Juan Martin Del Potro is looking for a place in the semifinals in the first tournament of his comeback as he takes the court against Jeremy Chardy on Friday in Delray Beach. In Marseille, meanwhile, Richard Gasquet and Nick Kyrgios are renewing their rivalry.
Delray Beach Open: (WC) Juan Martin Del Potro vs. (5) Jeremy Chardy
Del Potro’s comeback to tennis could not be off to a better start. Through two matches in Delray Beach, the 27-year-old has not dropped a single set or even been pushed to a tiebreaker. After beating an out-of-sorts Denis Kudla 6-1, 6-4, Del Potro got a tougher test from John-Patrick Smith but passed it with flying colors in the form of a 6-4, 6-4 victory. This is the 2009 U.S. Open champion’s first tournament since the 2015 Miami Masters after he missed the rest of last season because of wrist surgery.
Up next on Friday night is a third career showdown against Chardy, with the head-to-head series tied at 1-1. Del Potro dominated 6-1, 6-3 in the 2012 Cincinnati quarterfinals before Chardy won a 6-3, 6-3, 6-7(3), 3-6, 6-3 thriller at the 2013 Australian Open. The 30th-ranked Frenchman booked his spot in this week’s quarterfinals by taking out Matthew Ebden 6-2, 6-1 and Noah Rubin 6-4, 6-2. This is the stage at which Del Potro’s previous comeback event flamed out, as the Argentine defeated Segiy Stakhovsky and Fabio Fognini last year in Sydney and then succumbed to Mikhail Kukushkin. A similar story may transpire in Delray Beach because Chardy presents a massive step up in competition level from Kudla and Smith.
Pick: Chardy in 3
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Nick Kyrgios vs. (3) Richard Gasquet
The resumption of what has become an interesting rivalry will take place when Gasquet and Kyrgios collide for the sixth time in their careers on Friday. Gasquet owns a comfortable 4-1 lead in the head-to-head series, but they have waged a pair of entertaining Wimbledon battles. Kyrgios saved an incredible nine match points to stun the Frenchman 3-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5, 10–8 two years ago before Gasquet thwarted another comeback attempt by prevailing 7-5, 6-1, 6-7(7), 7-6(6) last summer. They most recently faced each other last August in Cincinnati, marking Kyrgios’ second match since his well-documented incident with Stan Wawrinka in Montreal. An out-of-sorts Australian unsurprisingly went down in flames 6-2, 6-1.
This is just the second tournament of the season for each man. Gasquet missed the Australian summer because of a back injury, returned to win the Montpellier title, and withdrew from Rotterdam citing illness and a groin issue. The 10th-ranked Frenchman remained undefeated on the year by beating Ernests Gulbis 7-6(5), 6-3 on Thursday. Kyrgios, who reached the third round in Melbourne, pulled out of Rotterdam due to a wrist problem. The 20-year-old is back in business with straight-set victories this week over Vasek Pospisil and doubles partner Teymuraz Gabashvili. He is serving better than 70 percent through two matches and has not been broken. This is a big opportunity for Kyrgios, who appears to be heating up and is facing an opponent who was merely mediocre against Gulbis.
Pick: Kyrgios in 3
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who ya got?
Damn…This is 50-50 and normally I always tend to lean on the Underdog when it’s this close. Nevertheless, I can’t pick against the Frenchman, on home soil, with a 4-1 H2H advantage against his opponent. I didn’t really think Gasquet played too poorly in his match against Gulbis. Gulbis came into that match quite hungry for a win especially after Gasquet beat him at Montpellier a few weeks back.
Gasquet in 3
Del Potro in 3
Assuming his health is truly clean I can see Del Potro taking this from Chardy. Chardy’s 6-4 6-2 win against Rubin was not as straightforward as it looked. Chardy’s first serve percentage was a weak 57% (26/46) with 7 Double Faults! The only reason Rubin didn’t make it as competitive because his first serve points won were an abysmal 53% (19 of 36) with 5 Double Faults! Del Potro looks like he is in decent form and I can an upset here at Del Ray Beach
hopefully!
Yeah. Rubin was up 3-1 in the first. Seemingly went away after he lost the break. Bit of a shame. Wanted to see him make the quarters.
Gulbis hungry????
Haha no way. Gulbis was probably packing his bags to go home before the match. His main goal was to break a racket most likely. Didn’t see the match but I’m guessing he achieved that goal. If not then that’s a bad loss for Ernie.
he did not achieve it
Unfortunate
Kyrgios in straights and Del Po in three
Kyrgios in 2 is very possible
I’ll go with Gasquet especially being in France. Haven’t seen Kyrgios games this week. Sounds like he has been good. One never knows with him though.
Del P to continue the comeback!!
Historically home crowd support is not necessarily a big factor for Gasquet. And Kyrgios is highly motivated when there is a big scalp in his sights.
