Federer conqueror Kei Nishikori can kick on against Anderson

Day three
Sky Sports Arena/BBC2, midday (singles from 2pm) Tuesday

Kei Nishikori, victorious in his ATP Finals opener against Roger Federer, can kick on in London with a win over Kevin Anderson.

There are two key factors for backing Nishikori to make it successive wins – the boost that he will have received from his rare 7-6 6-3 triumph over Federer and the fact he holds a 6-3 personal series lead over Anderson, including a 6-4 6-4 victory in last month's Paris Masters.

Bookmakers rate Nishikori a slight favourite to defeat the Wimbledon finalist but it's possible they haven't gone far enough about the Japanese ace. He also enjoys a head-to-head advantage over Dominic Thiem, who he is due to meet in his final outing in the Lleyton Hewitt group.

Anderson is in decent nick judging by his 6-3 7-6 opening win over Thiem but that may not save the big-server against an opponent with an impressive array of groundstrokes.

Tournament second-favourite Federer is out to 11-2 from 3-1 to nail a seventh crown in the year-ending bash, although his timing was way out in his opener.

That said, the Swiss is by some way the best indoor player in history so it may take only a few tweaks to sort out his glitch.

Nishikori may also have taken a step forward in his career, in which case a frustrated Federer may have been powerless to do much about his loss.

Thiem has not exactly been flying this season and Federer could hardly have asked for a better chance to get back on track.

Backing the Fed to successfully concede 2.5 games is priced a little short, so take a chance on the 3.5-game handicap.

Recommendations
K Nishikori
1pt 3-4 BoyleSports
R Federer -3.5 games
1pt Evs Betfred, 188Bet

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