Rafael Nadal’s countryman, David Ferrer, will take on Kei Nishikori of Japan in the fourth round of the ongoing Sony Open on Tuesday. Ferrer has so far played just a single match in this tournament.

In the first round, Ferrer got a bye. In the second round, he got a walkover because his opponent Dmitry Tursunov was suffering from Stomach problem. So, he began his campaign by facing the Italian player Fabio Fognini in the third round. Ferrer dominated in that match as expected and won in straight sets by 6-1, 7-5.

This season has been quite good for Ferrer thus far. He began the season by defending his Heineken Open title. He won that tournament by beating Olivier Rochus of Belgium in the final by 6-3, 6-4. Then, he managed to make his way into the final 4 of the Australian Open.

Ferrer then won his second title in the season i.e. ATP Copa Claro. He competed against the Swiss no. 2 Stanislas Wawrinka in the final there and defeated him in three sets by 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

Ferrer reached the finals of Abierto Mexicano Telcel as well, but, he was beaten by his compatriot Rafael Nadal there. Nadal defeated him in the straight sets by 6-0, 6-2.

Because of his consistent performances, Ferrer managed to overtake Rafael Nadal in the world rankings and became the no. 1 Spanish player for a while. But, his disappointing run in the BNP Paribas Open pushed him behind Nadal again.  Ferrer got defeated in the second round at Indian Wells, while, Nadal won the title there.

Currently, Ferrer is at no. 5 in the world rankings.

Ferrer has played against Nishikori four times thus far and out of those 4 matches, both the players have won two apiece. The last time that these two players had faced each other was in the fourth round of the Australian Open. In that match, Ferrer had won in straight sets.