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  • Murray, Del Potro aim for quarterfinal clash

    9/1/08 3:03 PM | Ricky Dimon
    - Andy Murray and Juan Martin Del Potro are in action on Monday and will look to set up a quarterfinal clash. Stanislas Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori stand in their way.

    Kei Nishikori vs. (17) Juan Martin Del Potro

    A youth movement is taking place in tennis and this week Nishikori and Del Potro are leading. In fact, Del Potro has been leading it ever since Wimbledon. The 6’6’’ Argentine won four straight tournaments leading up to the U.S. Open and he has not lost a match since Wimbledon. Nishikori is so young (18) that he has not had enough time to get his ranking up to where it should be (126), so he has mostly been playing Challenger events. Nonetheless, back in February he went through qualifying and ended up winning the whole thing. At the U.S. Open these youngsters, who combine for an age of 37 (not much older than Fabrice Santoro by himself), are up to similar tricks. Del Potro’s first week was highlighted by an extremely high-quality and thrilling five-set win over in-form Gilles Simon. Nishikori scored an upset of Juan Monaco in the first round and then outlasted David Ferrer 7-5 in the fifth on Saturday night. The problem for Nishikori here is that he will have to keep ball after ball in play and coax Del Potro into errors because his opponent has a much bigger game. Unfortunately for the Japanese sensation, Simon could have written a textbook on error-free tennis in his match against Del Potro and it still wasn’t enough. Look for Del Potro to come through in four competitive sets.

    (10) Stanislas Wawrinka vs. (6) Andy Murray

    Murray is just 21 and Wawrinka 23, but they have already squared off six previous times in their careers. The head-to-head series is all tied up at three apiece. Wawrinka won back in 2005 and 2006 before a 2008 season that has already seen them battle four times. Murray leads 3-1 this year and has won all the hard-court duels (Doha, Marseille, and Toronto), while Wawrinka took the one on clay in Rome. All three of Murray’s wins in 2008 were extended to three sets. It should be another close battle on Labor Day, as both men are playing great tennis. Murray’s summer included a quarterfinal finish at Wimbledon, a semifinal appearance in Toronto, and a surprising title in Cincinnati. Wawrinka has posted consistently solid results throughout the season and won doubles gold in Beijing with Roger Federer. Both players are coming off five-setters;--Murray over Jurgen Melzer and Wawrinka over Flavio Cipolla—so fatigue could be a factor. Wawrinka lost at this stage in New York last year and Murray has the experience winning these kinds of huge matches, so Murray in four is the pick.

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