Juan Martin del Potro didn’t have everything his own way on Wednesday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia when the former World No. 4 booked a place in the third round. The Argentinean, a quarter-finalist in 2009 (l. to Djokovic), admitted post-match to feeling nerves against the flashy Kyle Edmund in a 7-5, 6-4 victory over one hour and 45 minutes.
"I think I'm playing better [than 2016], for sure," said del Potro. "Last year, I was trying to win a couple of matches at this moment of the year, and now I'm beating good guys. I'm playing well, and I think my game can still improve week by week. It's going to be a big challenge for me to play three tournaments on clay in a row after many years."
The 28-year-old del Potro, who beat 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov on Monday, is playing in his first tournament since the death of his grandfather in Argentina two weeks ago.
He will next take a 4-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head lead into his third-round meeting against seventh seed Kei Nishikori, but the Florida-based Japanese player did win their October 2016 meeting in Basel.
"It's going to be a difficult match," said del Potro. "I think he has everything to win because he's playing so well. I'm just starting to play on this surface after my family problems. But we have never played on a clay court, so it could be an interesting match. I need to play even better than today to beat Kei."
