Japanese No. 1 Yoshihito Nishioka takes on America’s Sebastian Korda in the semifinals of the Adelaide International 1 on Saturday.
The 27-year-old has shown a lot of grit and determination in what has been an impressive campaign for him so far. Nishioka has already bagged a couple of tour-level titles and will hope to win two more matches to bag a third.
He began his campaign in Adelaide with a tough encounter against 5th seed Holger Rune. After losing the first set comprehensively, Nishioka bounced back to win the match 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. In the round of 16, Nishioka registered a relatively comfortable win against Mackenzie McDonald in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. In the quarterfinals, the world No. 36 had to dig deep to get the better of home favorite Alexei Popyrin 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (8-10), 6-2.
The world No. 33 has had a fine start to the season. He is yet to drop a set so far in the competition and looked quite impressive at various junctures.
The 22-year-old began his campaign with a fine win against 3-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray. After winning a closely-fought first set, Korda bagged the second set convincingly and won the match 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. In the round of 16, Korda edged Spanish veteran Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. The quarterfinals saw Korda take on 6th seed Jannik Sinner. The first set was a close affair but Korda managed to win it. The second set was a one-sided affair and Korda won the match 7-5, 6-1.
Sebastian Korda and Yoshihito Nishioka have faced each other on a couple of occasions. The former won both matches and has a 2-0 lead in the head-to-head scoreline.
Prediction: Sebastian Korda to win in three sets.
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