Novak Djokovic vs Kei Nishikori live stream: How to watch Tokyo Olympics match and start time

Are you ready to stay up for the Novak Djokovic vs Kei Nishikori live stream? For the first time in a while, the odds-on favorite is playing against someone who's beaten him in the past. Yes, fresh off his Wimbledon 2021 win, Djokovic is taking on the World's No. 69th ranked tennis player, Kei Nishikori. 

Nishikori's wins over Djokovic aren't recent, though, coming back in 2014 (U.S. Open) and 2011 (Basel). And excluding those matches, Djokovic's won a whopping 16 of their meetings, all the way from France to Canada, from Florida to Spain and from Australia to New York. So, safe to say, experts are picking him to win (again). In fact, DraftKings has him at -1600 to win, with Nishikori back at +900.

And it's hard to imagine Djokovic will need more than two sets to win this Tokyo Olympics tennis match. Especially when the Serbian Ace just dispatched Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the World's No. 34-ranked men's tennis player, by 6-3, 6-1. 

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At the Tokyo Olympics, Nishikori's beaten Andrey Rublev in straight sets, followed by a win over Marcos Giron (in three sets) and another straight-sets win over Ilya Ivashka. We're not telling Djokovic to take his opponent lightly, we're just saying it doesn't seem like he will lose.

Djokovic hasn't lost a match since May (against Rafael Nadal). And since Rafa is out, one looks back to the previous instance of anyone beating Djokovic — Aslan Karatsev — in April of this year. 

Ready to go? Then here's everything you need to watch Novak Djokovic vs Kei Nishikori live streams:

How to watch the Novak Djokovic vs Kei Nishikori live stream from anywhere in the world

The Olympics is a global event and can be viewed in almost every country on Earth. However, if you're not in your home country and can't watch the Novak Djokovic vs Kei Nishikori live streams with your usual services — or you want to watch in your native language — you're not out of luck. 

With a virtual private network, or VPN, you can appear to be surfing the web from your home town (or somewhere that blackouts won't hit), and access the same streaming services you already paid for. They're totally legal, inexpensive and easy to use. 

Not sure which VPN is right for you? We've tested many different services and our pick for the best VPN overall is ExpressVPN. It offers superb speeds and excellent customer service. But you've got other VPN options as well.

We think speed, security and simplicity make ExpressVPN second to none. During our tests, we saw fast connection times, and we're impressed by the service's ability to access more than 3,000 services spread out across 160 locations in 94 countries. 

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Using a VPN is incredibly simple.

1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, ExpressVPN is our favorite.

2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance if you're in the U.S. and want to view a U.K. service, you'd select U.K. from the list.

3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head to your website or streaming service of choice and tune in.

How to watch Novak Djokovic vs Kei Nishikori in the US

Primarily, you'll want the NBC Sports App or NBCOlympics.com to watch the Novak Djokovic vs Kei Nishikori live stream. 

The match is in the early hours of the morning, scheduled at around 3:15 a.m. ET. To stream the coverage, you'll need your cable or satellite account login info — and you can also log in with your Sling or Fubo account.

It may be included in roundup coverage on NBC and Peacock later, but that's not been announced. If you've cut the cable, you can find NBC and NBCSN and more in on the Sling TV Blue package. 

The Sports Extra package ($11 per month extra) gets you the Olympic channel. Sling is one of the best streaming services alongside our other recommendation for Olympics viewing: Fubo TV, which has 100+ channels (many more than Sling), including all of the above networks. 

Cheaper Live TV

Sling TV: You can get USA in the Sling Blue package, which is $35/month. The 30-plus channels in the lineup include AMC, CNN, Food Network, AMC, Comedy Central, HGTV and many more. Right now, Sling is offering $10 off the first month for new subscribers.

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Fubo TV: If you love sports, you probably want to check out Fubo TV. It's got a 7-day free trial so you don't need to pay up front. Fubo's dozens of channels include local networks like ABC and ESPN. You can also add on NBA TV. Fubo doesn't have TNT.

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How to watch Novak Djokovic vs Kei Nishikori live streams in the UK

You'll want the new service Discovery+, which has the Novak Djokovic vs Kei Nishikori live stream as a part of the rights for full coverage of the Tokyo Olympics, breaking the BBC's previous monopoly. This year, the BBC is limited to no more than two live events at one time, whereas every single sport and every single event is available on Discovery+ or via the Eurosport channel.

Discovery is currently offering a three-day free trial of the service, with full subscriptions available for £6.99/month or £29.99/year after that. Plus, the service is available to stream through a multitude of devices include Chromecast, Apple TV, Android TV and apps for iOS and Android.

The BBC may still be showing the game too, though, so check out the BBC iPlayer and you may find it.

Americans abroad could just use the service of their choice, provided they log in via a VPN such as ExpressVPN.

How to watch Novak Djokovic vs Kei Nishikori live streams in Canada

The best bet in Canada is likely one of the TSN channels. Sportsnet isn't highlighting tennis as one of its Thursday morning evening events.

More likely, though, is that it's on one of two TSN channels (TSN1 and TSN4), which all list Tokyo Olympics coverage from midnight to 10 a.m..

CBC and TLN will also have Olympics coverage, and are streaming online if you log in with your cable provider or sign up for a standalone package. 

Again, Americans visiting their friends in the great white north could just use Peacock, provided they log in via a VPN such as ExpressVPN.

How to watch Novak Djokovic vs Kei Nishikori live streams in Australia

Down Under, Aussies can watch the Novak Djokovic vs Kei Nishikori live stream on the 7Plus network's streaming service — which has practically everything in the Olympics. Just add 14 hours to the Eastern times listed below to figure out when events start in AEST. 

Currently out of the country? Use ExpressVPN to access your paid-for services.

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