The Grandstand’s Ricky Dimon and Joey Hanf of The Tennis Nerds preview and pick the best men’s singles matchups on Day 4 of the Australian Open. This is the fourth of 13 installments of expert picks during the season’s first Grand Slam.
Yen-Hsun Lu vs. (22) Grigor Dimitrov
Ricky: Don’t look now, but Yen-Hsun Lu is one of the hottest players on tour. Chinese Taipei’s top player boasts a 6-1 record this season and he was the best man–by a decent margin–from start to finish in Auckland (John Isner struggled all week but served his way out of trouble against Lu to win a competitive final). Lu, who destroyed countryman Jimmy Wang on Tuesday, should benefit in hot conditions against Dimitrov. The Bulgarian’s fitness has always been a question mark, as is his ability to play five-setters. Lu 6-4, 2-6, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2.
Joey: This one should be fun to watch. It pits Grigor’s new “no-nonsense” approach with coach Roger Rasheed against one of the most in-form players on tour, Rendy Lu. The key factor for Lu is to get in as many backhand-to-backhand rallies as possible, in which he has the advantage. Everywhere else Dimitrov holds the edge, and in the end I think the Bulgarian’s big serve will win him a lot of free points in big moments. Dimitrov 7-6(4), 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.
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Marin Cilic vs. (18) Gilles Simon
Ricky: Simon transformed Melbourne into Sparta on Tuesday evening. The Frenchman arrived at the Australian Open on crutches, but–after being expected to withdraw from the event–he turned in an absolute warrior performance against Daniel Brands. Incredibly, he saved seven match points before prevailing 16-14 in the fifth. Cilic also needed five sets, but he arguably has even more momentum after storming back from two sets down against Marcel Granollers. Simon should not be doubted after what he did in round one…but I’m going to doubt him anyway. Cilic 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Joey: I didn’t think Simon would be playing his first-round match against Daniel Brands, let alone winning it 16-14 in the fifth. Cilic came back from two sets to love down to beat Granollers. This one has five sets written all over it–if Simon can manage his ankle injury. Cilic has been playing more aggressively to start 2014 and his serve should be the difference in this one, which could take a very long time. Cilic 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-5, 4-6, 7-5.
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(27) Benoit Paire vs. Nick Kyrgios
Ricky: The future may be now for the 18-year-old Kyrgios. He has a huge game and a great draw Down Under. The Australian already capitalized once by dismissing Benjamin Becker and although Paire is way more talented than Becker, the Frenchman rarely maximizes his talent. Kyrgios is going to want this one more, and what is sure to be a raucous crowd will be quick to jump on any unnecessary antics by Paire. Kyrgios 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(5).
Joey: The crowd will be rocking in this one. The young Kyrgios has some serious game. A big serve and monstrous groundstrokes make him extremely dangerous. Paire might be the most up-and-down player I’ve ever seen; if nothing else, he’s exciting to watch. Expect Paire to drop-shot the teenager without end. The only thing that concerns me about Kyrgios is a shoulder injury he is nursing. But in front of his home crowd, the adrenaline should minimize that pain. Kyrgios 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-2.
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(24) Andreas Seppi vs. Donald Young
Ricky: Speaking of warriors saving match point, Seppi surprised the home crowd by holding off an in-form Lleyton Hewitt on Tuesday afternoon. The Italian survived 7-5 in the fifth after thwarting a match point with an ace at 4-5 in the decider. That effort may take just a little bit out of Seppi, but he rarely has trouble staying on the tennis court all day long. He is content to play long point after long point and should have too much consistency for an erratic Young. Seppi 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.
Joey: After taking out Hewitt in a five-set marathon, you might think Seppi will have some sort of letdown in this one. However, he is playing the much-denounced Young, so anything could happen. Young has been playing well on the Challenger circuit for the last seven months and he’s started 2014 well, taking a set off David Ferrer in Auckland. The lefty forehand could give Seppi some trouble, but Young doesn’t have anywhere near the composure and confidence of the Italian. Seppi 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1.
