World number four Stan Wawrinka had a mediocre season in 2016, up until the US Open came around, Wawrinka has started to become a big match player in the last three years, and the second seed here at the Brisbane International won his third Grand Slam singles title in three years at the US Open by displaying a clinical performance against world number two Novak Djokovic in the final which was reminiscent of his performance against the Serb at the French Open, the previous year.
Meanwhile, Kei Nishikori who is competing in his fourth semifinal in Brisbane is still knocking on the door but can't get the breakthrough by winning a Masters 1000 or Grand Slam title. The third seed reached his second US Open semifinal in three years losing to Wawrinka, which was the first time he lost to a top-five player at Flushing Meadows. Injuries continued to get the better of Nishikori in 2016 which forced him to withdraw from the fourth round at Wimbledon, and he reached a couple of Masters 1000 finals coming short on both occasions losing to Djokovic in Miami and Toronto.
Wawrinka's route to the semifinals
The three-time Grand Slam champion loves this part of the world, and three years ago the Swiss number one won his first Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open beating Djokovic in the quarterfinals, and 2009 champion Rafael Nadal in the final. The second seed usually competes in Chennai, and he was the three-time defending champion but he opted to participate in Brisbane this year.
Wawrinka received a bye in the first round, and he had a tricky first match of the year against Viktor Troicki, who's the two-time defending champion in Sydney, and Wawrinka edged past the Serb in straight sets, 7-6 (5), 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals in Brisbane.
The second seed had to come back from a set down to defeat Britain's Kyle Edmund in a high-quality quarterfinal match-up but the Swiss eventually came through, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-4.
Nishikori's route to the semifinals
The four-time semifinalist also received a bye in the opening round as a top four seeded player but despite being a double break up in the opening set, Nishikori conceded the opening set to Jared Donaldson and eventually came through, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. In the quarterfinals, the 2014 US Open runner-up came through an easier match with Australian wildcard, Jordan Thompson in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1 to set up this entertaining semifinal clash with Wawrinka.
Their history
Wawrinka and Nishikori have met on seven occasions with the three-time Grand Slam champion have a slight 4-3 advantage in their head-to-head meetings. Wawrinka leads 1-0 on clay, and they are level at 3-3 on hard courts.
Wawrinka won their first two meetings in 2012 and both were in straight sets in the quarterfinals of the clay court event in Buenos Aires, 6-4, 6-2 and in the third round of the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati, 6-3, 6-3. Nishikori would record his first victory over Wawrinka in the quarterfinals of the US Open in 2014 in a five set epic, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7), 6-7 (5), 6-4 but the following Grand Slam at the Australian Open in 2015, Wawrinka bulldozed past Nishikori in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (6).
The duo met three times in 2016 with Nishikori defeating Wawrinka in straight sets for the first time in the semifinals of the Rogers Cup in Toronto, 7-6 (6), 6-1, although it was revealed afterwards that Wawrinka was hampered with a back injury, that ruled him out of the Rio Olympics. Furthermore, Wawrinka returned at the US Open and he defeated Nishikori in the semifinals in four entertaining sets, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 and he went on to win his third Grand Slam singles title in three years. Most importantly, the third seed won their most recent meeting in the round-robin stage of the ATP World Tour Finals in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3.
Who wins
This will be the eighth meeting between the duo, and the pair are no stranger to reaching the latter stages of the big tournaments. Wawrinka has more firepower out of the two players with a scintillating backhand which he utilised over and over again in their semifinal clash in New York. However, Nishikori also has the firepower when his forehand is firing on all cylinders. Both players are good returners, and Wawrinka slightly has the better serve out of the two players which will be key in this match.
In this contest, the Swiss number one will be looking to dominate rallies from the baseline but he doesn't hesitate by coming forward to finish off the points early. On the other hand, Wawrinka is known for having a few mental lapses in matches which will allow Nishikori to dominate in some parts of the match.
This will be the first of the two men's semifinal matches scheduled on Saturday in the Pat Rafter Arena at not before 12:30 pm local time and the winner of this match will face defending champion and top seed Milos Raonic or seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov on Sunday's final.
Prediction: Wawrinka in three sets