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
[polldaddy poll=9524198]
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
[polldaddy poll=9524199]
WWW?
Wow I did not know this was coming. Delpo being well rested should mean he will win.
Congrats to me hehe.
Murray in five and edmund in four
Murray in 4 and Edmund in 5.
Holy smoke. This is already a battle royal – after half an hour they’ve only played four games!
It must be hellishly difficult for Murray to maintain his concentration on the day of his grand-dad’s funeral.
Must you come with the excuses before the match even ends? Condolences to the family though.
Your comment was uncalled for.
Delpo is playing awesomely well and Andy is understandably subdued 🙁
I didn’t know about Murray’s grandfather passing. My condolences to him and his family.
I just started watching the match with Murray and Delpo. It looks like Murray is in a real battle here.
Stupid misjudgement from Murray 🙁
This has to be hard for Andy under the circumstances. Hopefully he can keep it together.
Delpo being very aggressive now to get the break point.
Delpo has Murray back on his heels as he misses a forehand to give Delpo the break.
His first serve has been MIA from almost the start of the match and his unforced errors are creeping ever higher.
Delpo has barely put a foot wrong.
Delpo is playing with a good deal of confidence now.
Unreal DTL forehand winner from Delpo!
Nice to see you posting again ed. Hope your hand is doing better!
Thanks Hawks. Still heavily bandaged and typing is very laborious.
what happened ed?
I crushed a finger in a folding beach chair four weeks ago. Won’t go into the gory details but it’s the reason I haven’t been posting reently.
very sorry to hear that ed. hope you are recovering now…sounds horribly painful.
Poor soul, ed. Hope you are ok now.
Sorry to hear about your finger, ed. Was wondering where you were.
shit…that must have been SO nasty. Wish you a speedy recovery
ed,
I wondered where you were. You never miss a slam. I am sorry to hear about your accident. It sounds quite painful.
But it’s good to have you back and hopefully on the mend!
?
Fantastic first round match up….I like Murray in 3, esp in England, and Edmund in 3 as well.
Tiebreak.
Great DTL backhand from Murray to win the first point.
Murray has come out swinging to go up 2-0.
Miss from Murray gives the mini break back to Delpo.
2-1
Ace from Andy!
3-1
Another ace!
4-1
Good serve from Delpo makes it 4-2.
Oh no! Murray had that shot lined up and it went into the net!
Murray hit two volleys to get to set point!
Great serve from Andy to win the third set!
Well done!
wow this is epic. I just tuned in …just watched a few points here and there in sets 3 and 4..
This could well go to five sets.
Murray swears far too much. It’s not good enough for the commies to keep apologising for him. It’s as if he is above the rules.
He is a jerk plain and simple.