Foot Fault!

Things are slowly kicking off in LA as second-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro kicked off his title run last night, defeating James Blake 6-4 7-6 to book a place in the quarters. He’ll face none other than Mr Gulbis who followed up his victory over Xavier Malisse by easing into the quarters with a 6-2 6-4 victory over Daniel Kosakowski.

It’s crazy looking at these two and seeing how differently their careers have panned out so far. Born only a month apart, at the beginning of their professional careers they undoubtedly marked each other as rivals. It was Gulbis who made the first move on the main tour by reaching the quarters of the French Open in 08, but while the following three years have seen, aside from a few bright sparks, loss after embarrassing loss, it’s Delpo who has risen into the top five and can count himself as a member of Maria Sharapova’s illustrious Grand Slam club.

Still, I don’t think this is as clear-cut as it seems. Both are in completely different parts of their careers to their teenage years, and if Gulbis can just keep his head together and work in enough successful droppers to keep Del Potro on his toes, I have this completely crazy, irrational, ill-advised and ultimately idiotic feeling that he could pull off the upset on Friday.

Needless to say, if the predictable result happens and Del Potro ends up dishing Gulbis a beatdown, I’ll delete this post and never admit to making such a stupid pradiction.