An incredibly tight encounter is on our hands as Daniil Medvedev meets Kei Nishikori in Team Russia’s and Team Japan’s bout in Group D of the 2021 ATP Cup. Will Nishikori’s game be at its best to take on the Russian superstar, or will Medvedev continue to dominate any player in his sight?

Kei Nishikori came back towards the end of the 2020 season, after battling with injury for the last year and a half. Nishikori was able to put in some solid performances, but was not playing his best tennis as he was trying to just find his game again. We all know how incredibly solid Nishikori can be and how strong he was in his prime. Nishikori has shown some signs of his former self, but 2021 will definitely be a make or break season for the Japanese superstar. Will Nishikori be able to cause any trouble to his opponents here at the ATP Cup?

Daniil Medvedev had an incredible end to the 2020 season, winning the last two big tournaments of the year back to back, winning the Paris Masters 1000 and the Nitto ATP Finals. Medvedev is showing us the same level of tennis which saw him win 6 titles in 2019 and reach the US Open Final. I expect Medvedev to want to make a real run at the title here at the ATP Cup, but also put his hat in the ring at the 2021 Australian Open. Medvedev, when confident and concentrated, is nearly unstoppable, but will he be able to keep this momentum going here in Australia unlike last year?

This is going to be the 5th meeting between both players, with the head to head standing even at 2-2. The last time these two met was in Barcelona in 2019 in Medvedev’s breakthrough season. Nishikori has not beaten Medvedev since the beginning of 2019 and he was on top of his game back then. If Nishikori never had injury issues, and had shown some peak performances last year, I would believe this match to be a tight encounter. However, Medvedev has been near unstoppable recently, and Nishikori has yet to find his game again. This is going to be a very easy victory for Medvedev in my opinion.