Weather permitting, the second day of main-draw action at Queen’s Club will take place on Tuesday and it will begin on the main court with a showdown between Stan Wawrinka and Fernando Verdasco. John Isner and Juan Martin Del Potro are also on the schedule.
Fernando Verdasco vs. (2) Stan Wawrinka
Wawrinka and Verdasco will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers and for the second time on grass when they take part in an intriguing opener at the AEGON Championships on Tuesday. They most recently collided last summer at Wimbledon, where Wawrinka prevailed 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 to level the head-to-head series at two wins apiece. The fifth-ranked Swiss has never been at his very best on the green stuff, but he is a two-time quarterfinalist at the All-England Club (each of the last two years). Although Wawrinka did not come particularly close to going back-to-back at the French Open, he at least managed to defend a decent chunk of ranking points by battling his way into the semifinals.
Verdasco is also a former Wimbledon quarterfinalist (2013) and he came within one set (against Andy Murray) of reaching the semis, at which point he would have gotten to play Jerzy Janowicz for a spot in the title match. Alas, it was not to be and it has been mostly downhill for the 32-year-old Spaniard ever since. He is a mediocre 16-11 for the year and is struggling down at No. 53 in the rankings. On any surface right now, Verdasco does not appear to be in Wawrinka’s league.
Pick: Wawrinka in 2
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(7) John Isner vs. (PR) Juan Martin Del Potro
Isner and Del Potro will be facing each other for the sixth time in their careers on Tuesday. Del Potro is leading the head-to-head series 4-1 after winning their first four encounters and taking nine of their first 10 total sets. The Argentine had match points at the 2013 Cincinnati Masters to make it 5-0 against Isner and 10-1 in sets, but the 6’10” American stormed back for a 6-7(5), 7-6(9), 6-3 semifinal upset.
That is just one of many results to indicate Isner is a whole different beast in the United States than he is abroad. The world No. 17 is a mere 13-9 this season but he at least played decently in Paris, reaching the fourth round before falling to eventual runner-up Andy Murray. Del Potro skipped the second half of the clay-court swing as part of his conservative scheduling for his latest comeback from wrist problems, and a well-rested world No. 166 benefited by making a semifinal run this past week in Stuttgart. Although Isner obviously serves huge, grass is not an ideal surface for him because he does not get the same kick and he is too often hitting rally balls at his feet. This is sure to be a competitive contest with perhaps zero breaks of serve, and that may not bode well for the No. 7 seed because he is 10-12 in his last 22 tiebreakers and 0-5 this season in final-set ‘breakers.
Pick: Del Potro in 3
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