RICKY’S PREVIEW & PICKS FOR LABOR DAY AT 2017 U.S. OPEN TENNIS • NADAL VS. DOLGOPOLOV & FEDERER VS. KOHLSCHREIBER

Written by: Staff on 3rd September 2017

RICKY'S PREVIEW & PICKS FOR LABOR DAY AT 2017 U.S. OPEN TENNIS • NADAL VS. DOLGOPOLOV & FEDERER VS. KOHLSCHREIBER

epa06180205 Rafael Nadal of Spain hit a return to Leonardo Mayer of Argentina on the sixth day of the US Open Tennis Championships at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 02 September 2017. The US Open runs through September 10. EPA-EFE/JUSTIN LANE |

By Ricky Dimon

Now things are really starting to heat up. Here’s what’s on tap for Monday at the U.S. Open: Rafael Nadal vs. a player who has already beaten him twice, Roger Federer vs. a player who is 15-0 in his last 15 sets of tennis, and Dominic Thiem vs. Juan Martin Del Potro. Moreover, spots in the quarterfinals will be at stake.

Ricky previews those three matches and makes his predictions.

(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Alexandr Dolgopolov

Nadal and Dolgopolov will be facing each other for the ninth time in their careers. The head-to-head series stands at 6-2 in favor of Nadal, who has won four of their five previous hard-court contests. Dolgopolov’s wins came in three-setters; 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5) at the 2014 Indian Wells Masters and 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-4 one year later on the grass courts of Queen’s Club. They most recently collided earlier this season in Brisbane, where Nadal restored order to the matchup by prevailing 6-3, 6-3 for his first defeat of Dolgopolov since the 2014 Rio de Janeiro final.

A struggling Dolgopolov had been just 16-17 in 2017 with five retirements. Out of nowhere, though, the Ukrainian has advanced this fortnight by taking out Jan-Lennard Struff, Tomas Berdych, and Viktor Troicki. Nadal has been a master of starting matches slowly only to turn things around in a hurry. The top-seeded Spaniard beat Dusan Lajovic 7-6(6), 6-2, 6-2, came back from a set and a break down to see off Taro Daniel 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, and scraped past Leonardo Mayer 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-1, 6-4. Nadal is now looking to advance farther than the fourth round of the U.S. Open for the first time since he last won the title there in 2013.

Although the world No. 1 is not looking invincible and Dolgopolov has a decent history against him, the underdog will have to do much more than beat Struff, Troicki, and an injured Berdych in order to inspire any kind of real confidence. Nadal has done well to find solutions to early problems so far at this tournament and it should not take him long to solve a familiar foe in Dolgopolov.

Pick: Nadal in 3

(3) Roger Federer vs. (33) Philipp Kohlschreiber

It is becoming a trend at this U.S. Open: Federer facing opponents against whom he owns double-digit victories compared to zero losses. The 36-year-old had been 16-0 versus Mikhail Youzhny, 12-0 versus Feliciano Lopez, and now he is 11-0 versus Kohlschreiber. Counting the trio of wins Federer has already pocketed this fortnight, he is a combined 43-0 against his first four foes. Despite those numbers, however, it has not come easy. The Swiss maestro needed five sets to scrape past both Frances Tiafoe and Mikhail Youzhny before raising his level in a 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 thrashing of Lopez on Saturday night.

Kohlschreiber earned another shot at Federer by beating Tim Smyczek, Santiago Giraldo, and John Millman, The German has not yet dropped a set nor even been extended to a single tiebreaker. He is a perfect 11-0 in non-retirement matches since Wimbledon and 15-0 in his last 15 sets dating back to the Kitzbuhel quarters.

During this stretch, however, Kohlschreiber has not run into anyone in the current top 25. The competition level now ratchets up exponentially in the form of Federer, who erased concerns surrounding his potentially bad back with his much-improved showing against Lopez.

Pick: Federer in 3

(24) Juan Martin Del Potro vs. (6) Dominic Thiem

Dominic Thiem of Austria hits a return to Adrian Mannarino of France on the sixth day of the US Open Tennis Championships at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 02 September 2017. The US Open runs through September 10. EPA-EFE/JOHN G. MABANGLO

Thiem and Del Potro will be squaring off for the third time in their careers. Only their first encounter was played to completion, when Del Potro got the job done 7-6(5), 6-3 at the 2016 clay-court tournament in Madrid. They also faced each other on the same day in the same round of this same U.S. Open last year, but that battle could not live up to the hype because Thiem retired with a knee problem while trailing 6-3, 3-2.

Thus these two have a chance to make up for what the fans missed last summer, and there is every reason to think that they will do just that. Thiem is at least somewhat more rested in 2017, having scaled down his schedule to a marginal extent. The sixth seed has still played enough–and won enough–to register at No. 4 in the race to the World Tour Finals. He earned his place in the U.S. Open fourth round with wins over Alex De Minaur, Taylor Fritz, and Adrian Mannarino. Del Potro has not dropped a set in defeats Henri Laaksonen, Adrian Menendez-Maceiras, and Roberto Bautista Agut. The world No. 28 produced arguably the best performance of his season when he hammered a previously red-hot Bautista Agut 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday.

The question now is if Del Potro has the consistency with which to deliver a similar display on Monday, and he will need to do so against a confident opponent who will camp out way behind the baseline and get a ton of Del Potro’s monster forehands back in play. In a best-of-five situation, Thiem may be able to wear down the big Argentine.

Pick: Thiem in 5

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.

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