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nadline, I did not use the word ‘king of hard courts’….I made a correction in my above post …i had to write ‘king of grass courts’ … so I have used the term king of clay for rafa, king of grass for federer and ‘some of the best ever on hard courts’ was the term I used for masters of the hard surface… Djokovic, Federer (esp Federer, who is statistically the most successful hard court player ever) , and Murray, Rafa who own 3 hard court slams and 17 masters 1000 on hard courts collectively…. Del Potro has challenged them on all stages and given his performance in 2013 it is quite reasonable to consider him a very big threat…
I’m hoping it is just some dehydration, despite all taken precautions.
I am going to check in on vb to see if I can get more info. I am hoping it’s just because of the heat. Rafa was sweating and his shirt was sticking to him even though the roof was closed.
Typical Rafa, even doubled over with stomach pain he still did the interview. Chris Fowler apparently tried to get some info after the match from Rafa but did not hear back from him.
Sending good thoughts to Rafa!
oops ! I have this is nothing serious…lets us know if you find more info
^^I was surprised at how much Rafa was perspiring last night. I know he sweats more than most people, but at one point when his head was bent down, the sweat just seemed to be pouring off of him. He did say that it was still humid indoors. Even with closing the roof, in a building that size, it’s not like the ventilation system can change the humidity 30 minutes after the closing. It’s still a zillion percent better than playing in that searing sun. I felt so sorry for Sharapova and Knapp. Knapp looked like she was getting terribly burnt and they both looked like they were just trying to survive it.
RT @juanjosetennis: “https://twitter.com/juanjosetennis/status/423814225577136128/photo/1
To paraphrase the Rickster: EVIDENCE!
Telling sentence, “Notice how none of the deciding sets is all that close:”
#QED
Oops, the tweet did not come out right:
RT: @juanjosetennis: “Here are the last 6 five-setters Delpo has played (and lost). Notice how none of the deciding sets is all that close: ”
For some reason, cannot get the picture with the stats on today but to paraphrase, all the 6, 5 setter Delpo has played and lost before today he lost the final set 6-3; 6-3; 6-3; 6-3, 6-3 and 6-1.
Anyhoo, enough of history, time to look forward to the weekend!
#Rafa/LaMonf
Mea Culpa, some pundits are already off-loading Delpo stock, or taking a closer look at it. Matt Wilansky:
http://espn.go.com/tennis/aus14/story/_/id/10303475/australian-open-roger-federer-royal-robe
“4. Anyone but Juan Martin del Potro
We’re now into the fifth year of wondering whether del Potro can duplicate his 2009 US Open run, where he beat Federer in a five-set final. He has the biggest forehand in the game and is just suffocating when he’s on. But Thursday, he became the first top-10 casualty. The 6-foot-6 Argentine lost to Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5. After a half-decade wait, do we give up on the aspirations we had for delPo?”
Your call, Matt. I made mine a long time ago.
“5. Anyone but Petra Kvitova and Sara Errani
Is Kvitova the female counterpart to del Potro? She’s big, powerful and rife with talent. But she simply falls flat at majors.”
You have the evidence, what you do with it is your business. Hell, you can choose to ignore it altogether and go against the evidence!
#Contrarian
It is a well used investment strategy.
Kvitova’s mentality is quite inferior to that of Del Potro’s. Just the fact that both have one slam and have not been able to back that up with another is not sufficient evidence o being a counterpart, wilansky..got to look at lots of other things IMO
I don’t think he is directly comparing Delpo to Kvitova @vamosrafa. He does use the word “counterpart” which suggest he knows the ATP and WTA exist in different universes. he doesn’t say, “Kvitova is the femal equivalent of Delpo”.
An ATP winning mentality is totally different to an WTA one. It’s not that both have one Slam (which they do btw) but rather that they simply fall flat at majors in spite of being “rife with talent, big and powerful”.
The reason both Delpo and Kvitova are disappointing is not that they both have a Slam each, it’s that they do not seem to be making use of their positive physical attributes and inate (sp) talent. This is where Wilansky is coming from.
