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Fifth seed and highly-fancied Japanese player Kei Nishikori faces off against a tough first round opponent in Spaniard Nicolas Almagro in the Australian Open today. Join The Roar for live scores of the match, and leave your thoughts on the contest in the comments section below.
Nishikori comes into the Australian Open as one of the form players in world tennis. He famously reached the final of the US Open at the back end of 2014, losing to Marin Cilic.
Ranked number five and seeded similarly, he will feel a little hard done by having to play someone with the game of Almagro, who has been in the top 20 in the world for the last five years. His singles ranking has dropped to 69 in the world due to an extended break at the back end of 2014 due to foot surgery.
He’s already shown he can beat Nishikori, having won their last encounter in three sets in 2013.
Nishikori comes into this match with much better form an more match practice, so should be confident in putting away Almagro. But take this game lightly and he could find himself in trouble against the Spaniard, who is a former quarter finalist at the Aussie Open.
He made the fourth round of the Australian Open last year, before being ousted in the fourth round by Rafael Nadal, who went on to make the final of the event. He will surely be targetting a semi-final berth in the event this year, after a fourth round appearance at Wimbledon and the aforementioned runner up spot at the US Open.
If Almagro can hold his temper and nerve, there’s no reason why he can’t match Nishikori on both wings from the baseline, but coming back from injury, this might be a bridge too far for the Spaniard.
Follow the live scores of the match right here on The Roar, and if you’re watching the match, feel free to leave a comment in the section below.
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