Cilic – Nishikori

Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori will square off on Wednesday in a repeat of the 2014 US Open final, this time the prize being a potential semifinal clash against Novak Djokovic.

Cilic will play his 5th quarterfinal here at Flushing Meadows, a tournament where he often had good results and where he won his first and only Grand Slam title back in that 2014 final with Nishikori. The Croatian has been excellent so far this week, losing just two sets in 4 matches against Copil, Hurkacz (won that one 6-2 6-0 6-0!), De Minaur and Goffin. The lost sets both came against De Minaur in a brilliant match in which Cilic had to bounce back from 0-2 down against a spirited opponent. He kept his cool, and then went on to make light work of Goffin in the 4th round.

Nishikori reached the semifinals at the US Open last year and will fancy his chances of repeating that performance, as he has been in good form during the week. Kei lost just one set so far, but it has to be said that he did have an advantageous schedule. Marterer, Monfils (retired at 1-0 for Kei), Schwartzman and Kohlschreiber were never expected to pose much threat to Nishikori, especially as Kohlschreiber couldn`t repeat the clinic he put on against Zverev in his previous match.

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Nishikori leads the H2H 8-6 (6-5 on hard) and won the last meeting in a tight three setter, which was this year, but on clay. Cilic leads the H2H 2-1 at the US Open, winning the last two meetings here. Overall it can`t be said that one player holds a matchup advantage over the other, and the surface also suits both very well.

When Cilic gets rolling he is extremely difficult to stop by anybody, especially on hard courts and especially here at the US Open. Right now, it`s looking very likely like he could have a big tournament.

The Croat has been great all week and even against De Minaur, when he played a thriller, he was solid. De Minaur played some great tennis and Cilic did very well to bounce back – and then pushing forward to hand Goffin a 3-0 beating in the fourth round. Aside from those first two sets against the De Minaur, Cilic has hardly put a foot wrong in this tournament and is coming into this match extremely close to his best level.

While Nishikori is playing very well himself, his stability can be questioned. He was in poor form coming into the US Open and here he took advantage from an accessible draw. This will be his first real test of the tournament.

Cilic in this kind of form really is something else and if he keeps up the same intensity he should take care of Nishikori here, especially with Kei not being tested so far in the competition. The 2014 final comes to mind, when Cilic blew Nishikori off the court despite the fact that Kei wasn`t playing poorly at all. Obviously this will be a different match, but point is that if Cilic will be in the zone (and he looks like he`s there), the match will be in his racket and Nishikori would need something really spectacular to derail him.

My tip will be Cilic to win. Prediction: Marin Cilic – Kei Nishikori 6-4 4-6 7-6 6-3.

Pick: Cilic
Odds: 1.66 @ 1xBet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 5.28
Event date: 5 September