Dominic Thiem vs Kei Nishikori Tennis Prediction

This clash between the world #7 Dominic Thiem and former world #4 Kei Nishikori is easily the pick of the round of 16 matches. The aggressive tennis these two likes to play raises expectation, and it is to be seen if the contest lives up to its billing.
Dominic Thiem put in a shaky performance and needed four sets to overcome the French Open debutant Matteo Berrettini in the third round, 6-3 6-7 6-3 6-2. It was the second time in two matches he dropped the second set en route to the win, having previously done the same against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round, 6-2 2-6 6-4 6-4.
The Austrian #1 is currently on a seven-match winning run, including winning his tenth career tour title at ATP Lyon last week. Though Thiem has won 21 matches and two titles on clay this season, he would probably be disappointed after failing to lift his maiden Masters title at Madrid last month, despite knocking out Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinal (lost to Alexander Zverev in the final).
Dominic Thiem is a two-time semifinalist here (2016 and 2017), and during those runs, he faced a relatively comfortable round of 16 opponents, unlike this fortnight, Marcel Granollers in 2016 and Horacio Zeballos in 2017.
Dominic Thiem will certainly feel the pressure going into this contest having failed to win his round of 16 matches in the recent three grand slams, at the Australian Open 2018 (Tennys Sandgren), US Open 2017 (Juan Martin Del Potro) and Wimbledon 2017 (Tomas Berdych).
Kei Nishikori dropped just seven games during his thumping straight-set victory over the experienced Frenchman, Gilles Simon, in the third round, 6-3 6-1 6-3.
With the win against Simon, the Japanese #1 enters the round of 16 in Paris for the fifth time in his career, and his record at this stage stands at 2/2, with the recent win coming against Fernando Verdasco in 2017.
Kei Nishikori, who skipped the US Open 2017 and Australian Open 2018 as he underwent the wrist surgery, played two round of 16 matches in grand slams last season, defeated Fernando Verdasco in French Open but lost to Roger Federer in the Australian Open.
Kei Nishikori won both their previous two meetings in straight sets, including winning their only clay meeting in the quarterfinal of Rome Masters in 2016. Dominic Thiem is the better clay courter of these two, but Kei Nishikori is far more consistent with his performances than the Austrian which makes this an evenly poised contest.

Tennis Prediction: Over 3.5 SETS
Odds: 1.55