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  • Indian Wells First Round: Kei Nishikori vs. Marin Cilic

    3/14/08 1:53 AM | Jonathan Morgan
    Indian Wells First Round: Kei Nishikori vs. Marin Cilic Kei Nishikori was the story of February as he came out of nowhere and qualified for Delray, then won the event. He had to retire from Memphis qualies a few weeks later, but qualified for Indian Wells in a few tough matches. Marin Cilic will be a stern test.

    The all teen matchup of Cilic (19) vs. Nishikori (18) is intriguing. Kei won his maiden event as a giant killer in Delray beating Blake and Querrey en route to the title. Cilic has yet to win a tournament, but has had a solid year thus far. He made the semis in Chennai and made the 4th round at the Aussie Open. Since then, his results have been a bit tough, but he played well in a loss to Djokovic in Dubai.

    Cilic will use his 195 cm frame to throw down big serves, his specialty. His forehand is also quite a good weapon when given time to execute it. Nishikori had a tough time qualifying for this event and fatigue may come into play. I doubt it, though. Nishikori's serve leaves much to be desired as he will need to beef it up as he proceeds in the ATP ranks. As of now, though, it is a very attackable shot. Nishikori is solid off of both wings and can finish points off at the net if need be.

    The real question here is three-fold.

    #1- Will Kei be able to return the Cilic serve with authority and be able to get into the Croatian's service games?

    #2- Once the rally is going, Nishikori will have the advantage, as long as he stays away from the kamikaze of the Cilic forehand. Can he keep it up?

    #3- Can Nishikori hold onto his own serve with any conviction considering how poor it is compared to most on the tour?

    I guess we will have to find out tomorrow when they play it out. Cilic should have both the experience and the game edge, but I learned in the week in Delray not to discount young Kei.

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