Juan Martin del Potro attempts to complete a week to remember as he goes head-to-head with the reigning Olympic gold medalist, Andy Murray. The Argentinian-British pair meet on Centre Court on Sunday with both players guaranteed a spot on the podium at the Rio Olympic Games.
Road to the Final
Del Potro has had a memorable run to the final stage in Rio. It all started in his match against the world number one, Novak Djokovic. The Argentine penetrated the court majorly to ultimately out-hit and outperform the Serb in two tiebreak sets. Del Potro then went on to face Joao Sousa on center stage, yet again.
He eventually prevailed in three sets but faced some struggles en route to making the round of 16. Taro Daniel was del Potro's next opponent and despite dropping the first set, the 2009 US Open champion battled back to secure a quarterfinal birth. The Argentine's quarterfinal and semifinals matchups were against Spaniards; Roberto Bautista Agut and Rafael Nadal. Del Potro clinched two more high-quality wins with tough score lines to book a place in the finals.
Murray began his Olympic campaign against a Serb in Viktor Troicki. The Brit took the match 6-3, 6-2 to line up a second-round clash with Juan Monaco. Fabio Fognini was next up for the second seed and it all started in Murray's favor. However, the Italian forced a third set before Murray advanced in style. Things got interesting for the top-ranked British player when he faced Steve Johnson, but Murray held on strong to take the match, 7-6(2) in the third. The three-time Grand Slam winner closed out his run to the final in brilliant style with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Kei Nishikori.
Analysis
Del Potro's serve and forehand have been his bread and butter thus far in Rio. He must get the first strike in the rallies with Murray, but he cannot afford to let up on offense against the world-class defense of his British counterpart. Holding serve, of course, plays a major role in the outcome of the match. With the match being the best-of-five sets, the Argentine must conserve energy early on and target the Murray forehand, which seems to be the shot to break down under pressure. Lastly, protecting the backhand is essential for the 2012 bronze medalist considering he is on the comeback from a left wrist injury.
Murray has proved himself time and time again this year. However, will he be the only player to win gold in London and Rio? Backhand-to-backhand rallies are effective against the world number 145, especially since Murray possesses one of the best two-handed backhands in all of the sport. The Brit's movement, anticipation, and recent form make him the favorite to walk away with a second gold medal, but Murray needs to find a way to somehow maneuver the ball continuously away from del Potro's forehand strike zone.
Head-to-head
Murray leads del Potro five wins to two in their career meeting series. The Argentine's two wins have come once on a hard court and once on a clay court with their most recent meeting dating back to Indian Wells three years ago where del Potro prevailed in three sets. All of their previous results have had relatively tight score lines which are proof that the two players' games match up for an enticing battle. The Brit came out on top in their only meeting in a final, but with the year absence of a del Potro-Murray encounter, any of their past results do not affect the logistics of this gold medal match.
Who wins?
The one-time major champion has displayed his pure dominance off the forehand side this week. He is full of confidence with several top-notch wins so far in Rio and carries that into Sunday's final against this year's Wimbledon champion, If del Potro can execute his shots like he has so far this week, yours truly expects his national anthem to play as he stands atop the podium.
Prediction: Del Potro in straight sets.