By Nick Georgandis
Photo Credit: Tony Chang
(March 17, 2011) - Matches to Watch, Day 9
Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) vs. Tommy Robredo (ESP) – Del Potro just keeps right on charging through the field like he didn’t miss nearly all of 2010, and what a heart-warming thing it is to see. We forget just how young he is until we remember he upset Roger Federer at the 2009 US Open a few days before his 20th birthday. At 17-4 on the season, he’s one win better than the 16-4 Robredo, who dissected Sam Querrey on Wednesday and is one of the silent killers in the tournament – easy to do when you come from a country that has three guys in the Top 10 while you’re “only” ranked 28th. Del Potro has a 2-0 head-to-head advantage against Robredo, one win on clay, the other on the hard stuff.
Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. Ivo Karlovic (ESP) – It’s quite a clash between the biggest man with the fastest serve and perhaps the most athletic person to ever play the game. Everyone knows that it was injury, not lack of skill that dropped Karlovic to 239th in the world, but even still it’s taken four wins this week to get him to .500 (7-7). When he’s on, he’s lethal, and no matter who you are, when a 6-foot, 10-inch man is hitting the ball 155 miles per hour straight at you, it’s hard to overcome the fear. But this is Nadal after all, and not only is he No. 1 in the world, he’s also 3-0 against Karlovic, although every time out has been a war between the two.
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) vs. Victoria Azarenka (BLR) – The only bracket to hold its top seeds to the quarterfinals matches the No. 1 player in the world against one who is coming off a resounding win against Poland’s Agnieszka Radawnska. Azarenka had Wozniacki’s number early in their careers, but the Dane has won their last two meetings, including in the Tokyo semifinals last fall, to take a 3-2 all-time lead.
Maria Sharapova (RUS) vs. Shuai Peng (CHN) – Both have made it here by defeating a major rival from their homeland – for Peng, it was Li Na in the second round; for Sharapova, Dinara Safina in the fourth. These two have only met twice – the last time a Peng win in Beijing in 2009. A victory here would be huge for either – a symbol for Sharapova of a surge back to the right part of the Top 20, for Peng, proof that she’s on the right track to being a Top 20 player at age 25.