ATP Kuala Lumpur: Nicolas Almagro vs. Kei Nishikori

Top seed Nicolas Almagro faces his first serious test of the week against Kei Nishikori in the Malaysian Open quarter-finals.

Almagro is looking to reach the ATP World Finals for the first time and after a string of clay-court titles this year, the Spaniard is ninth in the Race, trailing Tomas Berdych by just 70 points. A good run this week could see him leapfrog the Czech but he did not have the most impressive starts, needing a couple of tiebreaks to see off compatriot Albert Ramos in the second round.

Almagro is hoping to make his sixth ATP final of the year this week but he will have a tricky test against flamboyant Japanese shot-maker Kei Nishikori. The eighth seed came through a lengthy quarter-final tussle with Philipp Petzschner, winning 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.

These two have never faced each other on the tour before but Almagro should go in strong favourite on the surface. The hard courts at this event are very sluggish and don't have much pace favouring a powerfully built player like Almagro who can use the time on the ball to set up for his huge swings and muscle the ball through the court. A player like Nishikori relishes pace on the ball, something he'll struggle to get today.