Andy Murray vs Kei Nishikori - French Open Quarter-finals Preview and Odds

Published on: 06/06/2017

Andy Murray vs Kei Nishikori - French Open Quarter-finals Preview and Odds

June 07, 2017 10:00am - Roland Garros

French Open Mens Tennis

Andy Murray took just 29 games to see off the challenge of Karen Khachanov to set up this quarter-final clash with the Japanese No.1. The Scot powered to victory with a 70% first serve first serve success rate and an even more impressive 75% second serve success rate. With nine sets won on the bounce and his serving skills reaching peak level, things are looking good for the World No.1.

Obviously there are still questions about Murray`s ability to go all the way on the Paris Clay. However, having reached his first Roland Garros final just a year ago and subsequently forced his way to the top of the world rankings, there has never been a better time for the three-time Grand Slam winner to prevail here.

Kei Nishikori`s path to the quarter-finals has not been quite as smooth as Murray`s, taking four sets and 32 games to find a way past Fernando Verdasco in the last round. His serving success stats were not great in that match (63% first and 47% second) and he will be perplexed as to how he lost the first set without winning a game yet inflicted the same punishment on his opponent to close the match out.

That kind of consistency will not be good enough on Wednesday so significant improvement will be needed from the World No. 9. However, he is capable of raising his game as two previous Grand Slam semi-final appearances have proved - although both of those came on the hard courts of New York.

Betting odds and tips

Murray has a 9-2 advantage in the 11 previous meetings between the two, including a straight sets win in last year`s ATP Tour World Finals. Nishikori had previously beaten Murray in the US Open just a couple of months earlier.

The Japanese player is making far too many mistakes and even if he performs at his best, it might not be good enough on this surface. However, Murray can often make life difficult for himself, so he can be expected to drop a set at some point.

You can back Murray to win in Four Sets at 11/4 with Bet365.

By Neil Morris

Published on: 06/06/2017

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (06/06/2017 08:49:30) but are subject to change.