Curious in 3
Nonchalance but power! That’s how I describe Nick’s game…I enjoy watching him play even though I get annoyed with his loose attitude…he seems as if he never cares for the outcome of the match. He would do way better if he would take the match more seriously! What a tallent he is…
I pick Nick in 3
Of course, I cheer for Delpo and wish him to win!
Delpo in 3
Gasquet in 2 – voted 3.
Chardy in 3. Not quite convinced about Delpo.
Hope I’m wrong on both.
Not sure why, but watching Kyrgios makes me think about Happy Gilmore. I love him!
Kyrgios on fire right now. Allez Nick!!
absolutely ON FIRE
WOW, Nick displaying supreme tennis ATM! This kid is amazing! Hope he stays focused…
Thank goodness he’s in Marssille and not Rio is all I can say.
he wouldn’t beat Nadal on clay
so you are saying Thiem is better player than Kyrgios? More disciplined yes…better no!
Not saying he’d be favourite, but he beat Federer on clay, so he can beat halfa-Rafa.
Don’t you?
Ridiculous 😀
Can he keep it up?
Atomic Kyrgios! Unbelievable…
i’m not that convinced.
Was it Gasquet or Paire who showed signs of an injury concern in their match from yesterday?
Good response from Gasquet 2nd set. But the Kid is still serving unbelievably and could go on another streak at any minute, it feels! or not??
What would Nole do? 🙂
Kyrgios doesn’t help his case by getting mad and going crazy. He’s still on probation isn’t he? Hate to see him self-destruct. Don’t do it Nick. Calm, be calm…breathe in, breathe out…
He’s listening to me!
I believe he is but it’s so hedged with caveats it doesn’t have any teeth. NK has already said he doesn’t care!
But he does seem to have a deathwish. I’m having to follow on livescores so can’t get a feel for what is happening.
So he does it in straights with a bagel for good measure. Looks like Gasque didn’t really want to be there?
No. It was that Kyrgios wanted to be there. Gasquet was trying to find solutions but Kyrgios was unreal today. He was freaky good. Four consecutive aces for a love hold to end the match, too. That was about as good as it gets from the Aussie. It still kind of bugged me that he got all fired up at his team because they weren’t talking to him or encouraging him or anything. I guess he wanted them to show more support vocally because of the French crowd but they were probably not saying much because they just wanted to keep him in the zone and not distracted by anything. Mesmerizing tennis from Kyrgios. He will reach final if he plays that kind of tennis again.
Benny, do you think he can do that v Berdych?
he will
Kyrgios is like an investment disclaimer.
“Past performance is not neccearily an indicator of future results.”
I don’t see why not, especially on this surface. If Berdych beats Goffin, I think the Nick vs Berdych semi will be a three setter or at least closer than Gasquet vs Kyrgios match. Maybe not though. Nick did routine Tomas at iptl. Yes that’s one set and an exhibition but still Nick played some of his best tennis at the iptl and was able to beat Berdych doing so. Hopefully he doesn’t play much lower level in SF and have a result similar to Australian open matchup between those two. Right now I’m thinking Nick is the favorite for me and my pick at this point but we’ll see. Berdych still has to beat Goffin and if Berdych plays super well against Goffin I may change my mind. Right now though I would pick Nick in three probably.
Nick was in his element playing IPTL, no doubt. AO was disappointing v Berdych. Yeah, there’s no guarantee of Berd beating Goffin, of course. Can’t see Goffin holding up to that kind of Curious performance, though. Very interested to see if Kyrgios has an encore or two for us in him after today!
Still laughing that last service game was ATOMIC, natashao. Blazing tennis balls on fire.
https://vine.co/v/ivlYgBVUKI3 From Ricky’s vine. Nick serving out the match!
unreal!
I have always said this kid is THE FUTURE! He only needs to be disciplined and calm, and focus on business instead of being distracted with irrelevant things: the crowd, the umpire, the affairs of his opponents, the weather, etc. 🙂
I am amazed with his performance but this does not come as a surprise at all. I expected him to make the big move already in the AO but he was not sufficiently focused to bring results.
The thing is Nick can lose as well any time just because he does not take his matches seriously. If he gets his head together he can beat anyone on any given day. He is the complete package. And what’s more his movement is so good considering how tall he is…his serve is already one of the best on tour…
Who knows! He could be the next LaMonf!
#BetweenTheEars
#RealDealTBD
I am still skeptical of what Krygios can do in this sport. He’s got the game, the big serve, powerful groundstrokes. But he has to grow up first.
He is also quite inconsistent. For me it’s a wait and see. I hope that he can keep himself more in control on the court.
Del Po is looking a bit better off backhand side match by match. He’s playing some solid tennis. Chardy on the other hand isn’t playing too well. VAMOS DEL PO!!
2HBH has not been terrible today
Yeah I think it’s been better than his previous matches by far. He’s had a bit more depth and pace on it. Encouraging signs from the Tower of Tandil. VAMOS DEL PO!! Serve it out!!