It is the battle of the short players as Diego Schwartzman meets Kei Nishikori as Team Argentina meets Team Japan in Group D at the 2021 ATP Cup. Will Diego continue to play incredibly well with the momentum he gained throughout the second half of 2020, or will Nishikori be able to get his game back on track against an opponent he has had lots of success against?
Diego Schwartzman had a spectacular 2020 season, especially in the second half, beating the likes of Rafael Nadal on clay, reaching the Rome Masters 1000 Final, and achieving a career high ranking of 9 in the world and qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals. Schwartzman showed us all that he is an incredible returner and when he is on top of his game, he is hard to beat. Schwartzman, however, is known to have highs and lows throughout the season, especially as he goes in and out of clay-court tournaments. Schwartzman is a clay-court specialist, therefore will he be able to dominate in a group here at the ATP Cup filled with hard-courters?
Kei Nishikori will be very confident coming into this matchup, especially looking at his past encounters against the Argentine. Nishikori has only lost once to Schwartzman, and has beaten him 3 times. Nishikori is very solid on hard-courts, and if he has trained extremely hard throughout the break to get his game back up to speed, I would not be shocked if we see glimpses of the old Nishikori prior to his injuries. Nishikori knows that this will most likely be his only chance to get Team Japan some positive results here in Group D, but will he be able to get through a tight encounter?
This is going to be the fourth meeting between both players, with Kei Nishikori leading the head to head 3-1. The last time they met was 2 years ago, with Schwartzman winning in straight sets on clay. Prior to this, Nishikori had dominated all of their encounters and he was in incredible form. Since his injury, Nishikori has had limited playing time, and he has not had the same success as Schwartzman as of recent. Unfortunately, Nishikori is still not the player he used to be, but Schwartzman has been on top of his game for the last few months. Diego Schwartzman to win.