RICKY DIMON’S PICKS FOR DAY 8 AT THE 2016 U.S. OPEN, INCLUDING THIEM VS. DEL POTRO AND ANDY MURRAY VS. GRIGOR DIMITROV

Written by: Staff on 4th September 2016

RICKY DIMON'S PICKS FOR DAY 8 AT THE 2016 U.S. OPEN, INCLUDING THIEM VS. DEL POTRO AND ANDY MURRAY VS. GRIGOR DIMITROV

epa05522741 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria hits a return to Joao Sousa of Portugal on the sixth day of the US Open Tennis Championships at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 03 September 2016. The US Open runs through September 11. EPA/JASON SZENES |

Juan Martin Del Potro’s brilliant summer run has continued into round four of the U.S. Open, but one of the best players in 2016 is now standing in his way. World Tour Finals contender Dominic Thiem is Del Potro’s next opponent as part of an intriguing Labor Day schedule in Flushing Meadows. Andy Murray and Grigor Dimitrov are also in action.

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

(8) Dominic Thiem vs. (WC) Juan Martin Del Potro

Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina hits a return to David Ferrer of Spain on the sixth day of the US Open Tennis Championships at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 03 September 2016. The US Open runs through September 11. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO

Thiem and Del Potro will be meeting for the second time in their careers when they battle for a spot in the U.S. Open quarters. Their only previous meeting came earlier this year on the clay courts of Madrid, where Del Potro’s comeback from another wrist surgery reached new heights in the form of a 7-6(5), 6-3 win. Fast forward four months and that result pales in comparison to what Del Potro has delivered of late. The Argentine’s summer features a Wimbledon upset of Stan Wawrinka and, much more impressively, defeats of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal en route to the silver medal at the Rio Olympics. It has only been full steam ahead for Del Potro in Flushing Meadows, with straight-set beatdowns of Diego Schwartzman, Steve Johnson, and David Ferrer.

Winning so many matches in the first half of this season ended up costing Thiem at Wimbledon and throughout the early stages of this hard-court summer, but he appears to be getting back in gear. The 23-year-old Austrian, who celebrated his birthday on Saturday, needed five sets to survive his opener against John Millman before making mostly routine work of Ricardas Berankis and and Pablo Carreno Busta. Each of those three aforementioned opponents are baseline grinders who are content to play defense. With Del Potro on the other side of the net, though, Thiem will not be able to dictate play from start to finish. If his tendency to play too far behind the baseline reappears, he will get pushed around by an onslaught of Del Potro forehands.

Pick: Del Potro in 4

(22) Grigor Dimitrov vs. (2) Andy Murray

Andy Murray of Great Britain hits a return to Paolo Lorenzi of Italy on the sixth day of the US Open Tennis Championships at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 03 September 2016. The US Open runs through September 11. EPA/BRIAN HIRSCHFELD

Murray and Dimitrov will be facing each other for the 10th time in their careers. The head-to-head series stands at 6-3 in favor of Murray, who is 6-2 against Dimitrov on hard courts and has won three of their last four encounters. Dimitrov, however, took their most recent showdown 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-3 earlier this season at the Miami Masters. Since the Scot dominated their first three meetings in straight sets, only one of the last five tilts has yielded a straight-set result.

Dimitrov slumped for several months after upsetting Murray in Miami, but he is picking up the pace for a second-half push. The world No. 23 tuned up for the year’s final Grand Slam by reaching the Toronto quarterfinals before going all the way to the semis in Cincinnati. He now finds himself in the second week of a slam for the first time since the 2015 Australian Open. As well as Dimitrov is playing, no one on the entire tour is as hot as Murray. The world No. 2 triumphed at Wimbledon two months ago, captured a second consecutive Olympic gold medal, and finished runner-up in Cincinnati. He has maintained his winning ways at Flushing Meadows with mostly routine victories over Lukas Rosol, Marcel Granollers, and Paolo Lorenzi.

Pick: Murray in 4

(6) Kei Nishikori vs. (21) Ivo Karlovic

Ivo Karlovic of Croatia hits a return to Donald Young of the US on the fourth day of the US Open Tennis Championships at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 01 September 2016. The US Open runs through September 11. EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT

At 37 years old, Karlovic is through to the last 16 of the U.S. Open for the first time ever. But is anyone surprised? They shouldn’t be. Age is just a number for the 6’11” Croat, who is without question playing the best tennis of his career. His post-Wimbledon summer includes titles in Newport and Los Cabos, a runner-up performance in Washington, D.C., and a second-round upset of Marin Cilic in Cincinnati. Going full steam ahead in Flushing Meadows, Karlovic has advanced with wins over Yen-Hsun Lu, Donald Young, and Jared Donaldson.

Next up for Karlovic is a fourth career encounter with Nishikori, who trails the head-to-head series 2-1. They have not squared off since the 2014 Memphis final, won by Nishikori is two tight sets. Another Memphis title is part of the world No. 7’s awesome 49-14 for his 2016 campaign. Nishikori finished runner-up in Toronto and won the bronze medal at the Olympics earlier this summer, but that also means his body has taken a bit of a physical toll on the heels of a fourth-round retirement at Wimbledon. Moreover, he has advanced past the fourth round of this event only once in eight appearances.

Pick: Karlovic in 5