I don’t see Delpo as a favorite in slams. However, he has won a slam and that’s something that the likes of Tsonga, Dimitrov, Raonic and Berdy have not done yet. He beat Fed in 2009 at the USO before he really went into decline. That’s when many climbed on his bandwagon and started touting him to win more slams and maybe even get near the top in the rankings in 2010. We all know what happened next. A terrible wrist injury that might have been career ending in the past.
He is still a dangerous player who presents a legitimate threat to the other top players. It is surprising that he has not won a Masters yet. That is one big hole in his tennis resume. I think his issues have been the propensity for injuries and also fitness. That is what has held him back.
I didn’t see pundits picking Delpo to win or even be a favorite. The two favorites are Djoker and Rafa. The only reason that Murray is not also considered a favorite, is because he is just returning from back surgery. At times Delpo has been considered a dark horse at slams. I don’t think that’s unreasonable.
One sparrow does not make a summer. So Delpo won the USO, once, so did Roddick but Roddick wasn’t being presented as a constant threat to players with multiple slams. Of course Delpo can beat anyone any time but sometimes it’s like his chances are 80:20 against the top guys.
There is no comparison between Roddick and Delpo. Once Roddick bumped up against Fed, he couldn’t beat him to save his life. He was either unwilling or unable to make adjustments or try different things to challenge Fed. Because of Fed’s dominance, Roddick was effectively shut out of slam wins. That was when Fed was dominating.
So the fact that Delpo beat Fed when he was still in his prime means a great deal. As for this business about one sparrow does not make a summer, again I will remind others that Delpo had a serious wrist injury that took him out of competition for a whole year. When he came back his ranking had plunged and he was somewhere around 300 or 400 something in the world. So it took him another whole year to get his ranking back up to just outside the top ten.
The guy has had adversity. Ignoring that is disingenuous, to say the least. Roddick was never considered a big threat because he couldn’t beat the guy was dominating the sport at the time, namely Fed. Roddick had the big serve, but it wasn’t enough. He became an also-ran.
I don’t know how any reasonable person could be upset or annoyed about Delpo being considered a threat to the top players. It’s not just about Rafa. He pushed Djoker to the limit in last year’s Wimbledon semi, even with a bad knee. He is a threat to all of the top players. When he’s on his game, he is very dangerous.
Yea, yea, yea.
Brilliant response!
Rafa is out practicing right now, so it seems that reports of him doubling up in his presser is nothing to worry about.
They’ve just shown a fit Rafa posing for pictures with fans after his practice session today.
no stomach pain?
I saw it on VB, but only one person Chris Fowler said Rafa doubled up with stomach pains at his presser. Rafa did a full press conference anyway. I checked all round the internet to see if there were any other reports on it and I couldn’t find any that’s why I didn’t think it was worth repeating.
Ferrer looking good Down Under
Jerzy is ou. Beaten in straight sets by Florian Mayer.
too much funk
@vamosrafa says; January 16, 2014 @8:01 pm
“Who are these pundits who have delpo as a ‘firm favourite’ to win the slam and upset rafa on his way?! They must be out of their mind to have delpo as a strong favourite…”
Ehh, Delpo must be out of his mind then……because he considered HIMSELF a favourite to win!
““I like the tournament,” del Potro said. “I think this year the courts are faster than years ago. For Bautista’s game is much better. But I’m still confidence playing this tournament. I think sometimes the favorites lose very early in a Grand Slam, like Federer in Wimbledon or Rafa, and then other ones in the US Open. Here is my chance to get out very early in the tournament.”
http://www.tennis-x.com/xblog/2014-01-16/14540.php#comments
Who needs pundits when you’ve got the man himself?
Side note: I like how he brackets himself in with Fed and Rafa. You gotta give the man credit: what he lacks in Slam results since that lone USOpen victory he makes up in chutzpah.
So what is he not suppose to play with confidence? Then why play at all?
Sorry, don’t understand what playing with confidence has to do with considering oneself a favorite. I am sure Bautista Agut is playing with confidence but I doubt he considers himself one of the favorites.
Favourites, plural, note the “s”.
He was 3rd-4th favourite as per the oddsmakers (which is usually what is meant).
3rd
There’s nothing wrong with a player having confidence. In a hard court slam, Delpo is always going to be in the discussion or as a dark horse.