Before each day's play Down Under, we'll preview and predict three must-see matches.
All eyes will be on Djokovic as he takes the court in an official match for the first time since retiring in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last year. All eyes will also be on his still-aching right elbow, and the abbreviated service motion that he has been forced to develop to manage it. That may not sound like a recipe for a seventh title Down Under for Djokovic, but anyone who has shortened a service motion knows that it is doable, and can even lead to more efficiency and accuracy.
What Djokovic won’t be able to alter is his lack of match play—jumping straight into best-of-five at a major after six months off will be a crapshoot, no matter how many times he has won this tournament before, or no matter who his opponent is. In this case, Djokovic will be facing an opponent he has beaten in routine fashion in their two previous meetings. Winner: Djokovic
Delpo was one of Tiafoe’s idols when he was growing up, but he didn’t pay him an undue amount of respect in their only meeting, in Acapulco last spring. In an evening-session shootout, the 19-year-old Marylander took the Argentine to a third-set tiebreaker before finally succumbing to the bigger man’s missiles. Five months later, Tiafoe would have another high-profile near-miss against Roger Federer in the first round at the US Open.
With his 20th birthday approaching later this month, and a solid two years of pro-tour experience under his belt, is Tiafoe ready to cross the finish line this time? It won’t be easy. Del Potro finished 2017 on a roll, and started 2018 much the same way in Auckland, where he beat Denis Shapovalov, Karen Khachanov and David Ferrer on his way to the final. Winner: Del Potro