10SBALLS SHARES RICKY’S PICKS FOR DAY 4 AT THE 2016 U.S. OPEN TENNIS, INCLUDING STEVIE JOHNSON VS. JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO AND DAVID FERRER VS. FABIO FOGNINI

Written by: Staff on 31st August 2016

10SBALLS SHARES RICKY'S PICKS FOR DAY 4 AT THE 2016 U.S. OPEN TENNIS, INCLUDING STEVIE JOHNSON VS. JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO AND DAVID FERRER VS. FABIO FOGNINI

epa05516038 A line judge as the sun sets on the second day of the US Open Tennis Championships at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 30 August 2016. The US Open runs through September 11. EPA/Justin Lane EPA/Justin Lane EPA/JUSTIN LANE |

By Ricky Dimon

A highly-anticipated meeting between Steve Johnson and Juan Martin Del Potro will come to fruition during second-round action at the U.S. Open on Thursday. Round two is also wrapping up with an intriguing clash between David Ferrer and Fabio Fognini, while 19-year-old Jared Donaldson hopes to continue his run at the expense of Viktor Troicki.

Ricky previews and makes his predictions for three of the most intriguing Thursday matchups:

(19) Steve Johnson vs. (WC) Juan Martin Del Potro

Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina hits a return to Diego Schwartzman of Argentina on the second day of the US Open Tennis Championships at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 30 August 2016. The US Open runs through September 11. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO

Tennis is a funny game, pitting Johnson against Del Potro in the early rounds. After all, two weeks ago Johnson questioned whether or not the USTA should award Del Potro a wild card into the year’s final Grand Slam, at risk of seeing him take out one of America’s top players. Not only did the 2009 champion get one of the coveted spots, but he will now go up against–you guessed it–none other than Johnson. Del Potro, the recent Rio Olympics silver medalist, advanced on Tuesday by defeating countryman Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(3).

It was Johnson who came dangerously close to missing out on this mouth-watering showdown. The 19th seed trailed Evgeny Donskoy 4-6, 1-6, 2-5, 0-40, staring down triple match point in the eighth game of the third set. But Johnson, who had crushed Donskoy 6-1, 6-1 at the Olympics, ended up saving six match points and pulling off a hard-to-believe 4-6, 1-6, 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-3 comeback. The world No. 22 is now 28-22 for the year, with a title on the grass courts of Nottingham, a semifinal run in Washington, D.C., and a quarterfinal showing in Rio. Johnson will be feeling the pressure as a result of his recent comments and he also may be feeling less than 100 percent after his mental and physical test against Donskoy that lasted more than three hours.

Pick: Del Potro in 4

Fabio Fognini vs. (11) David Ferrer

Fabio Fognini of Italy hits a return to Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia on the second day of the US Open Tennis Championships at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 30 August 2016. The US Open runs through September 11. EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT

One of the most lopsided head-to-head matchups in tennis will add another chapter when Ferrer and Fognini meet again on Thursday. While it may not be one of the most well-documented instances of one player dominance another, few men have enjoyed the kind of ownership that Ferrer has exerted over Fognini. The Spaniard has won all nine of their previous contests, including four on hard courts–most recently via a 6-4, 6-2 thrashing last all at the indoor tournament in Vienna.

Fognini should realize, though, that this is not the same Ferrer of their past battles. The 34-year-old has dripped to No. 13 in the world partly because of a modest 27-17 record for the season. Ferrer had been 5-7 in his last 12 matches prior to his arrival in New York, so he will take anything he can get right now and what he got in round one was a retirement at 5-6 in the first set from Alexander Dolgopolov. Fognini, on the other hand, had to work extremely hard for his spot in the last 64. In fact, the Italian trailed Teymuraz Gabashvili by two sets and by 5-4 with Gabashvili serving for a straight-set victory before storming back to triumph 6-7(9), 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5, 6-4. After his victory, Fognini–who was docked a point penalty for removing a linesperson’s sunglasses–called the U.S. Open the worst of the four majors. With his mental and physical state questionable at best, the world No. 38 will likely fall to a futile 0-10 against Ferrer.

Pick: Ferrer in 5

Viktor Troicki vs. (Q) Jared Donaldson

Speaking of improbable escapes, Troicki scored a hard-to-believe win of his own on Tuesday. Normally on the wrong end of five-set comebacks, the Serb recovered from a two-set deficit–and from 4-0 down in the fifth-set tiebreaker–to outlast Radu Albot 5-7, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(5). To say it was a much-needed win would be an understatement, because Troicki had been a mere 4-9 in his last 13 matches prior to arriving in New York.

Up next for world No. 32 on Thursday is a first-ever showdown against Donaldson, who had surprisingly little trouble advancing to the second round. Facing No. 12 seed David Goffin, Donaldson surrendered the opening set but was borderline dominant the rest of the way en route to a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-0 upset. Thus continues an incredible summer for the 19-year-old American, who successfully qualified in Washington, D.C. (reached the second round), Toronto (reached the third round), Los Cabos, and at this U.S. Open. Facing an opponent who struggled physically in a five-setter than lasted four and a half hours, Donaldson should be able to continue his hot streak.

Pick: Donaldson in 4

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Jared Donaldson of the US hits a return to David Goffin of Belgium on the second day of the US Open Tennis Championships at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 30 August 2016. The US Open runs through September 11. EPA/JUSTIN LANE

Topics: 10sballs.com, 2016 US Open, David Ferrer, Fabio Fognini, Jared Donaldson, Juan Martin Del Potro, Ricky Dimon, Sports, Stevie Johnson, Tennis News, US Open tennis, Viktor Troicki