US Open: Novak Djokovic vs. Kei Nishikori 9/4/21 Tennis Prediction

Novak Djokovic meets Kei Nishikori in the third round of the 2021 US Open on Saturday, September 4th 2021. Who will make their way into the second round?

Which of these two very experienced players will get themselves in the fourth round? Will it be the incredibly in form Novak Djokovic to continue his record-breaking Grand Slam title run, or will it be Kei Nishikori to get one of the biggest wins of his career as he aims to get back to his best and show us that he is nearly there?

Kei Nishikori had to come through another 5 set match at a grand slam, showing us that he is very experienced in those long match circumstances. Nishikori beat Mackenzie McDonald in 5 sets, losing a 2-0 sets lead and having to win it in a 5^th set 7-6/6-3/6-7/2-6/6-3. Kei will know that with these matches he is showing he is so good at winning those types of matches, but he will also know that he should not allow himself to get into that position, especially when he is so much in front in a match.

Novak Djokovic had no issues in his match in the second round against Tallon Griekspoor, getting back to business as usual as he beat him in 3 easy sets 6-2/6-3/6-2. Novak knows that it is so vital for him to get all of his wins in the early stages of a grand slam in quick sets as he focuses a lot on recovery to be ready for more important matches, so he will know he is going to have to be ready from the start now that he meets the always tough Kei Nishikori.

This is going to be the 20^th meeting between both players, with Novak having won 17 of their 19 prior encounters. Kei has never had Novak’s number recently, but in most of their grand slam encounters he has been able to steal a set here and there to get himself on the scoreboard. I do expect a Novak win in the end, but I think that as we saw Holger Rune stealing a set against Novak, Kei should be able to as well. But I don’t see the Japanese star getting more than that.