The Italian Open 2017 is set to continue with the round of 16 matches and one of the today's matches sees Japanese sensation Kei Nishikori taking on Juan Martin Del Potro with both men still looking for their first title of 2017.
Nishikori defeated David Ferrer for the second time in as many weeks in the previous round to set up this clash against Del Potro. The Japanese was made to work hard in the first set as he won 7-5 but he won the second set in a more convincing manner, 6-2.
Also read: Was Rafael Nadal the reason behind Roger Federer's French Open skip?
While Nishikori is still looking for his first title of 2017, the world no. 9 has had a pretty decent 2017 so far. He reached the finals of the Brisbane Open and the Argentina Open and the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells and the Miami Open. The Japanese will be expected to continue his impressive form against Del Potro later today.
Nishikori was suffering from a slight wrist injury which forced him to withdraw from the last week's Madrid Open but showed no signs of pain in his win against Ferrer.
"I felt pretty good. It was a little bit different condition wise from last week and here, so I had to make some adjustments. In the match, there were many ups and downs, especially in the first set, but I think overall I played a pretty good match," ATP's official website quoted Nishikori as saying.
As for his opponent, the big Argentine is playing his first tournament since the death of his grandfather two weeks ago and while he feels he is playing much better tennis than he did last year this time, he admitted that playing three tournaments on clay in a row after so many years is going to be a big challenge.
Del Potro defeated Grigor Dimitrov in the first round of the Italian Open. Despite going a set down, Del Potro came back strong and dominated the final two sets to progress to the next round. His next match was against Kyle Edmund which he won in straight sets.
"It's going to be a difficult match. I think he has everything to win because he's playing so well. I'm just starting to play on this surface after my family problems. But we have never played on a clay court, so it could be an interesting match. I need to play even better than today to beat Kei," Del Potro said.
Unlike Nishikori, Del Potro has been struggling in 2017 so far. His best performance came at the start of the year at the Delray Beach Open where he suffered a semi-final defeat against Milos Raonic. Since then he has competed in the Mexican Open, Indian Wells, Miami Open and Estoril Open where he lost in the second match in all of them.
In the head-to-head matches, Del Potro holds a 4-1 lead over Nishikori. However, Del Potro's wins came between 2008-12, when the Argentine was in the prime of his career while Nishikori was still a cub in the tennis world.
It will be interesting to see how this match pans out as history favours Del Potro to progress to the next round but based on current form and Nishikori's speed and athleticism, the Japanese will definitely be the favourite to make it to the next round.
Where to watch
The Italian Open match between Kei Nishikori and Juan Martin Del Potro is set to start tentatively at 4:30 pm local time, 8 pm IST and 3:30 pm BST.
TV and live streaming information
India: TV: Ten 3. Live Streaming: Sony Liv.
USA: TV: Tennis Channel. Live Streaming: Tennis Channel Live.
UK: TV: Sky Sports 3/HD. Live streaming: Sky Go.
Global live stream: Live tennis.
