Murray, Nishikori, Wawrinka and Cilic – Who’ll Be Left Behind?

At the beginning of the 2^nd week of the slam it seems that the men’s draw has followed the given script and none of the top eight seeds have been upset so far!  Therefore, this week will surely bring in a few upsets and we all hope that lady luck will continue to shine upon our favorites.

Andy Murray v/s K. Khachanov

Andy had a tough but uplifting one against Del Potro in the previous round and for someone with highly suspect form and confidence prior to the start of this tournament he has come a long way to reach the 2^nd week here, and now that he is here how does he live up to his number one ranking and take home one of two slams that have been eluding him.    In the last round, he was able to exploit Del Potro’s injury riddled back-hand side effectively and played like a champion by keeping the error count low and looking for the right opportunity to strike.  Will he be as successful in exploiting weakness, if any, in Wawrinka, Djokovic or Nadal?  Before he even gets to play any of the top four seeds will he be able to get past his next two rounds beginning with Kachanov?

Murray and Khachanov have never played before and that surprise element may be one of the important things working for Khachanov here.  He has not only taken the scalp of Berdych in straight sets but also beaten another quality opponent in Isner.  He won two of the three tie breaks against Isner and that speaks volumes about his strong nerves in crutch times.  This match could be another tough one for Andy but he should be able to get past it and into the next round.

Conclusion:  Andy in 4

 Verdasco v/s Nishikori

If Verdasco had nort been playing as well as he has in this tournament he’d not have much of a chance against Kei. However, Verdasco’s form has held up through the third round and if he continues to play the way he has then he could come up with the upset here.  Kei on his part had a tough five setter against Chung in the previous round and has been known to have physical issues after grueling matches.  Their H2H is 3-2 in favor of Nishikori, and their meeting at  Roland Garros in 2016 was an exciting 5 setter won by Nishikori.   This one is tough to call because one never knows when Verdasco will get back to being Verdasco and spit one unforced error after another from his racket.  Then again, Verdasco may probably manage to keep it together and not disappoint.

Conclusion:  Verdasco in 5

Wawrinka v/s Monfils

This match should be quite entertaining if Monfils can keep it together for at least a couple of hours.  Monfils did not get to finish his previous round due to Gasquet’s injury during their match, however, otherwise he has done well by winning the other two in straight sets.

Wawrinka has a winning 3-2 H2H between them but the last time they played was in 2011 so the H2H doesn’t really count for much here.  Stan is getting stronger with each match and has beaten two  quality opponents in Dolgopolov and Fognini in some close but straight sets.   With the form that Wawrinka has shown so far, it seems he’d not be easy to beat by anyone not named Nadal, Djokovic, Murray or Thiem.

Conclusion:  Wawrinka in 4

Anderson v/s Cilic

They have played six times in the past and Kevin has won only one of those matches.  Cilic has been very silently moving up the draw without inviting much attention to himself and he is looking good on the surface now.  He has won all his matches in straight sets and not allowed any of his opponent more than 3 games in any, which also means that he has not been battle tested yet.  Whereas Anderson is coming off a five setter in the previous round against Kyle Edmund and a four setter against Nick Kyrgios in the second round, which could suggest that Kevin may be a little tired.  Cilic is a slam winner and knows what it takes to win big matches in a major and he may certainly nor find Anderson as easy as his previous rounds’ opponents but he should be able to overcome the resistance and march along.

Conclusion:  Cilic in 4

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