World Tour Finals contenders Juan Martin Del Potro and David Goffin will be part of Wednesday’s schedule in Basel. Del Potro, who likely needs a title, is going up against Joao Sousa. Goffin is facing Hyeon Chung in the second round.
Joao Sousa vs. (4) Juan Martin Del Potro
Del Potro will be back in action after capturing the Stockholm title last week when he takes the court on Wednesday at the Swiss Indoors Basel. The 19th-ranked Argentine lifted an ATP winner’s trophy for the 20th time in his career by clobbering Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-2 on Sunday. He is currently No. 11 in the race to the World Tour Finals–not including players who are out for the season–and could soar all the way to the all-important eighth spot with a title in Basel.
Up first for Del Potro is a second career contest against Sousa, who lost their only previous encounter 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 at last summer’s Rio Olympics. Sousa has struggled for the most part this year with a 24-30 ATP-level record that has him registering at 60th in the rankings. Portugal’s top player ended a four-match losing streak by making a run to last week’s Antwerp quarterfinals, beating Benoit Paire and Sergiy Stakhovsky in three sets before succumbing to Ruben Bemelmans 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4. A routine match against Dimitrov followed by two days of rest should allow Del Potro to refuel his tank and hit Sousa off the court.
Pick: Del Potro in 2
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(3) David Goffin vs. Hyeon Chung
Goffin and Chung will be squaring off for the third time in their careers on Wednesday. The head-to-head series stands at one victory apiece, with Goffin prevailing 6-3, 6-1 last season on the indoor hard courts of Marseille before Chung got the job done 7-5, 6-3 at this summer’s Montreal Masters. Goffin is in far better shape than Del Potro in terms of World Tour Finals positioning, as he could lose this match and still sit in the No. 7 spot among active players heading into next week’s Paris Masters. The 10th-ranked Belgian is an outstanding 50-20 in 2017 with recent titles in Shenzhen and Tokyo.
Chung, who comes in at No. 57 in the world, is a solid 23-16 on the main tour this season–thus more than doubling his previous ATP-level win total going into this season (22 in his career). The Korean cruised past Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 6-1 on Monday and he is now looking to win back-to-back matches at a tournament for the first time since Winston-Salem in mid-August. Goffin, who ousted Peter Gojowyczk 6-2, 7-5 on Tuesday, should be too solid from the back of the court and he will be particularly motivated with a big chance to separate himself from Sam Querrey and Kevin Anderson (already losers this week) in the race to London.
Pick: Goffin in 2
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who ya got?
Ricky- it was great to hear you on “No Challenges Remaining” this morning! Whenever I hear you on that podcast, I feel oddly like a son who’s proud of his father proud haha! I know, it’s weird! But the Grandstand is like a family, and we are happy when our “leader” is called upon to show his ATP knowledge. 🙂
Del Potro in 2 and Goffin in 3
Delpo is on a roll and should win. It’ll be Delpo v/s the Feds in the finals http://www.138mph.com/tennis-federer-schools-tiafoe-will-del-potro-come-through-in-basel/
Goffin-Chung possibly dangerous game since the former doesn’t have much to gain this week whereas the latter is one win away from Milan. Beware!
Forget it, Chung is going to Milan anyway…………
Delpo and Goffin in 3 probably. 2 possible. Like Delpo and Goffin ML
The gas tank of both is not full(may be 75%. Played a lot of matches. Tiredness will be a factor!lol
Del Po in two and Goffin in three