2011 Sony Ericsson Open: Mardy Fish vs. Juan Martin Del Potro – Preview
World number 15 Mardy Fish of USA will meet world number 51 Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina in the fourth round at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami on Tuesday.
In the third round, Fish prevailed over world number 18 Richard Gasquet of France in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. While, Del Potro upset world number 4 Robin Soderling of Sweden in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the fourth round.
This will be the fifth meeting between these two. Fish and Del Potro are tied at 2-2 in the head-to-head record. Interestingly, all the four matches between these two were played on hard courts.
The Argentine defeated Fish in straight sets 6-1, 7-5 when the pair met last time in the semi-finals of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships last month. Two years back, Fish prevailed over Del Potro 6-3, 6-4 in the
quarter-finals of the Sap Open.
Del Potro thrashed the American in straight sets 6-2, 6-1 in the semi-finals at the Farmers Classic in 2008. In their first meeting, Fish beat Del Potro 6-1, 7-6(9) in the round of 16 at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships
in 2007.
Fish has a 10-5 win/loss record this year. The American started the season at the Brisbane International, where he was upset by Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic 3-6, 1-6 in the second round. Fish lost to Tommy Robredo of Spain
in four sets 6-1, 3-6, 3-6, 3-6 in the round of 64 at the Australian Open. The right-handed was defeated by Canadian Milos Raonic in straight sets 5-7, 4-6 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.
On the other hand, Del Potro has won 20 out of 25 matches he has played this year. He began the season at the Medibank International Sydney, where he lost to Florian Mayer of Germany in the round of 16. The Argentine was beaten
by Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in four sets 1-6, 3-6, 6-4, 3-6 in the second round at the Australian Open.
The 22-year-old won the his first title of the season at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, defeating Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 6-4 in the final. The Argentine reached the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open,
losing to the top seed Rafael Nadal 4-6, 4-6.
In the last edition of the Sony Ericsson Open, Del Potro lost to Andy Murray in three sets 1-6, 7-5, 2-6 in the semi-finals. In comparison, Fish retired during his match against Mikhail Youzhny of Russia due to an injury in the
round of 16. The American was trailing 1-6, 0-1 when he decided to quit the match.
The winner of the match between Fish and Del Potro will meet either world number 6 David Ferrer of Spain or another Spanish Marcel Granollers, ranked 55thin the world, in the quarter-finals.
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