For clay admittedly not being his favourite surface, Juan Martin del Potro is sure playing like someone very comfortable on the red dirt. The Argentine marched into his third Roland Garros quarter-final on Monday, beating American John Isner 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
“Being in the quarter-finals in a Grand Slam, in this particular Grand Slam, is very special, is something I'm very happy about and I'm playing well,” Del Potro said.
The Argentine is through to his first quarter-final in Paris since 2012, and he'll next face Croatian Marin Cilic, who beat Italian Fabio Fognini 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 6-7(4), 6-3. Del Potro's only trip to the Paris semi-finals came in 2009.
“Marin is a great player. We know each other a lot. We have played great matches in the past, many five-set matches together,” said Del Potro, who leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 10-2. “I know how tough his game is, but I will try to be even better than today, play my tennis, and then see if I have a chance to win.”
Isner hadn't been broken during his first three matches and was trying to make only his second Grand Slam quarter-final (2011 US Open). The American had also beaten Del Potro during their most recent FedEx ATP Head2Head matchup, during the Miami Open presented by Itau semi-finals, before Isner celebrated his maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title (d. Zverev) in south Florida.
But Del Potro took advantage of every chance he had against the Miami champion, breaking three times – once in each set – to advance in straight sets. He hit past Isner when the 6'10” right-hander charged the net, and Del Potro comfortably controlled play with his forehand during baseline rallies.
“It wasn't an easy match. John is very dangerous. Nobody knows what he could do, playing in a match,” Del Potro said. “The key of the match was only three breaks.”
[ALSO LIKE]
The two were on serve until the Argentine came through in the seventh game of the first and second sets, when Isner delivered loose service games. At 3-3 in the opener, a netted forehand put Isner behind 15/40 and he couldn't recover. And during the seventh game of the second set, Isner again fell behind 15/40 before double faulting. In the third, Del Potro broke with a forehand pass after Isner had served and volleyed.
“Delpo certainly has one of the best forehands in the world, especially when he's feeling it out there. And if he's able to get in position and take a rip at that shot, it's going to be very lethal. So it's very good for tennis to have him playing well again and being healthy,” Isner said.
Del Potro becomes only the third Argentine man to reach three or more Roland Garros quarter-finals, joining Guillermo Vilas (1975-80, 1982-83, 1986) and Guillermo Canas (2002, 2005, 2007). He has cast aside any injury concerns as well. Del Potro retired from his third-round match in Rome before Roland Garros. But now the Argentine is into the last eight in Paris and a contender to take home his first title at the clay-court Grand Slam championship, which would be the highlight of what has already been a strong year.
He won back-to-back titles in March, winning the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in Acapulco before beating Roger Federer for his maiden Masters 1000 title at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Del Potro had won 15 straight matches before falling to Isner in Miami. He is now 27-6 this season.
Visit Official Roland-Garros Website
Did You Know?
With Del Potro's countryman Diego Schwartzman also reaching the quarter-finals, it's the first time Argentina has more than one men's quarter-finalist at Roland Garros since 2005 (Canas and Mariano Puerta).