Article

  • Lopez battles Del Potro in second Davis Cup rubber

    11/20/08 10:15 PM | Ricky Dimon
    - Feliciano Lopez and Juan Martin Del Potro will follow David Ferrer and David Nalbandian on Friday in the 2008 Davis Cup final. A 2-0 lead for one of the two teams will be on the line.

    It will be the fourth career meeting between Feliciano Lopez and Juan Martin Del Potro when the two players square off in the second singles rubber of the 2008 Davis Cup final. One man will be trying to give his team a commanding 2-0 lead, while the other will look to even the score at 1-1. Del Potro leads the head-to-head series with Lopez 2-1, but Lopez won their only 2008 match 6-4, 6-2 on the hard courts of the Masters Series Miami. Del Potro also leads 1-0 indoors, having defeated Lopez 6-4, 6-3 at last year's Masters Series Paris.

    An experienced Davis Cup participant, Lopez is one of the few Spaniards in the history of the game who actually prefer fast hard courts over clay. Lopez's first half of the 2008 was mostly lackluster except for a surprising runner-up finish in Dubai, but he started to turn it all around at Wimbledon and during the hard-court swing. Lopez reached the quarterfinals at the All-England Club, the semifinals in Vienna, the quarterfinals at the Masters Series Madrid, and the semifinals in Basel. He has himself back in the Top 32 in the rankings (at No. 31) and in position for a seed at the Australian Open.

    If Lopez has been in solid form, Del Potro has been absolutely on fire. At least he was during the summer. The 20-year-old Argentine exploded onto the tennis scene almost out of nowhere, winning every single one of the four tournaments he played in between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. He went on to reach the quarterfinals in New York before succumbing to eventual runner-up Andy Murray in a tough four-set contest. Fatigue and a foot problem hobbled Del Potro throughout the recent indoor swing, but he did enough in the Masters Series events and in Basel to secure a spot at the Masters Cup, where he went 1-2 in round-robin action.

    Del Potro won the decisive fifth rubber against Igor Andreev to give Argentina a 3-2 win over Russia in the Davis Cup semifinals two months ago, so he knows how to handle this kind of pressure. Given his current form and the home-court advantage, Del Potro should be able to dispatch Lopez in four sets.

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Comments

Lopez won. I'm surprised, but quite happy. I didn't want Spain smashed. And Lopez totally proved he's still one of the best.

Avalaine , 11/22/08 1:08 AM


Lopez's win was definitely the turning point - the belief in yourself and the ability to achieve it - that's heroic and most inspiring to everyone - in men's tennis, in Davis Cup, trust yourself, anything can happen!

regguid , 12/7/08 10:59 AM


one of lopez's finest moments! all credit to him for getting the ball rolling by coming out with a sense of belief that the spanish team could get it done without rafa, and that they did! verdasco was pretty special too! i can see that rafa's positive attitude and perserverance had rubbed off on the team. that' great!

memi , 12/8/08 1:45 AM


Nadal's legacy - for achieving a lot of firsts for Spanish athletes - will surely have profound inspirations in Spain and the new generations of tennis players as well. Dare to challenge and beat the best, the determination and ability to succeed, and to retain humility all the time - this is sportsmanship, this is incredictable legacy. Team Spain, a history in making - how proud, and how lucky

regguid , 12/8/08 11:58 AM



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