Acapulco SF previews and predictions: Zverev vs. Del Potro, Anderson vs. Donaldson

A blockbuster battle between Alexander Zverev and Juan Martin Del Potro is set for Friday in Acapulco. Kevin Anderson is also part of the semifinal schedule, as he will try to keep his hot start to 2018 going at the expense of Jared Donaldson.

(6) Juan Martin Del Potro vs. (2) Alexander Zverev

Zverev and Del Potro will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they clash in the semifinals of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel on Friday night. They previously faced each other last fall at the Shanghai Masters, where Del Potro got the job done 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4. The 29-year-old Argentine is off to an up-and-down start to his 2018 campaign, with a runner-up performance in Auckland followed by early losses at the Australian Open (to Tomas Berdych) and in Delray Beach (to eventual champion). Del Potro has picked up the pace in Acapulco with victories over Mischa Zverev, David Ferrer, and Dominic Thiem–surrendering just one set to Ferrer in the process.

Aside from some Davis Cup heroics for Germany, Zverev had not done anything this season prior to arriving in Acapulco. The world No. 5 also fell in the Australian Open third round (to Hyeon Chung) before bowing out of Rotterdam after just two matches (to Andreas Seppi). Dating back to 2017, by his own admission he has hardly been a top 50 player since capturing Masters 1000 titles in Rome and Montreal. This week, though, Zverev has not dropped a set while disposing of Mackenzie McDonald, Peter Gojowyczk, and Ryan Harrison. Del Potro, of course, is a whole different beast–and one who did himself a major favor by getting off the court against Thiem in straight sets following a tense second-set tiebreaker.

Pick: Del Potro in 3

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Jared Donaldson vs. (5) Kevin Anderson

Anderson comes in at a career-high ranking of No. 8 in the world and even though that is in part due to the myriad of injuries befalling some of the best players on tour, it is also well-deserved. The 6’8” South African finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal at the U.S. Open and he is back on track in 2018 following a predictable two-month slump that came on the heels of his breakthrough in New York. Anderson is 10-2 this season with losses only to Gilles Simon in the Pune final and to eventual semifinalist Kyle Edmund in a five-setter during Australian Open first-round action. Acapulco’s fifth seed is coming off a title at the inaugural New York Open and he has advanced this week with straight-set defeats of Radu Albot, Adrian Mannarino, and Hyeon Chung.

Up next for Anderson is a second career meeting with Donaldson, who lost their only previous encounter 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-2 on the clay courts of Geneva in 2017. Unlike his opponent, Donaldson slumped through the first two months of this season with a 3-5 record in his first eight matches. Like Anderson, however, the 21-year-old American has been on fire in Acapulco with zero sets surrendered during victories over Nikoloz Basilashvili, Matthew Ebden, and Feliciano Lopez. In fact, Donaldson has dropped a mere 12 games in three matches. But this is a steep step up in competition in the form of a red-hot Anderson, whose game is perfectly suited for the conditions at this tournament.

Pick: Anderson in 2

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