Novak Djokovic hasn’t been completely convincing in his defense of the Rome Masters championship thus far. The World No. 1 has dropped a set in each of his two matches ahead of his quarterfinal matchup with World No. 6 Kei Nishikori. Nevertheless, the Djoker is still a big favorite to extend his current winning streak to an even 20 matches at the expense of the feisty Japanese. Read on for our preview of this quarterfinal clash.
Meanwhile in the NBA, the Atlanta Hawks can book their place in the Eastern Conference Finals with a win on Friday. Check out our preview of the Wizards vs. Hawks Game 6.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic is through to the quarterfinal of the Rome Masters, but he had to work for it. The Serb battled back from a set down to win 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 over Brazilian Thomasz Bellucci in the round of 16. The win was Djokovic’s 19th straight this year, but it’s the third time in as many matches that has needed all three sets.
[sc:Other240banner ]Djokovic’s lack of straight sets victories shouldn’t be too concerning, though. He won last year’s Rome Masters despite losing the first set in three out of his five matches, and he also went the distance in another match. Dating back to last year, Djokovic is 18-1 in his last 19 clay court matches.
Djokovic will have a dangerous opponent up next in Kei Nishikori, but the Serb has been able to solve the problem posed by the Japanese in past meetings. Djokovic holds the 3-2 career advantage against Nishikori, and has won the last two meetings. The Djoker also took their lone meeting in clay during the 2010 French Open. The World No. 1 is 11-1 in 12 meetings this season against top 10 opposition.
Djokovic’s service game has been stellar in the tournament thus far. He’s been able to put 70 percent of his first serves in play, and has won close to 80 percent of the points from those serves. His steady serve should give him the edge over Nishikori’s more inconsistent service game.
Kei Nishikori continued his stellar form on clay with a straightforward 6-4, 6-3 win over Viktor Troicki to reach the quarterfinal in Rome. Nishikori is now 10-1 on clay this year, with eight of his 10 wins coming in straight sets.
Apart from his unexpected French Open collapse last year, Nishikori has been spectacular on clay over the past year or so. He’s reached at least the semifinal stage in four of his last five clay court tournaments, including two wins (both at Barcelona).
Nishikori’s lone loss on the surface this year came against Andy Murray, which also dropped him to 3-4 against fellow top 10 opposition this season.
But with Djokovic not quite his dominating best, Nishikori has a shot of deposing the defending champ if he can be aggressive and attack the Serb during his service games. Nishikori has consistently won over 40 percent of return points on clay this year, and even topped 51 percent against clay court ace David Ferrer at the Madrid Masters.
Nishikori also owns a win over Djokovic on the Serb’s preferred surface in last year’s US. Open.
Writer’s Prediction
Djokovic (-450) digs deep to defeat Nishikori in three sets.
