ATP Tennis: Federer beats Fognini, and Nishikori takes revenge at the Paris Masters 1000.

After a first-round bye and a walkover by Milos Raonic in the second, Roger Federer enjoyed a winning start to the Paris Masters 1000. Federer beat Fabio Fognini 6-4, 6-3 for a berth in the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters 1000.

Federer extended his winning streak against Fognini.

Federer was coming into the match with the confidence of winning his past three encounters against Fabio and never dropping a set to him. Both players were far from their best and struggled to get a feel for the court and the surroundings. Federer extended his winning streak against Fognini and ended the match with 21 winners and an equal number of unforced, and Fabio Fognini scored 14 winners to 25 unforced.

Federer’s aggressive game depends on timing.

For Roger, whose aggressive game depends so much on timing, the first rounds are always tough to get past. His service has not been working as well for him lately, which is never a good sign for a super-aggressive player such as Roger. With floundering service, the variation and options, available to the Maestro, become ineffective and render him error-prone and seemingly sluggish on the court.

Roger Federer versus Kei Nishikori.

Roger Federer’s next one against Kei Nishikori will require him to serve and play better. Roger has won the last five against Kei and even knows how to beat him, but Kei is playing well and has beaten Roger in the past.

Nishikori beat Kevin Anderson to earn this date with Roger.

Kei Nishikori exacted revenge, of the last week’s loss, against Kevin Anderson with a 6-4, 6-4 win to earn this date with Roger. It was important for Kei to win the match against Anderson and not lose the mental edge by losing to the same player in back-to-back weeks.

Beating Anderson should give confidence to Nishikori.

Kevin Anderson, like Federer, had won his ATP 500 event last week. Anderson has played exceptionally and consistently well this year and is a dangerous opponent by all accounts. Beating Kevin should give Nishikori the confidence to trouble Federer in the quarters.

Conclusion: We expect a closely contested match with Roger Federer prevailing in three.