World No. 5 Kei Nishikori’s quest for his first career Grand Slam is still alive in the Australian Open after the Japanese survived a tricky test in the round of 64. But the U.S. Open finalist isn’t out of the woods just yet as he faces another potentially dangerous opponent in Steve Johnson, who has already taken out a top-32 seed in this year’s tournament.
Nishikori’s fellow top seed, Roger Federer, had a bit of a scare in the last round. See if the FedExpress gets back on track in our preview of his third round matchup with Andreas Seppi here. Meanwhile, read on below for our complete preview of Nishikori vs. Johnson.
Kei Nishikori had a much tougher test than expected in the round of 64 against World No. 86 Ivan Dodig. Nishikori dropped the opening set and was sent to a fourth set tie-breaker, but he eventually overcame both to edge out the Croatian, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, 7-6(0).
[sc:Other240banner ]The World No. 5 will next face American Steve Johnson in the round of 32. The Japanese has faced Johnson twice in his career, most recently in the Brisbane International earlier this month. Nishikori prevailed in the round of 16 in straight sets – 6-4, 7-5.
Nishikori also took care of Johnson in straight sets – 6-1, 7-6(4) – during last year’s meeting in the quarterfinal of the Halle Open. He’s yet to drop a service game against Johnson in four previous sets.
Nishikori reached the semifinal at Brisbane, making it the seventh semifinal he’s reached in hist last eight hard court tournaments. He’s a specialist on the hard surface; he finished 24-7 last season on the hard court, including his run in the final of the 2014 U.S. Open.
Steve Johnson is arguably the most-decorated college tennis player in U.S. history, but another win at this year’s Australian Open will mark one of his most successful Grand Slam performances as a professional.
Johnson reached the third round of a Grand Slam for just the second time in his young career as he shocked the 30th-seeded Santiago Giraldo, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the round of 64. Johnson broke Giraldo five times in 11 attempts and committed just two unforced errors en route to the upset.
Johnson will face an uphill battle against the World No. 5 Nishikori, and he’ll need to avoid beating himself with any sloppy mistakes. Johnson should also have a couple more opportunities to break Nishikori, who has already been broken three times in each of his first two matches.
Johnson will also have an ace up his sleeve with his strong service game capable of winning some easy points. He’s recorded 17 aces in each of his first two matches, the 13th-most in the tournament through the first few days.
