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Nishikori is brilliant, but Isner gained his confidence

The Japanese lost only 10 games in three matches, and took away the serve 15 times. Even he is satisfied with each segment of the game. Although Isner earned a single break-point after three hours, he beat Raonic in three tie-breaks. Maybe he works little on his return, but he's invincible on his serve

Over 20 years ago it was the era of servers, but now conditions have slowed down and players from the base line exterminated the serve-volley players. Tennis may have not evolved lately as much as it should have, but the players have. It's either fast points or outsmarting each other from the base line.

Raonic and Isner played as we expected of them. Aggressively and, what's most important, untouchable at the serve. We can say that each set contained 12 games of foerplay for the tie-break climax. Raonic took the first, without a lost point on the serve. He took the lead with 4-1 in the second one, but he didn't reach a match-point. The American was better in the end. After almost three hours they were tied, but Raonic lost a serve for 6-4 nd that was the end. In the end Isner won one point more than Raonic. He had double more aces (25) than the Canadian.

- In some weird way, that defeat by Ward in Davis Cup, woke me up. I lost against Murray, but I played well, for the first time after a long time. In that meeting I expelled all the negative energy out of me and after that it was easier. I played through at Indian Wells, and transferred the good mood in Miami - commented Isner.

In 39 games, Isner earned a single break-point against Raonic. Unlike him, Nishikori rushed to the quarter-finals. Three of their opponents he left at a total of 10 games. After the first two matches he said that he was satisfied with all aspects of his game, and that's not something we hear often from him. He showed that by beating Goffin, the Grand Slam seed and a rising star.

The Japanese didn't give a moment of peace to Goffin. On the first return game he won three points. He didn't even make a break then, but he won the next five games. Neither the weak entrance into the second set wasn't felt on the final score. The Belgian took the lead with 2-0, and he was left without games until the end. The Japanese limited him on seven winners. He couldn't have done anything.

- I don't usually win so convincingly, but here everything is going smooth. From serves, to returns, to hits and confidence. Everything's on a high level - commented Nishikori the 10 lost games in three matches, and a total of 15 taken serves.

The Japanese is now up for his first meeting with Isner. He never played against the tall American, but he has seven matches against Raonic and he knows how to return a tall serve. He won five out of seven matches against the Canadian. He played against Karlovic thrice. Both won a single match. Those are players most similar to Isner, so the Japanese is experienced. When Isner plays well, it's hard to reach chances. Djokovic felt that on Indian Wells.

Nishikori never played against Isner, but he has a lot of experience with Raonic and we can draw a line here. He met with the Canadian seven times and four times the first set went into a tie-break. I expect the same with Isner, but I give this bet more chance than with the Canadian. First and foremost because Raonic plays more, he's more dangerous on return. Isner is again in shape. With him it's always the same story. As soon as he ties a couple of wins, he's more dangerous. First on hits after returns. The Japanese won't get a lot of space there. Nishikori was brilliant in the first three matches. He lost only 10 games, but he had opponents which he outplayed. Here that won't be the case, so points with six or more exchanges will be rare. On the other hand, the high self confidence on the serve is great for this bet. I doubt the American will do anything on the return. To conclude, Isner will dominate with his serve, and Japanese with his game. It's enough for both to keep the serve until the tie-break, and then the mental part will take over.