Roger Federer vs. Juan Martin Del Potro: quarter-final preview – BNP Paribas Open 2012
Yet another time in the 2012 ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) season, the Swiss Maestro, Roger Federer, will take on the world number nine, Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina, in a singles competition. It will be the quarter-final
clash of the BNP Paribas Open which will feature two of the top class tennis professionals in action on Friday night.
The highly awaited contest will be played on the outdoor hard courts of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, the United States. The winner of the match will get a place in the semi-final of the year’s first
ATP Masters Series event.
The former world number one, Federer, is riding his sublime form this season so far, winning two championship titles already to strengthen his position at number three in the men’s rankings. The 30-year-old is having a 20-2winning
record in 2012 and is straining extremely hard to fulfil his ambition of reclaiming his world number one spot this season. His performance at the BNP Paribas Open has already depicted the intensity of his game and has made him one of the strongest contenders
for winning the Masters-level event.
Federer took off his Indian Wells campaign from the second round, outclassing the local wildcard entrant, Denis Kudla in straight sets. He had a rough ride against the 27th seed booming Canadian tennis prodigy, Milos
Raonic, in the third round draw. The Swiss Maestro dropped the opening set but came back strongly to reel off the next two sets to claim victory. A similar scenario was witnessed in his fourth round encounter against Brazilian number one, Thomaz Bellucci and
Federer won the three-setter once again to book a date with Del Potro in the quarters.
Del Potro also began his voyage in Indian Wells in an assertive manner, registering two straight sets victories over Marinko Matosevic and 19th seed Fernando Verdasco. He had to grind his body in the fourth round encounter
against the surprise candidate, Denis Istomin but prevailed in the three-setter to reach the final eight of the tournament.
It is the fourth time that Del Potro is facing the Swiss Maestro this year. Federer dumped him in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, followed by a thumping straight sets victory in the final of the ABN Amro World Tennis
Tournament in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The two big guns faced off for the third time this year in the semi-final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and Federer registered another straight sets win over the Argentine, eventually winning the title against
Britain’s Andy Murray.
With three back-to-back victories over Del Potro, no doubt Federer is the hot favourite for winning the Friday night’s contest in Indian Wells. However, Federer has been off to sloppy starts in his last two matches against Raonic
and Bellucci. This can be the only factor which Del Potro can target and exploit to his advantage. Once the Argentine pockets the opening set, it will not be an easy task for the third seed Swiss to make a comeback against the former US Open champion. Federer
needs to start the contest aggressively and push his opponent on the back foot right away to create some early pressure. A straight sets victory for Federer is anticipated in the match.
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