Juan Martin Del Potro will continue his Sydney campaign on Thursday against Radek Stepanek. Quarterfinal action also features a battle between Bernard Tomic and Alexandr Dolgopolov.
(1) Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Radek Stepanek
Del Potro’s 2014 campaign got off to an inauspicious start when he lost the first set to Nicolas Mahut 6-1 on Wednesday at the Apia International. Nonetheless, the fifth-ranked Argentine bounced back to prevail 6-3, 6-4 in the final two sets and book a spot alongside Stepanek in Thursday’s quarterfinals. Del Potro is coming off a stellar season in which he tallied a 51-16 record and captured titles in Rotterdam, Washington, Tokyo, and Basel.
This will be the sixth career meeting between Del Potro and Stepanek, with the head-to-head series standing at 3-2 in favor of the veteran Czech. They have not faced each other since 2012, when Stepanek won 6-4, 7-6(5) on the hard courts of Toronto before Del Potro scored a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 victory in a clay-court Davis Cup rubber in Argentina. So far this week, the 35-year-old Stepanek has taken out wild card Samuel Groth and lucky loser Albert Ramos. This is a big step up in competition for Stepanek and Del Potro has some momentum after picking up the pace late in his match against Mahut.
Pick: Del Potro in 2
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Bernard Tomic vs. Alexandr Dolgopolov
Tomic and Dolgopolov will already be squaring off for the seventh time in their careers on Thursday. Dolgopolov leads the head-to-head series 5-1, including 3-1 on hard courts. They have twice battled in Australian Open tune-up events, with Dolgopolov prevailing 6-4, 6-4 at the 2010 Brisbane tournament and 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-2 one season later in Sydney. Tomic’s lone win came via a 4-6, 7-6(0), 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-3 decision at the 2012 Australian Open.
The defending champion of the Apia International, Tomic advanced to the quarterfinals with scalps of Marcel Granollers and Blaz Kavcic. Dolgopolov has not dropped a set in dismissals of Edouard Roger-Vasselin (the Frenchman retired after the opening set) and Jerzy Janowicz, the latter whom he destroyed 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday. The 55th-ranked Ukrainian struggled last year, but he is streaky player who feeds off momentum and he has plenty of it of erasing the second-seeded Janowicz. Dolgopolov also has to be feeling good about his past history against Tomic.
Pick: Dolgopolov in 3
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