Cilic the indestructible...

The Croat is ruthless. If he has even the slightest chance to get through, he’s going to take it!

You shouldn’t play Cilic when you’re not confident (see Popyrin). Nakashima is pretty confident right now. Even if he disappointed me a bit in Delray Beach against Wong, he’s made up for it since, and hopefully we’ve got our benchmark player back, the one who doesn’t lose to guys ranked below him. Against Zverev in IW, even if it wasn’t a very good Zverev, Nakashima was impressive on serve. Against Cilic in Delray, it was 7/6 7/6 for him, but it could’ve been more one-sided. Nakashima was really making Marin Cilic move, and Cilic was struggling more on outdoor hard than he did indoors in Dallas. On top of that, the Cilic who played Popyrin here wasn’t exactly on fire either. That said, he gets the job done, and with him you’re not allowed to make mistakes...