Analysis for Mayer-Nishikori (Delray Beach)

Head-to-head record 0:0

Florian Mayer of Germany will face Japanese youngster Kei Nishikori in the first round at 2008 Delray Beach tournament. German is more experienced player who is known for his unique, creative style of play. He has a huge backswing on his forehand and uses a lot of difference slices and spin on his backhand side. He is well known for his jumping backhand dropshots which catches many of his opponents on the back foot. He doesn’t really mind the surface he plays on as his style of play is suited to all surfaces. Mayer reached his career-high singles ranking of World No. 33 in 2004 but he has been struggling since that time. His current form is questionable and YTD record isn´t impressive at all – he lost to players such as Zverev, Serra, Golubev or Dlouhy and wasn’t convincing during his Davis Cup performance as well (he lost to H.T.Lee on clay). On the other hand, Kei Nishikori is the biggest hope of Japanese tennis who has had a solid season so far. He reached semifinals on challenger in Miami and played well in qualifiers winning all 3 matches in straight sets. He enjoys hard court conditions and should be able to keep it tight today. We think that chances are 50:50 and odds above 2.0 represent some value for us.