Tennis / kevin anderson

Live Update: Anderson coasting 6-0 and 3-0. He's been unplayable on serve backed up by a highly aggressive return game that has seen Nishikori crack under pressure on his own serve. Additionally I put many of Nishikori's unforced errors during open play due to constant pressure by Anderson and his consistency. Nishikori has felt the need to overly force the issue during points just to try to get ahead. It's not working and if he doesn't drastically alter his strategy and approach he is about to loose to Anderson by the biggest margin in history between to two. Here we go again for the fifth time this year we will see these two polar opposites square off in a fitting finale to their rivalry in 2018. I would be pushed to think of two other players this year that have played each other 5 times as Kevin Anderson and Kei Nishikori will have done by the time tonight is over. It's rather fitting that this contest is all evens at 2-2 this year as well leading to a climatic finale in London. Anderson the big aggressive server and hard hitter and Nishikori the silent assassin with his impeccable footwork and safe as houses backhand. Who will end up on top come the end of tonight and take home the winning record for 2018? The answer could be neither! Both players have won their first matches, are in the same side of the draw and if the results go their way they could face each other for a 6th time this year in the Semi Finals which has a good chance of happening. Afterall their two other opponents Federer and Thiem are not looking particularly convincing - especially Federer. So whoever loses tonight could get their revenge in the Semi's and then go on to claim the ultimate trophy of the regular ATP Tour year. So who am I going for tonight? Well third times a charm as they say but not in the conventional sense here. I punted for Anderson in Vienna which he ended up winning in straight sets vs Nishikori and the tournament but then on a second occasion within a week he lost in Paris. The second match was a complete reversal to the first in Vienna. I am still sticking with Anderson here again. Watching him the other night against Thiem he looked so impressive on serve and he was hitting off both his forehand and backhand wings with such confidence he overpowered the Austrian. Again tonight there is a likelihood he will be hot on serve piling on the pressure for Nishikori to hold his far weaker service game compared to Anderson. That's not to say I don't have respect for the Japanese, especially since for the first time in over four years he managed to beat Federer the other night. But having watched that match I can attest to the fact that Federer lost that match himself with a very poor display rather than Nishikori stomping home in dominant fashion. The Swiss looked very poor for most of the match off his forehand and backhand wings and made way too many unforced errors - he was 19 winners to 34 unforced errors! Federer will have to be on top form tonight against Thiem or he will be out of the finals before he has even really got going. Nishikori afforded Federer two chances to break over the two sets, got 53% of first serves in, won 78% of first serves but only hit 6 winners. We all know he's a defensive player but that stat shows he will have to dig deep against Anderson tonight who will not afford him the leeway Federer did. In contrast Anderson did not give Dominic Thiem a single break point opportunity in his straight sets win. He served 61% of first serves in, won 91% of first serve points and fired down 13 aces whilst hitting 30 winners (24 more than Nishikori vs Federer). Nishikori may have had the last win against the South African but he's going to need another unbelievable showing way beyond the likes of how we saw him against Federer to overturn the big guy again tonight. Match Prediction That last victory in Paris for Nishikori over Anderson means that he is the favourite to win tonight which I welcome with open arms from the bookies. Therefore I recommend the odds of 2.22 for Anderson to win this one tonight. I wouldn't be surprised to see him take it in straight sets but the outright odds are good enough to stick with them. Second Bet Indeed if your looking for an outside bet for the London ATP Finals tournament winner with good odds I would also recommend Anderson at 16/1. Given his form and the fact that he has beaten Federer, Djokovic and now Thiem once this year shows he has the capability in a tournament to get through to the final against the sternest of opponents, at which point all bets are off given his serving power and consistency.