2014 US Open finalist from Japan, Kei Nishikori plays in-form South African Lloyd Harris in the quarter-finals of the 2021 ATP 500 in Dubai on Thursday, March 18th. The match is scheduled for 0700pm local time (0300pm BST, 1100am EST). Get the live streaming options of this Kei Nishikori v Lloyd Harris match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Kei Nishikori v Lloyd Harris Head to Head
This is the first meeting between both players.
Also Read:
Nishikori On The Comeback Trail….
It has been a tough last 18 months for 2014 US Open finalist and ten time Grand Slam quarter-finalist Kei Nishikori from Japan. While he has made comebacks from injury layoffs in the past, the last year has again seen a mix of injuries, a bout of Covid and poor form.
Ranked number 40 in the world now, Nishikori ended the 2020 season after a poor early loss at the French Open hoping to start 2021 better, but it did not start on the best of notes for the star from Japan either.
The ATP Cup saw losses in both his singles matches as Japan did not make it out of the group stages and the Australian Open saw a first round loss against in-form Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.
The Rotterdam ATP 500 was a much better outing for Nishikori with victories against Next Gen stars Felix Auger- Aliassime and Alex de Minaur, which did wonders for his confidence, not having defeated a top twenty player in over a year prior to that.
Although the Japanese was eliminated in the final eight by Croatian Borna Coric in two tight tiebreaks, it was the first sign of a Nishikori revival and he was hoping for a similar or better run in Marseille this week.
However, a surprise first round loss against French doubles specialist Pierre-Hugues Herbert with Nishikori winning only five games was against the run of events.
This week in Dubai has looked better for the former world number four, with a tight first round win against American big server Reilly Opelka, followed by a rollercoaster match where he prevailed against David Goffin. A clinical win against Aljaz Bedene on the follow sets him up for a final eight match and with a somewhat lighter half of the draw, he will be looking at a deep run here this weekend.
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Harris In Midst Of A Good Run…
24-year-old South African Lloyd Harris has been on the tour for only a couple years now, but done well to break into the top 100 of the ATP rankings and notch up some good wins from time to time with increasing frequency.
The winner of 13 ITF Futures titles, Harris made the semi-finals of the Chengdu Open in 2019 and had a good start to 2020 before the pandemic hit. The South African made the finals of the 2020 ATP 250 at Adelaide, where he lost in the finals to Andrey Rublev who went on a run last year.
2021 did not get off the best of starts for Harris, but the South African can take some heart from a third round loss at the Aussie Open and a strong win last week in Doha against Stan Wawrinka before a narrow loss to in-form Hungarian Marton Fucsovics.
Coming to Dubai this week, he looked clinical in the qualifiers and followed it with a good comeback three set win against Aussie Christopher O’ Connell in the first round. Up against top seed and 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem, Harris played perhaps the best match of his career against a somewhat rusty Austrian and prevailed in straight sets.
Another impressive win against the uncanny Serb Filip Krajinovic in straight sets continued the run for Harris and now in the quarter-finals of an ATP 500, he will hope to continue his run as best he can.
Nishikori v Harris Prediction and Tip
This is an intriguing match between two players in similar yet different spots with their tennis. Nishikori is looking to make a comeback to the highs he was once at, where as Harris is looking to establish himself further. Where the similarity lies is that both are hungry for a win and a deep run here this week.
Difficult to pick an outright winner, and it will be down to who executes the big moments better, but we will go with the more experienced Nishikori in a tight three-setter.
Tip: Nishikori to win in three sets: 10/3 (bet365)
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The 2021 ATP Dubai Open will be played from March 14-21. You can watch & bet on these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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