Cincinnati Masters 2011: Roger Federer vs. Juan Martin Del Potro Preview

The Cincinnati Masters have begun as first-round matches started on Sunday, August 14th. In one match, Argentine contender Juan Martin Del Potro faced Italian Andreas Seppi.

Del Potro entered the match as a big favorite and Seppi, already down a break in the first set, tapped out after just 27 minutes with a right foot injury.

With the win, Del Potro advances to the second round where he will renew his rivalry with Roger Federer—the three seed in the Cincinnati Masters and the two-time defending champion.

Federer and Del Potro have met eight times in the past with the Swiss Maestro claiming six of those matches. However, prior to picking up a serious wrist injury in 2010, Del Potro had claimed two straight victories over Federer, including a famous win in the 2009 US Open championship match.

Del Potro has not recaptured his former glory since returning from the wrist injury more than half a year ago as he's only picked up a couple 250 level titles.

Federer is not exactly on tip-top form right now either, but the world No. 3's Slam results are significantly better than Del Potro's so far this season. 

It will be interesting to see which player perseveres when the two meet later this week with Federer my predicted winner.

Del Potro fell to the unimpressive Marin Cilic in Montreal last week, and the Argentine has done quite poorly against the top 10 since returning from injury with only a couple wins over Robin Soderling.

Federer may be on the decline, but it is a slow decline, and he still looks good to beat Del Potro—a 22-year-old that could already be called a has-been.