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Every chance on return will be worth gold

Delpo has reached Stuttgart semifinals last week, while Isner hasn't played since Roland Garros

Del Potro's wrist problems have been present for the past few years. He was the first one to have disrupted the Novak/Federer/Nadal dominance at Grand Slams, much before Wawrinka and Cilic. He was never able to do that again and has been struggling with both wrists over the past few years. 

That saw him play just a handful of tournaments this season. There were both good and bad performances, like the good one against Berdych, a win over Thiem on clay court, but there were also defeats to Zeballos, a bad match with Kohlschreiber and then trouble against Sock on backhand. Of course, Del Potro is the only one who sees a silver lining in it all. And why wouldn't he? He's on the court and that's the most important thing after all those injury struggles. He decided to skip Rome and Roland Garros in the end, claiming that everything is alright health-wise but that his focus is on preparing for grass court. 

- We decided that the best thing was to skip those tournaments to prepare for grass court. I hope I will be able to play as much as possible - Del Potro said. 

The good preparation paid off as he reached Stuttgart semis to lose to Kohlschreiber. However, the overall impression from that week is good. The Argentine was not too unhappy with losing in the semis either:

- I played a few great matches after three years. It feels great - Delpo said. 

After the record breaking 45 ATP wins from last season, Isner has had a much worse start to this one. He managed to tie three wins only at AO, while his greatest results remains the Houston semifinal. But, he was forced to take a new break due to a knee injury after that. 

Overall, it has been a pretty modest season for the American bomber. He managed to improve things a bit with the three wins at RG but that is still below his potential. The grass court season is coming up, which will definitely suit his game, especially the powerful serve.

Still, Isner's performances on grass court last season did nothing to impress. He recorded straight wins in Queens and Wimbledon but then lost to Newport first round. A lot more is expected from him this season. 

Del Potro won 4 out of their 5 head-to-head meetings. Still, they have not met in 3 years and it seems like serve should be the dominant segment in these conditions. 

I know the odds have been slashed and that this is border-line profitable but I also don't see how it can fail, except with a series of double-faults. Even taking a 30-00 lead on return doesn't have to mean anything here. The surface here is very fast like it always it, Isner's return is bad and the fact is, Delpo managed to beat three rivals in Stuttgart last week without dropping a single serve. Simon, Millman and Dimitrov all failed at converting break points against the Argentine, who served brilliantly. I don't see Isner converting a break point in the opening match here. John is the obvious choice when it comes to these kind of bets. He played the first set tie-break in the last 10 matches on grass court. Ram, Muller, Troicki and even Soeda forced him into the tie break and I really don't see a way for Delpo to drop a serve here. The last time they met was in 2013 in Cincinnati. The first two sets finished in tie-breaks. They opened with a tie break in Indian Wells in 2009 in desert and very slow conditions in hardcourt terms. Everything suggests we'll see a tie-break here. That's the most normal thing when it comes to Isner.