Serena Williams vs. Mihaela Buzarnescu; Court Phillipe-Chatrier, 11 a.m.Aryna Sabalenka vs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich; Court Suzanne-Lenglen, 1 p.m. More