Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro are one round away from the Shanghai semifinals. They first have to face Gael Monfils and Nicolas Almagro, respectively, on Friday.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. Gael Monfils
Djokovic and Monfils will be squaring off for the ninth time in their careers when they clash in the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Friday. The head-to-head series stands at a perfect 8-0 in Djokovic’s favor, including 7-0 on hard courts. They have not faced each other since a pair of 2011 summer encounters, with the Serb prevailing 6-2, 6-1 in Montreal and 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in Cincinnati.
Monfils has bounced back nicely from injuries for a solid second half of the season. He reached a semifinal in Umag, a final in Winston-Salem, and so far in Shanghai he has wins over Tatsuma Ito, Vasek Pospisil, and Roger Federer. Djokovic advanced with straight-set scalps of Marcel Granollers and Fabio Fognini. The world No. 2 is 59-9 for the year and coming off a title in Beijing, where he beat Rafael Nadal on Sunday. Monfils’ performance against Federer was encouraging, but Djokovic is a whole different beast right now and the favorite’s confidence can only be enhanced by his past successes in this matchup.
Pick: Djokovic in 2 losing 8 games or fewer
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(6) Juan Martin Del Potro vs. (15) Nicolas Almagro
Del Potro could not have asked for anything more from Thursday’s third round in Shanghai. Not only had the fifth-ranked Argentine been extended to a final-set tiebreaker by Philipp Kohlschreiber one day earlier, but he was also dealing with a fever. Scheduled opponent Tommy Haas, however, withdrew due to a back injury and Del Potro got a free pass into the quarterfinals. The No. 6 seed, who captured a title last week in Tokyo, is 41-12 for his 2013 campaign following his survival against Kohlschreiber.
Next up for Del Potro is another meeting with Almagro, whom he had never faced prior to last week and is now going up against for the second time in seven days. The 16th-ranked Spaniard reached the Tokyo semis and gave Del Potro a tough test before going down 7-6(7), 7-6(1). So far this week Almagro has taken out Go Soeda, Jeremy Chardy, and Tomas Berdych–the latter in a third-set tiebreaker. Berdych was not quite 100 percent due to a back injury, but Almagro’s sudden rise in form is undeniable and he should have a great chance of capitalizing on yet another opponent who may be slightly jaded.
Pick: Almagro in 3
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Nole in two losing 8 or less. Delpo in two.
Ricky, djokovic is 59-9.. correct the typo 🙂
Good previews
Djokovic is 59-0??? How is he not number one? 😉
#oops
Mark,
See vamosrafa’s post above. 🙂
i hope this is a joke.
I voted: Almagro in 3.
delpo in 3
I voted Almagro in 3.
I’ve voted Almagro in 3 on the basis if he plays as he did today he will outlast Delpo who is looking very weary. I know, I know. He always looks as though he has just played five gruelling sets. Having broken his run of choking on key points, I’m anticipating Almagro will play with a new found energy and confidence.
I saw the Delpo/Almagro match in Japan. If Almagro can play like that again, then he could definitely get the win against Delpo. I think Delpo caught a break when Haas had to withdraw. He got to rest an extra day. But when you are battling a fever, it weakens the body.
Delpo needs his serve to get some easy points. But if Almagro can keep his head in the game, then he can get the win.
Delpo in 2…Berdych tends to fumble matches he should win like his loss to Pospisil in MTL. Can’t believe Almagro is starting to finish matches all of a sudden after an abysmal summer/spring. Don’t see Almagro getting revenge on Del Po here.
Djokovic has cleaned up his act and is dispatching the competition with ruthless efficiency. Monfils’ kamiaze style of play is not a good match up. Also his fitness is an issue – he needed to tie and retie his shoes in order to get his breath back after nearly every longish rally today. Djoko will be aiming to run Monfils ragged.
Djokovic in 2
It is possible that Monfils will put up a fight against Djoker. The way Fed was playing, better to have Monfils or it could have been a real embarrassment.
Monfils has two issues – fitness and mental strength, or the lack thereof. He is such a gifted athlete, but doesn’t possess the mindset to go with it.
I checked out Djoker’s serve stats today on the tennis channel after his victory over Fognini. He had 76% first serves in, winning 80% of them and winning 75% of second serves! Impressive!
I think if Monfils could possibly get a set off Djoker. But I believe that I voted for Djoker in two sets with Monfils winning more than eight games.
djoko in 3, monfils should get 1 of him
very possible
Monsieur JMDP in 2 🙂
RT @ATPWorldTour: “.@delpotrojuan is 1 match win away from #FinalShowdown qualification after reaching @SHRolexMasters SFs ”
Rafa’s really been thrown to the wolves, no? Wawa is motivated to win against Rafa today to improve his WTF chances and the same for Delpo tomorrow!
Both Delpo and Wawa are going to play in Basel too. Like Rafa.
nobody picked delpo in straights but , me ^_^ here we go ricky I m make better predictions than you na 😀
Wrong.
#CongratulationsToMe
#Humb1e
Tsonga, Gasquet and Stan all in action next week but Raonic MIA.
#WTF
#PhotoFinish