Rafael Nadal and Juan-Martin Del Potro of Argentina will be part of tennis history and the world Nos. 2 and 6 join the rest of the top 8 in action on Friday.  Never in the history of the ATP have the top 8 players in the world made the quarterfinals of a tournament. Roger Federer completed the roster with his straight set victory over Stanislas Wawrinka. Federer, Nadal, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Del Potro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Nikolay Davydenko will all compete on historic Friday.

Rafael Nadal insists that he is not the favorite going into the quarterfinal match. During his press conference after his third round match against Philipp Petzschner, Nadal stated, “I am not the favorite for sure for the match of tomorrow”.

The Spaniard has been out for 2 months trying to recover from chronic knee tendinitis. Montreal marks his first tournament back since he was ousted from the French Open in the round of 16. He has beaten Del Potro 4 of the 5 times the two men have played, though Del Potro’s victory was the most recent of their matches. The Argentine got his first win off Nadal in the quarterfinals of Miami this year.

Nadal has played a match and a half in Montreal so far, owing to the retirement of opponent David Ferrer in the second round. The Spaniard seemed to be moving well against Philipp Petzschner in their third round match on Thursday, so his health does not seem to be a huge factor.

Del Potro had a far more difficult match in the third round. The Argentine went 3 sets against Romania’s Victor Hanescu and seemed a bit fatigued.

Prediction – Despite Nadal’s claims otherwise, he will still be the favorite on Friday. The Spaniard in 3.

Courtesy of www.tennistalk.com