The 2018 U.S. Open men's final will have a hard time outshining Saturday's women's final.
No. 3 seed Juan Martin Del Potro and No. 6 seed Novak Djokovic are expected to put on a show at Arthur Ashe Stadium, but the dramatics witnessed in the women's championship contest are unlikely to be replicated.
Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have had a stranglehold on the men's Grand Slam championships for the last 15 years, with a few odd winners sprinkled in during that span.
Del Potro fits into that category, as he won the 2009 U.S. Open final over Federer to capture his lone Grand Slam title.
Since Del Potro's victory, the U.S. Open has featured the most diverse group of major winners, as six different players left New York with a title, with Djokovic and Nadal being the only players with more than one championship in that span.
2018 U.S. Open Men's Final Information
Date: Sunday, September 9
Time: 4 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN or ESPN app
Del Potro Must Take Advantage Of Serve and Forehand
Del Potro's best assets are his serve and forehand, and if he wants any chance of knocking off Djokovic, both of those have to be effective from the start Sunday.
The Argentinian ranks 12th on the ATP Tour in first-serve points won, at 76.7 percent, and he's ninth in service games won, at 87.1 percent.
On hard courts, Del Potro ranks sixth in first-serve percentage at 64.4 percent, and he's in the top 15 of first-serve points won and service games won on his most successful surface.
Positioning on serves will be key for Del Potro as well, as he's going up against the second-best first-serve returner on the ATP Tour.
Only Rafael Nadal is better at winning points on first-serve returns than Djokovic, and the Serbian is third on tour in overall return games won at 30.5 percent.
If the third-seeded Del Potro is able to serve a few aces and win short points on serve in the first set, it'll leave him well-placed for success.
Another statistic worth keeping in mind Sunday is Del Potro is fourth on tour in tiebreaks won at 73.7 percent and he used two tiebreak wins to down Federer in 2009.
Djokovic Must Take Crowd Out of Match With Early Breaks
Any crowd loves an underdog and a good story, which is why the fans in New York will back Del Potro, who has suffered through almost a decade worth of wrist injuries to get back to a Grand Slam final.
Part of the winning formula for Djokovic is to start strong and take the crowd out of the match with a break in the first few games.
In the Wimbledon final against Kevin Anderson, Djokovic didn't waste any time establishing his dominance by winning the first set 6-2.
Even though he needed a third-set tiebreak to clinch his 13th major title, Djokovic buried Anderson by breaking his serve and winning the first two sets in controlling fashion.
In his six U.S. Open matches leading up to Sunday's final, the most games Djokovic's conceded in a first set is three.
Djokovic hasn't lost a set in New York since a third-set tiebreak in his second-round win over Tennys Sandgren.
Since that point in the tournament, Djokovic has had control of each match he's participated in, which is the exact plan he must follow Sunday.
Djokovic's converted 41.4 percent of the break points he's earned this season, which is two percent more than Del Potro's achieved.
However, if Djokovic is unable to gain an early advantage against Del Potro, he will have to settle into the match and prepare for a marathon at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from ATPWorldTour.com.
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