Tokyo 2020: Kei Nishikori vs. Ilya Ivashka 7/28/21 Tennis Prediction

Kei Nishikori meets Ilya Ivashka in the third round of Tokyo 2020 on Wednesday, July 28th, 2021.

This is definitely going to be a very entertaining encounter between both of these strong players, who will come out on top? Will it be the more experienced and local Kei Nishikori or the somewhat experienced in the lower divisions Ilya Ivashka?

Ilya Ivashka is a very underrated player who can compete at a very high level on his day. The Belarusian has been able to compete and get some good matches under his belt, even when he lost, such as when he won a set against Nadal on clay in Barcelona earlier this year. Ilya is definitely in form here in Tokyo, having beaten Mikhail Kukushkin in the second round in 3 sets 6-7/6-3/6-3 and he will want to cause a very big upset against the very in form and favourite Kei Nishikori now in the third round.

Kei Nishikori was able to come through a very entertaining but tight match in the second round, beating Marcos Giron who had given it his all in 3 sets 7-6/3-6/6-1. Kei showed great composure throughout the match and although he won in 3 sets rather than 2, that match was good to get under his belt to show that even when things are up and down he finds his best tennis in the final moments to get the job done. Now Kei is the only Japanese tennis player left so he will want to keep himself in the draw to give Japan a chance at another medal.

This is going to be the 1^st meeting between both players, and I expect for it to be a tight encounter between these two good players. Both of them know that there is a lot on the line here because both of them want to get one step closer to a medal here in Tokyo, but when push comes to shove I back Kei Nishikori not to falter under pressure. Kei has been successful at the Olympics before so he knows he can do it and won’t let Ilya Ivashka get the better of him in his home country.