A blockbuster third-round showdown between Andy Murray and Juan Martin Del Potro is set for Saturday at Roland Garros. John Isner and Karen Khachanov are also aiming for a place in the last 16.
(1) Andy Murray vs. (29) Juan Martin Del Potro
It will be a rematch of a memorable argument, of the 2016 Olympic gold medal showdown, and of a thrilling Davis Cup semifinal rubber last fall when Murray and Del Potro meet again for the 10th time in their careers during third-round action at the French Open on Saturday. Murray is leading the head-to-head series 6-3 and if it feels like they have squared off more than nine times, well, they have packed a punch into those nine contests. They almost came to literal blows in their first-ever battle at the 2008 Rome Masters, where things got personal during a changeover before cooler heads–and chair umpire Fergus Murphy–just barely prevailed. Murray and Del Potro faced each other twice last season, with the Scot capturing gold via a 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 decision before the Argentine scored a 6-4, 5-7, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 victory to help lead the visitors past Great Britain and into the Davis Cup final.
Exhausted from Argentina’s title-winning run, Del Potro skipped the Australian summer and has played sparingly in 2017. The world No. 30, who owns a 13-6 record this season, almost missed this event as well. He has been dealing with shoulder and back injuries, and if those were not enough, a groin issue popped up during his second-rounder against Nicolas Almagro on Thursday. It looked as if retirement may be near, but a knee injury of Almagro’s own flared up again and the Spaniard eventually retired in tears. Murray endured a much different kind of scare on Thursday, when Martin Klizan served to force a fifth set but ended up succumbing 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(3) after three hours and 34 minutes. The world No. 1 is still just 18-7 this year and 6-5 in his last 11 matches. This would be a massive opportunity for Del Potro at 100 percent, but that almost certainly won’t be his status when he takes the court against his familiar foe.
Pick: Murray in 4
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(21) John Isner vs. Karen Khachanov
Isner cannot be sure until after this match ends of how fortunate he is to face Khachanov instead of Tomas Berdych, but right now he has to be liking his situation. After all, the 6’10” American is 2-7 lifetime against Berdych, 1-7 in their last eight matches, 0-5 in their last five, and he endured a recent stretch of nine consecutive sets surrendered to the Czech without a single one going to a tiebreaker. Unsurprisingly, Isner has far less extensive history–zero, in fact–with an opponent who has played only 27 ATP-level matches since his professional career began in 2013. In just his third-ever Grand Slam main draw, Khachanov took care of qualifier Nicolas Jarry in four sets before upsetting Berdych 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday. The 21-year-old Russian, who registers at 53rd in the rankings, is a decent 12-15 this season after once being 2-8 through 10 matches.
Eleven years his opponent’s senior, Isner is through to the French Open third round for the fifth time in his career. The 6’10” American reached the fourth round last spring before losing to Murray, whom he would meet at the same stage once again if both players prevail on Saturday. Isner picked up some much-needed momentum by making a run to the Rome semifinals (fell to eventual champion Alexander Zverev) and so far in Paris he has made mostly routine work of Jordan Thompson and Paolo Lorenzi. A considerable edge in experience goes to the world No. 22, whose lifetime accolades on this surface are actually underrated to a significant extent.
Pick: Isner in 4
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ed!…http://www.firstpost.com/sports/french-open-2017-after-losing-to-andy-murray-juan-martin-del-porto-calls-him-one-of-the-smartest-guys-around-3515487.html
Katchanov came within a whisker of taking the match in straight sets. Hope he can do it in 4 now.
He had the momentum yesterday and I reckon he would’ve prevailed in straight sets if rain hadn’t stopped play.
Ditto Chung – Nishii: Kei was in trouble yesterday but regrouped and played at a higher level today and Chung couldn’t keep with him.