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Juan Martin Del Potro will play his first match in almost a year here in Sydney against Ukrainean Sergiy Stakhovsky.
Del Potro underwent wrist surgery in 2014 and has not played a tennis match since 11 months ago. It`s the second time in his career when he missed a whole year due to injury and last time the recovery was slow: he came back in 2011 and lost 2 of his first 4 matches against guys like F. Mayer and Baghdatis, almost losing to Sela and F. Lopez as well. Considering what Del Potro had to say about himself a couple of days ago, he might struggle even more this time – Juan Martin said that he still feels pain in his wrist and that he can’t hit the ball hard enough. He said that the other players are beating him badly in training, outpowering him. He suggested that he has no interest here in Sydney other than to test his hand and see how he feels with the pain. “The Doctor said that I can’t injure my wrist by playing, despite the pain, so I`ll give it a try”.
Stakhovsky already has 2 matches under his belt this year, beating Ali Mutawa 6-1 6-1 and losing 6-2 6-1 to Djokovic. Stak did not play his absolute best tennis to often last year so I don’t expect him to put on a clinical performance today, but he is stable enough and experienced enough to handle the favoring circumstances. I can see Stak serving well and hitting hard, because he surely knows what Del Potro said about his lack of power.
Bet on Del Potro vs. Stakhovsky with the highest tennis odds at Unibet.com now!
Del Potro won the only meeting between the 2 in 2006, but that really could not be more irrelevant considering today`s circumstances. Both players like the surface, so nobody holds a particular auxiliar advantage coming into this clash.
I have to say that the smart money on this was a couple of days ago, as the bookies opened with odds of almost 3.00 for Stakhovsky. However, there`s still value to be taken and I can see the odds on Sergiy further plummeting until match time. Clearly he is the favorite to win this considering Del Potro`s inactivity due to injury, his statements about his condition and the slow way in which he came back from injury last time. Also Stak is a savvy veteran who hits hard, maybe the ideal type of player to take advantage of the circumstances. He will play a smart brand of tennis, looking to serve well, hit hard and limit his errors – a thing which he can surely do.
My tip is Stakhovsky to win. I was planning 10 units on this, but considering that some of the value is lost due to the odds dropping, I will bet 9. I will also add that I expect Del Potro to finish this match, that`s the whole point for him – to play some tennis – so I don`t expect a retirement in case you were wondering about that. Of course, it remains to be seen. Prediction: Juan Martin Del Potro – Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-7 3-6.
Pick: Stakhovsky
Odds: 2.05 @ Unibet
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 9.45
Event date: 13 January
