 |
| Juan Martin del Potro |
Not many could have predicted that the mens final for Indian Wells would be contested between Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro in Sunday's final showcase in the desert. Rafael Nadal backed up excellent wins over Ernest Gulbis and Roger Federer with a 6-4 7-5 victory over Tomas Berdych. The Spaniard found himself down 5-3 in the second set, but Berdych spooned an overhead and then despite chalking up a few break points when Nadal served for it, was unable to contend with some super serving from Rafa. Del Potro meanwhile, caused the biggest shock of the tournament and what was by all accounts, the best match of the tournament as he recovered from a set down to snap Novak Djokovic's winning streak in 2013 with a 4-6 6-4 6-4 victory. A combination of lethal fizzing forehands and deft backhand slices saw the Argentine upset the Serb's rhythm to force through a quite stunning win.
I had a shocker of a day with my predictions yesterday and today's match is certainly not easy to call. Everything looks set in place for Nadal to claim the Indian Wells title, but del Potro has knocked out Djokovic and Murray, who I would perceive as the top two guys on the tour right now. Nadal leads del Potro in the head-to-head by 7 wins to 3 with four set wins in the Davis Cup Final and at Wimbledon, both coming in 2011. Del Potro's wins have all come on hard courts and he certainly will have more nerve about him than Berdych did yesterday, that is a given! I am very happy to see del Potro back close to his best and am confident he will break the top 4 this year; however I think the way Nadal has played this week and with his mental game being so tough, he will win Indian Wells in his first hard court tournament back.
Prediction - Nadal to beat del Potro in 3 sets
No comments:
Post a Comment