Novak Djokovic vs. Juan Martin del Potro Betting Preview
Where: Foro Italico – Rome, Italy
When: Friday, May 19, 2017, 3:30 PM ET
Line: Novak Djokovic (-210) vs. Juan Martin Del Potro (+170) – view all 2017 Italian Open Men’s Singles lines
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Betting on Novak Djokovic (-210)
Novak Djokovic is having a pretty disappointing season thus far. He had a dispiriting straight-sets loss to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals of the Madrid Masters, which is the fifth straight tournament where Djokovic has failed to reach the final.
However, the World No. 2 has showed some signs of improvement in his first two matches at the Rome Masters. He picked up back-to-back straight sets wins over Aljaz Bedene and World No. 18 Roberto Bautista Agut.
The Serb’ service game was on point in both matches, as he’s delivered over 70 percent of first serves and won 70 percent of first serve points. He also won over 40 percent of return points, and broke each opponent’s serve three times.
Djokovic will look to continue that form against del Potro, an opponent he should be very familiar with. He’s already faced—and beaten—del Potro twice this season. Djokovic owns a dominant 13-4 career head-to-head record against the Argentine, and has won their only two meetings on clay court.
Betting on Juan Martin del Potro (+170)
After withdrawing at Estoril due to the passing of his grandfather, Juan Martin del Potro has looked pretty impressive in Rome. The Argentine got past World No. 11 Grigor Dimitrov in three sets in the first round, and is coming off an impressive straight-sets win over World No. 7 Kei Nishikori in the round of 16. That win was easily del Potro’s best this season.
del Potro’s service game was simply dominant against Nishikori, who has one of the best return games on Tour. del Potro won 83 percent of his first serves, and launched eight aces. In his previous match against Kyle Edmund, he put 70 percent of first serves in play; won 74 percent of first serves and 71 percent of second serves; and fired seven aces.
While Djokovic has played better in recent matches, don’t discount del Potro’s ability to expose the Serb, who has been pretty shaky for most of the season. del Potro famously defeated Djokovic in the first round of the men’s Olympic tennis tournament last year.
Writer’s Prediction
Del Potro (+170) dumps Djokovic in three hard-fought sets.
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