RICKY’S “DIMONATOR” PICKS FOR TUESDAY IN INDIAN WELLS, INCLUDING DJOKOVIC VS. DEL POTRO AND NADAL VS. VERDASCO

Written by: Staff on 13th March 2017

RICKY'S "DIMONATOR" PICKS FOR TUESDAY IN INDIAN WELLS, INCLUDING DJOKOVIC VS. DEL POTRO AND NADAL VS. VERDASCO |

“Group of Death” still intact as Federer, Nadal and others advance in Indian Wells

By Ricky Dimon

The almost hard-to-believe bottom quarter of the BNP Paribas Open draw takes center stage on Tuesday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, when an all-too-early third-round showdown between Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro is taking place. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are also in action.

Ricky previews three of the day’s men’s singles matches and makes his predictions.

(31) Juan Martin Del Potro vs. (2) Novak Djokovic

Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina returns a shot against Federico Delbonis of Argentina during their match at the 2017 BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, USA, 12 March 2017. EPA/LARRY W. SMITH

Djokovic and Del Potro will be facing each other for the 17th time in their careers and for the second time this year. The head-to-head series is 12-4 in favor of Djokovic, who just recently prevailed 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the Acapulco second round. Although the No. 2 is 4-1 in their last five meetings dating back to 2013 at Wimbledon, Del Potro’s lone victory during this stretch was a huge one–7-6(4), 7-6(2) in the Rio Olympics first round.

Another battle is in the cards for Indian Wells, and it is coming earlier than it otherwise would because Del Potro–due to relative inactivity–does not yet have the top eight, top 16, or at least top 24 seeding that he deserves. The Argentine, ranked 35th in the world, skipped the Australian summer as a precautionary measure for his often-injured left wrist. He is 5-2 on the year following a 7-6(5), 6-3 defeat of countryman Federico Delbonis over the weekend. Djokovic is hoping to bounce back from disappointing setbacks in Melbourne (to Denis Istomin) and Acapulco (to Nick Kyrgios). This fortnight’s second seed and defending champion won his Indian Wells opener but was not overly impressive during a 6-4, 7-6(5) victory over Kyle Edmund on Sunday. Conditions in Indian Wells should suit Del Potro perfectly and this is a big opportunity for the big guy with Djokovic still just a bit out of sorts.

Pick: Del Potro in 3

(5) Rafael Nadal vs. (26) Fernando Verdasco

Rafael Nadal of Spain serves against Guido Pella of Argentina during their match at the 2017 BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, USA, 12 March 2017. EPA/MIKE NELSON

Nadal and Verdasco will be meeting for the 19th time in their careers. The head-to-head series stands at 15-3 in Nadal’s favor after he avenged a 2016 first-round Australian Open loss by defeating Verdasco 6-0, 7-6(9) at the same stage of this same Indian Wells tournament last spring. As bad as the 15-3 deficit looks for Verdasco, the less heralded of the two Spaniards is actually 3-2 in his last five matchups with Nadal dating back to 2012 in Madrid.

This will be Nadal’s second consecutive all-lefty contest, as he opened in the desert this past Sunday by making routine 6-3, 6-2 work of Guido Pella. The 14-time slam champ is 13-3 this season with runner-up performances at the Aussie Open and in Acapulco. Speaking of runner-up performances, Verdasco made a recent trip to the Dubai title final–upsetting Roberto Bautista Agut and Gael Monfils along the way–before succumbing to Andy Murray. The No. 26 seed opened in Indian Wells with a 7-6(5), 6-1 second-round defeat of Pierre-Hugues Herbert. Nadal’s three losses in 2017 have come at the hands of Milos Raonic, Roger Federer, and Sam Querrey–foes who, when playing well, can take the match out of Nadal’s hands. Verdasco may have a huge forehand, but he cannot quite dictate play like the aforementioned trio of Nadal’s conquerors.

Pick: Nadal in 2

(24) Steve Johnson vs. (9) Roger Federer

Looking to bounce back from a wild loss to Evgeny Donskoy in the Dubai second round, Federer cancelled a practice session in advance of his opening match this past Sunday–thus setting off plenty of alarm bells. It turned out to be nothing, though, as the 18-time Grand Slam champion crushed Stephane Robert 6-2, 6-1 in just 51 minutes. Federer’s 9-1 record in 2017 is, obviously, highlighted by an Australian Open title.

Next up for the No. 9 seed on Tuesday is a second career meeting with Johnson. Their only previous encounter came last summer at Wimbledon, where Federer coasted 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 on his way to the semis. Johnson almost failed to get another shot at the former world No. 1, but he managed to scrape past Kevin Anderson 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(4) in his second-round contest. The 27th-ranked American is a respectable 11-5 this season and coming off consecutive quarterfinal showings in Memphis, Delray Beach, and Acapulco. Johnson will have a better chance in this setting than he did on grass, but Federer should once again be able to dictate rallies and expose his opponent’s weaker backhand.

Pick: Federer in 2