RICKY’S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR DAY 7 AT THE FRENCH OPEN: MURRAY VS. DEL POTRO AND WAWRINKA VS. FOGNINI

Written by: Staff on 2nd June 2017

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

RICKY'S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR DAY 7 AT THE FRENCH OPEN: MURRAY VS. DEL POTRO AND WAWRINKA VS. FOGNINI

epa06005852 A ball children wait for its turn as Samantha Stosur of Australia plays against Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the USA during their women?s single 3nd round match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 02 June 2017. EPA/TATYANA ZENKOVICH |

By Ricky Dimon

Third-round action at the French Open will conclude on Saturday and it should do so with a bang. Andy Murray vs. Juan Martin Del Potro, a matchup worthy of at least a quarterfinal if not even later in the tournament, is already on the schedule. Stan Wawrinka and Fabio Fognini are also among those looking for a place in the last 16.

Ricky previews two of the best Day 7 matchups and makes his predictions.

(1) Andy Murray vs. (29) Juan Martin Del Potro

It will be another installment of an intriguing rivalry when Murray and Del Potro collide for the 10th time on Saturday.

Andy Murray of Britain in action against Martin Klizan of Slovakia during their men’s single 2nd round match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 01 June 2017. EPA/ETIENNE LAURENT

Murray leads the head-to-head series 6-3 and if it feels like they have faced each other more than nine times in their careers, well, they have packed a punch into those nine meetings. They almost came to literal blows in their first-ever contest at the 2008 Rome tournament, where things got personal during a changeover before cooler heads–and chair umpire Fergus Murphy–just barely managed to prevail. Murray and Del Potro squared off twice last year, with the Scot capturing Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 triumph before the Argentine survived a 6-4, 5-7, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 Davis Cup thriller to help lead the visitors over Great Britain and into the final (they eventually won it against Croatia).

Exhausted from Argentina’s title-winning effort, Del Potro skipped the Australian swing in January and has played sparingly in 2017. The former world No. 4, who is 13-6 this season, almost skipped the French Open as well. Already dealing with shoulder and back problems, an apparent going injury popped up during his second-round match against Nicolas Almagro on Thursday. It looked as if retirement may be near, but a knee injury of Almagro’s own flared up and the veteran Spaniard eventually called it quits amidst a flood of tears. Murray endured a much different kind of scare in his second-rounder, during which Martin Klizan served to force a fifth set but ended up succumbing 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(3) in three hours and 34 minutes. The top seed and 2016 runner-up is still just 18-7 this season and 6-5 in his last 11 matches.

This will be a huge opportunity for Del Potro if he is 100 percent, but that does not seem to be the case.

Pick: Murray in 4

(3) Stan Wawrinka vs. (28) Fabio Fognini

Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland plays against Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine during their men’s single 2nd round match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 01 June 2017. EPA/YOAN VALAT

Wawrinka and Fognini will be meeting for the sixth time in their careers. The head-to-head series stands at 4-1 in favor of Wawrinka, who has taken both of their previous clay-court matchups. They also squared off at the same stage of Roland Garros in 2010, when Wawrinka coasted to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 victory.

Fognini and wife Flavia Pennetta recently enjoyed the birth of their first child, but for the most part the Italian has been able to focus on tennis whenever necessary. He extended Rafael Nadal to three sets at the Madrid Masters and upset Murray in Rome before falling to eventual title winner Alexander Zverev. Fognini battled through a five-setter against Frances Tiafoe in his opener on Tuesday and then raised his level to defeat compatriot Andreas Seppi 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 in round two.

Wawrinka’s clay-court prep was far from dominant (a 6-3 record in four events), but he at least managed to gain some momentum with a 250-point title in Geneva this past week. The world No. 3 and 2015 French champion has parlayed that into a pair of convincing wins–straight-setters over Jozef Kovalik and Alexandr Dolgopolov.

The mojo appears to be back, so it should only be full steam ahead for Wawrinka.

Pick: Wawrinka in 3