A blockbuster matchup between Juan Martin Del Potro and Andy Murray will be the opener for this weekend’s Davis Cup semifinal tie between Argentina and Great Britain. Guido Pella vs. Kyle Edmund is the second rubber.
Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) vs. Andy Murray (GBR)
Murray and Del Potro will be squaring off for the ninth time in their careers and for the second time this summer when they meet again in the Davis Cup World Group semifinals on Friday afternoon in Glasgow, Scotland. The head-to-head series stands at 6-2 in favor of Murray, who recently outlasted Del Potro 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the gold-medal match at the Rio Olympics. That marked their first showdown since 2013, mainly because the Argentine missed much of the past few seasons with recurring wrist problems. Del Potro, who is 1-5 against Murray on hard courts, last defeated the Scot 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1 in the Indian Wells quarterfinals three years ago.
The 27-year-old’s latest comeback began in February and to say it has been a successful one would be a gross understatement. Most importantly, Del Potro has remained healthy and his left wrist appears to be getting stronger by the week. In addition to his Olympic silver medal, the former world No. 4 reached semifinals in Delray Beach and Stuttgart, beat Stan Wawrinka at Wimbledon, and he is coming off a quarterfinal showing at the U.S. Open. Following his gold-medal win, Murray finished runner-up in Cincinnati to Marin Cilic and advanced to the U.S. Open quarters before falling to Kei Nishikori in five sets. The second-ranked Scot has been the tour’s most consistent player since the end of the French Open and he is 29-2 lifetime in Davis Cup singles rubbers, so he should once again be too tough for Del Potro–especially with home-court advantage in Glasgow.
Pick: Murray in 4
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Guido Pella (ARG) vs. Kyle Edmund (GBR)
Pella and Edmund will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they contest Friday’s nightcap. Their only previous encounter came earlier this season in Indian Wells, where Pella prevailed 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-5. Not too surprisingly, the 49th-ranked Frenchman has been a disaster since the conclusion of the clay-court swing (which saw him lose a grueling five-setter to Gilles Simon in the Roland Garros second round). Once a decent 13-10 at the ATP level this year, Pella is a horrendous 1-7 in his last eight matches.
Edmund, on the other hand, is coming off a breakout performance at the U.S. Open. The world No. 55 ousted Richard Gasquet, Ernesto Escobedo, and John Isner to reach the last 16 before succumbing to Novak Djokovic. Fifteen of Edmund’s 17 career ATP-level match victories have come in 2016. In this kind of form, Edmund should not have too much trouble taking advantage of a slumping opponent while likely giving the host nation a 2-0 advantage on Day 1.
Pick: Edmund in 4
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Tennis really missed the big man. He is special. I hope he stays healthy for years to come.
I agree with your sentiments. I had to
go out and missed the fifth set. Delpo is beating the top guys one by one.
Delpo’s FH is truly scary. He just sweeps it across his body and the ball lands at the corner of his opponent’s court and unreturnable! Such easy power!
His movement has improved, so does his volleying and even his stamina. He’s not doing nothing during his injury break, this Delpo has a more complete game than the previous version.
He has now beaten Djoko, Rafa and Murray, impressive!
Those who said Delpo couldn’t go five sets against Murray were barking up the wrong tree 🙁
Nothing but admiration for Delpo. What an amazing comeback from the great man. Murray was well and truly outplayed.
Working and only just noticed DC Cup scores. Unbelievable result, Delpo beating Andy in 5 sets! Devastating for Andy fans there but Delpo is a force. His comeback now includes beating all three, Nole, Rafa, Andy…
How many ranking points does a DC win give him?
Oh, sorry to hear Andy’s grandpa’s funeral was today. 🙁
delpo was amazing. his forehand was just out of this world at times.
what would he have achieved barring injury? surely multiple slams and at least one spell at #1. immense loss to the sport. and so adorable!!
i kept thinking how much delpo was missing his big 2 handed backhand as he sliced away. when he hit it he didn’t hit it with much power. just shows the quality of his game that he can beat the very top players without it.
#legend as far as i am concerned.
Definitely in my book amy, #DelpoLegend
Multiple Slams without the injury — probably more like Andy’s numbers than Rafa’s but maybe halfway between. He might have won an FO. All for speculation!
I wish he could be at WTF but that’s a bit optimistic. That’s why I was wondering how many points he gets for winning a DC round. In the Race Ranks he’s #51 with 770 points.
dunno about the davis cup points rc. just tried to look it up but without much success.
delpo is gr8 on all surfaces but i doubt he would have beaten rafa there until 2015 – rafa was pretty much unbeatable on clay. but that year and the year afterwards he definitly could have won it. who knows about the number of slams…i think more than andy’s 3 but that’s just speculation as you say.
he’s playing in shanghai next isn’t he? wish today had been a slam match. he could amass a lot of points in the autumn as he’s done really well this time of year in the past. ie beating fed in basle..
go delpo!!
I can’t find anything lol, have to go back to work.
But couldn’t find Delpo on any tournament this fall. Some better give him a WC! Maybe he’d have to qualify? ?
shanghai has given him one rc!! definitely! he’ll get others as well…
His only chance of going to the WTF was winning the US Open and finishing the year 20th or better.
Sadly the DC (same as the Olympics) don’t give points for the ranking anymore.
Anyway, in the last months he took Djoko, Rafa, Wawrinka and Andy.. Something that most players can’t achieve in their whole career.
I hope he manages to win the DC for his country this year, he deserves it more than anyone.
Delpo has now beaten 1 and 2. Watch out Stan. You are next.
he already beat stan at wimby..
That’s right he beat Stan at Wimby. Vamos Delpo!
I stand corrected. He has beaten top 4 or has he beaten Kei too ?
Hasn’t beaten kei in his comeback but yeah he’s beaten the top four. Pretty awesome. VAMOS DEL PO
Not Kei. Well not since he’s been back this year. He’s leads h2h 4-0.
And Amy I can’t find if and where it says they even get points for a DC Match! Didn’t try Wiki, just ATP and DC website.
augusta do you know? this is your forte!
amy (AT 6:55 PM),
The ATP website, FAQ:”Beginning in 2016 NO points will be awarded for Davis Cup ties.”
thanx very much augusta. what a swizz for no points though!
Yeah, I read that bit on the ATP rankings FAQ but I guess I was in denial or can’t understand “ties”? Why do they just say no ATP points for any players and teams? And why did they take the points away? ?
As I understand it, for the same reason no ranking points are to be awarded for Olympics or Davis Cup, on the theory that not all players have an equal opportunity to play. Or some such nonsense. Do they really think all players have equal opportunities to win ranking points?
Yes del Po won!! Let’s go!!
No points from Olympics either. Delpo could be top 20 by now.
I know right.
That’s the bad part of his recent wins. Although he did get his ranking up because of his quarterfinal result at the USO.
Delpo has to win more matches where there are rankings points! Too bad there were none for the Olympics!
I think Delpo can do well in the fall hardcourt season.
Vamos!
That was a surprising win by Argentina. After I saw Delpo wasn’t playing today, I figured GB had it. Tough loss for France, too.