The Nishioka Riddle

The Japanese plays by period and never does a full season, what can we expect from him on this American tour?

As often during the clay/grass sequence, we saw Nishioka disappear almost completely from the radar. When he doesn't want to play on a surface he doesn't force himself and yet we have seen him pass 3 rounds at Roland taking advantage of a frankly gift table. He took points and I think he didn't expect as much, behind we saw him go out in the first round at Wimbledon which is more consistent with his motivation to play on grass. We find him here on hard, his best surface, and I still have some expectations! He was in the final in Washington last season coming out of the real big games and it could clearly bring back memories for him this return to the US. He will have a lot of points to defend next week and that requires good preparation and warm-up this week. He will be opposed to Vukic for his first round, the Australian is in good shape this season but performs better as a challenger than on the main circuit. He was realistic in the first round and got moved but it will be a completely different match up this time. Above all, Nishioka is a patient player, mobile and a good blocker. Vukic will have the game in hand and will have to find the solutions without forcing the game under penalty of exploding in the exchange..