Juan Martin del Potro vs Stan Wawrinka
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One top seed – one wild card, and one of them has an Olympic silver medal this year. No prizes for guessing that it’s the wild card Juan Martin del Potro has been in the better form lately. After having struggled with injury for a number of years, Del Potro, who has undergone several surgeries, came back in brilliant fashion to do well at WImbledon; he finished in the third round against Frenchman Lucas Pouille, who has also been nothing short of impressive this year.
Del Potro took a dream win over Novak Djokovic at the Olympic Games this year. Playing each other in the first round, Del Potro decimated Djokovic in straight sets, leaving the Serb with a first-round exit.
The tall Argentine would go on to take several brilliant victories – and in the semi-finals ousted an also in-form Rafael Nadal, putting up a solid fight against Andy Murray in the final.
Stan Wawrinka may be the third seed here, but he has struggled in matches that did not merit a ‘struggle’. Italian journeyman Alessandro Giannessi, following which Briton Daniel Evans took Wawrinka to five sets.
It has not been smooth sailing for the Swiss, who pulled out of the Olympics this year with only a few days to spare for the tournament, speaking about a back injury that had hampered his progress.
Del Potro, meanwhile, has been having a dream run despite not having been seeded at the tournament. Although he has been slightly taxed by a few opponents, Del Potro has not dropped a set so far into the tournament, and his characteristic forehand has been on singularly fine display since before the Olympic Games.
The Gentle Giant also leads Wawrinka 4-2 in the pair’s head-to-head, and Del Potro has also taken victory in the pair’s most recent match – at the Round of 64 at Wimbledon earlier this year.
Psychologically too, the advantage here rests firmly with Del Potro. He has already won the US Open before – his only Grand Slam title so far, in 2009.
With both body and mind in top form for the tall Argentine today, he should have no problem defeating his higher-ranked rival.
Prediction: Juan Martin del Potro to win in straight sets
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