Del Potro – Wawrinka

A red hot Juan Martin Delpotro will look to continue his amazing run of form against Stan Wawrinka in the US Open quarterfinals.

Del Potro did not return on tour with great expectations this year, after injuries barely allowed him to play any tennis since 2014. However, Delpo was able to magically jump from the sidelines right to an elite level and he`s playing some of the best tennis of his life right now. The Argentinian is on the back of a silver medal run at Rio (lost to Nadal) and has been on fire this week at the US Open, winning all matches in straight sets. Over the past few weeks Delpotro defeated guys like Djokovic, Nadal, Bautista Agut, Ferrer or Johnson (the last two here at the Open).

Stan is playing good tennis these days, but he doesn`t seem to quite be in that ‘zone’ he sometimes gets in. Wawrinka lost 3 sets so far, being close to elimination against Evans in the 3rd round (3-2) and also having some small problems against Marchenko a couple of days ago (3-1). Stan’s level is good, but he is not playing error-free and he really needs to start doing that at this stage in the tournament.

Del Potro leads the Head 2 Head 4-2 but, amazingly, the two players never met before on hard courts. Del Potro won the last meeting just weeks ago at Wimbledon, dominating Stan in a 3-6 6-3 7-6 6-3 win.

I think the bookies got this right, maybe even undervalued Delpo a bit. The Argentinian is simply playing the better tennis of the two right now and it`s hard to see him losing against anybody other than Djokovic or Murray. It`s that simple for me, he is at a better level than Stan at this moment and there are not many variables in terms of style / matchup that could overturn the better form of Juan Martin. I see no reason for which this one should go different compared to Delpo’s victory in Wimbledon.

Look for Del Potro to put pressure on Stan with his big hitting, as we know Wawrinka is not the best mover out there, even though he improved greatly in this department. Delpo’s big hitting could be one of the main reasons for which he won 4 out of 6 H2H matches against Stan. With Wawrinka being more prone to mistakes than Delpo lately, he could also have a higher count of unforced errors.

I expect the Argentinian to win a marvelous tennis match between two great shotmakers – he is simply in too good form right now. My tip is Del Potro to win, a simple bet with moderate stakes. Prediction: Juan Martin Delpotro – Stan Wawrinka 7-6 6-4 3-6 6-4.

Pick: Del Potro
Odds: 1.70 @ Youwin
Stake: 7
Possible profit: 4.90
Event date: 6 September